Chess in another dimension: Variaschach

The next dimension is here

In the 1960s there was once talk of the death of chess, and now it seems that the best players, especially Magnus Carlsen, understand the game so well that they only want to play with a short time control or with a different starting position. The invention of new chess variation is perhaps what we need.

The inventor of Variaschach is Markus Reinhardt, and the idea for this game came about rather by chance. Whilst playing chess with his sons, he thought about how chess could perhaps be made even more varied. And he found a solution.

How to exchange pieces

Learn to master the right exchange! Let the German WGM Elisabeth Pähtz show you how to gain a strategic winning position by exchanging pieces of equal value or to safely convert material advantage into a win.

The game starts from the usual starting position with the usual moves. But after each move, the piece changes to the next higher piece in value — the pawn becomes a knight, the knight a bishop, the bishop a rook, the rook a queen.

Do you end up with only queens on the board? Not quite, because when the queen moves, it turns back into a pawn, and the sequence starts all over again. A piece only retains its value on the back rank. And the king always remains the king.

To make the game possible in this form and to recognise the value of the piece, all possible pieces — pawn, knight, bishop, rook and queen — are printed on the different faces of a die. A red dot is printed on the sixth side, which plays a role in another variation of the game.

Elisabeth Paehtz was also at the ChessBase studio to record a FritzTrainer on a special line of the London System. She was happy to make herself available for an experiment — to play the first recorded Variaschach game while giving her opponent a time advantage of 5 minutes vs. 10 minutes.

During and after the game, there was also an opportunity to talk about her success at the European Women’s Rapid Chess Championship, where she won bronze, and about her curious victory over Lara Schulze at the Women’s Bundesliga. Elisabeth Paehtz had been outplayed by Lara Schulze and was then lucky that her opponent had the right idea at the wrong time.

Report on the latest rounds of the Women’s Bundesliga... (in German)

For all chess fans and readers of the ChessBase news site, Reinhardt has brought along another treat. For one month, starting on 25 January 2024, ChessBase readers will receive the game at a special price of 36.00 euros instead of 49.90 euros. Enter the discount code chessbase (all lower case) on the Variaschach website.

Incidentally, the experiment will continue at the beginning of February, again in new dimensions. Markus Reinhardt will meet the six-time world champion in chess-boxing in Cologne and document how Denno Probst and his team from Chessboxing Cologne train in a new dimension with Variaschach.

Interview and game (in German)

Attacking with the Jobava London System

The Jobava London System is a minor form of the London System. White tries to play Lf4 quickly followed by Nc3.

Video recording and production: Arne Kähler

The game

Reinhardt-Paehtz
Friendly game 10 vs 5 minutes, Hamburg, 23 January 2024

In the excitement, Markus Reinhardt, who was playing with a clock for the first time, made three moves between moves 22 and 24 that were not in accordance with the rules, which went unnoticed and had no influence on the course of the game.

The rules of Variaschach (in German)

Making the right decisions in chess - Fundamentals

In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.

Links

• Variaschach website
• Elisabeth Paehtz vs. Fritz 19 - The Positional (Strong Club Player)
• Elisabeth Paehtz: “For every kilo I gained, I gained ten Elo points”