<p>This is one form of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Displacement_chess">Displacement chess</a>, though I don't know that it has its own name, or any sites/books dedicated to studying it.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-20T17:16:59.330Z
2011-06-20T17:16:59.330Z
BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
<p>There is a call for this kind of switch when it is felt that chess is "too well understood."</p>

<p>The first call was about eighty years ago from former world champion Jose R. Capablanca. He embraced a "scientific" form of chess, took it to a high level, and then he (and his admirers) felt that there was little left to learn about in chess. </p>

<p>As it turned out, the Russians came along with a new, fighting, kind of chess that enabled them to defeat the "scientific" players. Only Bobby Fischer, among Americans, was able to play them on their own terms.</p>

<p>It's no accident nowadays that there are new calls for changing the game, because high speed computers like Big Blue have made a science of analyzing the old one. Human masters like Kasparov (a "Russian") now feel inferior to computers at this game.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-20T20:24:26.087Z
2011-06-20T20:24:26.087Z
Tom Au
<p>Here <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/03/soviet-pioneer-camp-communism-scouts-belarus" rel="nofollow noreferrer">is a photo</a> from a Chess Pioneer (Russia) camp in the 1960s--1970s...notice the pieces are switched, so that White's back rank is, in fact, RBNQKNBR</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-20T23:31:20.157Z
2017-07-21T12:09:41.833Z
2017-07-21T12:09:41.833Z
JackWoods
<p>Swapping the knights and bishops is one version of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Displacement_chess" rel="noreferrer">displacement chess</a>. I'm not sure what you wish to learn though; the main aim of displacement chess systems, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess960" rel="noreferrer">Fischer random chess</a>, is to negate the benefit of rote learning. Learning how to play this variant well by studying sounds like a strange goal!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-23T14:07:16.457Z
@Daniel so 1 decade later are you/have you been playing 9LX more?
BCLC
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-20T17:35:51.120Z
Yes, but I am somewhat of a fanatic, so I am trying to figure whether there is some advantage to doing chess different ways.  Imagine fianchettoing to a2!  Also, both the fool's and scholar's mates would be impossible!
Daniel
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-20T17:19:54.560Z
2011-06-20T17:19:54.560Z
ire_and_curses
<p>White's back row would look like this: RBNQKNBR and Black's would undergo an equivalent change.</p>

<p>Where can I learn more about this variant/play this variant with someone experienced?</p>

<chess><variants>
Is there a variant of chess such that in the starting position Bishops and Knights are switched?
Daniel
# Is there a variant of chess such that in the starting position Bishops and Knights are switched?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-06-20)

White's back row would look like this: RBNQKNBR and Black's would undergo an equivalent change.

Where can I learn more about this variant/play this variant with someone experienced?

**Tags:** chess, variants


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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2011-06-20. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

Swapping the knights and bishops is one version of [displacement chess](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Displacement_chess). I'm not sure what you wish to learn though; the main aim of displacement chess systems, such as [Fischer random chess](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess960), is to negate the benefit of rote learning. Learning how to play this variant well by studying sounds like a strange goal!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Yes, but I am somewhat of a fanatic, so I am trying to figure whether there is some advantage to doing chess different ways.  Imagine fianchettoing to a2!  Also, both the fool's and scholar's mates would be impossible!  
> **username_5**: @username_0 so 1 decade later are you/have you been playing 9LX more?  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2011-06-20. Score: 5

This is one form of [Displacement chess](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Displacement_chess), though I don't know that it has its own name, or any sites/books dedicated to studying it.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2011-06-20. Score: 3

There is a call for this kind of switch when it is felt that chess is "too well understood."

The first call was about eighty years ago from former world champion Jose R. Capablanca. He embraced a "scientific" form of chess, took it to a high level, and then he (and his admirers) felt that there was little left to learn about in chess.

As it turned out, the Russians came along with a new, fighting, kind of chess that enabled them to defeat the "scientific" players. Only Bobby Fischer, among Americans, was able to play them on their own terms.

It's no accident nowadays that there are new calls for changing the game, because high speed computers like Big Blue have made a science of analyzing the old one. Human masters like Kasparov (a "Russian") now feel inferior to computers at this game.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2017-07-20. Score: 1

Here [is a photo](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/03/soviet-pioneer-camp-communism-scouts-belarus) from a Chess Pioneer (Russia) camp in the 1960s--1970s...notice the pieces are switched, so that White's back rank is, in fact, RBNQKNBR


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