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
The Game of Chinese Chess The Game of Chinese Chess The Game of Chinese Chess or The Game of Chinese Checkers (French - "Le jeu d'échets chinois") is a drawing by the French artist François Boucher, showing an orientalised image of two people playing Xiangqi - actual Xiangqi pieces are all round, whereas the shapes of the pieces in the drawing are more varied. It is best known through the 39.4 by 27.7 cm engraving made after it by the Englishman John Ingram (1721 - c.1771; fl. 1763). It was part of a series of etchings he made of Boucher's chinoiserie subjects between 1741 and