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Lag Chess. The last move made by your opponent is not known to you. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Iwer Sonsch wrote on Tue, Jun 8, 2021 01:31 AM UTC:

These submission rules do get tedious when playing OTB with a moderator - however, when the moderator is an online software, this variant should be pretty straightforward to implement, play, and develop theory in.

It might feel more natural to allow players to stay in check as they can in Fog of War chess, denying them some protection against direct threats to their King.

Alternative names: Premove chess, Delay chess, Field report chess. The last name imagines the players as generals, who only receive information about their battles periodically, and have to give commands in advance.

One thing to note is that both players can think about their move simultaneously, as they will know their opponent's last move as soon as they make their own. This might necessitate a more precise definition of the clock.


(zzo38) A. Black wrote on Tue, Oct 2, 2012 02:46 AM UTC:
OK, here is another variant of this lag chess:
  • You send a list of moves to the moderator; the list must be ordered, and you can use algebraic and/or descriptive notation. There is a limit to the number of moves that can be specified.
  • Moves are tried until one is valid and played.
  • If a move is ambiguous, one of the possible moves it represents is played at random, and the player who played it does not get to know what move he played (but his opponent is notified of the exact move played at the next turn, as normal).
  • If none of the moves in the list are valid, a valid move is played completely at random (all moves with equal probability), and again, the player who played it does not get to know what move is made.
  • In all cases, however, both players are immediately told the number of which entry in the list the player wrote was the one played (such as: first, second, third, none valid)
  • Deliberately writing an invalid move as your first choice, or writing the same move more than once, is OK in order to confuse your opponent.

George Duke wrote on Mon, May 18, 2009 06:59 PM UTC:
What Jeremy Good mentions, Lag Chess has the theme if not the specifics. Not quite what he is asking. Hi Jeremy, this is more like Kriegspiel than you mean.

George Duke wrote on Tue, Nov 4, 2008 07:00 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Incomplete information. In current Invisible King, player never gets information formally directly where enemy King goes. In Betza's incomplete information Lag Chess, player relays move through moderator, preferably with back-up move or two. Players get opponent's next to last move from the moderator, not the last move. In brief, almost parallel write-ups, both designers, Betza of Lag and Black of Invisible King, mention or investigate analogy with Kriegspiel.

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