Could a chess variant that incorporates luck ever catch on? • page 1/2 • General Chess Discussion • lichess.org

and I don't mean in the way Fischer random does, either. (and yes, I know it's called "freestyle" or whatever now, but I digress)
If you make "getting lucky" a condition for winning a game of chess, does it stop being chess? as in, does it lose that flavor that made the game great to begin with?
for example, if, at the end of every "full turn" (as in, after both white and black have made their first or second, etc.. move) a random piece on both sides gained some sort of "special ability" (atomic rules for that piece only, gains the abilities of a queen, etc..) would that be fun, or extremely frustrating due to the luck aspect?

and I don't mean in the way Fischer random does, either. (and yes, I know it's called "freestyle" or whatever now, but I digress) If you make "getting lucky" a condition for winning a game of chess, does it stop being chess? as in, does it lose that flavor that made the game great to begin with? for example, if, at the end of every "full turn" (as in, after both white and black have made their first or second, etc.. move) a random piece on both sides gained some sort of "special ability" (atomic rules for that piece only, gains the abilities of a queen, etc..) would that be fun, or extremely frustrating due to the luck aspect?

IM zwenna

#2

One element of luck that people have been using for centuries is a dice that determines which piece you have to move. There are several variants of dice chess, personally I have been playing one with three dices for a few months, you can find the rules at https://dicechess.net/rules/.

Is it still chess? I guess the answer is no, as luck is the most important factor in the outcome of a single game. However, skill determines your long term results, and I found the game fun, although it can be frustrating at times because losing streaks of 5-6 games are absolutely guaranteed no matter how good you are.

One element of luck that people have been using for centuries is a dice that determines which piece you have to move. There are several variants of dice chess, personally I have been playing one with three dices for a few months, you can find the rules at https://dicechess.net/rules/. Is it still chess? I guess the answer is no, as luck is the most important factor in the outcome of a single game. However, skill determines your long term results, and I found the game fun, although it can be frustrating at times because losing streaks of 5-6 games are absolutely guaranteed no matter how good you are.

discoooooord

#3

Well, of course..
A factor of luck is what sets aside chess from poker, ludo, snake, etc as a truly noble and novel game.
Any variant of chess with the incorporation of luck, I would never, ever, play personally.

Well, of course.. A factor of luck is what sets aside chess from poker, ludo, snake, etc as a truly noble and novel game. Any variant of chess with the incorporation of luck, I would never, ever, play personally.

lizani

#4

@discoooooord said in #3:

Well, of course..
A factor of luck is what sets aside chess from poker, ludo, snake, etc as a truly noble and novel game.
Any variant of chess with the incorporation of luck, I would never, ever, play personally.

Agreed, chess blends complexity and logic like no other game. It's deep but you can always work backwards and understand why a certain move was good or bad. There are games that are more complex but also more random. Chess would lose it's appeal for me if it lost its rational core.

@discoooooord said in #3: > Well, of course.. > A factor of luck is what sets aside chess from poker, ludo, snake, etc as a truly noble and novel game. > Any variant of chess with the incorporation of luck, I would never, ever, play personally. Agreed, chess blends complexity and logic like no other game. It's deep but you can always work backwards and understand why a certain move was good or bad. There are games that are more complex but also more random. Chess would lose it's appeal for me if it lost its rational core.

V1g1yy

#5

I think a game with luck Incorporated could easily catch on. Before I even read posts three and four I was already going to say, I think what you would find is that variant will be extremely polarizing. In other words, you're going to have people who love it and others who hate it, and virtually nobody in between. And I think the responses above show that.

NM ThunderClap edited

#6

Well , It had it's chance ! Chess derived from India & had dice at the start 1400 years ago heh' @qpalzm123456 Also check out A History Of Chess by HJR Murray in which he took 12 years to write over 1000 pages published in 1912

SimonBirch

#7

Oh thought you were talking bout standard chess , that already exists!! ha ha xxx

FM matiss90

#8

@zwenna said in #2:

One element of luck that people have been using for centuries is a dice that determines which piece you have to move. There are several variants of dice chess, personally I have been playing one with three dices for a few months, you can find the rules at dicechess.net/rules/.

Is it still chess? I guess the answer is no, as luck is the most important factor in the outcome of a single game. However, skill determines your long term results, and I found the game fun, although it can be frustrating at times because losing streaks of 5-6 games are absolutely guaranteed no matter how good you are.
I play also Dice Chess its cool and fun new game I play it offline and also dicechess.com

@zwenna said in #2: > One element of luck that people have been using for centuries is a dice that determines which piece you have to move. There are several variants of dice chess, personally I have been playing one with three dices for a few months, you can find the rules at dicechess.net/rules/. > > Is it still chess? I guess the answer is no, as luck is the most important factor in the outcome of a single game. However, skill determines your long term results, and I found the game fun, although it can be frustrating at times because losing streaks of 5-6 games are absolutely guaranteed no matter how good you are. I play also Dice Chess its cool and fun new game I play it offline and also dicechess.com

Hagredion

#9

Chess already incorporates luck, 90% of the games I lose is because of bad luck.

Abigail-III

#10

Dice chess has already been mentioned.

But there is also Kriegspiel (and its variants), where you do not see where your opponents pieces are located.

Dark chess, where you can only see the squares your pieces are on, or can move to (and you can have "dark" rules applied to chess variants). Dark chess is also known as Fog of War.

Bughouse has some chance elements to it.

The chessvariants website has pages listing chess with cards (http://www.chessvariants.org/index/mainquery.php?type=Any&category=Cards&orderby=LinkText&displayauthor=1&displayinventor=1&usethisheading=Chess+With+Cards), chess with dice (http://www.chessvariants.org/index/mainquery.php?type=Any&category=Dice&orderby=LinkText&displayauthor=1&displayinventor=1&usethisheading=Chess+With+Dice) and chess with incomplete information (http://www.chessvariants.org/index/mainquery.php?type=Any&category=IncompleteInfo&orderby=LinkText&displayauthor=1&displayinventor=1&usethisheading=Chess+With+Incomplete+Information)

Dice chess has already been mentioned. But there is also Kriegspiel (and its variants), where you do not see where your opponents pieces are located. Dark chess, where you can only see the squares your pieces are on, or can move to (and you can have "dark" rules applied to chess variants). Dark chess is also known as Fog of War. Bughouse has some chance elements to it. The chessvariants website has pages listing chess with cards (http://www.chessvariants.org/index/mainquery.php?type=Any&category=Cards&orderby=LinkText&displayauthor=1&displayinventor=1&usethisheading=Chess+With+Cards), chess with dice (http://www.chessvariants.org/index/mainquery.php?type=Any&category=Dice&orderby=LinkText&displayauthor=1&displayinventor=1&usethisheading=Chess+With+Dice) and chess with incomplete information (http://www.chessvariants.org/index/mainquery.php?type=Any&category=IncompleteInfo&orderby=LinkText&displayauthor=1&displayinventor=1&usethisheading=Chess+With+Incomplete+Information)