UC-170-13
This variant features 170 different kinds of major pieces and 13 different kinds of pawns following the basic idea of the Universal Chess (UC).
Around 2009 I came to the conception of the basic idea of the UC using a method of dropping pieces that later seemed a bit complicated (tangled). Furthermore, under the influence of Jeremy Gabriel Good, it included the possibility of castling (called "cornering") as well as the rule that the Blue side could drop pieces before the White side to compensate for the "supposed" (dogmatic?) advantage due to the White side first move.
In 2012 I developed the UC-170-13 expansion under the same rules as UC.
In 2020 I decided to simplify those rules while adding 4 "pawns", slightly changing the name to UC-170-17 and at the same time standardizing the 3 versions: UC, UC-170-13 and UC-170-17.
Below is the description of UC-170-13 with the new rules. In the Notes section I reproduce the "old" rules as a record so you can see the difference. I am sorry for the inconvenience this will cause to those who wish to read (analyze) some of the completed past games.
Get the UC-170-17 preset.
Setup
The starting setup is determined randomly in the three boards. The game is played in the left board. Pieces of the center board and pawns of the right board may be dropped in the left board during the game following this order:
Pieces
1st that of A1/A18
2nd that of B1/B18
3rd that of C1/C18
......
18th that of R1/R18
19th that of A2/A17
20th that of B2/B17
......
36th that of R2/R17
37th that of A3/A16
And so on.
Pawns
1st that of S1/S18
2nd that of T1/T18
3rd that of U1/U18
4th that of S2/S17
5th that of T2/T17
6th that of U2/U17
And so on.
Piece drops must be made on any empty square of the 1st row of each side, and can only be made to replace a piece that has disappeared from the board due to some exchange. Anti-Kings may be dropped on any unoccupied square of the entire board provided that they remain attacked by at least one adversary's piece.
Pawn drops must be made on any empty square of the 2nd row of each side, and can only be made to replace a pawn that has disappeared from the board due to some exchange.
Whether it be pieces or pawns there is no condition on the exact turn in which to make the drops, but the logical thing would be to do it immediately after the exchanges as part of a regular move, that is, it's allowed to make any normal move and at the same time make a drop. Likewise pieces and pawns may be dropped either at the same time in a determined turn or separately in different turns. It is permitted to drop more than one piece (or pawn) on one turn.
The basic concept is "exchange" which happens when a piece that captures another is immediately captured: A captures B and C captures A, that is, player X wins B by losing A while player Y wins A by losing B. We can also say that player X makes a capture while player Y makes a re-capture.
If a piece (or a pawn) is not recaptured immediately, then the piece (or the pawn) that was captured will be considered an "absolute loss" for the victim and will not have the right to replace it.
When several pieces and pawns are captured by a single piece of the adversary, the player who undergoes the multi-capture will only be able to replace one, be it pawn or piece, as he chooses, as long as the piece that carried out the multicapture is immediately recaptured.
When a pawn is promoted by capturing an opponent's piece and is immediately recaptured, then said pawn may be replaced by another pawn or by a piece according to the player's preference.
Pieces
1
King - It moves, whether capturing or not, to any orthogonal or diagonal adjacent square. Kings are royal: they may not be moved to a square attacked by a piece of the opponent. When they are attacked by a piece of the opponent, it is called "check", and when in a check that cannot be removed, they are mated, and the game is lost for their owner.
2
Queen - It is a compound piece that can move as a Rook or a Bishop. It moves an arbitrary number of spaces in any orthogonal or diagonal direction. It may not pass over occupied spaces, and it ends its move by occupying an empty space or by capturing an enemy piece.
3
Rook - It moves an arbitrary number of spaces in any orthogonal direction. It may not pass over occupied spaces, and it ends its move by occupying an empty space or by capturing an enemy piece.
4
Bishop - It moves an arbitrary number of spaces in any diagonal direction. It may not pass over occupied spaces, and it ends its move by occupying an empty space or by capturing an enemy piece.
5
Knight - It leaps to any square that can be reached by moving one square orthogonally, followed by another square diagonally outward, or vice versa. This is normally understood as moving in an L shape by moving two squares in the same direction, followed by one more square after turning at a right angle. Or one square, turn at a right angle, and move two more squares. The Knight leaps over any intervening pieces, as though they weren't even there. It can move to an empty square or take an enemy piece by moving to its square, but it may not move to a square already occupied by a friendly piece.
6
Royal Knight - It moves ONLY like standard knight but it is subject to be checkmated. It is the Knigthmate's royal piece.
7
Amazon - Compound of Queen and Knight. It may move each time [or turn] like Queen OR like Knight.
8
Chancellor - Also known as Marshall. It may move each turn like Rook OR like Knight.
9
Archbishop - Also known as Cardinal. It may move each turn like Bishop OR like Knight.
10
Amazonrider - Disjunctive compound of Queen and Nightrider; it may move each turn like Queen OR Nightrider.
11
Chancellorrider - Compound of Rook and Nightrider; it may move each turn like Rook OR like Nightrider.
12
Archbishoprider - Also known as Unicorn: Compound of Bishop and Nightrider; it may move each turn like Bishop OR like Nightrider.
13
Nightrider - It can make a move like a Knight, but then can continue to move in the same direction. Thus, it can make one or more successive knight-leaps, all in the same direction: the spaces visited by all but the last jump must be empty.
14
Rose - A circular Nightrider.
15
Rose/Rook - Compound of Rose and Rook; it may move each turn like Rose or like Rook.
16
Rose/Bishop - Compound of Rose and Bishop; it may move each turn like Rose or Bishop.
