Gambit

Gambit is a 1973 game by David W. Currie, published at Challenge Games.

The game is played on the following 10x16 board:

The game has a Chess-like feel, with four types of pieces representing military vehicles, and three types of positions (!) representing land, sea and air. Winning can be done either by elimination or reaching the opponent's home position. There is a collection of interesting moves made possible by combining pieces.

These are the original rules:

note: the first page shows the initial setup with 19 pieces per player. However, the game came with only 18 pieces. There is an amphibian piece at the top-right corner, in the setup diagram, that is a misprint (correction mentioned by Patrick Kelley).

 

big thanks to Patrick Kelley for sharing these rules 

There's a comment on BGG's page regarding Gambit's board and cover:

The map for at least one printing is a bit of a curiosity. In it, the cover of the box shows a 10x10 board with alternating green and blue squares. The instructions note that the land squares are green and the sea squares are blue. However, the actual map provided is 10x16, has only black and white print on yellow paper, and uses the letters "L" and "S" to designate land and sea spaces. It would appear that the designer assumed he would be able to print color boards, but then had to fall back to a simpler black and white drawing printed on yellow paper.

Hexagonia

Hexagonia is one of the first two hexagonal Chess in the literature^(*), c.1860. It was published by Jaques & Son, and its author is possibly J. W. Smith [1].

A new game for two players, played on a board divided into hexagons. Each player had fourteen pieces, representing infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and one principal piece, the King. The various pieces have certain moves on the board analogous to those of a real army, and the game is won by the player who first succeeds in placing his King (without liability to capture) on the central hexagon.

In Cazaux and Knowlton's A World of Chess, [2], the game is described. Each army is composed of one King, two Cannons, four Knights and eight Pawns. However, it is not known how the pieces moved. The book also refers that this game appears to have been invented, some years earlier, in New Zealand.

The book also includes the following quote about the game (page 377):

The last game which we have to notice is undoubtedly the most scientific of the lot, and somewhat resembles chess. It is called" Hexagonia," and is published by Mr. Jaques, of Hatton Garden. The board is in the shape of a hexagon, and contains hexagonal figures, painted red, blue, or white. Two play at this game. To each combatant is given a king, four knights, and two pieces in the shape of cannon, called artillery, and eight pawns, or pieces of infantry. Each piece has a different mode of moving, and can capture an enemy; and the object is to place the king on a gold square in the centre of the board. This sovereign can never be taken, but can be checked as in chess. The reader will gather fom this that much head-work and tact can be brought into play in this game, and that a knowledge of chess is often highly advantageous. We have endeavoured somewhat briefly to state the chief points of the new in-door games. We feel sure that they are varied enough to please the tastes of everybody, and we sincerely hope that our youngfiends may enjoy many a pleasant hour in the enjoyment of the intricate manoeuvres that these games involve" (Edmund Routledge, "The New Winter In-door Games," Routledge's Every Boy's Annual, an Entertaining Miscellany of Original Literature, George Routledge and Sons, 1866, New York, p. 35)

Pritchard's book, [3], also refers to the game: 

Hexagonia (Proprietary game, John Jaques and Son). Published in 1860 according to van der Linde, and allegedly awarded two prize medals in 1862, the game was in fact published on 23 September 1864 and registered at Stationers’ Hall the following January. 127-cell hexagonal board, central cell distinguished. Each player has 1 x King, 2 x Cannon (artillery), 4 x Knight (cavalry), 8 x Pawn (infantry). The moves of the pieces are not recorded. The object was to get one’s K safely to the central cell.

About the piece's moves. The King, Knight and Pawn moves are directly translated to hexagonal boards. The Cannon however could have been like a Rook, sliding rows of hexes, or like Bishops sliding thru diagonals, which might explain the use of three colors in the Hexagonia board (since it makes it easier to follow these diagonals). Both hypotheses for the Cannon would be stronger than the Knight's, which is compatible with their smaller number (two) compared to the Knights' (four). However, this is just speculation.

