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z | h | g | f | e | d | c | b | a | x | |
Rules of Rococo
| | | | |  |  | |
| King | Chameleon | Advancer | Withdrawer | Immobilizer | Long Leaper | Swapper | Pawn |
|---|
Rules
The rules of Rococo are identical to those of International Chess, except when noted below. The largest general rules change is that the object of the game is to capture the opposing King, not to checkmate it. Also, a player unable to move or who causes three time repetition loses as well.
The 36 outer squares of the 10 x 10 Rococo board are marked in the diagram below. These marked squares on the edge of the board are edge squares, and a move may only end on an edge square if necessary for a capture. Or in other words, a piece may only end up on an edge square by making a capturing move that would not be possible without landing on the edge square. This includes moves that start on edge squares. The Swapper's swap move is considered a capture for purposes of edge squares.
The Pieces and their Movements
| Piece | Description |
| King | The King moves and captures as an Orthodox Chess King. Since victory is by capture of the opposing King, a Rococo King may move next to an enemy King. A King may only enter an edge square to capture a piece on an edge square. |
| Advancer |
The Advancer 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 a Advancer next to an opposing piece in
the line of movement and not capture it. An Advancer never
moves into an occupied square. An Advancer may only
enter an edge square if swapped there, but once on an edge square it may
make capturing moves along the edge.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:::| p |:::| |:::| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |:*:| |:::| |:p:| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:::| + |:::| |:*:| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |:+:| |:+:| |:::| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:+:| + |:+:| |:::| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | + |:A:| + |:+:| * |:p:| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:+:| + |:+:| |:::| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+The '+'s indicate where the white Advancer can move without capturing, and the '*'s indicates where it may move to to capture one of the black Pawns.
|
| Long Leaper |
The Long Leaper
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. It may end its move on an edge square only when
that is the only way to make a particular capture.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:*:| |:::| |:::| |:::| * | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | * |:::| |:::| |:::| * |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:*:| |:::| |:::| p |:::| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | * |:::| |:::| + |:::| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:*:| |:::| + |:::| |:::| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | p |:::| + |:::| |:::| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:+:| + |:::| |:::| |:::| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | L |:+:| + |:+:| + |:+:| p |:*:| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+The '*'s indicate squares the could be landed in after leaping over and capturing an opposing piece, the '+'s indicate squares that can be moved to without capturing. |
| Swapper |
The Swapper 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's swap move counts as a capture for the
purpose of the edge squares, so a Swapper may swap position with a
piece on an edge square. Additionally, 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.
The Swapper (without the capture by mutual destruction) was called the Ximaera and the Chimaerine by V.R. Parton. |
| Withdrawer |
The Withdrawer 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. For example, a Withdrawer moving from d2 to g2
captures only an enemy piece at c2 (not c3/d3/e3/c1/d1/e1). 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. It may move to an edge square when it is the only way to make
a particular capture.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:::| |:::| * |:::| |:::| + | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |:::| |:*:| |:::| + |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:::| |:::| * |:::| + |:::| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |:::| p |:*:| + |:::| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:+:| + |:+:| W |:+:| + |:+:| + | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |:::| + |:p:| * |:::| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:::| + |:::| |:::| * |:::| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | + |:::| |:::| |:::| * |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+The '*'s indicate squares the could be landed in after moving away from and capturing an opposing piece, the '+'s indicate squares that can be moved to without capturing. |
| Immobilizer | The Immobilizer 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 or an edge square (although it may be swapped to an edge square). |
| Chameleon |
The Chameleon 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). |
| Cannon Pawn |
The Pawns in Rococo are Cannon Pawns, since their move is rather like
a limited form of the Cannon from XiangQi (although, their move
is even more like the fairy Chess piece called the Grasshopper). Cannon
Pawns move without capturing two ways: either a single step in any
direction, or, they may leap over an adjacent piece of either side to
the empty square just beyond. They capture the in the second way they
move, by leaping over an adjacent piece (the mount), landing on the
opposing piece just beyond the mount. A Cannon Pawn may only move to
an edge square when capturing a piece on an edge square.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:::| |:::| |:::| |:::| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |:::| |:::| |:::| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:::| |:::| |:::| |:::| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |:::| |[p]| |:*:| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:::| |:+:| A |:p:| |:::| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |:::| + |:P:| + |:::| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:::| |:+:| + |:+:| |:::| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |:::| |:::| |:::| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+The '*'s indicate squares the could be landed on by leaping over another piece. The '+'s indicate squares that can be moved to without jumping. The Pawn surrounded by '[]'s can be captured by leaping over the Advancer (the mount in that case). If a Cannon Pawn makes a move by itself (rather than being swapped) that lands it on a square on the rank where the opposing King started, or on the edge rank past it, it may promote to any friendly piece other than a Cannon Pawn that has been captured and is currently off of the board. |
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.
The inclusion of a piece does not indicate that it is used in the game you are playing. But if your game uses pieces not included here, you should choose a different piece set.
Credits
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.