17
Ubi-Ubi - Let's name it "UU". It makes an arbitrary finite number of knight moves in a single turn as desired. It must stop when it captures an opponent's piece but it will be able to capture ONLY those pieces that in the immediate previous turn had captured any piece of its own, in other words, UU can make a capture only if this capture is a RE-CAPTURE.
For example, in the following diagram:
If White to move, then UUxe8 (a3-b5-d6-e8) would be illegal; but if Blue to move and makes Rxe3 (Rook x Bishop), then UUxe3 (a3-c4-e3) would be perfectly legal. Under this view, the King will always be immune to checks from UU.
18
Knightwazirzee - Piece invented by Jeremy Gabriel Good. It may move as knight, wazir, one of each or twice as one (knight; wazir; knight + wazir; wazir + knight; knight + knight; or wazir + wazir). See a detailed description of its move here.
19
Knightferzee - Piece invented by Jeremy Gabriel Good. It may move as knight, ferz, one of each or twice as one (knight; ferz; knight + ferz; ferz + knight; knight + knight; or ferz + ferz). See a detailed description of its move here.
20
Sissa - It moves each turn as Rook AND Bishop following a movement pattern of the form nR+nB or nB+nR, where n is any whole number.
nR+nB means "first n squares like Rook followed by n squares like Bishop";
nB+nR means "first n squares like Bishop followed by n squares like Rook".
Then, if for instance n=5, Sissa MUST MOVE 5 squares as Rook followed by 5 squares as Bishop or viceversa.
There is no restriction on the movement direction of the second stage respecting to the first.
Sissa doesn't leap. All squares it passes by must be empty.
21
Squeen - Compound of Queen and Sissa; it may move each turn like Queen OR like Sissa.
22
Cylindrical Queen - Compound of Cylindrical Rook and Cylindrical Bishop. Assuming that the board is joined at the outermost ranks ("a" and "h") as if it were a cylindrical board opened up, the Cylindrical Queen can move, threaten, and attack across the edge because it 'wrap' to the other side.
23
Cylindrical Rook - Assuming that the board is joined at the outermost ranks ("a" and "h") as if it were a cylindrical board opened up, the Cylindrical Rook can move, threaten, and attack across the edge because it 'wrap' to the other side.
24
Cylindrical Bishop - Assuming that the board is joined at the outermost ranks ("a" and "h") as if it were a cylindrical board opened up, the Cylindrical Bishop can move, threaten, and attack across the edge because it 'wrap' to the other side.
25
RF - Compound of Rook and Ferz better known as Dragon King; it may move each turn like Rook OR like Ferz.
26
Crooked Rook - It is a Rook that must make a 90 degree turn with every step, and must always keep moving away from its starting square.
27
BW - Compound of Bishop and Wazir better known as Dragon Horse; it may move each turn like Bishop OR like Wazir.
28
Crooked Bishop - Also known as Boyscout. It makes one or more successive diagonal steps, but every step must make a 90 degree turn, and every step must be moving away from the starting square. For example, placed on b1 it could move via a2, b3, a4, b5, a6, b7 to a8. It captures as they move, and cannot jump.
29
Seenschach's Harvestman - It may move either like Wazir or like Wazir and then continue like Crooked Bishop.
30
Crooked Bishop/Wazir - Compound of Crooked Bishop and Wazir; it may move each turn like Crooked Bishop OR like Wazir.
31
Reflecting Bishop - It moves like a normal chess Bishop, but it has the additionally power of reflecting off the side of the board at a 90 degree angle. It may not move to the square on which it starts its move.
32
RFW - Compound of Reflecting Bishop and Wazir; it may move each turn like Reflecting Bishop OR like Wazir.
33
ND - Compound of Knight and Dabbabah; it may move each turn like Knight OR like Dabbabah.
34
NE - Compound of Knight and Alfil or Elephant; it may move each turn like Knight OR like Alfil.
35
Pao - From Xiangqi. Also known as Cannon. It moves differently when it moves to capture than when it moves passively. It moves the same as the Chariot/Rook when it is not capturing a piece, and it moves in the same directions when capturing except that to make the capture it must hop over a single intervening piece, referred to as the screen. In other words, Paos/Cannons capture by hopping over a second piece in order to capture a third piece. For example, a Pao/Cannon on a1 can take a piece on f1 when exactly one of the spaces b1, c1, d1, or e1 is occupied by a piece of either color. Paos/Cannons only capture when hopping and only hop when capturing. They may never hop over more than one piece in a given move.
36
Vao - The counterpart as Bishop of the Pao.
37
PaoVao - Compound of Pao and Vao. Also known as Leo. It may move each turn like Pao OR like Vao.
38
NW - Compound of Knight and Wazir. It may move each turn like Knight OR like Wazir.
39
NF - Compound of Knight and Ferz. It may move each turn like Knight OR like Ferz.
40
NG - Compound of Knight and Guard. iI may move each turn like Knight OR like a Guard [Guard = Non-royal King].
41
Eohippo - Piece invented by Jörg Knappen for 10-directional Chess. It is an augmented Knight. In addition to the normal moves of the Knight it can also move one space forward or backward. In Ralph Betza's notation, it is a NfbW.
42
Fischer - Another piece invented by Jörg Knappen for 10-directional Chess. It is a restricted version of the Chancellor or Marshall piece. It has the moves of the Knight and the forward and backward moves of the Rook. It cannot move sideways. In Ralph Betza's notation, it is a NfbR.
43
Top Heart - Piece invented by Jeremy Gabriel Good. See the move description here.
44
Bottom Heart - Piece invented by Jeremy Gabriel Good. See the move description here.
The following 6 Rococo's pieces [45, 46, 47, 48, 49 and 51] plus the 50 move according to the original game, EXCEPTING the restrictions about the edge squares, that is, at this variant they may move freely on the whole board.
