Introduction to Crazyhouse

Who Should Read This

If you're new to crazyhouse (zh), you should definitely consider reading this page. This is my attempt as a middle-of-the-road player to explain the key concepts and strategies in crazyhouse to people who either want to improve their game or understand how it is their opponent just soundly thumped them 15 times in a row.

Who Shouldn't Read This

If you're rated over 1700 in crazyhouse, it's unlikely you'll get much out of this document.

How do I play Crazyhouse?

Most people are familiar with a game called bughouse. If you are, this is simply a single board version of bughouse. If you're not, I'll explain a little further. Crazyhouse is a game played under the normal rules of chess with the following exception: any piece taken during the game becomes a "droppable" piece for the taker in lieu of moving a piece on the board. For instance, if you take your opponent's knight, you may choose to place it on any open square on the board when it is your move instead of moving a piece already on the board. This game is the ultimate game of "if only I could put a piece there...."

Key Concept #1: Initiative

If there is one thing critical in crazyhouse, it's initiative. White has this at the beginning of the game, by virtue of moving first, and Black is at a large disadvantage to begin the game. In normal chess, there's a lot of talk about tempo, but tempo means nothing in crazyhouse. You may have superior development, but if your opponent has initiative, you will likely lose.

What is initiative? It is the ability to force your oponnent to react. For instance, when you place the king in check, he must react to your move. He cannot further his attack. Ten checks in a row can make a materially superior opponent defenseless. The key thing to remember is this: if you set up a trap and gain material, the material is useless if you cannot defend against the maximum attack your opponent can mount with the pieces he has in hand.

A common use of initiative is to utilize a "piece storm" where a player drops pieces turn after turn, forcing a king to run for cover. Given enough material, checkmate can result.

Key Concept #2: Contact Attacks

Especially with the king, a contact attack is almost always necessary to force checkmate. Contact attacks are where there are no open spaces between the attacker and the defender. For instance, if the king is resting on square h8, a pawn on g7 is a contact attacker. A rook on g7 would not be, as he is not attacking the king.

The exception to the contact rule is the knight. Knights are very valuable in crazyhouse because your opponent cannot block a knight attack. It is a common mistake in crazyhouse for players to value knights as they are valued in normal chess. My valuation system places knights about 1/2 point higher than rooks with all other pieces remaining equal. Thus, Queens are worth approximately 9, Knights 5.5, Rooks 5, Bishops 3 and Pawns 1. Pawns have an exponential value factor, however, due to their threat of placement on the 7th rank with imminent queening threatened. Thus 4 pawns is not worth 4, but more in line with 8, almost a queen. Any knight attack is a contact attack.

Key Concept #3: Off-axis Attacks

Everyone who has played chess has experienced these attacks in normal chess. It's commonly called a fork, and in normal chess, it is usually done by the knight due to the fact that forks with other pieces are difficult to set up as you're already attacking one piece when you move to fork. In crazyhouse, however, dropping a piece can set up a fork with a bishop or rook, often with devastating results.

Consider a case where the king is on e8 and the queen is on a4 with a pawn on c4. A bishop drop on B5 is check, but forks the queen behind, protected by the pawn. (A diagram may be added later for visual effect here.)

I call these attack off-axis because it rarely works out that a fork is like the example above. By putting an attack on two different lines, it's impossible to block both attacks with a drop. These attacks are very useful for winning material as they never happen in real chess!

Key Concept #4: Weak Squares

Squares that are normally not weak in normal chess are weak points in crazyhouse. F2 is a weak square for white at the beginning of the game. F3 is also weak because of a possible knight attack. Fienchettos are almost always bad because they open up 7th rank squares for pawns. Nothing is worse than losing a rook and having a pawn promoted because you opened up g2 or b2 and traded your protecting bishop away.

In general, king-side castling can hurt more than it helps because it is far away from the protection of the major pieces. Queenside castling is almost preferred in most cases. If you must castle, consider building up a second row of major defenders on the f, g, and h files for additional protection.

Key Concept #5: Sacrifices

Sacrifices are always risky in normal chess. They are doubly so in crazyhouse. Why? Simply because the valuable piece you sac is now in your opponent's hand to throw back at you the next time he gets initiative. Often, pieces are sacced to continue a contact check piece storm. As long as checkmate results, the captured material doesn't really matter but if initiative is recaptured by your opponent, all those extra pieces are now in his hand. Choose carefully before sacking pieces.

How do I Improve?

Crazyhouse can be difficult to improve at. The emphasis is on tactics and mating patterns. If you are weak with either of these, study up. Checkmates that are rare or impossible in normal chess happen commonly in crazyhouse. Watch for forks and pins. Both are your best friend and worst enemy.

By Popular Demand: A Few Problems!

Here are two mate-in-twos for you to work on. Both are forced mate situations.

In problem #1 (left), you are black, it is your turn, and you have a queen and a pawn. In problem #2 (right), you have a rook and it is mate in two.

Good Luck!

Scott E. Regener