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Rules of McCooey's Hexagonal Chess
McCooey's Hexagonal Chess is a close adaptation of Chess to a hexagonal board. Pieces move the same as in Chess, but there are now six orthogonal directions and six diagonal directions. It follows the rules of Chess with some differences to how pieces move, described below.
The Rook moves in a straight line over any number of empty spaces in any orthogonal direction, which is movement passing through the shared sides of hexagons. On this board, these directions all have a vertical component, whether straight up and down or slanting.
The Bishop moves in a straight line over any number of empty spaces in any diagonal direction. The diagonal directions pass through the corners of spaces to the next space of the same color. On this board, all diagonal directions have a horizontal component, whether completely flat left-right movement or at an angle. As in Chess, all diagonal movement is color-bound, and because of this, this game includes three Bishops for each side, one for each color.
The Queen moves as a Rook or as a Bishop.
The King moves one space in any orthogonal or diagonal direction, so that it has up to 12 spaces it may move to. As in Chess, it may not move into check, and the object is to checkmate it. Unlike Chess, there is no castling.
The Knight moves directly to a space, leaping over any intervening pieces, that may be reached by moving one space orthogonally, followed by one more space in one of the two diagonal directions most similar to its orthogonal direction. Because a one-step orthogonal move is always to a space of a different color, and a one-step diagonal move is always to a space of the same color, a Knight's move is always to a space of a different color. As in Chess, its movement could be described as a leap to any of the closest non-adjacent spaces of a different color.
The Pawn moves one space vertically forward without capturing, and it may capture by moving one space diagonally forward. Except for the center Pawn, a Pawn may make a double step on its first move, and if that move takes it over a space from which another Pawn could have captured it, that Pawn may take it by en passant on the immediately following move. Upon reaching any hex at the end of a file, from which vertically forward movement is no longer possible, it may promote to any other piece besides the King.
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 McCooey's Hexagonal Chess, which was made by Fergus Duniho.
Game Courier was created, programmed and written by Fergus Duniho.
Game Courier, Copyright © Fergus Duniho, 2001-2017
WWW Page Created: 15 August 2001
Kibbitzing Etiquette
Kibbitzing is the practice of commenting on a game you are not playing. In commenting on a game, please follow these rules of etiquette.
(1) If you notice that someone has made an illegal move, please mention it. Some Game Courier presets cannot enforce rules, but Game Courier does enable players to take back any previous move. Details on how to take back a move are provided in the User's Guide, linked to above the board.
(2) Unless otherwise specifically asked to, do not offer hints or suggestions to players on what moves they should make. In general, avoid coaching comments.
(3) Once a game is over, it should be alright to offer your analysis of the game and your specific comments on what moves players should have made. If some players don't want this, they may mention it in the Kibbitzing section, and you should honor this request by not commenting on the game.
(4) Be polite. At the appropriate time, offer any criticism you have in a constructive manner. Avoid heckling players for bad moves.
(5) Don't spam this space with irrelevant comments. If you have a comment about Game Courier, rather than about the specific game you're viewing, please post it on Game Courier's Index page to give it.