Naturelich Games

The Chess Game in Colour blog published an interesting article about a chess variant. It is a form of cooperative chess played with color tiles. Cooperative chess uses the same moves as regular chess but changed from a competitive to a cooperative game thereby encouraging team work and creative thinking. Pieces need to be matched to make a good move, i.e. both pieces can leave the board (equivalent to a capture in classic chess) . It's possible to compete against the clock and match all pieces as quickly as possible. As an alternative, one can also try to finish the game in as few moves as possible.

Dominique Beyens, who maintains Chess Game in Colour, has created an online version of the game and hints to the interesting aspects of the game:

"- Could be used to teach children the basics of chess in a fun way.
- Games are played with a co-operative mindset while tournaments can
give them a competetive capacity.
- Can be played online globally in a manner similar to correspondence chess
- While beginners can play an easy introductory game, mental wizards
can make combinations and study end games."

Personally, I had never heard of such a chess variant before. So I just had to try it online, immediately. It is actually quite fun, although it felt totally strange and counter-intuitive. A completely different concept of thinking needs to be applied: no more over-protectiveness, no more "conspiracies", no more poisened offerings. It feels totally different.

If you like, give it a try at Chess Game in Colour and experience the difference between team work and competition...