1.  Who decides exactly who (else) or what is a player's piece or pawn?

Determining who the pieces and, to a lesser extent, the pawns are in a game of City Chess depends on the type of game it is.  If the game is a Twilight game then each player decides who his or her own pieces will be and informs the opponent of these nominations.  If the game is either a Blood game or a Midnight game then one's opponent will decide who would be an appropriate piece or pawn.  Additionally one's opponent does not have to inform you who those pieces (or pawns) are, you may never find out until they've been taken.
 

2.  "I'm confused!"  What's the difference between a "type of game" and a "variation"?

In City Chess the type of game is determined by the stakes of the game and often by the relationship between the players.  The three types of games are Twilight, Blood and Midnight.  Twilight Chess is merely the City Chess equivalent of the "friendly" game and is played for nothing more than enjoyment of the game.  Blood Chess is any game which is being played for some kind of prize, such as a title or boon from the losing player, the prize could be just about anything.  Midnight Chess is any game in which each player is doing so with the aim of totally destroying the other player at the end of the game, it is a kind of intellectual duel to the death.

Variations, on the other hand, are the many different ways a game can be played.  Variations would include such things as playing a game of Blood Chess where the pieces are nominated by the players like in Twilight Chess, or a game of City Chess using the rules and board/Board for Byzantine Chess (which is played on a round board).

Anyone doing further research into the game may find, however, use of the term "variation" to describe differing lines of play in a number of games.  The term then used for alternative chess games and rules for chess games is often "unorthodox chess," which is basically any chess game which does not follow the FIDE Laws of Chess.  This should not be confused with my use of the term "variation" here and in the City Chess rules which was basically a shorter and easier method of referring to any "unorthodox" version of chess.
 

3.  What's the difference between a board and a Board or a square and a Square?

This is basically a matter of differentiation.  The board is the area in which an ordinary game of chess is played, usually a surface of sixty-four squares.  The Board, on the other hand, with the capitalisation is used when speaking of the geographical area in which the action in City Chess takes place.  Since games of City Chess are effectively correspondence games, that is they are played by mail, the game doesn't actually take place on the Board.  The action, however, does, usually when a piece has been taken, but one variation allows for some kind of action to take place with every move.  The difference between the squares and the Squares is similar.
 

4.  When I take an opponent's piece or pawn who actually kills it?

More often than not it will be the players themselves who kill the "taken" pieces and pawns, though many players also use hired help to deal with the wet-work, preferring to concentrate on the game.  Ultimately it is up to the individual.  Some experienced players, however, prefer to find ways to get their own pieces or pawns (if they know whom each piece and pawn is, such as in a Twilight match) to make the appropriate kill.  So if the Black Queen took the White Bishop the Black player would either convince or trick his or her Queen to actually kill the White player's Bishop.  In Blood and Midnight games, when the sets have not been nominated, some players try to work out whom their opponent would have decided their pieces are so that they are able to do this anyway.  Guessing correctly can often aid one a great deal in psyching out one's opponent.

This, of course, is simply a matter of style.  The key issues with the taking of a piece are the death and the leaving of the body on the appropriate Square.  Such additional aspects as making the kill on the Square in question or using the appropriate piece to make the kill are just ways for good players to show that they are such.
 

5.  Who is my King?

In Twilight Chess you get to nominate someone to be your King, who that is is entirely up to you.  Just remember that even if you resign, your opponent may demand that the King, if not all the other pieces and pawns, should be delivered to them.  In Blood Chess your opponent determines who your King is.  It is important, however, to remember not to consider one's opponent as being the King in Blood Chess, unless you utilise some non-fatal method of dealing with the King when it is check-mated.  In Midnight Chess each player is his or her own King and ought to be prepared to deal with anything likely to be sent after that piece.  It is, however, for exactly this kind of reason that many people playing Midnight Chess prefer to play with the aim of annihilating the opponent's army (taking all the other pieces and pawns) to win the game.  This variation, by the way, is actually a historical variation of normal chess.  Once the game is won by this method it is simply a matter of time before the players confront each other and attempt to kill each other.  Though the loser of the game will usually be quite disadvantaged because the winner has already killed those closest to him/her and those s/he relied upon most.
 

