The starting position for Capablanca Chess
The starting position for Gothic Chess
The starting position for Embassy chess
Capablanca Chess is the usual name given to chess on a 10x8 board, with two extra super pieces: the Archbishop (B+N) and Chancellor (R+N). There are actually several variants (most importantly Gothic Chess and Bird's Chess) that have the same characteristics. The only difference between them is the starting position. Although the variant is generally called Capablanca Chess (after chess world champion Capablanca), Capablanca was not the first to propose either the 10x8 board, or the Archbishop and Chancellor pieces.
Rules
Objective
The objective of the game is to check-mate your opponent's king.
Movement of the pieces
| King |
|---|
| The King moves one square in any direction. It also has a special castling move.
|
|
| Knight |
|---|
| The Knight makes an L-shaped jump: either two squares horizontally and one square vertically, or one square horizontally and two squares vertically. The knight is allowed to jump over occupied squares.
|
|
| Bishop |
|---|
| The Bishop moves any number of squares diagonally. It may not jump over another piece.
|
|
| Rook |
|---|
| The Rook moves any number of squares horizontally or vertically. It may not jump over another piece.
|
|
| Queen |
|---|
| The Queen moves as a Rook or a Bishop.
|
|
| Archbishop |
|---|
| The Archbishop moves as a Knight or a Bishop.
|
|
| Chancellor |
|---|
| The Chancellor moves as a Knight or a Rook.
|
|
| Pawn |
|---|
| The Pawn moves one square forward. On its first move, it may also move two squares forward, but it may not jump over other pieces. The pawn captures a piece diagonally in front of it. The pawn has two special moves: promotion, and en-passant capture.
|
|
Promotion
The end of the game
Minor variations
Gothic Chess
Gothic Chess was created in 2002 by Ed Trice. The opening position was selected after careful study as the most balanced opening position using the Capablanca pieces. Several over-the board tournaments as well as computer tournaments were held, and this may be the currently most popular form of Capablanca Chess.
Carrera Chess
Bird's Chess
Embassy Chess
Embassy Chess was created in 2005 by Kevin Hill. Apart from the opening position, it differs from Capablanca Chess by having a slightly different castling rule.