Since the game's goal is not to capture or stalemate the enemy King, it's arguably not a chess variant, but most of Chess themes are here, nonetheless. The first known hexagonal Chess with checkmate was 1910's Mars by M. van Leeuwen and published by F. H. Ayres.
______

(*) the other early Hexagonal Chess (also without checkmate) was designed by Thomas Hanmer Croughton, c.1853.

[1] Michael Thompson, Hexagonia, https://michaelthomson.org/game/hexagonia
[2] Jean-Louis Cazaux, Rick Knowlton - A World of Chess (2017)
[3] David Pritchard's The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants (2007)

The commercial offsprings of Chess: Ploy

Ploy, aka Imperium, is a 1970 game by Frank Thibault, published by 3M among other companies. 

The initial setup:

The rules by Mats Winther from his Zillions implementation:

The goal is to capture the enemy Commander, or reduce the opponent army to a single Commander. Each piece has an indicator which determines at which directions the piece can move. This can be altered by rotating the piece 45 degrees, left or right (a direction move). Rotating the piece costs a move.

Each player has three Shields, five Probes, six Lances, and one Commander. The Shield moves one step and has only one movement freedom at any time. The Probe slides two steps and has two freedoms. The Lance slides three steps and has three freedoms. The Commander has four, but can only move one step.

A player must either make a direction move or a motion move. The three Shields are the only pieces that can perform a direction move immediately after a motion move. Capture occurs by displacement

Winther also includes some tactical advice:

This game seldom ends in a draw. It is sometimes worthwhile to sacrifice material if you can gain an attack on the Commander. When the pieces become scarce, the Commander is more vulnerable to attack. As it can only move four ways, it cannot easily escape. The Lance with the three forward directions is especially suited to attacking the Commander. Remember that you can also win by capturing all enemy pieces except the Commander.

The game can also be played with Ludii.

The official rules:

Here is a review of the game at Games & Puzzles #22:

The game was seriously promoted as shown by this full-page ad in The General magazine #13:

There is a similar game, but played on a hexagonal board, Michael Flynn's Omnigon (1998):

More information about this game at chessvariants.com.

The commercial offsprings of Chess: Smess

Smess, aka All The King's Men, is a 1970 game by Perry Grant and Reuben Klamer, published by Milton Bradley among others.

The game is played on this 7x8 board. Each army has twelve pieces: One King called Brain, four Numskulls, and seven Ninnys. Initially, the two Brains are placed at d1 and d8. Each Brain has two Numskulls at each side, and the seven Ninnys occupy the second row (just like Chess pawns).

The rules:

• On her turn, each player moves one friendly piece in a direction printed on its current standing square.
• Brains and Ninnys move only one square per turn,
• A Numskull can move in a straight line as many empty squares as possible
  
• Nb: only the initial standing square determines the possible moving directions
  
• Captures are by replacement (and not mandatory, just like in Chess).
• A Ninny that reaches an initial square of an enemy Numbskull is promoted to a previously captured Numbskull (if there's no Numbskull captured, the promotion does not happen).
  
• Wins the player that captures the enemy Brain. The game is a draw if only the two Brains remain on board.
  

The game was also known as Take the Brain. There's a review of it in Abstract Games Magazine #9.

The commercial offsprings of Chess: Wendo

FIDE Chess is the most played abstract game in the Western hemisphere. It is not unexpected that publishers try to use this fact to create and promote their own commercial Chess-inspired games. Modern games like Kamisado, Arimaa, and Onitama are examples of this trend.

This is the first post on a series that describes some older Chess-like games.

Wendo is a 1977 uncredited game, published by Brain Center. It is played on a 7x8 board (plus two home bases), and each player controls an army of ten pieces with exotic movements.

the initial setup

The pieces move as described in the tiles, and their move capabilities are described in next diagram:

The leftmost piece is the Hydra, which is the game's King. There's also a tile named Barrier. 

