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Dunsany's chess facts for kids

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Dunsany's chess starting setup

Dunsany's chess, also known as Dunsany's game, is an asymmetric chess variant in which Black has the standard chess army and White has 32 pawns. This game was invented by Lord Dunsany in 1942. It was published the same year in Fairy Chess Review (August issue) and in Joseph Boyer's Nouveaux Jeux d'Echecs Non-orthodoxes.

A similar game is Horde chess.

Game rules

Black's setup is the same in regular chess; White's army consists of 32 pawns, filling ranks one through four, as shown in the diagram. Rules are the same as in regular chess, with the following exceptions:

  • Black moves first.
  • Only Black's pawns have the two-step option on their first move.
  • Black wins by capturing all 32 white pawns; White wins by checkmating Black.

As in regular chess, pawns promote on the final rank, and stalemate occurs if White's pawns run out of moves.

Horde chess

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a8 black pawn
b8 black pawn
c8 black pawn
f8 black pawn
g8 black pawn
h8 black pawn
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
c7 black pawn
d7 black pawn
e7 black pawn
f7 black pawn
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
a6 black pawn
b6 black pawn
c6 black pawn
d6 black pawn
e6 black pawn
f6 black pawn
g6 black pawn
h6 black pawn
a5 black pawn
b5 black pawn
c5 black pawn
d5 black pawn
e5 black pawn
f5 black pawn
g5 black pawn
h5 black pawn
d4 black pawn
e4 black pawn
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
d2 white pawn
e2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
b1 white knight
c1 white bishop
d1 white queen
e1 white king
f1 white bishop
g1 white knight
h1 white rook
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Horde chess starting setup

Horde chess, by Filip Rachunek in 2002, is similar to Dunsany's chess but with the following differences:

  • White's pieces are the normal chess pieces, and Black's pieces are 32 pawns, occupying ranks five through eight, but with pawns on d4 and e4 instead of d8 and e8.
  • White moves first.
  • Black's pawns on rank seven have the two-step option of regular chess.

Horde chess is one of the few chess variants to have a full theory book written about it.

Horde variant

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a8 black rook
b8 black knight
c8 black bishop
d8 black queen
e8 black king
f8 black bishop
g8 black knight
h8 black rook
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
c7 black pawn
d7 black pawn
e7 black pawn
f7 black pawn
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
b5 white pawn
c5 white pawn
f5 white pawn
g5 white pawn
a4 white pawn
b4 white pawn
c4 white pawn
d4 white pawn
e4 white pawn
f4 white pawn
g4 white pawn
h4 white pawn
a3 white pawn
b3 white pawn
c3 white pawn
d3 white pawn
e3 white pawn
f3 white pawn
g3 white pawn
h3 white pawn
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
d2 white pawn
e2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
a1 white pawn
b1 white pawn
c1 white pawn
d1 white pawn
e1 white pawn
f1 white pawn
g1 white pawn
h1 white pawn
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Horde variant starting setup

A Horde variant uses the opening setup shown in the diagram. In this variant, White's pawns on the first and second ranks may advance one or two steps, provided that the path on the file is free. Unlike in regular chess, this does not have to be the pawn's first move.

Both Lichess and Chess.com have support for this variant.

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