Modern chess is a chess variant played on a 9×9 board. The game was invented by Gabriel Vicente Maura in 1968. Besides the usual set of chess pieces, each player has a prime minister and an additional pawn:
The prime minister (M) combines powers of a bishop and a knight.
The first match was played in Madrid at Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Fernando's cafe on March 18, 1968. The players were Gabriel Vicente Maura himself (White), and Bonifacio Pedraz Cabezas (Black).
The starting setup is as shown. All the standard rules of chess apply, along with the following special rules:
In response to criticism that bishops are restricted to only one square color, the inventor proposed an optional new rule, if the players agree:
According to Ed Friedlander, in the countries where the game is played more commonly, another popular way to create a light square bishop is to require that one of the bishops must move one square orthogonally as its first move.
Bibliography
. David Pritchard (chess player) . The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants . Games & Puzzles Publications . 1994 . Modern Chess (II) . 0-9524142-0-1.
. David Pritchard (chess player) . Beasley . John . The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants . John Beasley . 2007 . Modern Chess [Maura] . 978-0-9555168-0-1.