A Game Courier Preset for 4D Hexagonal Chess
Rules of 4D Hexagonal Chess
1) There are 6 piece types in 4D Hexagonal Chess, the same ones as for chess (or for Glinski's Hexagonal Chess), i.e. Pawn, Knight, Bishop, Rook, Queen and King.
2) All 6 piece types can move as in Glinski's Hexagonal Chess when making moves that stay on the same 2D hexagonal board in 4D Hexagonal Chess, except pawns cannot make an initial double step or en passant capture (pawn promotions to be discussed later), and bishops are allowed to take a single orthogonal step (also between 2D Boards) instead of moving diagonally (a bishop can eventually reach all 361 cells on an empty 4D board, as can be deduced shortly).
3) Except for knights and pawns, the pieces move between 2D boards by always going to the same 2D board cell (i.e. by rank & file) that they start on, but on a different 2D board. In doing so, these piece types move (orthogonally or diagonally) between 2D boards in the way they as a piece type would move on a single 2D board, i.e. so long as their path is not obstructed.
4) The preceding paragraph applies in 2D knight move (rather than orthogonal or diagonal move) fashion to some moves between 2D boards that a knight can make (in leaping, being a knight), i.e. when moving so that it arrives on the same 2D board cell on its destination 2D board as on its original 2D board.
4a) In addition, a knight can move to a new 2D board that is one board away orthogonally, with it landing on a 2D board cell that is two cells orthogonally away from the 2D board cell that it was on on its original 2D board, provided that the destination cell is not of the same basic colour as the knight began upon. As an aside, note that in the 4D Hexagonal Chess page's diagram for the setup position, blue is one of three basic colours for the 4D board hexes, in spite of there being 3 shades of blue used. The shades are there to help players visualize diagonal moves that go between 2D boards. If moving a piece diagonally (in that way, or else entirely upon a 2D board), note that a piece always stays on cells of the same basic colour and shade (imagine that the other two basic colours besides blue also have 3 shades each, which would have been excessive if actually shown in the setup diagram).
4b) Also in addition, a knight can move to a 2D board two boards away orthogonally, landing on a 2D board cell that is one cell orthogonally away from the 2D board cell that it was on on its original 2D board, provided that the destination cell is not of the same basic colour as the knight began upon.
4c) Note that while a knight cannot reach the centre hex of a 2D board by moves made only on that 2D board, it can get to such a centre hex eventually on an empty 4D board by making moves that include going between 2D boards; thus a knight's tour of all 361 cells on the 4D board is possible.
5) Pawns promote by reaching a cell on the last row of cells of a 2D board that's part of the last row of 2D boards (the enemy king resides on one such cell and one such 2D board in the setup position). Pawns promote to any piece type in the setup, except for a king.
5a) When moving between 2D boards without capturing something, a pawn moves one 2D board forward orthogonally, on the same column of 2D boards that it starts on, towards its promotion (note that individual columns are labelled A to E in the setup diagram). It then lands on the same 2D board cell as it starts on on its original 2D board, provided that cell on the destination 2D board is unoccupied.
5b) When moving between 2D boards by capturing something, a pawn can do so by going one board forward orthogonally (i.e. staying on its column, moving towards promotion), or it may capture something on an adjacent column by going one 2D board step 60 degrees forwards (either way). In case of capturing to a 2D board on the same column as it starts on, a pawn arrives on the destination 2D board forward one cell 60 degrees (either way) from the 2D board cell it was on on its original 2D board. In case of capturing to a destination 2D board on an adjacent column, a pawn arrives on the same 2D board cell as it was on on its original board.
5c) Note that the 4D Hexagonal Chess board is checkered in such a way that a pawn will never move to a cell of the same basic colour as that upon which it starts, a feature which also applies to the 2D board used in Glinski's Hexagonal Chess (when playing that game).
There is no castling. Stalemate is a draw, as are 3-fold repetition and 50 move rule.
When a player's last unit except for his king is captured, his king is "bared", and it is to be "confined" for the rest of the game in one of two ways, which the player with the now bared king must immediately choose from. This is indicated in the making of his very next move, by whether his bared king is moved on the same 2D board that it starts upon, or goes between 2D boards. That is, a bared king is to be confined to only making moves on the same 2D board, or else it is to be confined to making moves that go between 2D boards (i.e. it may only move to the same cell of any 2D board that it might move to). Note that the other side's king must not move into check, that is as though the opposing king were still unconfined in this respect. This confinement rule allows for more 'basic' checkmates to occur than may happen otherwise, while still allowing for cases of insufficient checkmating material at times.
Here is a page about this game: 4D Hexagonal Chess
How to Move Pieces
Full Algebraic Notation
Algebraic notation identifies each space by a coordinate that begins with its file label and ends with its rank label. On the Chess board, files go up and down from one player to the other, and ranks go from left to right. In most games, files are represented by letters, and ranks are represented by numbers, but there is no fixed rule requiring this for all games, and some games, such as Shogi, reverse this convention. If you look at the diagram, you will usually see the file labels going from left to right and the file labels going up and down. And if you hover your mouse over a space, you will normally see the name of the coordinate appear in a tooltip.
It is not uncommon to see algebraic notation being used for Chess, but it is often in an abbreviated format that requires you to know both the rules of the game and the current position to know exactly which piece moves where. For example, the notation "Ne6" indicates that a Knight is moving to e6, but it doesn't indicate which Knight, and it doesn't specify where the Knight is coming from. To figure this out, you need to know how a Knight moves and which Knight on the board can make a legal move to e6.
Although rules may be programmed for individual games, Game Courier itself does not know the rules of any game, and it is unable to parse abbreviated algebraic notation. Therefore, it relies on full algebraic notation, which completely specifies the move without requiring any knowledge of the game's rules or the current position. The most usual type of full algebraic notation indicates the piece that is moving by its label, the space it is moving from, and the space it moving to. In Chess, a typical first move might be written as "P e2-e4". When you hover your mouse over a piece, you will normally see the piece label followed by the coordinate for the space, and when you hover it over an empty space, you will normally see the coordinate label. Including the piece label in your notation allows Game Courier to check that the piece you're moving is the right one, and it makes game notation easier to follow, but it is not mandatory.
You may promote a piece by including a promotion move after your regular move. A promotion move has a piece go directly to a coordinate. Here is an example: "p e7-e8; q-e8".
You may remove a piece from a space by adding an @ to the space or by omitting the destination coordinate. For example, both "@-e4" and "e4-" would remove the piece on "e4". This is useful for en passant when you are playing a game that does not handle this automatically. For example, "P d5-e6; e5-" removes the Pawn on e5 after a Pawn moves from d5 to e6.
You will not need to remove spaces for most games, but if you should need to, you can do this by omitting the first coordinate in a move. For example, "-e4" would remove e4 from the board. To add or return a space to the board, you may add an @ or any other piece to it.
Available Pieces
Pieces are represented by labels, usually using uppercase letters for White and lowercase letter for Black. When you enter a move or specify the starting position for a game, you should remember that piece labels are case-sensitive. Many piece sets are available for use with Game Courier, and this table shows you which pieces belong to the piece set you are currently using.
These pieces come from a set containing more pieces, but this preset has had the set of pieces reduced to those used in the game.
Credits
This preset uses the default settings file for 4D Hexagonal Chess, which was made by Kevin Pacey.
Game Courier was created, programmed and written by Fergus Duniho.
Game Courier, Copyright © Fergus Duniho, 2001-2017
WWW Page Created: 15 August 2001