Stanley Random Chess

Stanley Random Chess (commonly designated as SR Chess) is a Chess variant inspired by the Stanley personality included with the Chessmaster software. Initially created as a hoax by Gregory Topov in 2004, it evolved into a legitimate chess variant that is actually playable on an Internet chess server. Game-play is characterized by some apparent randomness, and is usually accompanied by exaggerated and fanciful commentary which satirizes the complexity of serious chess analysis.
Rules
Despite its name, SR Chess is not a completely random game, and is regulated by a set of rules which function in addition to the rules for standard chess. Since SR Chess has fewer legal moves than traditional chess, it is less burdened by a need to memorize opening theory, and focuses on creative and imaginative play.
The rules are the same as traditional chess, with the addition of some obscure rules governing move sequences and board patterns. These rules are too complex to summarize, and are subject to local variations, but there are two main differences from traditional chess:
#As a result of the additional unique rules governing move sequences and board patterns, approximately 50% of traditional chess moves are illegal in SR Chess, accounting for the somewhat strange and apparently random moves at times.
#After move 30, the game enters VH Conditions (also known as the VollenHauser Sudden Death Principle), and is abruptly terminated if the right pattern or sequence is obtained, the winner being the person with the most material at that time. This condition is described as a "Forced Inferior Material Resignation", or Forced IMR.
SR Chess enthusiasts typically provide extensive analysis and commentary of games in progress, so generally it does not take long for dedicated newcomers to get a good feel for the game and its rules by observing games or playing with experienced players. To excel at the game, knowledge of traditional chess is required, as well as some knowledge of statistics and an ability to bluff and play the odds.
Parody and Humor
Although Stanley Random Chess is a playable chess variant in itself, its attraction for many enthusiasts lies in the creative humorous commentary and fictional traditions surrounding the game.
* Historical Origin. Players contribute to a growing tradition of humorous fiction about the game's origins, making exaggerated claims that modern chess (which SR Chess enthusiasts contemptuously refer to as "Common Chess" or "Simplified SR Chess") is merely a simplified form and development from SR Chess. To account for the absence of reference to Stanley Random Chess in history books, despite its claim to date back to the early English monarchy , players claim that it suffered for centuries under a cloak of secrecy as a result of the Great SR Chess Purge.
* Game Commentary. The biggest appeal of Stanley Random Chess to enthusiasts is the creative and exaggerated commentary that accompanies the game-play, which parodies serious chess commentary and and satirizes the complex terminology of chess analysis in a humorous Monty Python style.
Playing Online
Although it is sometimes associated with parodies like Mornington Crescent, Fizzbin, and Calvinball, Stanley Random Chess is a playable game, and is actively played by a small number of online players.
SchemingMind.com is currently the only correspondence chess server where SR Chess can be played. New players unfamiliar with the rules will find that approximately half the moves they enter are automatically replaced by the server at random with another legal chess move.

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