Chess remixed

Wired has an article on Chess960, a variation of traditional chess invented by Bobby Fischer. The game plays like chess, only that some of the pieces start the game in a semi-random position. The idea behind this change is to eliminate rote memorization of openings (different ways to start a game that have been analyzed so much over the years that basically all you have to do is memorize what to do next in order to have an optimal start). Of course, if players do play traditional chess by openings templates, maybe it would suffice to let the first mover to select an opening and then "advance" the game 20 moves and literally start the game from that position. But of course I think the semi-randomic solution has an appeal of its own: introducing random feels a bit like a sacrilege in the mind-over-matter world of Chess. Mr Fischer, a natural provocateur, may not have only invented a new version of chess, but also a way of pissing off the establishment. Once again, another proof that games can express ideas.