Losing chess

abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
b8 black knight
d8 black queen
e8 black king
f8 black bishop
g8 black knight
h8 black rook
a7 black pawn
b7 black bishop
c7 black pawn
d7 black pawn
e7 black pawn
f7 black pawn
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
b5 white bishop
e3 white pawn
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
d2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
b1 white knight
c1 white bishop
d1 white queen
e1 white king
g1 white knight
h1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
After 1.e3 b5 2.Bxb5 Bb7 (diagram) White must capture 3.Bxd7, the only legal move. Then Black must also capture, but can choose among Nxd7, Qxd7, Kxd7, or Bxg2.

Losing chess[a] is one of the most popular chess variants.[1][2] The objective of each player is to lose all of their pieces or be stalemated, that is, a misère version. In some variations, a player may also win by checkmating or by being checkmated.

Losing chess was weakly solved in 2016 by Mark Watkins as a win for White, beginning with 1.e3.


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  1. ^ Pritchard (2007), p. 86
  2. ^ Parlett (1999), p. 324