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Board games
Board game

Los Alamos chess

Chess on 6x6 without bishops: the first chess a computer played.

Board
6x6
Family
Chess family
losalamos
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Play

Starting a game records your moves under your name. Sign in to play

The clock starts once the first move is made; the solver plays itself untimed.

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How to play

Chess on a 6x6 board without bishops. Pieces move as in chess; pawns step one square (no double step, no en passant) and promote to a queen, rook or knight. There is no castling. Checkmate wins, stalemate draws.

Beside chess

Written for the MANIAC I at Los Alamos in 1956, the first chess program to play a full game: chess cut down so a vacuum-tube machine could search it.

Moves are written as the cells they touch: d4, e2e4, c3e5g7.

Quick pairing

Pick a clock. You meet the closest rating waiting in that pool; the range widens while you wait.

Nobody waiting

Sign in to play. Games record moves under your name.

Lobby

Create a game or challenge a player
Your side

Leave the opponent blank and the game waits in the lobby for anyone while this page is open. Name a player and only they can take it; a challenge waits up to a day.

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