We called it hungry hungry hippos...

I used to have a close circle of friends that studied chess, and we played a game we called hungry hungry hippos (No!!! Not that game) It involved your opponent playing black and copying your moves as white. It was basically a study in tempo and if black castled with white to king side it was game over for them. BUT, if black at that point in the game castled queen side, it was game over for white. I can't find anything online that resembles the game. (And can't remember that sequence of moves)

I know that it has some level of fame, because I was once visiting a mall with a Wizards of the Coast and a chess board on the floor out front with oversize pieces... It was a crowded chess mecca and I had someone thinking I was a total newb play white and I decimated him when I castled queen side ~ I later let him in on my secret that I had played the game before.

Any info on the games name and origins would be greatly appreciated.

Originally posted by Moxlonibus
I used to have a close circle of friends that studied chess, and we played a game we called hungry hungry hippos (No!!! Not that game) It involved your opponent playing black and copying your moves as white. It was basically a study in tempo and if black castled with white to king side it was game over for them. BUT, if black at that point in the game cas ...[text shortened]... played the game before.

Any info on the games name and origins would be greatly appreciated.

On a side note, from your profile you like palindromes, have you heard this one:

A man, a plan, a canal. PANAMA!

I didn't know there was a formal game based on copy moves but that can only last so long I thought.

Originally posted by Moxlonibus
I used to have a close circle of friends that studied chess, and we played a game we called hungry hungry hippos (No!!! Not that game) It involved your opponent playing black and copying your moves as white. It was basically a study in tempo and if black castled with white to king side it was game over for them. BUT, if black at that point in the game cas ...[text shortened]... played the game before.

Any info on the games name and origins would be greatly appreciated.

So is this a draw?



Maybe Qh5+ is illegal in this game.

And isn't this a forced win for White, from the starting position?

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
So is this a draw?

[pgn]1.e4 e5 2.f4 f5 3.exf5 exf4 4.Qh5+[/pgn]

Maybe Qh5+ is illegal in this game.

Don't you know? Black just goes Q-h4+ see, and you have an equal game, white takes king, black takes king, draw🙂

I remember that most of the pieces were advanced off the back so that you could castle king or queen side and it never turn into a draw. Most of the pawns were on rows 3 and 6.