Revised Chess

invented and implemented June 2009
by Mats Winther

See also my homepage.

The only difference between "Revised Chess" and regular chess is the additional forward capture-capability of a Pawn positioned on the seventh rank. The revised Pawn, provided that it has reached the seventh rank, can also capture forwards. Due to this, passed Pawns are now more dangerous. In Revised Chess, drawish endgames will occur less often. Many theoretical endgames that have hitherto been drawn are now won. The additional capture-capability will also have an impact in the middlegame. It will not affect opening theory at all.

This method is a surprisingly simple way of introducing extra complexity. Comparatively, in orthodox chess a pawn is easy to block. This creates the marked drawishness of practical endgames. Therefore, most chessplayers prefer to keep the queen on the board, until they have created an advantage. Players can now exchange queen and enter a practical endgame, and, unlike before, the stronger player will tend to win. This is, arguably, a significant improvement compared with orthodox chess, although much analysis is needed to establish this. The new Pawn was invented by undersigned, June 2009.