6.  How do I determine what the appropriate opposing pieces are, particularly in Blood and Midnight games, if I do not know whom my opponent is?

One of the biggest problems City Chess players encounter, usually during Blood and Midnight games, is that someone has challenged them, but they do not know whom it is.  The crux of the problem being that without knowing who the opponent is it can be extremely difficult for them to choose appropriate targets to be the opposing pieces and pawns when they're taken.  Those players faced with this problem have two basic options, assuming the opposing player hasn't simply nominated a set for them to work with (i.e. a set they can "take" when necessary, such as in a Twilight game).

The first option is to simply pick random targets who may or may not be related to the unknown opponent.  Thus the pieces would be chosen in much the same way as pawns usually are in a Twilight game, more or less grabbed off the street.

The second option is more entertaining, but a little more risky.  It essentially amounts to attempting to guess whom one's opponent is and then, based on that guess (educated or otherwise) choosing appropriate pieces.  The advantage of this option is that if you guess correctly as to whom your opponent is, it can go a long way towards psyching him or her out.  The key disadvantage, however, is that if you guess wrong you will almost certainly make an enemy in the process.  One way to attempt to determine who one's opponent is, is through evaluation of the stakes.  Often this will be an important key to unlocking the mystery of whom one's opponent is.
 

7.  What exactly is the deal with notation?

Notation is a form of chess short-hand used by players and others involved with the game to maintain a record of games played.  Though there are a considerable number of forms of chess notation there are two main ones used: standard notation, which is sometimes called coordinate or algebraic notation, and descriptive notation.  The key differences between these two forms of notation are that the former, which is that generally used for professional tournaments and in magazines, defines the moves according to one way of looking at the board (from White's point of view), whereas the latter form is always written from the point of view of each army.  That is, the White army's moves are noted from the White point of view and the Black army's moves from the Black point of view.  A third form which one might encounter is international numeric notation, which is very similar to standard notation except it only uses numbers and thus avoids language barriers.

There will be more on this later as I will include explanations of all three forms of notation at the end of this document.  Though I should note that most of the information regarding the notation and symbols has been taken from The Oxford Companion to Chess which is an excellent chess resource and one I strongly recommend to any player.  Anyone who wishes to maintain chess records on a computer would also be advised (particularly if using Word or similar word processors) to locate the Traveller Standard true type font which is very useful for constructing chess diagrams and producing some of the symbols.
 

8.  Since no one in his or her right mind would offer themselves up to die after losing a Midnight game, what's the point of playing?

Style.  Most people who play games of Midnight Chess usually do so against foes and old enemies whom they do not wish to simply kill, but utterly destroy.  Midnight City Chess offers an opportunity for revenge with flair.  Combined with the taking of pieces it also offers a more entertaining method of destroying one's enemy's power structure and support base.

It is, however, for this reason that many games of Midnight Chess are not played with the aim to checkmate the opponent, but are played simply to take all the other pieces and pawns on the board/Board.  Thus Midnight Chess is often played with a variation of the usual game; all the moves and rules remain the same as normal except the King cannot be placed in check and need not move out of the way if a position would normally do this.  In addition the King may not be taken until all the pieces and pawns in that King's army have been taken.  This variation is basically just a war of attrition which inevitably culminates in a confrontation between both players.
 

9.  Why can't (or shouldn't) I use a computer to analyse a game I'm playing?

This essentially comes down to a matter of who is playing the game, you or the computer?  Sure you can start using a computer chess program to analyse the moves and it may even result in a series of successes.  Eventually, though, this reliance on technology rather than one's own mental faculties will lead to a hard and harsh fall, particularly if one find's one's self in a position where one is unable to gain access to the computer.  So yes, you can cheat if you want to, just as long as you're prepared to deal with the consequences.

