Crazyhouse is a chess variant similar to bughouse chess, but with only two players. Whenever a player captures a piece, that player receives a piece of that type but of his color. Promoted pawns turn back into pawns, when captured. Rather than move during a given turn, a player may place one of his acquired pieces (called "pocket" or "reserve") on the board on any unoccupied location. Pawns may not be placed on the first or eighth rank. The game was played by many chess grandmasters, including Bent Larsen, Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky. A chess variant is a game derived from, related to or similar to chess in at least one respect. ... Bughouse Chess (also called Exchange Chess, Siamese Chess, Tandem Chess, Transfer Chess, or simply Bughouse) is a popular chess variant played on two chessboards by four players in teams of two. ... Bent Larsen Bent Larsen (born March 4, 1935) is a Danish chess player. ... Tigran Petrosian (Armenian: ) (June 17, 1929 – August 13, 1984) was a former World Chess Champion. ... Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasskij) (Russian: ) (born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess player and former world champion. ...

Gameplay

For recording games, the usual algebraic notation of chess is extended to allow specifying the drop of a piece. For example, "p@d5" means "pawn is placed on d5 from reserve".

Crazyhouse is a very tactical game with initiative playing the most important role. Endgames as known in chess do not exist - the queen exchange does not simplify the position, but on the contrary, usually sharpens it to a high extent. Gambits, like the King's or Queen's gambit, should usually be avoided in Crazyhouse. For example, after 1. d4 d5 2. c4? dxc4 3. Nf3, black can simply play 3. ... p@d5 (place captured pawn on d5) with white having no compensation.

Pieces in crazyhouse have different values to that in chess. Their approximate values are as follows:

• knight - 2 pawns
• bishop - 2 pawns
• rook - 2 pawns
• queen - 4 pawns

Variations

There are variations of the game, which are known under different names:

• Loop Chess - promoted pawns keep their rank when captured [1].
• Chessgi, Neo Chess - promoted pawns keep their rank when captured; you are allowed to drop pawns on the first rank [2].
• Siamese Chess - A two player version of bughouse chess, but still played on two boards. Turn order goes counter/clockwise, each player making a move with their white then black pieces.

Bughouse Chess (also called Exchange Chess, Siamese Chess, Tandem Chess, Transfer Chess, or simply Bughouse) is a popular chess variant played on two chessboards by four players in teams of two. ...

See also

• Shogi

Shogi ), or Japanese chess, is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan. ...

External links

• Crazyhouse by Fergus Duniho.