Games Index Back to MusicWords Home

Clairvoyant Chess

Clairvoyant Chess is played with the usual chess equipment, and all of the moves are exactly as in standard chess. The difference is this: Before each move, a player can earn credits (let's call them Zorkmids) by guessing what his or her opponent is about to do. By spending Zorkmids during the course of the game, the player can buy extra pieces that can be dropped into play, buy the right to make two moves in a single turn, or buy the right to refuse the opponent's move, forcing it to be retracted.

I had originally envisioned this variant as involving wagers, but rejected this idea because it would require an independent third party (preferably a Grandmaster) to assess the likelihood of each move and lay odds. Guessing is simpler, and results in much the same type of game play.

Before each move (including White's first move), the opponent can write down up to three guesses. Since there's no penalty for guessing, you should always make three guesses. A guess can be in one of two forms: You can guess which piece will be moved, but not guess where it will be moved; or you can guess both the piece and its destination. If you guess both the piece and its destination correctly, you earn more Zorkmids -- but if a piece/destination guess is correct as to the piece but incorrect as to the destination, you receive no Zorkmids at all for the guess. Guessing just the piece and not the destination is safer, but the rewards are smaller.

Since you're allowed to make three guesses before each of your opponent's moves, it's legal to guess the same piece all three times, with three different destinations -- or, for example, twice with a destination and once without. The three guesses are evaluated independently. You could even make the same piece/destination guess all three times, if you're feeling cocky (or desperate for some cash). However, if your opponent's king is in check and there is only one legal move that will remove the check, you earn a flat 12Z: No guessing is required or allowed, and you don't earn extra for guessing the move three times.

After each move, the opponent's guess sheet is revealed, and the value of correct guesses is tallied. A cribbage board may be convenient for keeping track of the Zorkmids in the players' accounts. If both players agree (and if a game record of moves is being kept), Clairvoyant Chess can be played "blind" -- that is, neither player need reveal the guesses he or she has made until such time as he or she wishes to spend the accumuluated Z in some manner. In this case, the entire record of guesses must be revealed at the point where the player wishes to buy something: you can't reveal just enough correct guesses to buy what you want to buy and keep the size of your remaining balance of Zorkmids secret.

What's interesting about the guessing procedure, aside from the variables that are introduced into the play by the purchases each player makes, is that there's an incentive to make unexpected moves so as to deprive your opponent of a few Z. Knowing you're thinking this way, your opponent may then guess a move that seems less likely. True clairvoyance may be as useful as a knowledge of chess tactics.

The exact value of correct guesses will probably need a little tinkering after being tested in game-play. Ideally, one would want to allow each player to gain enough Z to be able to purchase something once in every five or six moves. Note that you must always guess the exact piece that will be moved; guessing "a knight" or "a bishop" is not allowed. Below are my preliminary suggestions. In this table, the "buy" column shows the value of guessing that your opponent will buy a particular piece, and the "buy & drop square" column shows the value of guessing both that such a piece will be bought and also the square on which it will be dropped.

* Castling is considered a king move, but predicting the king's destination has no extra value.

Guessing that a player will buy an extra move is worth 20Z. Guessing that your opponent will force the retraction of the mosve you're about to make is also worth 20Z.

When spending your Zorkmids, the values below should be used (unless you come up with some that give better game-play, in which case please let me know). When buying a piece to drop onto the board, you buy before your turn and drop immediately. The drop occurs in place of a move, and a piece cannot be dropped in such a way as to check the enemy king. When buying an extra move in a turn, you can either move the same piece twice, or move two different pieces. In either case, the second move is always the one paid for. Normally you'll prefer to move the less expensive piece second, but if the first move unblocks a piece, you may need to move the less expensive piece first. If your first move in a turn checks the enemy king, you can't buy a second move by the same piece (unless the player happens to have two or more kings). But you can buy a second move that also checks the enemy king to create a double check, or check the king with your first move and then buy a second move that eliminates a way of removing the check (or even turns the check to a checkmate).

Buying three or more moves per turn is not allowed. You can, however, buy and drop two or more pieces per turn, or buy and drop a piece and then buy one or two moves for it in the same turn.

* If a player accumulates enough Zorkmids to buy a 2nd king (unlikely), for as long as the two kings are both on the board, either can freely enter check. The first king in a pair is captured as a normal piece, after which the remaining king reverts to the usual rules for check.

** An extra non-capturing move for the king is 3Z if not in check, 7Z if in check, 11Z if the king's first move is into check and the second move is out of check, or if the first move in the turn is by another piece whose move leaves the king in check.

*** 18 if the king's first capturing move was not into check, 25 if it was into check.

Note that since the second move in any given turn is the one that is bought, you can capture with the first move of a piece and then buy a second, non-capturing move to retreat.

Forcing the opponent to retract a move and choose another costs 10Z. Forcing retraction of a checking move costs 15Z. Forcing retraction of a move that eliminates a check is 25Z. (This is only allowed if the opponent has another legal move that eliminates the check. You're not allowed to force the retraction of a move that is the only way the opponent can remove the check.) Note that if you have enough Zorkmids, you can force two or more retractions in a single turn.