Dan-the-K wrote:
What is fairy chess? I've come across it in reading about various
engines and user interfaces. Is it an *alternative* to chess - a
different game?

"Fairy chess" refers mainly to problem composition. A fairy (or
heterodox) problem uses pieces with non-standard moves (e.g.
grasshoppers, Berolina pawns, reflecting bishops), or perhaps a
non-standard board (e.g. cylindrical, or more or less than 64 squares),
or non-standard rules (e.g. Circe Chess, where captured pieces are
relocated on the board). According to the Oxford Companion, the term
"fairy chess" originated with Australian Henry Tate in 1914.
Most chess encyclopedias have an entry on fairy chess. Two books I
would recommend are "A Guide to Fairy Chess" by A.S.M. Dickin (1967)
and "The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants" by D.B Pritchard (1994).

Taylor Kingston