The joys of atomic chess

I recently discovered atomic chess on chess.com. It is a barrel of fun and I soon become addicted.

It is quite different to normal chess and involves heaps of action right from the beginning of the game. Many games finish in just 10 moves or less, ie there is lots of excitement and quick resolution. There is the fun factor of killing three of your opponent's pieces in one hit.

Even if your opponent checkmates you, you can still win the game by exploding their king. You could be two queens down yet your king might save itself by hugging the other king and not letting go. Another oddity is that a king can walk into check and survive. You can even move a piece pinned against your own king - provided it explodes the opposing king.

Because they cannot capture (as all pieces die when they capture), kings are useless except for stopping advancing pawns. Your pieces next to the opponent's king cannot be captured, as this would blow up the king. 

Strategies: Early knight attacks can be lethal. The quickest way to win is to get a white knight to e5, attacking two pawns next to the king. A white queen at d5 or f5 is likewise deadly. Another way to win is to penetrate your opponent's position with your queen, as a lone queen can give checkmate and is immune to capture next to the opponent's king.

It is important to watch for every opponent attacking move, especially one that targets a pawn next to your king, whether on the move or next move. In particular, knight advances have to be restricted carefully. It is also important to open up your pawns, as a cramped position can quickly become hopeless. Rooks are more or less irrelevant unless one reaches the endgame, when open files for rooks become crucial.

Warnings: You may get addicted. You may also find that blitz chess starts to look dull by comparison. You will probably lose the first few games, as it takes a while to absorb the consequences of the atomic rules.