Knighted chess

Knighted chess, also called Capablanca chess, is a family of over twenty Western chess variants which incorporate two new pieces. The family includes Capablanca chess (usually played on a 10×8 board, but Capablanca preferred a 10x10 board), Seirawan chess (on a 8x8 board), Embassy chess, Grand chess (10x10 board), and Gothic chess. The two new pieces combine the powers of knight with that of bishop or rook, hence the term "knighted chess" as used by Cazaux & Knowlton.

The new compound pieces are the archbishop or princess which combines moves of a bishop and a knight, and the chancellor or empress which combines moves of a rook and a knight. These new pieces (which go by various other names depending on the variant) allow new strategies and possibilities that provide an interesting change to the game of chess while also retaining the original style and aesthetic. For example, the archbishop by itself can checkmate a lone king in a corner (when placed diagonally with one square in between). A few variants also add another compound piece, the amazon (queen+knight).

The first knighted chess variant was introduced by Italian chess player Pietro Carrera in his 1617 book Il Gioco de gli Scacchi (The Game of Chess). Various similar games appear throughout the 18th and 19th centuries with the new knighted pieces. In the 20th century, World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca (1888–1942) also promoted a knighted chess variant now called Capablanca chess. Capablanca was concerned with how high-level chess was overly reliant on extensive memorization and study of chess openings and their variations. He feared that eventually most high-level games would end in draws because of this. This threat of "draw death" for chess was his main motivation for developing and promoting a new chess variant. Later board game designers like Christian Freeling also attempted to promote different knighted chess variants.

Several chess grandmasters played and commented on knighted chess variants throughout the 20th century. Alexander Alekhine is reported to have played Neo-chess. The American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan designed his own variant to be played on a standard chessboard (Seraiwan chess). The Soviet grandmaster Victor Korchnoi is known to have enjoyed playing Janus Chess, and is quoted as having said "I like playing Janus Chess because one can show more creativity than in normal chess."