• On his turn, the player moves one friendly piece to an empty square, or rotates it, or even flips it over (the pieces are transparent).
• Pieces can move over friendly pieces, including the Barrier.
• Pieces can also move over the enemy Barrier if it is unprotected.
• A Barrier is protected if it is in the movement range of a friendly piece
  
• Captures are by replacement. The exception is the Barrier that cannot be captured.
• Barriers cannot move but can be pushed by friendly pieces. The push happens if the Barrier is on the way of the moving piece, and all the intervening squares are empty. The Barrier will stop at the next square, after the piece's final square.
• When a piece reaches the last row, the piece can optionally be promoted by being replaced with any piece previously captured. The promoted piece is placed with the direction the player prefers. This must be done at the turn the piece moves into the last row.
  
• A player wins by capturing the enemy Hydra, or by capturing all its army (except, of course, the Barrier).
  

Axom

Axom is a 2001 game by Michel Villalonga, published by Gyptis Edition.

 The board and the pieces:

A (partial) rule description:

Michel Villalonga presents an original creation with his game Axom. The name of the game comes from Axe (axis) and Somme (sum), as the deployment axis of a stack of pieces is determined by the sum of the pieces composing it.

A stack of two or four pieces "falls" in a straight vertical or horizontal line onto the square or the three squares aligned along the axis. For instance, a stack of four splits into four parts, which either become individual stacks of one or add one piece to the stacks on which they land. A stack of three pieces, however, falls diagonally. A single piece moves one square diagonally.

The Tête (Head) is equivalent to the King in chess. Its movement is limited to one square in any of the eight possible directions, but it cannot stack with other pieces. The objective of the game is to capture the opponent's head.

The ruleset can be found here (in French).

§

The type of stack movement depends on the stack's size. This reminds me of a 2003 game of mine named Abstract Chess where each stack size defines a different Chess piece. Players can transfer power between pieces by moving one stack piece to neighbor squares. 

the initial position is that of Chess;
there's a zrf to play abchess in Zillions

I didn't knew Axom then, and now it feels an example of independent invention even if they are not the same game. Still, I prefer mine ;-)

12* GIVEAWAY CHESS

Same as classic Giveaway Chess except:

Each player moves twice except in the first move.
Any non-capturing turn must leave at least one piece closer to some enemy piece.
Inability to move is deemed equivalent to having no pieces.
 
Sample Game:


1.  ...   e3        b5   h5
2.  Q:h5  B:b5      R:h6 R:h2
3.  R:h2  B:d7 (F)  B:d7 Bh3
4.  R:h3  d3        Q:d3:e3
5.  B:e3  B:h7      R:h7 R:h2 (F)
6.  R:h2  Rh6       N:a6 Nb8
7.  Rh6   Nc3       N:h6 Ng8
8.  Kd2   Ne2       f6   f5
9.  N:f4  Ne2       Nc6  Nd4
10  N:d4  Ne2       Kd8  Kd7
11  N   & back      e5   Ba3
12  B:a3  Nf4       e:f  f3
13  g:f   Kd3       Kd6  Kd5
14: N:d5  N:c7 (F)  g5   g4
15: resigns

Final Position:

. . . . . . n .
. . N . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . p .
O . . K . O . .
. . O . . O . .
. . . . . . . .


This variant seems better than the standard giveaway chess. The only quirk is that it needs the 2nd rule so that the game is forced to converge to an end (it prevents turns where the players simply prevent zugzwangs by repeating previous board positions).

TRUNCATED PROGRESSIVE CHESS

Basic progressive chess; but giving or releasing check, promoting or
capturing may not be done in a move series, except that the series be
voluntarily shortened to length one.  (Later series are unaffected.)

Sample Game
 1. e4
 2. d5 e5
 3. e:d5
 4. Q:d5
 5. c4 d4 Bd3 Nf3 O-O
 6. Qa5 Bd6 Be6 Nc6 Nf6 O-O
 7. d5 c4 Nd2 a3 Ng5 f4 Bb2
 8. h6 Nh7 f5 e4 Bf7 Ne7 c5 Qc7
 9. N:f7
10. R:f7
11. Be2h5 h4 g3 Qc1c3 Nf3e5 Rfe1 Kg2
12. d6:e5
13. Q:e5  (if Q:Q, B:Q)
14. Q:e5
15. B:e5
16. a54 b5 Nc8b6 Nf6g4 Kh7 g6 Rd8
17. B:g4     18. f:g4     19. B:d6     20. R:B
21. R:e4     22. b:c4     23. R:c4     24. R:d5
25. b:c5     26. f5 K...f5  R...c6  R...a5
27. Ra..d6 Rc..e5++

Final Position:

. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . r R . . p .
r . O . R k . p
p . . . . O p O
O . . . . . O .
. . . . . . K .
. . . . . . . .