45
Chameleon - It moves passively as an Orthodox Queen. To capture, it mimics the powers of its intended victim. For example, it leaps over a mount to capture a Pawn, withdraws from Withdrawers, approaches Advancers, leaps over Long Leapers, and swaps with Swappers. By the same token, an enemy King standing adjacent to a Chameleon can be captured by the Chameleon. Chameleons can freeze Immobilizers but cannot capture them (but when next to an Immobilizer do not freeze any other pieces). A Chameleon next to a Swapper may capture it (and itself) by mutual destruction.
A Chameleon can use multiple types of capture in the same move. Consider a white Withdrawer on a1, a black Chameleon on a2, a white Long Leaper on a3 and a white Advancer on a5. The Black Chameleon by leaping over the Long Leaper to a4 would also capture the white Withdrawer by moving away from it, and the white Advancer by approaching it (for purposes of approaching and withdrawing it doesn't matter if the move is a slide or a leap). Swaps with Swappers may be combined with other captures.
46
Long Leaper - It moves as an Orthodox Queen and captures by overtaking. It takes possession of a single intervening piece by leaping to a vacant square somewhere beyond it. It may capture additional pieces, along the same line, if a vacant 'landing square' lies somewhere beyond each enemy piece. A Long Leaper may never jump over a friendly piece, jump over two or more pieces in a row without any empty spaces between, or move to an occupied square.
47
Swapper - It moves as an Orthodox Queen without capturing, or may swap position with any piece (of either side) an unobstructed Queen's move away. A Swapper may capture an adjacent piece and itself at the same time by mutual destruction. Mutual destruction may not be used when immobilized. If a Swapper swaps with an opposing Swapper or Chameleon, on the following turn the two pieces may not swap back. They may swap again once any other move is made.
48
Withdrawer - It moves passively as an Orthodox Queen. In order to capture, the Withdrawer must occupy a square adjacent to an enemy piece. To complete the capture, it must move one-or-more squares directly away from the enemy piece. These captures are part of movement, and are not optional -- you can not move a Withdrawer directly away from an opposing piece and not capture it. A Withdrawer may never move to an occupied square.
49
Advancer - It moves passively as an Orthodox Queen. In order to capture, the Advancer must move to a square adjacent to an enemy piece. If the next square in the direction it moved from the square the Advancer stopped on is occupied by an opposing piece, that opposing piece is captured. (This is capture by approach.) These captures are part of movement, and are not optional -- you can not move an Advancer next to an opposing piece in the line of movement and not capture it. An Advancer never moves into an occupied square.
50
Pushme-Pullyu - Piece invented by Fergus Duniho that combines the move of the Advancer and the Withdrawer.
51
Immobilizer - It moves as an Orthodox Queen but does not capture. An enemy piece standing adjacent to an Immobilizer may not move while the Immobilizer is present. Black and white Immobilizers, occupying adjacent squares, are each frozen until the other is captured. An immobilized piece other than a King may 'commit suicide' by removing itself from the board (usually to open a line of attack). This counts as a move for the player removing the piece. The Immobilizer may never move to an occupied square.
52
Fuge's Archer - The Archer moves as an Orthodox Queen without capturing. It captures by shooting: an Archer can capture an enemy piece an unobstructed QueenÂ’s move away without moving. There is no restriction on shooting an enemy piece adjacent to the Archer or two squares away; for longer shots, some other friendly piece must spot the target by being adjacent to it or two squares away in an unobstructed straight line. An immobilized Archer cannot shoot, but an immobilized piece can spot for the Archer.
53
Fuge's Shield - The Shield moves as an Orthodox Queen but does not capture. A friendly piece (including the King!) standing adjacent to a Shield is immune from capture. The Shield itself is capturable. The Shield does not protect against immobilization, but an immobilized Shield still protects adjacent friendly pieces. The Shield may never move to an occupied square.
54
Ultima's Coordinator - The Coordinator moves as an Orthodox Queen but captures by 'coordinating' with the King. Upon completing its move, the Coordinator may remove an enemy piece with which (1) it shares a file, and (2) its King shares a rank (or vice versa). Thus, it is possible for a Coordinator to capture two pieces at once. (e.g.: King at a3, Coordinator moves to c7 and captures pieces at a7 and/or c3.) The Coordinator may never move to any occupied square.
55
Wazir - It moves one square orthogonally. It takes in the same way as it moves without taking.
56
Ferz - It moves and takes one square diagonally.
57
Woody Rook - Moves like a Dabbabah, OR a Wazir. Text notation: WR.
58
Warmachine/Ferz - Moves like a Dabbabah, OR a Ferz.
59
Waffle - Moves like a Wazir OR an Alfil. Text notation: WA.
60
Elephant/Ferz - Moves like an Elephant/Alfil, OR a Ferz.
61
NQ - It moves forwards like knight OR backwards like queen. It cannot make none move sideways.
62
QN - The inverse of the before piece. It moves forwards like queen OR backwards like knight. It cannot make none move sideways.
63
NR - Knight forwards OR rook backwards. It cannot make none move sideways.
64
RN - Rook forwards OR knight backwards. It cannot make none move sideways.
65
NB - Knight forwards OR bishop backwards. It cannot make none move sideways.
66
BN - Bishop forwards OR knight backwards. It cannot make none move sideways.
67
BR - Bishop forwards OR rook backwards. It cannot make none move sideways.
68
RB - Rook forwards OR bishop backwards. It cannot make none move sideways.
69
Bede - Moves like a Bishop OR a Dabbabah. Text notation: BD.
70
Charging Knight - Moves like a Knight for its four forward moves, OR moves like a king sideways and backwards. Text notation: CN.
