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Making of: Chess Me

by Sezgin Güven

The author Heinrich Glumpler describes the basic intention with which he co-designed “Schachen” together with co-author Matthias Schmitt.

Die Idee zu Schachen entstand aus dem Versuch, „Spiele zu minimalisieren“ in diesem konkreten Fall „Schach“.
The idea for Schachen came from the attempt to “minimize games” in this particular case “chess”. For me personally it was above all the attempt to introduce the classic chess game to (normal) people. We tested it for about 2 years and which was mainly due to the fact that the rules were designed in such a way that “killer” strategies did not occur and the multi-dimensionality of the classic chess was preserved. We had to change the rules a few times, but in principle, the idea worked right from the start – we had only to make a little fine tuning.

Chess without chessboard

Schachen is a chess game without a board, which transforms the fascination of chess in a compact way. Without opening and endgame it goes directly into the confrontation. The known chess rules are extended by a few additional rules.

A few additional rules are added to the known rules. Schachen is suitable for casual players for whom chess appears too long, and for chess players who are looking for a casual change after some real chess games but who still want to have the familiar depth.
Schachen is a chess game without a board, which transforms the fascination of chess in a compact way. Without opening and endgame it goes directly into the confrontation. The known chess rules are extended by a few additional rules.

The game by the two Cologne authors Matthias Schmitt and Heinrich Glumpler is one of the few really well made chess variants. However, it was difficult for the authors to find a publisher who wanted to make this game – too many flops in chess variants have led to great skepticism. But once you’ve played it, you will understand the appeal of the game and the fact that the game is one of the best in our publishing house. We liked making the game, because the authors and publishers know each from the regular Cologne game authors’ meetings.

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