Why Shuffle the Pieces?

Allow me to be frank: in classical chess, strong players memorize the first fifteen or twenty moves by heart, like a poem. Victory in the opening goes not to the one who thinks better, but to the one who has read more. Chess960 solves this elegantly: before every game the pieces on the first rank are arranged anew, and all that memorized theory turns to dust. A typical beginner mistake is to think that playing without theory is scarier. On the contrary: your opponent is exactly as lost as you are.

Here you have to think from the very first move — and understanding wins, not memory. A memorized opening is a crutch; in 960 there are no crutches, but there is a head on your shoulders. The principles, meanwhile, are eternal: develop your pieces, protect your king, fight for the centre. Only the scenery changes, not the logic of the game. Incidentally, this variant is also known as Fischer random chess.

Let us verify the arithmetic. The number of first-rank arrangements that satisfy the rules is strictly defined — and it gave the game its name. How many starting positions are there in Chess960?

Precisely. Nine hundred and sixty worlds — and in every one you must think for yourself.

This is a preview — the full interactive lesson is in the app.

Continue in the app

Free, no ads · Android 8.0+ · coming soon to Google Play