71
Fibnif - Moves like a Knight for its two longest forward and backward moves, OR a Ferz. Text notation: FN.
72
Fad - Moves either like Ferz or Alfil or Dabbabah. Text notation: FA.
73
Colonel - Moves like a Rook forwards or sideways, OR a Knight in a knight's four foward moves, OR a king. Text notation: CO.
74
Half-Duck - Moves like a Dabbabah, OR like a Ferz, OR can move three squares Rookwise (jumping over obstacles). Text notation: HD.
75
Charging Rook - Moves like a Rook forward and sideways, OR moves like a King backwards. Text notation: CR.
76
Siege Engine - It moves 1 square orthogonally OR leaps 3 squares orthogonally.
77
Elephant/Siege Engine - Compound of Elephant and Siege Engine: it may move 1 square orthogonally OR leaps 3 squares orthogonally OR leaps 2 squares diagonally.
78
Elephant/Dabbabah - Compound of Elephant/Alfil and Dabbabah: it moves (with or without taking) two squares horizontally, vertically or diagonally. It "jumps", i.e., it can move regardless whether the intervening square is occupied or not.
79
Dabbabahrider - It may make any number of successive leaps like Dabbabah.
80
Elephantrider - It may make any number of successive leaps like Elephant/Alfil.
81
Gryphon - It steps one space diagonally then slides like a Rook.
82
Aanca - It steps one space orthogonally then slides like a Bishop.
83
War Elephant - This colorbound piece slides 1 or 2 squares like a ferz. It may change direction during its move. It may not jump. It may not make a null move (move off and then back onto its starting square). A capture immediately ends its move. This piece is used by David Paulowich in Opulent Lemurian Shatranj.
The following 12 pieces are used by Joe Joyce in Atlantean Barroom Shatranj, Lemurian Shatranj, Grand Shatranj and Great Shatranj. Those marked with an asterisk are original designs by him.
84
Shaman[*] - This colorbound piece (also called the Bent Shaman) is an inclusive compound 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.
85
Hero[*] - This piece (also called the Bent Hero) is an inclusive compound 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.
86
Jumping king - Moves as the elephant or dababba. It may move 1 square or leap 2 squares orthogonally or diagonally.
87
Zigzag general[*] - A bent 2-step rider. Moves twice as the jumping general. It may move 1 square or leap 2 squares orthogonally or diagonally, then may do any of the 4 possible move types again. Thus it may move 1, 2, 3, or 4 squares in a turn. It may change directions between its first and second step. Null moves are not allowed.
88
Minister[*] - Moves like the knight, dababbah, or wazir. It slides 1 or jumps 2 squares orthogonally, or jumps in the standard knight's "L".
89
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".
90
Twisted knight[*] - A bent 2-step elephantrider. Moves twice as an alfil or ferz. It slides 1 or jumps 2 squares diagonally, and then may do either again. It too can move 1, 2, 3, or 4 squares in a turn. It may change directions between steps. Null moves are not allowed.
91
fleXible knight[*] - A bent 2-step dababbarider. Moves twice as a dabbabah or wazir. It slides 1 or jumps 2 squares orthogonally, then may do either again. It too can move 1, 2, 3 or 4 squares in a turn. It may change directions between steps. Null moves are not allowed.
92
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.
93
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.
94
Sliding General - This piece is a combination of 2 guards. It slides 1 or 2 squares. It may not jump. It may change direction during its move. It may not make a null move [move off and then back onto its starting square]. It captures by landing directly on an opposing piece and ending its turn.
95
Guard - A nonroyal king: it may make one step in any direction like wazir or ferz.
96
Half Queen - Absolute Halfling Queen. Its range is half of what a normal Queen could move on an empty board.
97
Half Rook - Absolute Halfling Rook. Its range is half of what a normal Rook could move on an empty board.
98
Half Bishop - Absolute Halfling Bishop. Its range is half of what a normal Bishop could move on an empty board.
99
Lance - Shogi's piece - It moves as a Rook but only forward in the same file, never sideways or backward.
100
Gold General - Shogi's piece. It may move one square vertically, horizontally, or diagonally forward. In all directions except diagonally backward.
101
Silver General - Shogi's piece. It may move one square diagonally, or straight forward. In all directions except horizontally or straight backward.
102
Honorable Horse - Shogi's piece. It has the two forward-most moves of the Orthodox Knight, always leaping to a space two ranks ahead and one file to the side.
103
Shishi - Chu Shogi's piece. Its move is complicated. See its move description here.
104
Kakuo (Horned Falcon) - Chu Shogi's piece. It may move any number of squares in any diagonal or orthogonal direction except forwards. Orthogonally forwards, it may move like wazir or dabbabah.
105
Hiju (Soaring Eagle) - Chu Shogi's piece. It may move any number of squares orthogonally sideways or forwards (n, s, e or w), or diagonally backwards (s-e or s-w), or diagonally forward like ferz or like alfil.
106
Higyu (Flying Ox) - Chu Shogi's piece. It may move any number of squares diagonally or orthogonally backwards or forwards.
107
Honcho (Free Boar) - Chu Shogi's piece. It may move any number of squares diagonally forwards or backwards or orthogonally sideways.
108
Hakku (White Horse) - Chu Shogi's piece. It may move any number of squares orthogonally backwards or forwards (n or s), or diagonally forwards (n-e or n-w).
109
Keigei (Whale) - Chu Shogi's piece. It may move any number of squares orthogonally backwards or forwards (n or s), or diagonally backwards (s-e or s-w).
110
Kengyo (Vertical Mover) - Chu Shogi's piece. It may move any number of squares orthogonally forwards or backwards (n or s) or one square orthogonally sideways (w or e).
