Troitzky Chess

Invented by Paul Byway. Implemented 2009 April
by Mats Winther

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All pieces move as they do in standard chess. Pawns promote on the farthest square of whatever file they are on. Castling is performed by king swapping places with a rook. The king mustn't be in check. On this board N + N can checkmate, with the aid of the K.

Troitzky Chess was inspired by a remark of the end-game study analyst Troitzky that checkmate by two knights is possible if you add two extra squares to the board behind each back rank. The above setup was suggested by G. Jelliss.


Byway's original setup is like this, which is fine also. However, in this position the strategical situation is less ambiguous, which could be a disadvantage. This variant is implemented also.


This is the two-knights mate given by Troitzky.

1. Nc7 Kf9
2. Kh7 Kg9
3. Kg7 Kf9
4. Kh8 Ke10
5. Kg8 Kd10
6. Kf8 Ke10
7. Ke8 Kd10
8. Nb9+ Ke10
9. Nc9#

(source: see below link)


Alexey Alexeyevich Troitsky, or Alexei, or Troitzky (March 14, 1866–August 1942) is considered to have been one of the greatest composers of chess endgame studies. He is widely regarded as the founder of the modern art of composing chess studies. (Seirawan 2003:91) He died of starvation during World War II at the siege of Leningrad, where his notes were destroyed. One of his most famous works involves analyzing the endgame with two knights versus a pawn, see Troitzky line. John Nunn analyzed this endgame with an endgame tablebase and stated that "the analysis of Troitsky ... is astonishingly accurate" (Nunn 1995:265). (Wikipedia)

General chess strategy: develop the light pieces early and try to control the centre. Keep the king safe. Remember that a pawn in excess is generally sufficient for a win. A single light piece (knight or bishop) cannot give mate together with a king versus lone king. A rook is sufficient, however.


References

Pritchard, D.B. (2007). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants.

Internet source: http://www.bcvs.ukf.net/reshap.htm

To play you must have installed "Zillions of Games". Either double-click on TroitzkyChess.zrf or
1. Run "Zillions of Games"
2. Choose "Open Game Rules..." from the File menu
3. Select "TroitzkyChess.zrf" in the Open dialog and click "Open"

TroitzkyChess.zrf is a rules file used by the Windows program "Zillions of Games". Zillions of Games allows you to play any number of games against the computer or over the Internet. Zillions of Games can be purchased online. For more information please visit the Zillions of Games website www.zillions-of-games.com