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Ponderchess / Chess variants

Los Alamos Chess

Chess shrunk to 6×6 so the MANIAC I computer could play: the first chess-like game in which a computer beat a human.
Created
1956
Creators
Paul Stein and Mark Wells
Where
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Board
6×6
What changes
A 6×6 board for a computer

Where it came from

Well documented

In 1956, programmers at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, including Paul Stein and Mark Wells, wanted the MANIAC I computer to play chess. Full chess was beyond its memory and speed, so they removed the bishops and shrank the board to 6×6.

MANIAC I played games against people. It reportedly beat a novice who had learned the game only a week earlier, making it the first time a computer won a chess-like game against a human.

Why it was made: Computing limits: the smallest game that still felt like chess.

How it differs from chess

  • No bishopsEach side has a king, queen, two rooks, two knights and six pawns.
  • Simpler pawnsPawns cannot move two squares, so there is no en passant, and there is no castling.

Questions

Why were bishops removed?
To fit the game on a 6×6 board and reduce the number of moves the computer had to consider.

Sources