How did a pawn appear out of thin air in “P @ e2” after queen capture?

Question

I was playing chess against the computer and captured black’s queen. All of a sudden, a black pawn appears out of thin air, one space behind the captured queen for a total of nine pawns, and moves multiple squares diagonally.

The computer calls this move “P @ e6,” but after half an hour of scouring the internet, I could not figure out what that means.

1. |  h2 - h4 | Nb8 - c6 |
2. |  e2 - e4 |  e7 - e5 |
3. | Rh1 - h3 | Qd8 × h4 |
4. | Rh3 - h4 |   P @ e2 |

How did this happen?

That first move should be h2-h4, not h2-e4, right? – D M Nov 27 '20 at 03:46 — D M, Nov 27 '20 at 03:46

Sleafar · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-26T20:31:47.537

29

You were playing the chess variant called Crazyhouse. In this variant you can place pieces you captured, as one of your color anywhere on the board, instead of a normal move.

I don't know the software you are using, but on Lichess the variant can be selected in the "Create a game" dialog. There should be something similar in your application.

edited Nov 26 '20 at 20:31

answered Nov 26 '20 at 20:25

Sleafar

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Will mark as accepted when I'm allowed to. I wish I knew how to turn that off. – gen-ℤ ready to perish Nov 26 '20 at 20:26
@gen-ℤreadytoperish I've added some more info, maybe that helps. – Sleafar Nov 26 '20 at 20:32
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Addition: As you play with a 3D board, what you saw as the pawn moving along the h5-e2 diagonal very likely was just the animation of the "@"-move which coincidentally went over that diagonal. – Annatar Nov 27 '20 at 07:39
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This seems to be the Chess.app that comes with macOS. Also in this one, you choose the chess variant when you create a new game (from the menu, or pressing cmd-N). – Dronir Nov 27 '20 at 10:35
Sleafar is totally correct. I'd suggest you play Lichess instead. If I'm not mistaken those at the picture are standard chess for MacOs - they are not that fast and "clever." – Alexander Traugott Nov 27 '20 at 09:44
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I would add that White has a queen "in hand" (as can be seen on the right hand side of the board), further indicating it is Crazyhouse. – Allure Nov 27 '20 at 11:01
@Allure That should’ve given it away to me. Good eye. – gen-ℤ ready to perish Nov 27 '20 at 22:24

How did a pawn appear out of thin air in “P @ e2” after queen capture?

1 Answers1