Check out Smess, our featured variant for February, 2025.

A fool's mate in Capablanca's chess

In Capablanca's chess a very brief game is possible - similar to the `fool's mate' of orthodox chess, but even one move shorter. We give the fool's mate in the second setup, although it also works with the first one on the ten by ten board: From the following opening setup:

White:
King f1; Queen e1; Archbishop d1; Chancellor g1; Rook a1, j1; Knight b1, i1; Bishop c1, h1; Pawn a2, b2, c2, d2, e2, f2, g2, h2, i2, j2.

Black:
King f8; Queen e8; Archbishop d8; Chancellor g8; Rook a8, j8; Knight b8, i8; Bishop c8, h8; Pawn a7, b7, c7, d7, e7, f7, g7, h7, i7, j7.

Recall that a chancellor moves like rook or knight, and an archbishop moves like bishop or knight.

Moves of the fool's mate

1. C g1 - h2, A d8 - e6.
2. C h2 x h7, mate.

David Paulowich's advice for Capablanca's chess is: Watch out for those undefended pawns!

Below, you see the fool's mate in animation.

WWW page made by Hans Bodlaender, based upon information provided by David Paulowich. The animated gif was made with Animagic - a shareware program to make animated gifs.

WWW page created: November 5, 1997. Last modified: February 19, 1999.