On the other hand, like most games of correspondence chess, research before making a move (usually in the form of consulting books, previous games and sometimes other players) is quite normal.  The point basically comes down to research and work dependent upon a player's mental faculties is the ideal, whereas reliance on number crunching computers is a waste of both players' time.  It is a waste of the time of the player relying on the computer because s/he gains nothing from the experience (even if you win it's a hollow victory) and it's a waste of the opponent's time because if s/he wanted to play a computer s/he could do so without contacting you.
 

10.   Just how useful is that book in the bibliography, The Oxford Companion to Chess?

Very.  By no stretch of the imagination could one call it a complete encyclopedia, but it'll certainly answer most questions of an amateur and all the questions of a beginner regarding the game.  It has a great deal of information on people, organizations, chess variations, styles of play, development of the game and the like.  I can honestly say that this book has vastly improved my understanding of the game and certainly answered any ambiguities in regards to the actual playing of the game, it's an excellent resource.
 

11.  If I use the optional rule to affect (see also: damage) the Board with every move, rather than only when a piece is taken, how does that affect a castling move?

Since with most uses of this optional rule the Square affected is the one to which a piece is moved then it stands to reason that two Squares affected with a castling action, the position the King moves to and the position the Rook moves to.  Some players like to do something special or spectacular for a castling move since it is one of the special moves of the game.
 

12.  How does promoting a pawn to a piece (usually a Queen, but sometimes Rook, Bishop or Knight) affect games, particularly Blood and Midnight games?

The promotion of a pawn to a piece doesn't really make much difference in the playing of the game, the new piece behaves as it would normally do so.  It is simply a matter of finding some way to indicate that this has taken place on the Board.  In Blood and Midnight games, however, it may require some interesting situations if, for example, two Queens end up being taken.  This still comes down to a player being required to determine who it is connected to his or her opponent who best fills the role of the promoted piece.
 

13.  What about moves that are "en passant"?

Pawns that are taken en passant, or "in passing," do not necessarily need any other indicators on the Board.  It is just one of the odd little moves that sometimes take place.  Some players, however, like to take the appropriate targets with some kind of killing blow to the side (such as being side-swiped by a speeding vehicle) just as a matter of style.  This, though, is entirely up to each individual player.
 

14.  Can any chess variant (or form of unorthodox chess) be played as a game of City Chess?

Yes.  As long as the form of chess chosen actually works as a game in and of itself it is quite simple to apply it to a game of City Chess.  In theory one could even play a version of City Checkers too.

One should, however, keep in mind that with most of the chess variations in existence (and there are a considerable number) there will also be different rules regarding the notation to be used.  Also, when considering choices of these games there are three different basic types: historical, regional and invented.  Historical variations are those different versions which appeared throughout history as the game developed and grew over the centuries.  Historical versions include such games as Chaturanga, Shatranj Kamil, Turkish Great Chess, Byzantine Chess and others.  Regional variations are those which exist today and are still often played in the countries in which they developed, the two most well known being Chinese Chess (Hsang Chi) and Japanese Chess (Shoggi), though there are also other regional variations found throughout Asia.  Furthermore it should be noted that there are certainly even more obscure regional historical variations.  Invented variations are those which didn't develop over time, like the previous two, but were created by one person or a small group to add to the game in some way.  Most, if not all, of these variants were invented some time in the last one and a half centuries and include games like Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian Chess (Jetan), Capablanca's Chess, Gary Gygax's Dragon Chess and a plethora of three-dimensional games.  Three dimensional games being ones where the area of play is a cube or prism of some kind in which the pieces may move, usually on stacked or tiered boards.  Dragon Chess, for example, is one of these games being played on three tiers, each measuring twelve by eight squares.
 

15.  How do I adapt a three dimensional variation to the region in which I'm playing City Chess?

This isn't actually as hard as it might appear at first.  Since most, if not all 3-D chess games are created by tiered or stacked boards then it is simply a matter of allocating different geographical regions to each of those boards and the squares on those boards.

