How to Play a Chess 960 Game in Fritz

Chess 960, sometimes known as Fischer Random Chess, is a very unique variant of the classic game. The bottom row of pieces (knights, bishops, rooks, king and queen) are placed completely at random, making the players think from move one because there are no known or prepared openings for this variant. There are 960 different starting positions, hence its name.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Fritz chess software
• Computer
• Mouse

1. Open the Fritz chess playing program and go to "File" in the upper left hand corner of the game window. Then, scroll down to "New," and from there choose "Chess 960." This will open a box with all the Chess 960 options contained within Fritz.

2. Choose a position from the drop-down box or simply push the big button that says "Draw Lots," which will randomly choose a starting position for you. If you happen to know a starting position number, this is the place to put it in.

3. Click "OK" and the game will start. Once the first move is made, Fritz will load the 960 engine, which is a special program within Fritz that is designed specifically for this variant.

Tips & Warnings

• The pieces move exactly the same as in regular chess, and all the same rules apply. The only difference is the starting position, which greatly changes the opening strategies of each game. The aim of the game is the same as always, to checkmate the opponent or promote pawns by moving them to the other side. No theory exists about Chess 960, because there is no set start position, and therefore no set openings! In Chess 960, castling is allowed, and is done by swapping the king and the rook as in standard chess, no matter what the position is, as long as neither the king nor the rook have moved and there are no pieces in between them.