LCCC Had 21 Players Last Meeting - and Can We Put Some Luck In to Chess?

 

The Livingston County Chess Club meets every Monday night between

4pm and 10pm

at the Buffalo Wild Wings in the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI. 

Stop in for some friendly chess, good food and 'refreshments'.

Everyone of all ages and playing strength are welcome to attend. And free lessons to all beginners!

The title question: Is there luck in chess? 

If you are talking about on the board? No. Zero, zip, nada.

If you are talking about opponent pairings, health, attitude, game preparation, rest prior and of course concentration level at the board, these are all subject to luck as humans are not machines. 

So, luck is a factor both for and against us sometimes. Even if all human life factors are good for your opponent, or you, momentary lapses in judgement or board sight awareness can appear out of no where. You can sometimes be lucky or unlucky.

Remember, you never win a chess game. Your opponent loses it. And vice versa.

But can you insert a little luck into an actual chess game? Yes you can! And it does change the game completely. 

Let me introduce to you - Dice Chess!

1. You need 3 regular 6-sided dice or better yet, a dice app on your phone.

2. White rolls/moves first and you use the Scale below unless the dice pair or triple. IF that happens, you are allowed to make any move you wish. 

3. And you can always roll to see what you get and move your king or castle legally as you desire.

 4. If you are in check, you can make any legal move you wish to get out check.

Otherwise, the Dice Chess Scale rules!

                              1 = Pawn move

                              2 = Pawn move

                              3 = Knight move

                              4 = Bishop move

                              5 = Rook move

                              6 = Queen move

5. If the dice do not give you a legal move, then you forfeit your move, unless you wish to move your King, but you don't have to. King safety is still paramount.

I played a few games against the computer, and I set the computer at a very low rating. It was fun but that's all it was. It makes chess more like backgammon, which is a game of skill in the long run to be sure. But it is not chess!

To really make chess a game of luck, use only 2 dice and change the scale to this:

                               1 = King move

                               2 = Pawn move

                              3 = Knight move

                              4 = Bishop move

                              5 = Rook move

                              6 = Queen move

I did not have the stomach to try this variation.