What is this battleship-style chess variant called?

Question

So I've recently built and published a chess app, targeted at club chess player (like myself). The goal of the app is to educate and make chess more accessible.

I'm working on an update. One of the new features will involve being able to play chess variants, I'm adding variants which I believe help enhance a certain chess skill (tactics, endgames etc.). These are all variants which I play at chess club (for fun and practice).

A chess variant that I think helps players practice endgames is a variant we play, which we call chess-battleships.

The way it works is each player can only see their half of the board. Both players place a predetermined number of pieces anywhere they want, usually 3/4 pawns and one minor piece, plus their king.

Then the full board is revealed to both players and they play out the equal material endgame. This helps players understand endgames and positional play.

My question is does this chess game have an official name? If not I'd be happy to take suggestions as I'm unable to use the trademarked term "battleships" in my app.

Thanks for your time, Liam

Answer 1

This is similar to Crazy Screen Chess:

Screen Chess - Before the game, both players set up their pieces on the last 4 ranks, with the following restrictions: the bishops must be placed on opposite colors, and only 1 pawn can be placed on a file. Once the game starts, the rules are the same as regular chess, with no castling and no en passant.

...

Crazy Screen Chess - Same as Screen Chess, except with no restrictions on piece placement.

Source: ItsYourTurn.com

Answer 2

It is probably a new Chess Variant not described before (allthough similar elements were used in Chaotenschach in the 1980s).

Answer 3

I would call it a stratego-style chess variant (instead of battleship-style).

For names, my preference is descriptive, and I suggest secret-setup chess.

Answer 4

I'm not sure that this game has a name. But there is a similar game that does called Kriegspiel.

In this variation, each player has the full complement of Black and White pieces in front of them. But they sit back to back, so they can't see each other's moves. You need a third person, an umpire, to tell the two players the consequences of each move: e.g. capture, check, or take it back because it's illegal.