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Time Travel Chess by Gary Gifford
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| k-King | Q-Queen | r-Rook | B-Bishop | n-Knight | P-Pawn |
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Rules
The Board, the Pieces, and Object of the Game
A standard 8 x 8 chessboard and 32 piece set are used.
The object of the game is to checkmate your opponent, or to win by having one of your opponent�s Kings (or King) "Lost in Time" during his time traveling.
How to Play Time Travel ChessPieces move as in western chess. The difference is that they can travel forward in time up to 10 moves. In addition, the King can travel back in time up to 5 moves. The King�s backward travel is limited to 2 of these 5 move journeys. Why? It depends who you ask. Father Time says that to exceed this would stress the fabric of time. Caissa says it would damage the fabric of chess.
TIME TRAVEL.
1. To send a pawn or piece forward in time:
(a) A King cannot be in check.(b) The piece (or pawn) must be adjacent to a King of the same color.
Thus, on the first move you could send one of the following into the future: Queen-Pawn, King-Pawn, King-Bishop-Pawn, Queen, King-Bishop, or the King.
(c) Remove the intended time traveling piece (or pawn) from the board.
(d) Indicate when it is to return in time, not to exceed 10 moves.
When doing so, on the same score sheet go to the future move number and write the name of the piece between brackets, e.g., [Bw] for a white-square Bishop time traveling, [N] for knight, etc.
Note: Pawns cannot be placed on 1st or 8th ranks when coming in from time-travel. Pieces of the same color cannot be sent to the same move number.
Example of Recording a Move: On move 4 white decides to send his f1 Bishop to move 9. He would write 4. Bf1// to 9. And on the same sheet at move 9 he would write [Bw] meaning "Bishop-white squares." The main notation (Bf1// to 9) means, "Bishop on f1 Time Travels Forward to move 9." Thus, when the player reaches move 9 he sees "9. [Bw]" and is reminded that the Bishop must be dropped on any open white square. The landing square must be white for the f1 Bishop because no matter how far in the future the Bishop traveled it would always have been constrained to the same set of light-square diagonals. Note that a sample game is included at the end of these instructions.
If the Bishop cannot be legally placed (for example if a check happened to be in progress such that the Bishop could not be placed to block the check) then the Bishop is considered to be "Lost In Time." The only way it can re-enter the game would be for a King to go back in time. But if the Bishop can be placed, it must be placed. You could not for example say, "Well, I need to move my Queen or you�ll take it� so I will let the Bishop get lost in time." That would be illegal.
You cannot allow a piece or a pawn to be "lost in time" if it can be legally placed.
2. To send a King forward in time:(a) A King cannot be in check.
(b) The player must have at least one Pawn or Piece of his color on the board. A second or third King does not count as a piece. Note: Backward time travel can cause up to three Kings existing per side. This is explained shortly.
(c) Remove the King from the board. If you have 2 or 3 Kings any one of them can travel� as long as at least one Pawn or one Piece of his color are on the board.
(d) Indicate the move that the King is to return, not to exceed 10 moves.
When doing so, on the same score sheet go to the future move number and write [K]. This will remind you [when you reach that move] to place the removed King back on the board. MAKE SURE THERE IS NOT A MOVE CONFLICT. For example: If a Pawn is time traveling and is to appear at Move 12, the King cannot appear at move 12.
Note: when a King is forward in time [and you have no other King of your color on the board] your pawns and pieces on the board cannot do a time travel because they must be adjacent to the King to do so. However, pieces and pawns already traveling through time continue to do so.
3. To send a King back in time:
(a) A King cannot be in check.
(b) A player must have at least one Pawn or Piece of his color on the board at the time of the move. A second or third King does not count as a piece. Thus, if you had three lone Kings on the board, none could time travel. You would need to have at least one of your pawns or one of your pieces on the board.
(c) Announce that the King is going back in time x number of moves, such that x does not exceed 5. If you have 2 Kings, either one could go back.
(b) Write down the move, example for a King on move 10 going back 4 moves: 10. K // to 6 (King Back in time to move 6).
(c) Re-set the board. In this example reset the board to how it looked when white was to begin his 6th move.
(d) On a new score sheet, write down where you are placing the time-traveling King. (Any empty legal square). Example. 6. K f3 // FTF Means "King to f3, from the future." You might have two Kings at this point. The King that existed in the past at move 6, and the King from the future.
You would now continue to record the game on the second score sheet, which represents a new timeline. The sample game clarifies the use of multiple score sheets.
Pieces scheduled to arrive at a future time will still do so, on the indicated move.
Note: If a King gets "Lost in Time" you lose. This is true even if you have a second or third King in the game. A King will become "Lost in Time" if he is to appear on the board at a given time [move number] and the move is illegal. So, if White had a King scheduled to show up on move 11 but Black put White in check on move 10, then White would lose because by moving to get out of check the time traveling King would have no move and would be Lost in Time. In other words, move 11 was reserved for a King to appear from time travel, moving to get out of check prevented the completion of the other King�s time travel� he became "lost in time."
CHECKMATE. Checkmate is as in traditional chess. No time travel can occur
when a King is in check; so don�t count on a jump to the past or future to get
out of check or checkmate. This is similar to not being able to castle when in
check.
STALEMATE. Stalemates are very rare. This is because Kings can move into the
future (and twice to the past) as long as they have a piece or pawn on the
board. But, if a King had no time travel ability, a stalemate could occur. Note
that a player cannot claim a stalemate if he can use time travel to get out of
it.
DRAWS. Draws may be reached by agreement or by stalemate. If an endgame is reached such as three Kings vs. 1 King� it is still a draw� unless backward time travel can be used to change the position by, in effect, adding pawns or pieces; or if pieces are arriving from the past. A player has the right to protest what would be a draw in normal chess, for example, by three-position-repetition if he can show that pieces from the past will be arriving.
A Word About Pawns
Pawns that travel into the future can reappear [at the indicated future move] on any empty square except for those in the first and eighth ranks.
A Few Words about Traveling Backwards in Chess Time
Remember
:(1) Only Kings can travel back in time and only when no check is in progress. There must be a piece or pawn of their same color "on the board" to enable travel in time. A second King does not count as a piece.
(2) There is a limit of two backward time travels per player.
(3) Each backward travel is limited to 5 moves.
(4) Backward time travel may save you from a dangerous attack or prevent the loss of a piece by returning to a time when the piece existed.
(5) If a King from the past is to appear on the same move that you are in check, the game is over. You cannot move to get out of check plus move the time traveling King onto the board. That would be 2 moves.
Tips:
(1) Be careful about using backward time travel. You can end up with 2 or 3 Kings. If two Kings are in check at once only a capture of the checking piece will stop the loss of the game (or at least delay it). Remember that you lose the game if one of your Kings becomes lost in time.
(2) If you have saved your two backward travels and you reach a King and Pawn endgame you could use them to effectively create a three King and Pawn vs. a 1 King and Pawn Ending, which is a great advantage as it is unlikely for any of your 3 Kings to get checkmated and they should be able to wipe out your opponent�s pawns while protecting your own.
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
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.