Board Games in Oriental Exposition

From an oriental art and culture exposition at Lisbon (it was a surprise visit, so I only had the camera from my cell phone)

There was a Xiang Qi:

A board of Makruk, the Thai Chess:

And what is possible a Mancala board, together with another game (at the top):

ONE-HIT PROGRESSIVE CHESS

As FIDE Progressive Chess except:

Each player makes from 1 to the turn number, of moves, subject to
the condition that any capture, check or promotion ends the series.

Sample Game

     1. e4
     2. e6 Be7
     3. Qg4 Qg5 Q:e7+
     4. N:e7
     5. e4 Nf3e5c6:d8
     6. f5f4 O-O d6 Nc6:d8
     7. Bb5 Bd7 a4 b3 c4 f3 B:c8
     8. Na6b4 a5 c5 g5 h5h4 R:c8
     9. g4 h3 d5 Rh2 Rc3 Raa2 Bd2 B:b4
    10. b6 e5 Kf7 Rc7 Re8e7 c:b4
    11. c5 Rc4 Rac2 Kd3 c:b6
    12. Rb7 Rec7c5 Ke7 Ne6d4e2g1:h3
    13. N....h3
    14. Rb8 K..b7 Rbc8 R:c4
    15. K..b2 Rc1 b:c4
    16. K:b6
    17. Nf2 R...h3 Kb3 N...e7 N:c8+
    18. K..:c8
    19. c567 K...c6 R...b8++
    
Final Position:

. . k . . . . .
. . O . . . . .
. . K p . . . .
p . . O p . p .
O p . . O p O p
. . . . . O . R
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .

Truncated Progressive Chess

Basic progressive chess; but giving or releasing check, promoting or capturing
may not be done in a move series, except that the series be voluntarily
shortened to length one. (The subsequent series are unaffected.)

Sample Game:

1. e4
2. d5 e5
3. c4 d4 f4
4. Bg4 f5 Nf6 Nf3
5. a4 b4 h4 g3 Be2
6. h5h4h3 Bf3g2 Qe7
7. g4 g5 b5 Bf3 Ne2 Rg1 Nd1
8. Nb4 a5 b6 Ng4 g6 Bg7 c5 Rc8
9. B:g2
10. Nd3+
11. Kf1 (F)
12. Ne3++

Final Position:

. . r . k . . r
. . . . q . b .
. p . . . . p .
p O p p p p O .
O . O O O O . .
. . . n n . . p
. . . N N . B O
R . B Q . K R .

CHOSEN CHESS

[by João Neto] In normal Chess you choose a piece, then you move it. In Chosen Chess, when it's your turn, you move the (previously chosen) piece, then you choose another piece (for the next move).

• In the first move White choose a (movable) piece, then Black do the same.
• In the subsequent moves players move the chosen piece (if possible), then choose a different piece.
• No Check, checkmate or en-passant.
  
• Castling is a King move.
• The player that captures the adversary King wins the game.

Nice Chess Sites

About the Origins of Chess

http://www.mynetcologne.de/~nc-jostenge
http://www.samsloan.com/origin.htm

About Tournament Chess

http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/55571wix.htm
http://www.chesscafe.com/

Curiosities

http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/chess/chess.html

Revolving Games

Finding ways to spin your games
or
The stable King and his revolving servants

[December 2000] We (Bill Taylor and Joao Neto) have invented and started to play some games wth a common rule theme: if some condition is met, the moved piece changes its powers. Like a game with rotating officials.

