Rules comparison
A quick side-by-side before you dive into the full rule text.
| Topic | Berkeley | Cincinnati | Wild 16 | RAND | English | CrazyKrieg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Referee response to illegal tries | “Illegal” or “No” means the try is illegal on the true board; “Nonsense” means it was impossible on your own board or repeated. | “Illegal” or “No” means the try is illegal on the true board; “Nonsense” means it was impossible on your own board or repeated. | Illegal attempts are private: only the mover sees “Illegal move”, and the opponent hears nothing until a move is complete. | “Illegal” or “No” means the try is illegal on the true board; “Nonsense” means it was impossible on your own board or repeated. RAND also lets a player ask for the opponent’s last-move rebuff count. | The umpire announces that a move is illegal; it must be retracted and the player must make a legal move. | Illegal tries are public: the referee says “No” for hidden-position illegality, or “Impossible” / “Hell no” for impossible moves. |
| Capture announcements | After a legal capture, the captured square is announced to both players. En passant is announced like a regular capture, using the square from which the pawn is removed. | After a legal capture, the captured square is announced to both players. En passant is announced like a regular capture, using the square from which the pawn is removed. The referee also says whether the captured material was a pawn or a piece. | After a legal capture, the captured square is announced to both players. En passant is announced like a regular capture, using the square from which the pawn is removed. The referee also says whether the captured material was a pawn or a piece. | After a legal capture, the captured square is announced to both players. En passant is announced like a regular capture, using the square from which the pawn is removed. The referee also says whether the captured material was a pawn or a piece. | A capture is announced with the capture square, calculated from the captured player’s side. En passant is announced like a regular capture, using the square from which the pawn is removed. Neither the capturing man nor the captured man is named. | After a legal capture, the captured square and reserve identity are announced to both players. En passant is announced like a regular capture, using the square from which the pawn is removed. Promoted pawns are announced as pawns because they enter reserve as pawns. |
| Check announcements | File, rank, long diagonal, short diagonal, knight, and double checks are announced. | File, rank, long diagonal, short diagonal, knight, and double checks are announced. | File, rank, long diagonal, short diagonal, knight, and double checks are announced. | File, rank, long diagonal, short diagonal, knight, and double checks are announced. | Long, short, rank, file, knight, and double checks are announced. | File, rank, long diagonal, short diagonal, knight, and double checks are announced. |
| Pawn-capture handling — “Any?” rule handling | No built-in “Any?” rule in the original ruleset. A compatible modification is documented: the player may ask, and if the answer is “yes”, then must do a pawn capture. | Before each ply starts, the referee publicly announces that the player has a pawn capture whenever at least one legal pawn capture exists. The player may now try to make captures with their pawns, or may not. | Before each ply starts, the referee publicly announces the number of legal capturing pawn moves. The player may now try to make captures with their pawns, or may not. | Before moving, the referee announces the squares on which the mover’s pawns have currently valid capture tries. | A player may ask whether any pawn capture exists. If the answer is “Yes”, the player must try one pawn capture; if that try is illegal, the player may make any legal move. | A player may ask whether any pawn capture exists. If the answer is “Yes”, the player must try one pawn capture; if that try is illegal, the player may make any legal move. |
| Promotion announcements | Promotion is not announced and should be handled silently. | Promotion is not announced and should be handled silently. | Promotion is not announced and should be handled silently. | The fact that a pawn promotes is announced, but not the promoted piece type or promotion square. | No separate promotion announcement is listed; the umpire communicates only the details permitted by the rules. | Promotion is not announced. If the promoted pawn is later captured, it enters reserve and is announced as a pawn. |
| Reserves and drops | No reserves or drops; play uses only the normal pieces on the board. | No reserves or drops; play uses only the normal pieces on the board. | No reserves or drops; play uses only the normal pieces on the board. | No reserves or drops; play uses only the normal pieces on the board. | No reserves or drops; play uses only the normal pieces on the board. | Captured units change color and enter public reserves. A player may spend a turn dropping a reserve unit onto an empty square; the drop square is not announced. |
| Best fit | Best fit if you want the Berkeley reference rules and the Berkeley-based online play model used on this site. | Best fit if you want the historical Cincinnati article and its public try-based referee workflow. | Best fit if you want the ICC-style public announcement model with counted pawn tries and no public illegal-move call. | Best fit if you want the 1950 RAND historical reference, especially its spectator/referee culture and more information-rich pawn-try announcements. | Best fit if you want the 1933 English Gambit Club rules with simple capture-square notices and a classic Yes/No pawn-capture question. | Best fit if you want Crazyhouse reserves and drops inside a Kriegspiel hidden-board/referee model. |