I've created a handful of custom starting positions: lichess.org/study/WAoVlMJ8
I'll give a brief description of the 8 custom starting positions that I've created thus far:
- Quarter Chess; double material but no pawns, packed into opposite quarters instead of opposite sides. Seems fair enough.
- Pawnless Chess; standard except pawns removed + minor pieces placed just in front of majors and king. White advantage.
- Pawn Wall Chess; standard except there's a 2nd line of pawns. Easily the creation that took the least thought and effort.
- Cramped Chess; full line of 8 bishops backed by 8 rooks and 8 knights behind the rooks, 7 queens + king on e-file. Somehow fair.
- Nightlock; 8 knights and 7 rooks packed into opposite quarters, in such a fashion as to perfectly counter itself. Black advantage.
- Overeign; 3 lone white queens versus 8 lone black knights, artfully mirrored along diagonal. Black advantage or possibly drawn.
- (15Nv15B); Arrangement of 15 knights vs 15 bishops so as to artfully minimize bishop advantage, but bishops are still better.
- Riddle Reverse; Double material but no pawns scattered chaotically. Apparently somewhat fair, but one slip is certainly fatal.
Quarter Chess was my first creation, and is the one I've played the most against people mostly OTB via the lichess app; in human play, I've seen about equally as many white and black wins with it. The only one I haven't play-tested at all yet OTB or otherwise is Pawn Wall Chess, because to me it just seems like standard chess but with more nuisance on the board; I guess I just have a distaste for pawns and the closed positions that they create? Anyway, are any of these positions ones that anybody would ever consider playing? What are people's overall thoughts and opinions regarding custom starting positions in general? Any particular thoughts or critiques regarding my custom starting positions in particular?
I'll give a brief description of the 8 custom starting positions that I've created thus far:
- Quarter Chess; double material but no pawns, packed into opposite quarters instead of opposite sides. Seems fair enough.
- Pawnless Chess; standard except pawns removed + minor pieces placed just in front of majors and king. White advantage.
- Pawn Wall Chess; standard except there's a 2nd line of pawns. Easily the creation that took the least thought and effort.
- Cramped Chess; full line of 8 bishops backed by 8 rooks and 8 knights behind the rooks, 7 queens + king on e-file. Somehow fair.
- Nightlock; 8 knights and 7 rooks packed into opposite quarters, in such a fashion as to perfectly counter itself. Black advantage.
- Overeign; 3 lone white queens versus 8 lone black knights, artfully mirrored along diagonal. Black advantage or possibly drawn.
- (15Nv15B); Arrangement of 15 knights vs 15 bishops so as to artfully minimize bishop advantage, but bishops are still better.
- Riddle Reverse; Double material but no pawns scattered chaotically. Apparently somewhat fair, but one slip is certainly fatal.
Quarter Chess was my first creation, and is the one I've played the most against people mostly OTB via the lichess app; in human play, I've seen about equally as many white and black wins with it. The only one I haven't play-tested at all yet OTB or otherwise is Pawn Wall Chess, because to me it just seems like standard chess but with more nuisance on the board; I guess I just have a distaste for pawns and the closed positions that they create? Anyway, are any of these positions ones that anybody would ever consider playing? What are people's overall thoughts and opinions regarding custom starting positions in general? Any particular thoughts or critiques regarding my custom starting positions in particular?