This, if done well, can result in very dynamic games, where some pieces lead very wild lies.

Joao invented a game based on a simple idea: depending whether the turn number is even/odd, the moved piece is promoted/demoted. This basic change makes (in Joao's opinion) a very good chess variant, called Promotions and Demotions, or just ProDem.

But, is this the only possible way to use this dynamic idea?

Revolving Games

There is an old chess variant, named Revolving Chess (whose origins we don't know), whose rules are:

REVOLVING CHESS

1. Same as FIDE, except:
2. Each moved non-king piece, changes its status in the following order:
  2.1. Knight to Bishop,
  2.2. Bishop to Rook
  2.3. Rook to Queen
  2.4. Queen to Knight

--------------------------------------------------
The original game was fully "royal", but we play with stalemate
= win for stalemater, though still with castling (R changing to Q).
--------------------------------------------------

Game Sample

1. d4      d5      
2. c4      d:c4    
3. Nc3(B)  b5      
4. a4      c6      
5. a:b5    c:b5    
6. b3      a5      
7. b:c4    b:c4    
8. e3      R:a6(Q)
9. Ne2(B)  e5      
10 B:c4(R) Bd6(R)  
11 R:c8(Q)  Qa:c8(N)
12 B:a5(R)  e:d4    
13 Rb5(Q)+  Nc6(B)  
14 Q:c6(N)  R:c6(Q)
15 Q:d4(N)  Q:d4(N)
16 e:d4     Nf6(B)  
17 Bf4(R)   O-O(Q)  
18 Ra6(Q)   Qc2(N)+
19 Kd2      N:d4(B)
20 R:f6(Q)  B:f6(R)
21 Q:f6(N)+ g:f6
22 Ba6(R)   Kg7
23 Rha1(Q)  Qe8(N)
24 Ke3      Ncd6(B)
25 R:d6(Q)  N:d6(B)
26 h3       Be5(R)+
27 Q:e5(N)  f:e5
28 Ke4      f3
29 Kf5      Kf7
30 g4  1-0 [if Ke7 or Kf7 then h4]

Final Position:

. . . . . . . .
. . . . . k . p
. . . . . p . .
. . . . p K . .
. . . . . . O .
. . . . . . . O
. . . . . O . .
. . . . . . . .

--------------------------------------------------

Since it's the older game, we may think of it as the standard revolving positional game in this text, despite the fact that Promotions and Demotions was an independent discovery. In fact, ProDem was the first game we played, and it was then that many different and yet related ideas appeared.

Firstly, the rules of ProDem:
-----------------------------------------------------
PROMOTIONS & DEMOTIONS [aka "even-up, odd-down"]

1. The FIDE rules apply except in the following:
2. On even turns, a moved (non king) man is promoted after move completion.
3. On odd turns, a moved (non king) man is demoted after move completion.
4. The Promotion/Demotion system has this ordering: P < N or B < R < Q.
5. Pawns on the 1st rank may move 1 or 2 squares.
6. Pawns on the 8th rank cannot move, but may be captured.
7. There is no En-Passant, Mate, Check or Castling.
8. The winner is whoever first captures the opponent's King.
9. White does not play on turn 1.

notes:

* A Pawn can promote to Bishop or Knight at the mover's choice.
* A Rook can demote to Bishop or Knight at the mover's choice.
* Queens cannot be promoted, so they cannot move on even turns.
* Pawns cannot be demoted, so they cannot move on odd turns.
* Since every pawn promotes when moving, there is no FIDE promotion.
* Black must start, with a Knight's demotion.
(helps neutralize 1st move advantage).
----------------------------------------------------

Here goes two sample games:

