In the mountains of Guerrero Mexico chess played differently from the rules most people have learned. The origins of Chess Guerrero are unknown. More than thirty years ago I was on an avocado run with my mother-in-law (she bought orchards to pick and transport to her market stall in Cuernavaca) we were in Oaxtepec del Rio, Guerrero, a town way out on a rocky track and these mustached old men were in the town plaza taking turns playing Chess with each other; they were observing and commenting on the games (It seemed to me as if they might have a long-running tournament going ?¿)
Fifteen years later I was challenged by a schoolteacher from Arcelia in the Hot Country and he explained to me the same procedure I had observed years before in Oaxtepec del Rio. As I recall, nobody ever referred to this game as anything but “Ajedrez” meaning Chess.
OK here is how they play it. First they set out only the sixteen pawns on the board.
White plays first by placing any of his eight pieces on any of his own back rank squares
Black plays next by placing any of his eight pieces on any of his own back rank squares
White plays next by placing any of his unplaced pieces on any of his own back rank squares
And so on, until the back ranks are filled with pieces. The two Bishops must be on opposite colors.
When the eight placing-of-pieces moves have all been made by both players, White begins the game by making a move. Naturally it would necessarily be a pawn or a knight move, as in orthodox chess.
Everything else is the same as orthodox chess. The identical principles of time, space, force apply, control of the center, opening lines; the game itself is entirely chess-like, actually it IS chess, but without the endless repetition and replay of stale opening theory. Actually. I have not known anyone who plays Chess Guerrero (this is only the name I myself coined), who plays orthodox chess at all. I was told that the state government teaches Chess Guerrero in the schools, but this has not been confirmed by me.
There is one last rule, and this is, of course, important. Castling. To Castle, the King moves over two squares to the left of to the right and the Rook comes to the square the King passes over. In the case where the King and Rook are side-by-side, the same rule applies. The King moves over two, as the Rook stays in the square the King passed over. The normal orthodox castling rules all apply. Namely, the King can NOT be in check, The King can NOT pass through a square in check. The King and the Knight may NOT have moved previously.
Chess Guerrero is deeper and richer than ordinary chess. The placement strategy of the pieces, and the wider-ranging positional possibilities in the opening and middle games, lend to a far more complex, interesting, and intriguing contest.
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