An Introduction to StrategiChess™

If Chess could be said to have one significant drawback as a board game, it is its limitation of just two players. Where is the Chess equivalent of the family favourite board games such as ‘monopoly’? Chess has never provided the opportunity to play as a genuine team game in the sense of many players participating in the same game.

I contemplated the design of a new form of Chess; one which would substantially increase the range of strategies available by virtue of a larger board with many more pieces, and thereby correspondingly increase the interest and appeal of the game, plus, significantly, provide mechanisms and rules so that the game could, optionally, be played with more than 2 players as a team game. “Great”, in the accepted Chess terminology, signifying a board larger than the regular 8x8 squares. I did not wish to totally depart from the universally popular familiarity of the traditional Chess game, i.e. the abstract chequered board and the accepted pieces. This began to seem quite a challenge - Chess, but Chess on a different scale. First I defined the larger board, I resolved to retain exactly the same pieces as regular Chess to make the game easy for existing Chess players to grasp; then I incorporated some very minor move changes, and quickly it was there.

My son and I assembled the game initially in its team form, with three boards placed alongside each other. It certainly looked breathtaking - here indeed was Chess excitement again! In fact, this was much more than we were capable of controlling with any great depth of thought for future moves. As we discovered, even just one board presented a far greater range and complexity of potential moves than regular Chess. However, a true team game had been created and in subsequent testing this proved to be highly enjoyable and often amusing due to the problematical difficulties any single board player could find themselves in when attacked by several opposing players acting in concert!

StrategiChess™ is truly unique. I feel sure that Chess aficionados of all ages and skills will enjoy it! Alan Cartwright ( co-designer with my son, Ali ), May 2025