How to Play a Game of Fischer Random Chess

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By elliotfeldman
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Bobby Fischer

In 1972, the eccentric, controversial, all-time-great American chess master, the late Bobby Fischer, renounced the traditional game of chess and went into seclusion. In 1996, Fischer held a press conference where he introduced a new chess variant, then known as “Fischerandom.” A thorn in the side of the chess establishment, Fischer claimed that the intent of his version was to bring back the “fun” in the game. Fischer Random Chess is a variant of the classic game of chess created by Fischer. The biggest difference between classic chess and Fischer Random Chess (AKA Chess960) is the computer-scrambled randomized positions of the back-row royal game pieces.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Chess board
Chess pieces
Computer with Internet connection
Two players

Step 1

Find an open-minded chess opponent with a sense of daring.
Step 2

Visit one of several websites devoted to Fischer Random Chess (see Resources below). These programs immediately create a back-row configuration for your game. There are 960 calculated possible versions of these back-row configurations, thus the alternate game name, Chess960. (More palatable for players who don’t cotton to the anti-American and anti-Semitic rants that Fischer had made towards the end of his life.)
Step 3

Have both players identically configure their back rows according to the randomizer’s results.
Step 4

Play the game with the same rules as classic chess.