Dragonfly (chess variant)

Dragonfly 7×7 starting setup[1]

Dragonfly (also known as Shuttle Chess or Bird Chess) is a chess variant invented by Christian Freeling in 1983.[2][3][4] There are no queens, and a captured bishop, knight, or rook becomes the property of the capturer, who may play it as their own on a turn to any open square. The board is 7×7 squares, or alternatively a 61-cell hexagon with two additional pawns per side.

The game is an offshoot and simplification of a Freeling game named Loonybird (or Dragon Chess). Still, "Play is complex and interesting. Draws are rare too." (Wood 1994:94)

  1. ^ Pritchard (1994), p. 362
  2. ^ Pritchard (1994), p. 96
  3. ^ Pritchard (2007), p. 159
  4. ^ Wood, P.C. (April–September 1994). "Dragonfly". Variant Chess. Vol. 2, no. 14. British Chess Variants Society. p. 94. ISSN 0958-8248.