What is Gardner Minichess?
Gardner minichess is chess on a 5×5 board. Each side has one king, one queen, one rook, one bishop, one knight and five pawns, set up as rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, with the queens facing each other.
Pawns move one square at a time, even on their first move, so there is no en passant. They promote as in standard chess. There is no castling. Checkmate wins, and the draw rules are those of standard chess.
With only one empty rank between the armies, every move counts from the start. It is a quick game for practising tactics, and a good introduction to chess for beginners.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Chess | Gardner Minichess |
|---|---|---|
| Board | Standard Chess8×8 squares. | Gardner Minichess5×5 squares, files a to e and ranks 1 to 5. |
| Starting position | Standard ChessRook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook, with eight pawns in front. | Gardner MinichessRook, knight, bishop, queen, king, with five pawns in front: one piece of each kind. |
| Pawns | Standard ChessMay move two squares on their first move and can be taken en passant. | Gardner MinichessAlways move one square, so there is no en passant. Promotion works as in standard chess. |
| Castling | Standard ChessAllowed once per game on either side. | Gardner MinichessNot allowed. |
| How to win | Standard ChessCheckmate the opponent's king. | Gardner MinichessThe same: checkmate. Stalemate and the other draws work as in standard chess. |
History
Martin Gardner, the writer of the Mathematical Games magazine column, presented this 5×5 game to his readers in 1969 as a small chess that still keeps every kind of piece.
Its small size made it a favourite test for computer analysis. In 2013 two researchers showed with a computer search that, with perfect play from both sides, Gardner minichess is a draw.