111
Ogyo (Side Mover) - Chu Shogi's piece. It may move one square forwards or backwards (n, s) or any number of squares sideways (e, w).
112
Hiroku (Flying Stag) - Chu Shogi's piece. It may move any number of squares orthogonally forwards or backwards (n or s), or one square diagonally backwards or forwards (n-e, s-e, s-w or n-w), or one square orthogonally sideways (w or e).
113
Hansha (Reverse Chariot) - Chu Shogi's piece. It may move any number of squares orthogonally forward or backward (ie: n or s).
114
Suizo (Drunk Elephant) - Chu Shogi's piece. It moves a single square in any direction except south (backwards).
115
Moko (Blind Tiger) - Chu Shogi's piece. It moves one square in any direction except north (forewards).
116
Mohyo (Ferocious Leopard)- Chu Shogi's piece. It moves one square in any of the forward or backwards directions, that is, n-w, n, n-e, s-w, s, s-e.
117
Blind Monkey - Dai Dai Shogi's piece. It may step one square in one of the four diagonal directions or either orthogonal sideways.
118
Reclining Dragon - Maka Dai Dai Shogi's piece. It may move one square in one of the four orthogonal directions or diagonally backward.
119
Evil Wolf - Maka Dai Dai Shogi's piece. It may move one square orthogonally sideways or forward; or diagonally forward.
120
Old Monkey - Maka Dai Dai Shogi's piece. It may move one square in one of the four diagonal directions or orthogonally backward.
121
Copper General - Maka Dai Dai Shogi's piece. It may move one square orthogonally forward or backward; or it may move one square diagonally forward.
122
Coiled Serpeant - Maka Dai Dai Shogi's piece. It may move one square orthogonally forward or backward; or diagonally backward.
123
Iron General - Maka Dai Dai Shogi's piece. It may move one square forward, orthogonally or diagonally.
124
Tile General - Maka Dai Dai Shogi's piece. It may move one square diagonally forward or orthogonally backward.
125
Stone General - Maka Dai Dai Shogi's piece. It may move one square diagonally forward.
126
Chunin (Go-between) - Chu Shogi's piece. It may move one square orthogonally forwards or backwards.
127
Diagonal Wide Crooked Nightrider [axis of development (1,1)]. Let's name it: zNN11. See a detailed description of its move here: Nachtmahr.
128
Straight Wide Crooked Nightrider [axis (0,2)]. Let's name it: zNN02. See a detailed description of its move here: Nachtmahr.
129
The Quintessence or essential Nightrider [axis (3,1)]. Let's name it: zNN31. See a detailed description of its move here: Nachtmahr.
130
Diagonal Narrow Crooked Nightrider [axis (3,3)]. Let's name it: zNN33. See a detailed description of its move here: Nachtmahr.
131
Straight Narrow Crooked Nightrider [axis (0,4)]. Let's name it: zNN04. See a detailed description of its move here: Nachtmahr.
132
Falcon - Slider compound of Camel and Zebra. See a detailed explanation of this piece here: Falcon Chess.
133
Scorpion - A logical extension of Falcon-like move to four squares rather than Falcon's own three squares. See a detailed explanation of this piece here: Passed Pawns, Scorpions and Dragon.
134
Dragon - A further derivative piece in the logical sequence Falcon --> Scorpion --> Dragon. See a detailed explanation of this piece here: Passed Pawns, Scorpions and Dragon.
135
Barc - Standard Knight restricted to wide forward, narrow backward.
136
Crab - Standard Knight restricted to narrow forward, wide backward.
137
Barcrider - It can make a move like a Barc, but then can continue to move in the same direction. Thus, it can make one or more successive Barc-leaps, all in the same direction: the spaces visited by all but the last jump must be empty.
138
Crabrider - It can make a move like a Crab, but then can continue to move in the same direction. Thus, it can make one or more successive Crab-leaps, all in the same direction: the spaces visited by all but the last jump must be empty.
139
Crabwazir - Compound of Crab and Wazir. It may move each turn like Crab or like Wazir.
140
Crabferz - Compound of Crab and Ferz. It may move each turn like Crab or like Ferz.
141
Crabdabbabah - Compound of Crab and Dabbabah. It may move each turn like Crab or like Dabbabah.
142
Crabalfil - Compound of Crab and Alfil. It may move each turn like Crab or like Alfil.
143
Grasshopper - It moves on the queens lines, but must jump and lands at the first square after the piece he jumps. To be precise: the grasshopper moves in horizontal, vertical or diagonal direction until it meets a piece (either friendly or unfriendly). It jumps over the piece and goes to the first square on the line after the piece that it jumped over. If that square is occupied by a piece from the opponent, that piece is taken, i.e., the grasshopper takes in the same way as it moves without taking.
144
Andernach-Grasshoper - Piece invented by Ben Good. The Andernach-Grasshopper moves like a Grasshopper, except that the piece it hurdles changes colors, except for Kings. More specifically, the AG moves any number of squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally until it reaches an occupied square. It then jumps over this piece to the square immediately beyond it. The piece jumped over - if it is not a King - it changed to the opposite color of what it was when the AG began the move. The AG may only move to unoccupied squares or squares occupied by an enemy piece, which is then captured.
145
Einstein Grasshooper - Piece invented by Ben Good. It moves the same as the Andernach-Grasshopper; that is, like a grasshopper. Unlike the AG, however, the EG does not change the color of the pieces it hurdles. Instead, it changes what piece they are, according to the following rules: (a) If the EG moves without capturing, the piece it hurdles will be demoted according to the hierarchy established by the set of pieces and pawns that are present on the 8x8 board at the time the EG is moving. If an EG hurdles another EG without capturing, the hurdled piece is unaffected. (b) If the EG captures a piece on its move, the piece it hurdles will be promoted according to the hierarchy established by the set of pieces and pawns that are present on the 8x8 board at the time the EG is moving. If an EG hurdles another EG and captures, the hurdled piece is unaffected. Kings or royal pieces are never affected by the EG.