1.   --     Nf6(P)
2.   c4(B)   e6(B)
3. B:e6(P)  Qe7(R)
4. e:f7(B)  R:B(Q)
5.  Qc2(R)  Nc6(P)
6.   g3(B)   h5(N)
7.  Bg2(P) N:g3(P)
8. f:g3(B)   d6(B)
9. B:d6(P) B:d6(P)
10  Nf3(R)   d5(B)
11.  Rc5(B)  Rh4(N)
12.  Nc3(R) N:g2(R)
13.  Rb1(B) B:a2(P)
14.  Bh7(R)  Bc6(R)
15. Rhf1(B)  Rg6(N)
16.  Bg2(R)   a6(N)
17. R:g6(B) Q:g6(R)
18. Rh8(Q)+  Kf7
19. Qxa8(R) Nxc5(P)
20.   b3(B)   b5(B)
21. B:e6(p)+  Kd7
22. R:c5(Q)+  K:e6
23. Rf5(B)+   Kf7
24. Rf8(Q)+   1-0

Final Position:
. . . . . Q . .
. . p . . k p .
. . p . . p r .
. b Q . . B . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
p . . O O . . O
. . B . K . . .

[note: even if these games have non royal Kings, we still use the + symbol which means some piece is attacking the King]

1. --        Nc3(P)      
2. b3(B)     d5(B)      
3. Bb2(P)    Bf5(P)      
4. c4(B)     e6(B)        
5. Ne3(P)    Bc4:B(P)    
6. h4(B)     c4:B(B)    
7. Bh4:Q(P)  Bb3:Q(P)    
8. Nc3(R)    Ra8:P(Q)    
9. Rb1(B)    g6(B)      
10.Bb1xB(P)  Be6:P(P)    
11. g6:f7(B)+  K:f7        
12. Rh5(B)+    Ke7          
13. d3(N)      a5(B)        
14. Kd2        Ba:Rc3(P)+  
15. b2:c3(B)   Nf6(R)      
16. Ke1        Rg8(B)
17. g4(N)      Rf5(Q)
18. Bf6(P)+    Qxf6(R)
19. Ne5(R)+    Re6(Q)
20. R:Qe6(N)   K:e6
21. Be8(R)+    Kd7
22. Re8e5(N)+  Ke6
23. Bh3(R)     a1(B)
24. Kf1        B:e5(P)
25. resigns    0-1

Final Position:

. . . q . b b .
. p p . . . . p
. . p . k . . .
. . . . p . . .
. . . . . p N .
. . . . . O . R
. . . . O O . .
. . . p . K . .

Other remarks:

* The Rook is probably the strongest piece. It may move any turn, and still transforms into a strong piece.
* A (possibly good) method of play would be to always move your king on odd moves, so your piece strength constantly went up and never down. Hwever, this would waste so much time it probably wouldn't pay off anyway, since a player doing that increases his army, but slows by half its efficiency.
* Of course, making the other player moves his King on a even turn, makes him lose a promoting turn.
* A pawn on the last rank cannot move. That is especially bad, since the other player can use it as a protecting wall.

**********************

Well, taking different behavior given a turn number is one possibility, others exist:

which colour square the piece is on
which colour square the piece goes to
whether the piece changes square colour when it moves
whether the piece moves forward or back (allowing no promotion for sideways)
whether the piece has any immediate neighbours or not
whether the piece is making a capture or not

These options can be divided into two groups, where the game is completely defined by presenting:
a) merely the board and the next player
b) the board and the next player and some extra information (like the turn number as in ProDem)

Notice that in this classification, FIDE Chess belongs to group b), as it may be necessary to state that a King is moved (for castling) or if some pawn was moved (to make en passant capturing). We both feel that group a) games are more elegant, (but that does not mean dropping the others!! :)

With that last point as motivation, Bill invented the next game:

------------------
MOVE UP, TAKE DOWN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. All men move as in chess, except there is no castling or en passant.

2. Movement is compulsory, and once his king is captured a player loses.

3. Once a move is made, that piece immediately changes into the next one up this cycle -  P to N to B to R to Q to P; except if it was a capture,
then the order is the opposite.

4. A pawn on the 1st rank may move 1 or 2 spaces if not capturing.
  A pawn on the 8th rank may never move again, but can be captured.

