Granlem Shatranj
This game started as a simple combination of relatively powerful short-range pieces to illustrate how they work, and work together, but after making the preset it became obvious this is a vehicle for a 3-moves/player turn variant, with enough curbs on how the 3 moves each turn are made that the game appears quite playable. So I'm making an official game page in case someone wants to try an experimantal multi-move game, or just wants to fool around with a larger than usual variant.Setup
Click here to get preset.
Pieces
King. The royal piece. This is the
standard chess king, moving 1 square in any direction. The king
may not move into check.
Jumping general. Moves as the modern elephant or
modern war machine. It may move 1 square or leap 2 squares orthogonally or
diagonally.
Minister. Moves like the knight, dababbah,
or wazir. It slides 1 or jumps 2 squares orthogonally, or jumps
in the standard knight's "L".
High priestess. Moves like the knight,
alfil, or ferz. It slides 1 or jumps 2 squares diagonally, or
jumps in the standard knight's "L".
Oliphant, a double elephantrider. Moves
twice as an alfil or ferz. It slides 1 or jumps 2 squares
diagonally, and then may do either again. Thus it may move 1, 2, 3, or 4 squares. It must move in a straight line.
kNight. This is the standard chess knight,
jumping 2 squares, one orthogonally and the second diagonally
outward.
Lightning warmachine, a double
dababbarider. Moves twice as a dabbabah or wazir. It slides 1 or
jumps 2 squares orthogonally, then may do either again. It also can move 1, 2, 3 or 4 squares. It must move in a straight line.
Bent Shaman - This piece is a combination of alfil and ferz. It may step 1 square diagonally and/or jump 2 squares diagonally, for a maximum of 3 squares moved per turn. It may: step 1 square; or jump 2 squares; or step 1 and jump 2 squares; or jump 2 squares then step 1 more square, always diagonally. It may change direction during its move. It captures by landing directly on an opposing piece and ending its turn. This is a colorbound piece.
Bent Hero - This piece is a combination of dabbabah and wazir. It steps 1 square orthogonally and or jumps 2 squares orthogonally, for a maximum of 3 squares per turn. It may: step 1 square; or jump 2 squares; or step 1 and jump 2 squares; or jump 2 squares then step 1 more square, always orthogonally. It may change direction during its move. It captures by landing directly on an opposing piece and ending its turn.
M - Man - the standard 1-step non-royal
piece. It captures as it moves, 1 square all around.
Pawn.
All pawns starting on the 3rd and 10th ranks may slide forward 1 or 2 squares on their *first* move.
All 2nd and 11th rank pawns may slide forward 3 squares, slide forward 2 squares, or step diagonally or orthogonally 1 square forward on their *first* move.
If 2nd or 11th rank pawns move 1 square diagonally to land on the 3rd or 10th rank, they may slide 2 squares forward as their second move.
Anywhere else on the board, pawns move 1 square forward.
Pawns always capture diagonally forward
Pawn promotion:
on ranks 2 or 11, to guard;
on ranks 1 or 12, jumping general.
Rules
Rule Zero - all the rules of chess hold, except as otherwise stated - is in effect.
There is no castling in these variants.
There are 2 variants of this game, played with the same setup.
The first variant follows all the standard rules of chess, with board and piece rules as noted above.
The second variant allows 4 pieces, the king, the jumping general, the high priestess, and the minister to act as leaders of any of the 3 sections of the army deliniated by the 2 open files, e and n. As long as at least 1 of the 4 leaders is in a board section, the player is allowed to move one piece that starts the turn in that section. No piece may ever be moved twice in one turn. At least 1 piece must be moved each turn, or the non-moving player loses. The 2 empty files belong to each neighboring section, so a piece on either the e or n files may be moved by either the leader of the center or the leader of the appropriate wing.
Notes
This is an experimantal game. It is intended to see if a multi-move game can be structured to play very much like standard chess, but at a faster pace. Or it's just another oversized game where it's hard to develop all the pieces.
GRANDERLEM SHATRANJ
Initial playtesting showed flaws in the game, like the original 1-mover was terrible, and the play balance was not right for a 3-mover. So after some conversation with Kevin Pacey, who playtested the 3-mover with me, I'm offering this larger variant as a 3-mover with legit chess play in all 3 areas of the board. And as an experimental 4-mover.Granderlem Shatranj
All the above rules hold except as noted below:
Pawns follow the double initial step rules, including en passant. Pawn promotion:
on ranks 2-3 or 9-10, to guard;
on ranks 1 or 11, to jumping general. This piece acts as an aditional leader.
The "common files" are now the g and s files.
Experimental rule. Any area the king is in may allow both a piece and a pawn to move each turn, if so desired.
The player cannot move 2 pieces or 2 pawns in that area, only a piece, or a pawn, or one of each.
A king on either the h or s files doesn't allow a pawn and a piece to move in both areas, only one.
This 'user submitted' page is a collaboration between the posting user and the Chess Variant Pages. Registered contributors to the Chess Variant Pages have the ability to post their own works, subject to review and editing by the Chess Variant Pages Editorial Staff.
By Joe Joyce.
Last revised by H. G. Muller.
Web page created: 2018-01-10. Web page last updated: 2023-09-22