Atomic Chess by Rekursiv - What Is Atomic Chess?

Atomic chess is a variation of the classical game of chess. It is played on the same board and with the same pieces on their same starting squares as chess. Atomic chess was introduced on-line at the German Internet Chess Server (GICS) on November 27, 1995 by a user called connex. However, the game, in one form or another, probably existed for many years prior to that.

The game is now primarily played on-line at various chess servers by at least several hundred people regularly. Even Levon Aronian (top chess grandmaster) has tried atomic chess (where, at the time of writing, his rating sits at 1868 after 24 wins and 16 losses). One of the best (if not the best) atomic chess communities can be found at The Free Internet Chess Server (FICS). Other places to play atomic chess include The Internet Chess Club , Scheming Mind , Brain King, and owl21.

The Atomic Rule

In an atomic chess game, White goes first and the pieces move just as they do in regular chess (including castling and en passant captures), and the object is still to win your opponent's king. The major rule difference is the atomic rule:

When a piece is captured, not only is the captured piece removed but so too are the capturing piece and all non-pawn pieces within a one-square radius of the square on which the capture took place.

Here, White can play Qxb7. If so, we say that an explosion takes place with a one square radius centered at b7. This explosion will kill the pawn on b7, the White queen, and all non-pawn pieces within the outlined squares. After the capture, the position will look like this:

The rest of the rules of atomic chess will be discussed in detail in the next chapter. They deal with the subtleties of check and checkmate.

The Opening

White has tremendous control of the opening. Black's choices of response are generally very limited. For example, if White plays 1. Nf3, then Black only has three responses out of twenty that don't lose outright: f6, e5, and d6. If White begins with 1. e3, then it is difficult to find out that only e6, Nf6, f5, d6 are playable responses.

A classic example of the danger that Black faces in the opening occurs after 1. e4 e5, a standard regular chess opening:

Here, White actually has a forced win! He attacks the squares around the Black king with his queen: 1. Qh5 g6 2. Qh3

White is now threatening to capture the pawn on d7, which will catch the Black king in an explosion. Black must block with 2. ... f5 (moving the pawn off of d7 will simply allow Qd7 checkmate, since the White queen could not be captured without killing the Black king in the ensuing explosion). Then after 3. exf5, Black has no defense against the invading White queen:

So, Black must play the opening very carefully in order to survive it. However, with all the opening theory that has been developed over the last decade, no one has yet proved that White has a forced win from move 1. The game may indeed turn out to be a theoretical draw with best play. In fact, in every attacking line White has put forth, defenses have been found by Black, and some of these defenses are quite miraculous or "magical" as a top player of the game likes to say. The outcome of atomic chess, whether it is a forced win for White or a theoretical draw, seems to be balanced on a razor's edge. This is one of the things that gives the game its appeal and keeps us all playing.

The beginning player often gets the impression, after being mated by move six several times, that the opening is full of a disorganized set of "tricks" that must be memorized in line after line. The truth is that there are numerous common opening tactical motifs that surface in many different opening lines. Once these tactics are learned, the logic of the opening phase of the game becomes apparent and it becomes possible to survive past move ten.

The Middlegame

The middlegame of atomic chess is full of interesting tactics. Pieces are sacrificed, files are ripped open, passed pawns are achieved. The middlegame is especially dangerous if the queens remain on the board. Just as in chess, every move (or sequence of forcing moves) must be made with a plan in mind.

Sometimes plans involve trading down to a favorable endgame. In fact many atomic chess games do not have a middlegame at all: a long opening sequence (10-15 moves maybe) is played where queens are traded, action is diffused, and White achieves a favorable endgame. But in this day of tenacious defense, such methods of play often result in draws.

It is somewhat surprising that some of today's more powerful openings of White involve positional moves that aren't extremely forcing and that lead to superior middlegames rather than superior endgames. This is a more modern style of playing. Pawn centers are built up and positions are reached where there don't seem to be many tactics present and the material is equal. But just when you are lulled into sleep, White wins five moves later!

The Endgame

The atomic endgame is a thing of beauty. It often revolves around the fact that in atomic chess the kings are allowed to reside on adjacent squares. The logic of this is that neither king can take the other because suicide is illegal, and so adjacent kings are not "checking" each other as they are in regular chess.

Endgames are fun and often easy to analyze. For example, consider the following position.

Since Black has no material other than his king, White cannot win by indirectly exploding the Black king, instead he must attack the king directly. Unfortunately, since the kings are adjacent, White cannot take the Black king because doing so would catch his own king in the resulting explosion (this is why Black is not considered to be in check at the moment). Moreover, wherever the White king moves, the Black king will follow, saying "if I die, you die with me!"

But White has a plan! He will use the corner of the board to strip the Black king away from his own. Play proceeds like this: 1. Kg1 Kg2 2. Kh1 Kh2 3. Qg1 Kg2 4. Qh5-h2!

Black is now forced away from the White king where he will die alone: 4. ... Kf3 5. Qg1-g2+ Ke3 6. Qf4+ Kd3 7. Qg2-d2 checkmate.

If it is Black to move, White wins, but if it is White to move, the game is drawn! We'll solve this problem later in the book.

Rule Variations

There are at least three versions of atomic chess in existence. This book will be about atomic chess as it is played at FICS (and other places), which I believe is the best version of the game. Another version is played at ICC. The difference is simply in how check and checkmate are handled. So, luckily the two versions are so similar that it is easy for a player of one version to get used to the other, and also, the opening theory is virtually identical. A third version of the game is quite different: when explosions occur, all pieces, including the pawns, within a one-square radius are removed. I do not know where on-line this game can be played, and it probably does not have a large following.

MightyByte (at FICS), has thought of an intriguing fourth variation he tentatively calls "Terrorist Atomic," in which the rules are the same as those at FICS with one addition: a piece may capture itself (causing an explosion). I like this version and hope it catches on someday.

A Tour of Atomic on the Internet

Besides the chess servers I have mentioned where atomic can be played, there are several web sites devoted to the game:

The following web site deserves special attention. It is a searchable database of games (including atomic chess and other variants) played at FICS. It is an invaluable resource for the serious atomic player.