abcdef
6
a6 black rook
b6 black knight
c6 black queen
d6 black king
e6 black knight
f6 black rook
6
5
a5 black pawn
b5 black pawn
c5 black pawn
d5 black pawn
e5 black pawn
f5 black pawn
5
4
a4
b4
c4
d4
e4
f4
4
3
a3
b3
c3
d3
e3
f3
3
2
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
d2 white pawn
e2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
2
1
a1 white rook
b1 white knight
c1 white queen
d1 white king
e1 white knight
f1 white rook
1
abcdef
Los Alamos chess setup

Los Alamos chess (or anti-clerical chess[1]) is a chess variant played on a 6×6 board without bishops. This was the first chess-like game played by a computer program. This program was written at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory by Paul Stein and Mark Wells for the MANIAC I computer[2] in 1956. The reduction of the board size and the number of pieces from standard chess was due to the very limited capacity of computers at the time.

Game rules

The starting position is illustrated. All rules are as in chess except:

Los Alamos trials

The computer played three games. The first it played against itself. The second one was against a strong human player, who played without a queen. The human player won. In the third game, MANIAC I played against a laboratory assistant who had been taught the rules of chess in the preceding week specifically for the game. The computer won, marking the first time that a computer had beaten a human player in a chess-like game.[2][3]

The third game

abcdef
6
a6
b6
c6 black king
d6
e6
f6
6
5
a5
b5
c5 black knight
d5
e5 white knight
f5
5
4
a4 black rook
b4
c4 black pawn
d4 white queen
e4
f4 black pawn
4
3
a3
b3
c3 black pawn
d3 white pawn
e3
f3
3
2
a2
b2
c2 white pawn
d2
e2 white pawn
f2
2
1
a1
b1 white rook
c1
d1 white king
e1
f1 white rook
1
abcdef
Final position after 23.Ne5#

White: MANIAC I   Black: Beginner
1.d3 b4 2.Nf3 d4 3.b3 e4 4.Ne1 a4 5.bxa4 Nxa4 6.Kd2 Nc3 7.Nxc3 bxc3+ 8.Kd1 f4 9.a3 Rb6 10.a4 Ra6 11.a5 Kd5 12.Qa3 Qb5 13.Qa2+ Ke5 14.Rb1 Rxa5 15.Rxb5 Rxa2 16.Rb1 Ra5 17.f3 Ra4 18.fxe4 c4 19.Nf3+ Kd6 20.e5+ Kd5 21.exf6=Q Nc5 22.Qxd4+ Kc6 23.Ne5# 1–0[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Anderson (1986), p. 105
  2. ^ a b Pritchard (1994), p. 175
  3. ^ Pritchard (2007), p. 112
  4. ^ Pritchard (1994), p. 176

Bibliography

Further reading