Almost Chess Almost Chess Almost Chess is a chess variant invented by Ralph Betza in 1977. The game is played using a standard chessboard and pieces, except the players' queens are replaced by chancellors, which combine the moves of a rook and a knight. Almost Chess was featured in NOST magazine "Nost-algia", beginning with issue 205. Other than the replacement of queens by chancellors (notated "C"), the game follows all the rules and conventions of standard chess. The Fool's mate in Almost Chess begins 1.Cc3. Replacing queens with chancellors imparts a radical change to the nature of the chess game, despite the
Alice Chess on the opposite board is occupied. (In that case, the transfer portion of the move is omitted.) By Michael O'Donohue (2003). Black starts out on board B; transfers are optional; non-pawn pieces may make "zero" moves (and may capture in so doing); a king is checked when an opposing piece sits on the king's zero square; mate must cover the king's ability to flee via a zero move. By Jed Stone (1981). Parton also introduced a smaller, 8x4 version of Alice Chess (see diagram). He also observed that Alice Chess can be played using "three" boards instead of two. (Players