One of 960 possible starting setups. Black's setup always mirrors White's.
Years active
Since June 19, 1996
Genres
Board game Chess variant
Players
2
Setup time
≈1 min + 1 min to determine starting position
Playing time
Casual games: 10–60 min Tournament games: from 10 min (fast chess) to >6 h
Chance
Pieces are randomized
Skills
Strategy, tactics
Synonyms
Chess960
This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
Fischer random chess, also known as Chess960 ('chess nine-sixty'), is a variation of the game of chess invented by the former world chess champion Bobby Fischer.[1] Fischer announced this variation on June 19, 1996, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[2][3][4] Fischer random chess employs the same board and pieces as classical chess, but the starting position of the pieces on the players' home ranks is randomized, following certain rules. The random setup makes gaining an advantage through the memorization of openings impracticable; players instead must rely more on their skill and creativity over the board.
Randomizing the main pieces had long been known as shuffle chess, but Fischer random chess introduces new rules for the initial random setup, "preserving the dynamic nature of the game by retaining bishops of opposite colors for each player and the right to castle for both sides".[5] The result is 960 unique possible starting positions.
In 2008, FIDE added Chess960 to an appendix of the Laws of Chess.[8] The first world championship officially sanctioned by FIDE, the FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship 2019, brought additional prominence to the variant. It was won by Wesley So.[9] In 2022, Hikaru Nakamura became the new champion.[10]
^"It was the world chess champion Robert James Fischer who, in 1996, formulated precise rules for randomized chess ... . Though still not so well-known, this invention of Bobby Fischer is already raising reasonable hopes among experts that chess will remain a mass game for the foreseeable future." (Gligorić 2002:5). "Despite his extremely long absence from competition, he [Fischer] won it [the 1992 return match with Spassky] with a good score of 10–5 in decisive games. It was then that Fischer began to think of reforming the game. The result of his hard work over several years is Fischerandom Chess—and plans for exhibition matches of a new kind..." (Gligorić 2002:8).
^Eric van Reem. "The birth of Fischer Random Chess". The Chess Variant Pages. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
^Gligorić (2002), p. 9.
^"Bobby Fischer makes his move in Argentina". Archived from the original on January 23, 2004. Retrieved September 1, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Gligorić (2002), p. 40.
^From laws history page of the CCA "FIDE Laws of Chess - coming into force on 1 July 2009" (PDF). CCA – Chess Arbiters' Association. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
^Cite error: The named reference FideLawsOfChess was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^In 2008 FIDE added Chess960 rules to an appendix of the Handbook.[6] This section is now classified under "Guidelines",[7] indicating that the rules presented do not have the weight of FIDE law.
^"FIDE officially recognizes the World Fischer Random Chess Championship". FIDE. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
^Rodgers (JackRodgers), Jack. "Hikaru Nakamura Wins Fischer Random World Championship: Flash Report". Chess.com. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
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