146
Circe-Grasshopper - Piece invented by Ben Good. Like the AG and EG, the Circe-Grasshopper moves like a grasshopper. Pieces hurdled by the CG, however, are replaced on the board in a similar way as happens in Circe Chess. When a CG hurdles a piece (or a pawn), that piece (or pawn) is placed on its rebirth square. The rebirth square of a piece (or pawn) is the square that that piece (or pawn) would have occupied in the opening setup at the beginning of the game. The rebirth square of both promoted and dropped pieces will be any of the first row that is unoccupied. The rebirth square of dropped pawns will be any of the second row that is unoccupied. If a piece's (or pawn's) rebirth square is occupied, then that piece (or pawn) will be removed from the game. When a CG hurdles a King or any other royal piece and its rebirth square is occupied, then it will be considered checkmated or captured, according to the case.
147
Andernach-Einstein-Circe-Grasshopper - Piece invented by Ben Good. It has multiple effects on the piece that it hurdles, which are considered to occur in the order they are listed in the piece's name.
148
Anti-King - From Peter Aronson's Anti-King Chess. The Anti-King is a King that is in check whenever it is not attacked by opposing pieces. If a player ends their turn with their Anti-King not attacked, they are checkmated and lose. Additionally, the Anti-King may not capture opposing pieces, only friendly ones. Since the Anti-King is a form of King, it may not be captured, only mated. Anti-Kings do not offer check to friendly Kings. Kings do not attack Anti-Kings, so an Anti-King next to a hostile King but not attacked by any other piece is not attacked and so in check.
149
Rhino - Compound of Mao and Wazir. It moves one square orthogonally, and then optionally, only if the first square was empty, one square diagonally outward.
150
Squirrel - It has the combined moves of Dabbabah, Alfil, and Knight, i.e., it can move two squares in any direction (orthogonally or diagonally) or like a knight, one in one orthogonal direction and two in the other orthogonal direction.
When moving, the Squirrel can jump, i.e., it can complete the move, regardless of whether the squares passed over are occupied or not.
151
Camel - It is a (1,3)-jumper. This means that it reaches its destination square by moving either three squares horizontally and one vertically, or one square horizontally and three vertically. The camel is a jumping piece, meaning it can move to its destination square whether the intervening squares are occupied or not. If the destination square is occupied by an enemy piece, then it captures that piece.
152
Zebra - It is a (2,3)-jumper, i.e., it moves (with or without taking) three squares horizontally and two vertically, or two squares horizontally and three vertically. It "jumps", i.e., it can move regardless whether the intervening squares are occupied or not.
153
Giraffe - It has a kind of "stretched" knights-move: it makes a 1,4-jump, i.e, it jumps to a square that is either four squares horizontally and one square vertically away, or to that is four squares vertically and one square horizontally away. It jumps, i.e., the giraffe can move regardless whether passed squares are occupied by other pieces or not.
154
Antelope - It is a (3,4)-jumper, i.e., it moves (with or without taking) four squares horizontally and three vertically, or three squares horizontally and four vertically. It `jumps', i.e., it can move regardless whether the intervening squares are occupied or not.
155
Gnu - It may move each turn like Knight or like Camel.
156
Bison - It may move each turn like Camel or like Zebra.
157
Camel/Wazir - It may move each turn like Camel or like Wazir.
158
Camel/Ferz - It may move each turn like Camel or like Ferz.
159
Camel/Wazir/Ferz - It may move each turn like Camel or like Wazir or like Ferz.
160
Camel/Queen - It may move each turn like Camel or like Queen.
161
Buffalo - It may move each turn like Knight or like Camel or like Zebra.
162
Flamingo - It is a (1,6)-jumper, i.e., it moves (with or without taking) one square horizontally and six vertically, or six squares horizontally and one vertically. It "jumps", i.e., it can move regardless whether the intervening squares are occupied or not.
163
Root-fifty leaper - It makes either a (5,5)-jump or a (7,1)-jump, i.e., it has the following possible jumping moves:
- Exactly five squares diagonally (i.e., 5 horizontally and 5 vertically).
- Exactly seven squares horizontally and one square vertically.
- Exactly seven squares vertically and one square diagonally.
It "jumps", i.e., it can move regardless whether the intervening squares are occupied or not.
Note that a root-fifty leaper cannot change the color of the squares it stands on.
164
Mamra - From George Tsavdaris's Mamra Chess. It moves exactly like a nonroyal-King or Guard. But it has the extra-property that no other piece can capture it except Pawns. So Mamra is nearly invincible and it can be captured by Pawns only (not even by another Mamra).
165
Wuss - Piece invented by Dan Troyka. It moves like a queen but can not capture and must move when attacked.
166
Windmill - It moves as follows: first it chooses a piece, friendly or enemy, adjacent to itself. It can then move either clockwise or counterclockwise around that piece, passing through empty squares adjacent to the piece around which the windmill is moving. The windmill can end on an enemy piece, capturing it. The windmill must end on a square different than the one it started on.
167
Jester - From Jester Chess. It has no move of its own but mimics the move of the last opponent piece played. The Jester is subject to two constraints:It may capture only when the piece that it mimics has just captured.
It is always limited to a one-square advance when mimicking any kind of Pawn or Steward.