5. If there are no pawns on the board before a move is to be made,
  the order changes to N B R Q N, (or its reverse for captures).
------------------

We would like you to specially notice rule 5. Its motivation was to ensure that a board with no pawns would no longer require knowledge of its *orientation*, similar to the "no-external-info" mentioned above. However, it has resulted in a new idea:- that when a certain condition is true (no pawns), the game dynamics changes. This is not a common feature in Chess Variants, but may be an excellent concept to extend.

And here goes a sample game

1. g4(N)   d5(N)  
2. e3(N)   f6(N)  
3. Ne:N(P) Q:d5(R)
4. b4(N)   b6(N)  
5. c4(N)   a6(N)  
6. N:f6(P) e:f6(Q)
7. N:b6(P) c:b6(Q)
8. Be2(R)+ Be7(R)
9. N:d5(P) Q:a1(R)
10 Nc3(B)  Nf6(B)
11 B:a1(N) B:a1(N)
12 R:e7(B) K:e7    
13 Ba3(R)  Bd7(R)  
14 Nf3(B)  Rd6(Q)  
15 Rd3(Q)  Nc5(B)  
16 Be4(R)+ Kd8    
17 Rh4(Q)+ Kc7    
18 Q:a1(R) B:f2(N)
19 Q:f2(R) Q:f2(R)
20 K:f2    Ra7(Q)+
21 Ke2     Re8(Q)+
22 Kd1     Na6(B)  
23 Rf1(Q)  B:d3(N)
24 Q:d3(R) g5(N)  
25 h4(N)   Ne4(B)  
26 Rc3(Q)+ Kd8    
27 Nf3(B)  B:d5(N)
28 B:d5(N) Q:d5(R)
29 a3(N)   h6(N)
30 Nc4(B)  Q:a1(R)+
31 Q:a1(R) Ng4(B)+
32 Kc2     R:d2(B)
33 K:d2    Qe4(N)+
34 Kd3     Nd6(B)?
35 Bg8(R)+ Bf8(R)
36 R:g4(B) Rf6(Q)
37 Ra5(Q)+ 1-0

Final Position:

. . . k . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . q . .
Q . . . . . . .
. . . . . . B .
. . . K . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .

Chili Sandwich Chess

1. The FIDE rules apply, except in the following.
2. Whenever a piece or pawn moves, all pieces and pawns between it and
another piece of the same type (on a row or column), are taken.
3. There is no FIDE capture.

Eg, Rg6 would take Be6 and pawn g5
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . r . b . . R
. . . . . . p .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . R .
. . . . . . . .

variant 1: change "are taken" to "change color"
variant 2: change "are taken" to "change to color of player"
variant 3: change "type" for "color"
variant 4: add diagonal captures
variant 5: delete rule 3.

Delegating Chess

1. Like FIDE Chess, except:
2. Non royal pieces move (capture) like one of the friendly pieces that can move (capture) to its square. In the case of Pawns, they give their diagonal forward capture to friendly pieces in the squares they could capture to, and their forward non-capturing move to a friendly piece right in front of them on the square they could otherwise move to.
3. There is no castling.
4. There is no Pawn double-move or en-passant capture.

Notes:

* A non royal piece which is not in the moving (capturing) range of another piece of the same color, cannot move (capture).
* The King moves and captures like the FIDE King.
* There is still Pawn promotion on last rank.

Sample

Q c . k . . .
p . . . . . .
. . n . . b .
. . . . . . .
. . . . . q .
. . . . . . N
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . p
. O . . . . .
. . . . . . .
R . C K . . Q

1. b3-e5+ (since Cc1 can move to b3, the pawn may move like the Cardinal)
1... Nc10-d8 (to protect the King, he also could move like the Cardinal at b12)

Q c . k . . .
p . . . . . .
. . . . . b .
. . . . . . .
. . . n . q .
. . . . . . N
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . O . . p
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
R . C K . . Q

2. Kd2 (freeing the Cardinal to move like the Queen at g1)
2... Q:g7 (it also uses the power of Cb12)

Q c . k . . .
p . . . . . .
. . . . . b .
. . . . . . .
. . . n . . .
. . . . . . q
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . O . . p
. . . . . . .
. . . K . . .
R . C . . . Q

