Shall We Play Fischer Random Chess

There has long been talk of the death of chess, that it would one day be ‘played out’, but with the use of powerful computer programs and databases in recent years, this fear is being taken very seriously. Computers have greatly accelerated the pace of opening knowledge and ever deeper and deeper preparation is now required – with many chess games effectively starting on move 20 or more. To side-step the effect of computers on our venerable game the great American champion Bobby Fischer has devised a form of chess in which the initial starting position of the pieces is randomly changed before each game. Much thought and practical experimentation has gone into the formulation of the new rules of ‘Fischerandom’ in order to retain all the essential qualities of the classical form of the game- even castling – so that players can once again enjoy pure chess where the only thing that counts is who is the better player on the day. The first all-grandmaster Fischerandom match has already taken place and is predicted to increase the new game’s popularity. In this book, the first ever on Fischerandom, the author discusses at length the problems the chess world is facing today – with quotes and opinions from contemporary players, organisers and journalists – and the history of shuffe chess, together with complete Fischerandom rules and a selection of illustrative games.