168
Orphan - It is a dummy unit that has no movement powers of its own. Rather, it has the power to move like any enemy piece that is attacking it. If the attacking piece or the Orphan moves away, or another piece intervenes, the Orphan loses the power it had gained from that piece. Orphans can gain powers from more than one piece, and can also gain powers from other Orphans, setting off chain reactions if enough Orphans are positioned right. According to Orphan's inventor, David L. Brown, an Orphan threatened by a Rook can not be used to castle, and an Orphan threatened by a Pawn can not promote or capture en passant. An Orphan can move next to an enemy King, checking it.
169
Querquisite - Its move depends on its position on the board; it is determined by the file where it stands. Changing the file, the Querquisite changes its moves accordingly:It moves
- as a rook on files a and h
- as a knight on files b and g
- as a bishop on files c and f
- as a queen on file d
- as a non-royal king on file e
170
Friend - Invented by David L. Brown, it's the "counterpart" or "reciprocal" of the Orphan. It is a dummy unit that has no movement powers of its own. Rather, it has the power to move like any friendly piece that is guarding it. If the guarding piece or the Friend moves away, or another piece intervenes, the Friend loses the power it had gained from that piece. Friends can gain powers from more than one piece, and can also gain powers from other Friends, setting off chain reactions if enough friends are positioned right. Brown does not specifically say so, but from the rules of the Orphan we can determine the following: a Friend guarded by a Rook can not be used to castle, and a Friend guarded by a pawn can not promote or capture en passant.
Rules
The 13 pawns are:
1
Pawn - Standard, FIDE pawn. It moves without capturing by stepping straight forward one space, and it captures by moving diagonally forward one space.
2
Cannon Pawn - It moves without capturing two ways: either a single step in any direction, or, it may leap over an adjacent piece of either side to the empty square just beyond. It capture in the second way they move, by leaping over an adjacent piece (the mount), landing on the opposing piece just beyond the mount.
3
Pincer Pawn - Ultima's piece. It moves as Orthodox Rook and perform custodial captures only, by moving adjacent to an enemy piece it in a manner that completes a straight line consisting of (1) Pincer Pawn, (2) enemy piece, (3) friendly piece. Thus, it is possible for a Pincer Pawn to capture more than one piece in a single move. It may never move to an occupied square.
4
Shogi Pawn - Shogi's piece. It moves one square straight forward. Shogi Pawns capture in the same manner as they move.
5
Berolina Pawn - It is an "inverted" or "reversed" standard Pawn. It makes non-capturing moves one square diagonally forward and captures one square orthogonally forward. When a Berolina Pawn is still on its original square on the second row, it can make a non-capturing move diagonally forwards of one or of two squares - if it moves two squares, the first square must be empty.
6
Sergeant Pawn - It combines disjuntively the movements of Pawn and Berolina Pawn.
7
Berolina-Plus Pawn - It moves as Berolina pawn, but may also capture by a step to the side. The Berolina-Plus Pawn can make a double diagonal step without capturing as its first move.
8
Steward - It moves as a Pawn in all four directions.
9
Camel Pawn - It may move each turn like a noncapturing-forward-Camel or like a standard Pawn.
10
Knight Pawn - It may move each turn like a noncapturing-forward-Knight or like a standard Pawn.
11
XJ Pawn - Xiangqi's Pawn and/or Janjgi's Pawn. It moves and captures one step either forward or sideways.
12
Eurasian Pawn - Suggested by Richard Hutnik. It may move each turn like a standard Pawn or like a XJ Pawn.
13
Jumping Pawn - From Seenschach. It can move one square forward or sideways without capturing and captures one square diagonally forward. From its starting field [player's 2nd row], it can also move two or three squares in forward direction. Capturing en passant is possible. If two pawns of the same colour are forming a double pawn, the second pawn may jump over the first one in forward direction, provided that the target square is empty. A jumping pawn may be captured en passant, resulting in the capture of two pawns in one strike. It is forbidden to jump into the last rank for promotion.
Irrespective its kind, all Pawns must promote when reaching the opponent's home row or first row in this manner:
The first promoted Pawn will be promoted by the last major piece of the dropping order; that is, the one placed on R9 for White, the one placed on R10 for Blue.
The second promoted Pawn will be promoted by the penultimate piece of the dropping order; that is, the one placed on Q9 for White, the one placed on Q10 for Blue.
The third promoted Pawn will be promoted by the antepenultimate piece of the dropping order; that is, the one placed on P9 for White, the one placed on P10 for Blue.
And so on following the inverse major pieces dropping order.
Winning Conditions
Given that there are 4 royal pieces:
Standard King
Knight King
Anti-King
Wuss
The following options hold:
1) If the only royal piece on the board is the Standard King, then the game is won by checkmating it.
2) When the Anti-King is present, winning the game requires to checkmate it and also capture all the royals pieces that are on the board.
3) When the royal pieces on the board are
Standard King + Knight King
Standard King + Wuss
Standard King + Knight King + Wuss
then to win is needed to capture all them.
There is no castling in this variant and draw conditions are like in standard chess.
Due to the presence of powerful pieces it's possible that the preset generates certain starting positions in which White could capture any undefended pawn or checkmates Blue in the first turn. Of course, this would not be a problem if the preset were programmed to exclude these cases, but since doing so is out of my possibilities, I propose two ways of dealing with the situation:
1) Delete the preset and proceed to generate a new one.
2) Keep the preset by prohibiting problematic moves.
Notes
Old Rules
In general, all the rules of FIDE chess apply, including castling that here is adapted to the new circumstances and is renamed as CORNERING.
The CORNERING may be made by the king and any piece placed on the nearest corner to him; this piece on the corner may be even any dropped one. Both the king and the cornered piece should not have been moved previously.
If the king falls on the corners, of course, there is no need of any cornering.