Alternatively one could play these games inside a particular structure, such as a skyscraper building, with different floors being the different levels of the Board.  If one has one's Pieces and Pawn's on hand (most likely in a Twilight match), then one could even play the entire thing through in a night.  That could, of course, get very messy, though.
 

16.  What of variations which involve some other influence on the game such as those using dice or cards (especially Knightmare Chess)?

For the most part such accessories should make no real difference to the way City Chess is played.  For though they may affect the outcome and play of the game, usually by adding an element of chance to the strategy and tactics of players, they do not affect the actual progression of the game.  Since City Chess is basically a "shell" which reveals captures and/or moves, it is not really affected by these new elements, adversely or otherwise.

The only amendment to that possibly coming with Steve Jackson Games' Knightmare Chess, or something similar, in which a number of the cards not only affect the rules of play and the pieces, but sometimes impact directly on the board.  Some players may then choose to represent the effects of these cards on the Board in one way or another, especially some of the more powerful or destructive cards.
 

17.  In the General release you've deliberately made alterations to make the City Chess rules more clear and adaptable to any location or situation, so why still cite Melbourne as an example location?

Two main reasons.  Partially as a tribute since it was while looking at a map of Melbourne's Central Business District which gave me the idea for City Chess.  Secondly an example was almost certainly needed and, due to Melbourne's quite planned geography, the city made an excellent example.
 

18.  What alternative chess figures are there than kings, queens, rooks, knights and pawns?

This is basically determined by the variant of chess one is playing.  Though many of the historical forms of the games have a variety of differently named pieces, most of these are just earlier versions of the ones currently in use in Western (FIDE) chess.  Those which are vastly different are those found in the various Asian forms of the game, such as Shogi's Nari Hisha (Dragon King).
 

19.  What is the difference between Chess City and City Chess and are they connected in any way?

Chess City is the project created by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (President of Kalmykia and FIDE) for the 33rd World Chess Championship.  It's basically intended to be a large, relatively self-contained, compound used to host and promote international chess competition.  The project in Elista has come under investigation due to the murder of a journalist investigating the funding of the project and Mr. Ilyumzhinov, two of the alleged suspects were apparently aides (or former aides) of the President.

City Chess, on the other hand, is my little creation, originally intended for use within roleplaying games or similar things and is not in any way connected to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, FIDE or the region of Kalmykia (on the Caspian Sea).  When I first wrote the original Camarilla release of City Chess in late 1997, I hadn't even heard of Mr. Ilyumzhinov, let alone any of his little pet projects and controversies.
 

20.  While looking at the Chess City web pages I saw numerous references to City Chess, what's with that?

As far as I can tell from reading those pages, it's just a matter of the poor translation from Russian to English.  Since I cannot, however, read Russian I can't compare the translated pages to the original to confirm that theory.  Though considering the grammar used within the translation of those pages it's a fairly safe bet that the City Chess references are just an inversion of the Chess City references.
 

21.  Why create the Knight's Tour Pub Crawl?

There are a number of answers to this:
a)  I was bored.
b)  It's a great excuse for a pub crawl...if you really need one.
c)  Why the Hell not?!
d)  All of the above.
 
 

This form of notation is sometimes called coordinate notation or algebraic notation.  The former because it uses a system of naming each rank and file, thus allowing each square to be identified by its coordinates.  The latter because of the use of the use of letters and numbers to identify the coordinates, which isn't really algebraic in nature at all.  It has also been called, albeit rarely, continental notation and is the form which players following FIDE's Laws of Chess must use.

There are two versions of standard notation, full and abrieviated.  In the former both the departure and arrival squares are given, in the latter the departure square is given only when necessary.  Abbreviated standard notation is also often called portable game notation (PGN) and is most often used in books and periodicals detailing, annotating or analysing games.

The coordinates of the squares are determined from White's end of the board.  Each file, from left to right, is given a letter from "a" to "h," and each rank is numbered from "1" where the White pieces begin to "8" where Black's begin.  Thus the White King begins on e1 and the Black King on e8.

