In Atomic Chess(AC), what are the possible checkmates?
Just now I played anonymously
with stockfish level 1
and when I moved Queen to e6
and gave a check the game was over.
en.lichess.org/WNRSgTKwI just wondered and want to know
what are the possible checkmate patterns?
Thank you for valuable time and reply.
In the opening, white can play Nf3 - g5 and take f7 and kill your king, that's one mating possibility, but 1... f6 covers it
@justinlew99What do you mean by "kill your king?"
On lichess' description of Atomic chess
(
en.lichess.org/variant/atomic)
it says:
"Clarification
A checkmate is declared if a king is put in check, even if the king isn't immediately blown up, given that the king has no escape squares"
I do not understand the rationale behind this rule.
@RaffelsnitchThank you. That helps.
As the name suggests "Atomic Chess,"
I could understand the rationale behind the checkmates.
@trakos I mean that the knight would explode your king and you lose
@Raffelsnitch basically in atomic, when u take pieces both explodes. So the king cannot take anything, as it would blow up the king, therefore its considered checkmate even if the piece can be taken by the king in normal chess and the king as no escape
@justinlew99Ah so if the king has no escape squares and is put in check it is checkmate- that makes sense. I misinterpreted the lichess wording I think.
But, what about if there is a piece that can block the check and be some distance from the king?
Also, if a knight is giving check, why can it not just be taken? It would be 2 squares away from the king...
@RaffelsnitchA knight could be taken when giving check, I think but if a queen is giving check 2 squares away, and you block with a piece, the queen would take the piece, exploding it along with the king
The golden rule of atomic is that you cannot explode your own king.
If your king is in check:
- Your king can move to an unattacked square. (Even if it could then be exploded next turn.)
- Another piece can capture the checking piece, unless this would explode your own king. You can't explode both kings at once either.
- If possible, you can block the check with a piece. You can even block with a piece right next to your king (of course, it would get exploded next turn.)
- Very importantly, you can ignore the check and just explode the opponent's king, if the opportunity is available.
What is check?
- In atomic, since kings cannot capture, they cannot threaten squares, so the kings can be next to each other.
- When the kings are touching, both kings are immune to check. Any attack on them while they are adjacent is not considered a check (since "capturing" one would explode both.)
- When the kings are touching, you *can* explode your opponent's king if your own king isn't caught in the explosion.
The easiest way to learn is to play against stronger players and see all the traps they can catch you in. You'll see exactly how these rules work out in practice.