If falls on b1/b8, then he will remain there and the piece on the nearest corner [a] will leap to c1/c8.
If falls on c1/c8, he will remain there and the piece on the nearest corner [a] will leap to d1/d8.
If falls on d1/d8 or e1/e8, the king may cornering with the piece placed at either corner by walking two steps towards it, and then the piece leaping the king to the adjacent square to him; exactly as in FIDE chess happens.
If falls on f1/f8, he will remain there and the piece on the nearest corner [h] will leap to e1/e8.
If falls on g1/g8, he will remain there and the piece on the nearest corner [h] will leap to f1/f8.
Drops Performance
All the major pieces, except the Anti-King, must be dropped on any unoccupied square of the player's 1st row.
Pawns must be dropped on any unoccupied square of the player's 2nd row.
Anti-Kings may be dropped on any unoccupied square of the entire board provided that they remain attacked by at least one adversary's piece.Pieces and pawns may be dropped either at the same time in a determined turn or separately in different turns.
As a compensation for White's first move advantage, Blue will have the oportunity of making the drops before than White, doing it in the following manner.
Major Pieces
1st: the piece on A18 in any turn between the 6 and 10 (including 6 and 10)
2nd: the piece on B18 in any turn between the 11 and 15 (including 11 and 15)
3rd: the piece on C18 in any turn between the 16 and 20 (including 16 and 20)
...
17th: the piece on Q18 in any turn between the 86 and 90 (including 86 and 90)
18th: the piece on R18 in any turn between the 91 and 95 (including 91 and 95)
19th: the piece on A17 in any turn between the 96 and 100 (including 96 and 100)
20th: the piece on B17 in any turn between the 101 and 105 (including 101 and 105)
21th: the piece on C17 in any turn between the 106 and 110 (including 106 and 110)
And so on.Pawns
1st: the pawn on S18 at any turn between the 6 and 10 (including 6 and 10)
2nd: the pawn on T18 at any turn between the 16 and 20 (including 16 and 20)
3rd: the pawn on U18 at any turn between the 26 and 30 (including 26 and 30)
4th: the pawn on S17 at any turn between the 36 and 40 (including 36 and 40)
5th: the pawn on T17 at any turn between the 46 and 50 (including 46 and 50)
6th: the pawn on U17 at any turn between the 56 and 60 (including 56 and 60)
7th: the pawn on S16 at any turn between the 66 and 70 (including 66 and 70)
and so on.-----------------------------------------------------
White must make his drops thus:
Major Pieces
1st: the piece on A1 at any turn between 7 and 11 (including 7 and 11)
2nd: the piece on B1 at any turn between 12 and 16 (including 12 and 16)
3rd: the piece on C1 at any turn between 17 and 21 (including 17 and 21)
...
17th: the piece on Q1 at any turn between 87 and 91 (including 87 and 91)
18th: the piece on R1 at any turn between 92 and 96 (including 92 and 96)
19th: the piece on A2 at any turn between 97 and 101 (including 97 and 101)
20th: the piece on B2 at any turn between 102 and 106 (including 102 and 106)
21th: the piece on C2 at any turn between 107 and 111 (including 107 and 111)
and so on.Pawns
1st: the pawn on S1 at any turn between the 7 and 11 (including 7 and 11)
2nd: the pawn on T1 at any turn between the 17 and 21 (including 17 and 21)
3rd: the pawn on U1 at any turn between the 27 and 31 (including 27 and 31)
4th: the pawn on S2 at any turn between the 37 and 41 (including 37 and 41)
5th: the pawn on T2 at any turn between the 47 and 51 (including 47 and 51)
6th: the pawn on U2 at any turn between the 57 and 61 (including 57 and 61)
7th: the pawn on S3 at any turn between the 67 and 71 (including 67 and 71)
and so on.So, players have some flexibility to choose both the turn and the square in which pieces and pawns will be dropped, but the dropping itself is MANDATORY; the extra pieces and pawns must come into the game NECESSARILY. This may be done at the same time that any one normal, regular move. Likewise, it's possible and legal to drop at the same turn a major piece and a pawn; in this case the move would consist of three parts or stages: (1) the regular move on the 8x8 board; (2) the major piece dropped from the 18x18 board to the 8x8 board; (3) the pawn dropped from the small 3x4 board to the 8x8 board.
Irrespective its kind, all the Pawns must promote when reaching the opponent's home row or first row in this manner:
The first promoted Pawn will be promoted by the last major piece of the dropping order; that is, the one placed on R9 for White, the one placed on R10 for Blue.
The second promoted Pawn will be promoted by the penultimate piece of the dropping order; that is, the one placed on Q9 for White, the one placed on Q10 for Blue.
The third promoted Pawn will be promoted by the antepenultimate piece of the dropping order; that is, the one placed on P9 for White, the one placed on P10 for Blue.
And so on following the inverse major pieces dropping order.
Winning Conditions
Given that there are 4 royal pieces:
Standard King
Knight King
Anti-King
Wuss
The following options hold:
1) If the only royal piece on the board is the Standard King, then the game is won by checkmating the enemy King.
2) In all other cases to win is necessary to capture all the royal pieces.--------------------------------
All kind of suggestions, comments and criticisms are welcomed.
Very much thanks to Jeremy Gabriel Good for having made the following two important suggestions:
1) The convenience that in this variant were possible castling.
2) Blue should have the possibility of making the drops before White to compensate White's first move advantage.
Special thanks to Jochen Mueller for his feedback and willingness to playtest UC-73, the previous version to this one.
Presets
Game Courier Logs for UC-170-13
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 Carlos Cetina.
Last revised by Carlos Cetina.
Web page created: 2012-10-03. Web page last updated: 2012-10-03