Full standard notation has three key elements; the first coordinate indicating the square from which the piece or pawn being moved begins on, the symbol indicating whether it is moving to or capturing a square and the coordinate of the square the move ends on.  Additionally a capital letter will be added at the beginning to indicate which piece is being moved.  The only time a letter is not used is if the move is being made by a pawn.  Furthermore, a symbol might be added at the end of a move to indicate that the move placed the opponent in check or checkmate.  Other special notations include when a pawn is promoted and when a pawn captures en passant.  Below is a game I played (and lost) listed in full standard notation.

Stenner vs. McGinnes  (1-0)
1)      e2-e4           Nb8-c6
2)      Ng1-f3         e7-e5
3)      Bf1-c4         Bf8-c5
4)      Nb1-c3        a7-a6
5)      a2-a4           Ng8-f6
6)      d2-d3          Nf6-g4
7)      O-O            Qd8-f6
8)      Nc3-d5       Qf6-h4
9)      Nf3xh4        O-O
10)    Qd1xg4       d7-d6
11)    Qg4-h5        g7-g6
12)    Nd5-f6+      Kg8-g7
13)    Qh5-h6+      Kg7xf6
14)    Bc1-g5#

Abbreviated standard notation removes the use of the departing square as much as possible.  Also the sign to indicate the type of move is only used if the move involves a capture.  If the position of the board is such that moving a piece to a particular square could be made by either of the two pieces of that type, such as a Knight, then the piece actually making the move is indicated by a reference to the square it moves from.  This reference, however, is kept as minimal as possible, usually simply being just a reference to which rank or file it was on rather than giving the entire coordinates of the departure square.  An example of this would be if both of one's White Rooks are in their original positions and all the other pieces between them are either captured or elsewhere on the board.  If one wished to move the right-hand Rook to the King's starting square it would be written as Rhe1 (in full notation it would be Rh1-e1).  The whole point of portable game notation is to use as little as possible to convey the game.  Below is the same game in PGN or abbreviated format.

Stenner vs. McGinnes  (1-0)
1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 e5 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nc3 a6 5.a4 Nf6 6.d3 Ng4 7.O-O Qf6 8.Nd5 Qh4 9.Nxh4 O-O 10.Qxg4 d6 11.Qh5 g6 12.Nf6+ Kg7 13.Qh6+ Kxf6 14.Bg5#
 
 

Descriptive notation, sometimes called English, Anglo-Iberian or Anglo-American descriptive notation, is another form of coordinate notation since each square is identifiable by its coordinates and is quite popular, particularly among younger players since it gives each square a name.  It also differs from standard notation in that each move is given from the point of view of each player, rather than all in relation to White's end of the board.  From either point of view the file names remain the same, since the two armies mirror each other.  The ranks, on the other hand, are numbered differently depending on whether one is playing White or Black.  Despite this form of notation's name, however, one still shortens the written notation as much as possible.  So though, in the example below, the Knight I opened with was the Queen's Knight, it would still be written as N since it was the only Knight able to move to that position.  If both Knight's could move to a particular square, or any other similar piece, then the departure square is given in parenthesis, such as: N(QN1)-QB3, if the King's Knight had been somewhere like K2.

The names of the files are named after the pieces which begin on those files, those being: Queen's Rook (QR), Queen's Knight (QN), Queen's Bishop (QB), Queen (Q), King (K), King's Bishop (KB), King's Knight (KN) and King's Rook (KR).  So each square has two names, the only difference in those two names being the number of the rank, depending on which army's point of view is being used.  White's rank 1 is Black's rank 8, White's rank 2 is Black's rank 7 and so on. So White King's Pawn (KP) begins, from White's point of view, on K2, but from Black's point of view it is K7.

There are also a number of symbols which it shares with standard notation, which are listed below under the section on conventional symbols.  These include the symbols for taking en passant, indicating the various forms of check and mate and for the castling manouvres.

My example game from before would be as below.  As is clearly shown this form of notation can make some moves appear, at first, to be a little ambiguous since they appear to be repetitious, such as in the third move.

