Dunsany's chess

Dunsany's chess, also known as Dunsany's game,[1] is an asymmetric chess variant in which one side has standard chess pieces, and the other side has 32 pawns. This game was invented by Lord Dunsany in 1942. A similar game is called Horde Chess.[2]

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Dunsany's chess starting setup

Rules

Black's setup is the same in regular chess; White's army consists of 32 pawns, filling ranks one through four, as shown in the diagram.

Rules are the same as in regular chess, with the following exceptions:

  • Black moves first.
  • Only Black's pawns have the two-step option on their first move.
  • Black wins by capturing all 32 white pawns, while White wins by checkmating Black.

Other rules are the same as in regular chess. For example, pawns promote on the final rank, and stalemate occurs if White's pawns run out of moves.

Horde chess
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Horde Chess starting setup

Horde chess is identical to Dunsany's chess, with the following differences:[2][3]

  • Black's pieces are 32 pawns, occupying ranks five through eight, but with pawns on d4 and e4 instead of d8 and e8.
  • As in regular chess, White moves first.
  • Black's pawns on rank seven have the two-step option of regular chess.

Horde variant
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Horde variant starting setup

A Horde variant uses the opening setup shown in the diagram.[4] In this variant, White's pawns on the first and second ranks may advance one or two steps, provided that the path in the file is free. Unlike in regular chess, this does not have to be the pawn's first move.[5]

The Lichess website has support for this variant.

References
  1. Pritchard, D. B. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. p. 97. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.
  2. Pritchard, D. B. (2007). Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.
  3. "BrainKing – Game rules (Horde Chess)". brainking.com. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  4. "Horde on Lichess". Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  5. "Lichess Blog - New features: kid mode, simuls, and more". Retrieved 9 July 2015.
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