Charles Daniel wrote on Wed, Jul 29, 2009 07:45 PM UTC:Excellent โ โ โ โ โ
Another possibility, closely resembling Fischerandom chess, was advanced
by GMs Pal Benko and Arthur Bisguier in two articles in the November
1978 issue of Chess Life & Review, and by me in a two-part article for
Chesscafe.com in 1997
The positions of the pieces are decided entirely by the players, not by a
computer program. Strategic chess thinking therefore begins with the first
piece placement. The two players place their pieces alternately, one at a time.
White does not necessarily have any advantage here; in fact, Black may have
the advantage because Black gets the first look at the opponentโs placements.
The pieces may occupy any squares as long as the bishops are on
opposite colors. The kings do not have to be placed between the rooks.
Castling is permitted only if the unmoved king is on e1/e8 and an
unmoved rook is on a1/a8 or h1/h8; orthodox castling rules apply. The
possibility of castling is up to the players, who may or may not place their
kings and rooks appropriately.
There are 8,294,400 possible opening positions.
Both variants obviate all opening analysis (but not opening principles) and
make all opening manuals superfluous. Imagine a world without the Sicilian
Defense! Should either variant become prevalent, chess-book publishers
would have to take up gardening. But surely publishers will be resourceful
enough eventually to put out strategy guides on choosing the optimum piece
placements in Pre-chess (but not in Fischerandom chess, of course, because
there the computer does the choosing).
- Burt Hochberg from chesscafe.com Copyright 2004 CyberCafes, LLC.
Does someone have the original text of this article from Chess Life & Review by Benko? It seems quite important for historical purposes.
The positions of the pieces are decided entirely by the players, not by a computer program. Strategic chess thinking therefore begins with the first piece placement. The two players place their pieces alternately, one at a time.
White does not necessarily have any advantage here; in fact, Black may have the advantage because Black gets the first look at the opponentโs placements.
Does someone have the original text of this article from Chess Life & Review by Benko? It seems quite important for historical purposes.