V. R. Parton - Contramatic Chess

Contramatic Chess

The normal rules for check and checkmate are contradicted—a player may not check the enemy king, but may move his own king into check. A player wins when his opponent cannot escape giving check.

Game rules

Players start with kings positioned as shown. White places his remaining pieces anywhere he likes on his side of the board, then Black does the same. White moves first.

Checking the opponent is not allowed. (If a player has no move other than to give check, then he loses.) A player may make a move putting his own king in check from enemy piece(s)—unless the move would also give check to the opponent. When a player is in check, his opponent must remove the check on his next turn or lose the game.

Observations

Kings tend to move more than any other piece. Kings cannot occupy adjacent squares, since it would result in giving check to the opponent (in violation of the rules). Captures are rare, since capturing the opponent's men reduces the chance of putting one's own king in check.

Variation

In Complete Contramatic Chess (also known as C.C.C.) each player has two kings – a normal (orthodox) king in addition to the regular "contramatic" king. There are two ways to win: putting one's own contramatic king into inescapable check, or checkmating the enemy orthodox king. Players place the orthodox kings last, after other pieces are placed.

Observations

A contramatic king can move to a square adjacent to the enemy orthodox king (since the orthodox king may be checked as in normal chess, and the contramatic king may put itself into check). But an orthodox king may not move adjacent to the enemy contramatic king (since it is not allowed to check an opponent's contramatic king, or to put one's own orthodox king into check).