Berolina Chess

Berolina Chess

Pawns are inverted: they advance diagonally and capture straight ahead. Named after Berlin, where it was invented in 1926.

Setup

Board: Standard 8×8.

Setup: Standard chess setup (pawns use Berolina movement rules).

FEN: rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1

Rules

• Pawns move one or two squares diagonally forward (instead of straight forward).
• Pawns capture one square straight forward (instead of diagonally).
• En passant applies to Berolina pawn double-moves.
• Promotion occurs on the 8th rank as normal.
• All other pieces move and capture as standard chess.

Win Condition

Checkmate the opponent’s King.

Strategy

Berolina pawns control different squares than normal pawns. A pawn on e2 can advance to d3 or f3 (and double-move to c4 or g4), but captures on e3. This makes pawn chains behave very differently — adjacent pawns no longer protect each other. Bishops become relatively weaker since pawns compete for diagonal space.

Attribution

Invented by Edmund Hebermann in Berlin, 1926. Public domain.