Fairy chess is the area of chess composition in which there are some changes to the rules of chess. It may involve changes to the board, pieces, or rules to express an idea or theme impossible in orthodox chess. An altered piece used in fairy chess is known as a fairy chess piece. The term fairy chess was introduced by Henry Tate in 1914. Thomas R. Dawson (1889–1951), the "father of fairy chess", invented many fairy pieces and new conditions. He was also problem editor of Fairy Chess Review (1930–1951). Although the term fairy chess is sometimes used for games, it is more usually applied in the context of problems. Variations on chess intended to create complete, playable games are more typically referred to as chess variants.

Types of fairy chess problems

Types of changed rules in fairy chess problems include: There are fairy chess problems that combine some of these changed rules. All entries in the world championships and in the FIDE Albums are divided into eight sections: (, and ), endgame studies, helpmates, selfmates, fairy chess, retros, and mathematical problems.

Fairy chess literature

Books and pamphlets devoted to fairy chess: • Chess Eccentricities by G. H. Verney (1885) • Chancellor Chess by B. R. Foster (1886) • The 20th Century Retractor by Mrs. W. J. Baird (1907) • Space Chess publications of Dr. Ferdinand Maack and the Hamburg Space Chess Club (1908–1919) • 150 Schachkuriositäten by Problematicus (1910) • Retrograde Analysis by T. R. Dawson and W. Hundsdorfer (1915) • Fata Morgana by Dr. E. Birgfeld (1922) • On Retraction Chess Problems by Dr. Niels Hoeg (1927) • Hexagonal Chess by H. D. Baskerville (1929) • Chess Chimes from Prague by Z. Mach (1933) • Caissa's Wild Roses by T. R. Dawson (1935) • C. M. Fox, His Problems by T. R. Dawson (1936) • Caissa's Wild Roses in Clusters by T. R. Dawson (1937) • Ultimate Themes by T. R. Dawson (1938) • Une Nouvelle Invention by Znosko-Borovsky (1947) • Caissa's Fairy Tales by T. R. Dawson (1947) • Am Rande des Schachbretts by Dr. Karl Fabel (1947) • Einführlung in das Märchenschach by Hermann Stapff (1948) • Caissas Märchen translated by Dr. Massmann (1949) • Einzüger Rekorde by N. Petrovic (April 1950) • Les Jeux d'Echecs Non-orthodoxes by J. Boyer (1951, Paris) • Elemente des Märchenschachs by T. R. D., translated by W. Karsch and Dr. J. Niemann (1953) • Nouveaux Jeux d'Echecs Non-orthodoxes by J. Boyer (1954, Paris) • Rund um das Schachbrett by Dr. Karl Fabel (1955) • 32 Personaggi e un Autore by L. Ceriani (1955) • Are There Any? by G. F. Anderson (1958) • Kurioses Schach by Dr. Karl Fabel (1960) • Der Jäger im Schachspiel by Theodor Steudel (1960) • La Genesi Delle Posizioni by L. Ceriani (1961) • Doppelzugschach by H. Klüver (1963) • Faschingsschach der Welt by Hans Klüver (1963) • Ye Faerie Chesseman by D. L. Miller (1965) • Schach und Zahl by Bonsdorff, Fabel, and Riihimaa (1966) • Maximum Tables by The Fairy Chess Correspondence Circle (1967) • A Guide to Fairy Chess by A. S. M. Dickins (1967) • Chess Variations by John Gollon (1968) • Chess Unlimited by C. Kemp and Dr. K. Fabel (1969) • Records in One-Mover Chess Construction Tasks by W. Cross and A. S. M. Dickins (1970) • An Album of Fairy Chess edited by A. S. M. Dickins (1970) • The Serieshelpmate by John Rice and A. S. M. Dickins (1971) Periodicals devoted to fairy chess: