Strange Variant Chess Game

I played a very bizarre game of chess this morning.

The rules for this game are:-

The chess board always begins empty - with no pieces brought into play yet by either player.

As usual, White moves first. Also as usual, the players may decide who gets to play White by consensus, or it may be randomly determined through coin toss etc.

Players may make one of two kinds of move during a turn:

- A player may move a piece that is already in play on the board;

- A player may Create a piece, placing it on the board and bringing it into play.

A player can either Create a piece, or Move one that is already in play.

Pieces move in the traditional manner: Pawns may only make Pawn moves, Rooks may only move rank and file, Knights may only make Knight moves, Bishops may only move along diagonals, and the Queen and King may only make Queen and King moves, respectively.

Rules for Creation.

When a player Creates a piece, by putting it on the board and bringing it into play, he expends his turn.

A piece may only be Created either:-

- in the starting position where it would be in a normal game of chess where all the pieces begin already on the board at start of play;

- no more than one legitimate move away from that location on the board.

Examples: the White King's Knight may be Created in g1, f3 or h3, assuming no White pieces already occupy those squares; the Black Queen's Bishop may be Created in c8, b7 or a6; or d7, e6 or f5, assuming no Black pieces occupy those squares. If Black pieces occupied, for example, f5 and a6, the Black Queen's Bishop could only be Created in c8, b7, d7 or e6.

If an enemy piece occupies a square which is one legitimate move away from a piece's starting position, the piece can be Created on top of the enemy piece, instantly capturing it. In the above example, if the Black Queen had been moved to h3 and the White King's Knight was not yet in play, White could Create the King's Knight on h3, instantly capturing the Black Queen.

There are three restrictions to Creation.

Firstly, no piece can be Created anywhere on the enemy's side of the board. Queens, Rooks and Bishops can be Created no further than half a board away from their starting position. Once Created, they may be moved normally in the following turn.

Using the example of the Black Queen's Bishop above, the Bishop could not be Created on the squares g4 or h3, even if there are no pieces on the board of either side in those positions.

Secondly, the player must not bring the Queen into play lightly; once the Queen has been Created on the board, the player's very next turn must be to Create the King, if the King has not been Created already. This puts the Queen at a serious tactical disadvantage, because she is effectively paralysed for two turns: the turn of her Creation, and the next turn after that. In practical terms, the player's whole board is paralysed once he Creates the Queen first, because none of his pieces can move for those two turns, either; further, the enemy knows exactly what the player is going to do in the second turn, and can predict exactly where the next piece will arrive on the board.

Tactically, of course, this means that players would most likely want to Create their King first, before Creating the Queen. Most times, during these games, when a player Creates their King, the opponent typically braces themselves for the arrival of the Queen in the next turn.

Until both Kings come onto the board, the game cannot be won, lost or drawn, and must continue to be played. Until both Kings are on the board, the one King on the board cannot be taken or placed in check.

Thirdly, a King may not be Created into check; it cannot be Created in a square which is within reach of an enemy piece. For instance the White King cannot be Created in e2 if the Black King's Knight is in f4, g3 or c3. If there are no legitimate squares available for the King to be Created into, the player suffers defeat. This is the exception to the rule requiring both Kings to be on the board.

This was a brilliant, bizarre game, which started off with an empty board and quickly became crowded. I woke up before I could finish it - White had put me in a nasty position, with my Queen created and a damned White Knight in g6, meaning that my King could only be Created in e8 or d7 (there being no pawn yet Created in d7) and a threat of check from the White King's Bishop in the next turn.