Stenner vs. McGinnes  (1-0)
        WHITE            BLACK
1)      P-K4              N-QB3
2)      N-KB3           P-K4
3)      B-QB4           B-QB4
4)      N-QB3           P-QR3
5)      P-QR4            N-KB3
6)      P-Q3               N-KN5
7)      O-O                Q-KB3
8)      N-Q5              Q-KR5
9)      NxKR4           O-O
10)    QxKN4           P-Q3
11)    Q-KR5            P-KN3
12)    N-KB6+          K-N2
13)    Q-KR6+          KxKB3
14)    B-KN5#
 
 

The third form of coordinate notation is international numeric notation which, as the name implies, simply uses numbers to indicate moves.  Unlike the previous two forms of notation, however, it does not append any symbols to indicate special moves.  All it gives is a four digit number, the first pair being the departure square of the piece moved and the second pair being the arrival square of the piece.  It is assumed that any player using this system will be able to to work out for themselves whether or not they're in check or if the move would ordinarily be marked as significant, such as if the move was to take another piece rather than just move to a square.

The number of each square is determined by the numbering of rank and file from White's point of view.  The number of each square has two digits, the first being the number of the file which the square is in and the second being the number of its rank.  Thus the bottom left square (a1) is 11 and the top right square (h8) is 88.  The square the White King begins on is 51 and the square the Black Queen begins on is 48.

There are two types of moves which do, however, need further explanation: castling and promoting. Castling is considered as a king move. Thus for White, King's side castling is 5171 and Queen's side is 5131; for Black, it is 5878 King's side and 5838 Queen's side.  Promoting, on the other hand, is the only instance in which four digits are not enough and a fifth must be added.  In this case the first four digits indicate the move as described above and the fifth indicates which piece the pawn is being promoted to.  1 = a Queen, 2 = a Rook, 3 = a Bishop and 4 = a Knight.  So if a White pawn managed to struggle up the far right file to become a Queen its promoting move would be 87881.  If instead it were to take an unmoved Black Knight to achieve its promotion to a Queen the number would then be 87781.

My example game in international numeric notation is as follows:

Stenner vs. McGinnes  (1-0)
1)       5254        2836
2)       7163        5755
3)       6134        6835
4)       2133        1716
5)       1214        7866
6)       4243        6674
7)       5171        4866
8)       3345        6684
9)       6384        5878
10)     4174        4746
11)     7485        7776
12)     4566        7877
13)     8586        7766
14)     3175
 
 

This is a list of symbols used with various forms of notation, including all of the above forms.

Notation symbols, English Language
K            king
Q            queen
R            rook
B            bishop
N (Kt, S)    knight
P            pawn
ch.          Check
dbl.ch.      double check (rarely used)
dis.ch.      discovered check (rarely used)

Notation symbols, international
-                to, e.g. Ng1-f3, or N-KB3
x (:)            captures
0-0 (00)         castles king's side
0-0-0 (000)      castles queen's side
ep (e.p.)        en passant
+                check
#                checkmate
=                is promoted to
1-0 (1:0)        White won
0-1 (0:1)        Black won
½-½ (½:½)        the game was drawn

Annotation symbols, international
?                before a move, signifying it is to be made by Black
~                ad libitum
!                good move
!!               outstanding move
?                weak move
??               blunder
?!               move of doubtful value
!?               move of uncertain merit, but deserving attention
} (+ -)          White's position is distinctly better
{ (+ =)          White's position is slightly better
=                the position is level
| (= +)          Black's position is slightly better
~ (- +)          Black's position is distinctly better

Caption symbols, international
+                White to play and win
=                White to play and draw
*                set play is present
V                version, indicating that the original composition has been changed in some way
sol              solution
max              maximummer

[The symbols are always followed by a number indicating length of solution, e.g. #2 means checkmate in two moves.  White is to move first unless otherwise stated.]

Hooper, David and Whyld, Kenneth. The Oxford Companion to Chess.  Oxford University Press, 1992.
 

Copyright © Benjamin D. McGinnes, 1998-1999

Copyright © Benjamin D. McGinnes, 1998-2004