Monday 14 April 2014

Rollerball Chess

Rollerball Chess. It really is a thing.
It was invented in 1998 by Jean-Louis Cazaux and was inspired by the 1975 movie Rollerball. The game is played on a 7x7 donut shaped chessboard, with the central 9 squares missing. You either win by checkmate, or by getting your king to the starting square of the opponents king. A description of the game can be found here, at wikipedia.
I'm not sure how playable the game is, but one thought did come to mind. A life sized version of the game, with actual people, might be entertaining, although a little difficult to keep under control. I suspect everyone would want to be a rook or a bishop (so as to get a good head of speed up), although putting heavier set players in as pawns might be a winning strategy, especially if you are only captured if you are knocked over. Maybe something for the chess boxing promoters to think about in the future.

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