Kriegspiel

English kriegspiel rules

These are the English rules enforced at the Gambit Club in London, as communicated by Miss E. C. Price and published in F. Dickens and G. White, Chess in Bedfordshire, Whitehead and Miller, Leeds, 1933.

Rules for chess kriegspiel

  1. The game of Chess Kriegspiel shall be governed in every respect by the Rules of Chess comprised in the BCF Revised Law of Chess except so far as they are necessarily altered, modified, or abrogated by the following rules.
  2. Two players shall play on two separate boards with two separate complete sets of men, and shall be so placed that neither player shall be able to see his opponent's board or men, whether the latter are on the board or removed therefrom after capture.
  3. There shall be a third board with a third complete set of men, and this board and men, whether the latter are on the board or removed therefrom after capture, shall be so placed as not to be visible to either player. This third board shall be controlled by an umpire.
  4. The men shall be placed in proper order on all three boards before the commencement of the game.
  5. An umpire shall repeat in their proper sequence on the third board the moves made by both players on their respective boards.
  6. On a legal move being made by the player of the white men, the umpire shall announce the fact to the player of the black men by saying "White"; and conversely "Black" upon the answering legal move being made.
  7. The position on the third board shall govern the legality of any move.
  8. If a player makes a move which is illegal, the umpire shall announce the fact; the illegal move must be retracted and a legal move made.
  9. If a legal move results in a capture, the umpire shall announce the fact without stating which man has made the capture or has been captured, but shall announce the square, calculated from the side of the board occupied by the player of the captured man, on which the capture has been made.
  10. If a legal move results in a check, the umpire shall announce the fact in the following terms:
    1. "Long check" if given on the one of two diagonals of which the king occupies the square common to both which is composed of the greater number of squares.
    2. "Short check" if given on the other diagonal.
    3. "Rank check" if given on any rank.
    4. "File check" if given on any file.
    5. "Knight check" if given by a knight.
  11. When it is a player's turn to move, he may ask the umpire if any of his pawns are in a position to effect a capture, and the umpire shall reply "Yes" or "No" as the case may be. If the reply be "Yes" the player must try to capture with one pawn, but if the move be illegal he is at liberty to make a legal move with any man.
  12. The umpire shall declare the game won by the player who effects a checkmate and shall declare the game drawn:
    1. when neither player has sufficient mating force;
    2. when either king is in a position of stalemate;
    3. when either player makes the same two successive moves three times and the position of the other player's men is such that he has no power to effect a mate unless the two said moves are varied.
  13. The umpire shall not communicate or indicate to either of the players any detail or particular of the position of the pieces or the play except those permitted by the foregoing rules.
  14. The player that deliberately views the umpire's or his opponent's board and men shall forfeit the game.

Source note

Original source: F. Dickens and G. White, Chess in Bedfordshire, Whitehead and Miller, Leeds, 1933, communicated by Miss E. C. Price from the Gambit Club in London.

This transcription follows Appendix A, "Kriegspiel Rules at The Gambit", in Gian Piero Favini's The dark side of the board: advances in chess Kriegspiel.