Circular Chess was invented in
1983 by
Dave Reynolds. It is not that different from standard
chess as far as the
rules go. The big difference is the shape of the board, which is a flat
donut with a four square width, sixteen square circumference, and squares on the outer rings which are larger than squares on the inner rings.
Circular Chess is known as a chess variant (as opposed to a game all its own), because it doesn't really
alter piece movement. The pieces move as they would if the board were a
standard chess board, with the exceptions being that no piece can
rotate completely around the board to land on the space it was previously
occupying, and that if a piece reaches the center circle, it completely crosses it as if it weren't there, and lands on the
opposite square across the center circle that is in accordance with its movement. The piece cannot change direction while crossing the center, for the same
obvious reasons that the piece cannot change direction in mid-movement any other time, and also because the center is not considered a space. In addition, there is no
castling.
The setup for each player is a 'folded' version of the original setup, which is to say, the pieces are set up as if the original board was cut down the middle and each slice were rotated ninety degrees. The
queen and
king are right next to the center of the circle followed by the
bishops, then the
knights, and finally both
rooks on the outside. A line of four
pawns stand to the left and to the right of the center pieces while being in front of them as they would in standard chess.
There are
numerous reasons to actually take the time to play Circular Chess (one of the main ones being that it's not
square) but one of most liked and least obvious reasons is that on a circular chess board, although very little has changed, absolutely no
strategy that was built or used on a square chess board will carry over. This, of course, gives a much needed spray of
Febreze to the good ol' game.
As far as Circle Chess' popularity goes, in
1996, thirteen years after Dave Reynolds invented Circular Chess, he started the
Circular Chess Society. They are a currently small but always expanding group, and they have been hosting the
World Circular Chess Championships since they came together.
For more info on/To join the Circular Chess Society go to http://www.circularchess.co.uk/