Chigorin Chess Chigorin Chess Chigorin Chess is a chess variant invented by Ralph Betza in 2002. It was named after Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin. Betza commented that The game follows all the rules and conventions of standard chess, with two differences: Chigorin Chess was meant to emphasize the contrast between the relative values of knights and bishops in standard chess. Betza commented that it was a good introductory variant for chessplayers, like his earlier Almost Chess. Betza considered that White has a large advantage due to his fast development, being able to castle as early as the third move, whereas Black cannot castle
Chess with different armies This army includes a lot of leapers, but most of them have asymmetrical move patterns, with backward moves being restricted. The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces: The four armies described above were playtested by Ralph Betza and selected as the most balanced ones. There are other armies, invented by Betza and other people, some of which are presented here. In the initial version of the game there were 8 armies and in these armies the king moved differently from the king in the standard chess. Instead of normal pawns, fairy pawns could be selected,