3. d4:g4 (attacking the Queen at g7 with the power of Qg1)
3... Qe9+ (the check is because of the Knight)

Q c . k . . .
p . . . . . .
. . . . . b .
. . . . q . .
. . . n . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . O
. . . . . . .
. . . K . . .
R . C . . . Q

4. g4-e4
4... C:a12 (capturing the useless Queen)

c . . k . . .
p . . . . . .
. . . . . b .
. . . . q . .
. . . n . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . O . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . K . . .
R . C . . . Q

5. Cc2 (giving Rook powers to the Queen, and C+Q powers to the Rook).
and so on...

SLOWLY PROGRESSIVE ORTHODOX CHES

Each player plays moves for both colours,
in series 1 3, 3 3, 5 5, 5 7, 7 7, 9...
Every move must be legal for an orthodox chess game

Sample Game

1.   e4    * Nh6      
2. * Ke2   * Na6      
3.   Nc3     Nf5      
4.   e:f5  * h5      
5.   Qg4   * h:g4    
6.   h3      Nb8      
7.   h:g4    a6      
8.   R:h8  * f6      
9. * Rh6   * g:h6    
10. * Ke2   * Nc6      
11.   d3      h5
12.   g:h5    Bh6
13.   B:h6  * a4
14. * b4    * a:b
15. * Bc1   * R:a2
16. * Nb1   * R:a1
17.   Nc3     Ra2
18.   N:a2    Kf7
19.   N:b4    Qf8
20.   B:f8  * K:f8
21. * h6    * N:b4
22. * h7    * N:d3
23. * h8 N  * N:f2
24.   g4      Ke8
25.   g5      Kd8
26.   g6      Ke8
27.   g7      Kd8
28    g8Q++

Final Position

. . b k . . Q N
. p p p p . . .
. . . . . p . .
. . . . . O . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . O . K n . .
. . . . . B N .

This slower progressive sequence allows more strategy since mates are not so fast to achieve and, thus, tactical positions are possible to build and develop.

DESTROY AND HYDRA-BUD (An example)

  1. Basic chess rules apply, except:
  2. When a non-royal piece makes a capture, it reduces rank and buds off a piece of that same lower rank, leaving this behind on the exit square.
Ranks  Q>R>B>N>P>(no piece)
 1. e4    e5    
 2. Qf3   f6    
 3. Bc4   Ne7    
 4. d4    d5    
 5. Bb5+  c6    
 6. Qc3   c:b5  
 7. Q:c8  Q:c8  
 8. R:c8  R:c8  
 9. Nf3   Bg4    
10. N:e5  B:f3+  
11. g:f3  d:e4  
12. Bf4   Nd5  
13. Bg3   N:c3  
14. b:c3  Ba5+  
15. O-O   Bb4  
16. e:f6  O-O
17. a3    Be1
18. Bd6   R:f2+
19. R:f2  B:d6
20. B:e1  N:f2+
21. K:f2  Ne4+
22. Ke2   Nc6
23. Nd3   Re8
24. Bg2   Nc3+
25. Kd2   N:b1Q++

Final Position:
. . . . r n k .
p p . . . . p p
. . n . . . . .
b . . p . . . .
. . . O . . p .
O . p N . . . .
. . O K . . B O
R q . . . . . .

A beautiful check mate

FRAGILE PROGRESSIVE CHESS

Basic progressive chess, with the following addition.
After every capture, a piece immediately reduces one rank in strength
before the series continues. Order Q R B N P -. Kings don't change.
(the order is: capture;reduce;promote;check;endmove)

Sample game:

1. e4
2. d5 e:d
3. Bc4:d7(N):d8P>Q+
4. K:d8 Bf4:d1(N):b2P
5. B:b2 Nc5b6:a8>Q:b8+
6. Kd7 e5 Ba3b2:a1>N b5
7. Nf3h4h5 Nc3d5:c7>Pc8>Q++

Final Position:

. R Q . . . n r
p . . k . . p p
. . . . . . . .
. p . . p N . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
O . O O . O O O
n . . . K . . R


ALTERNATING WEAPON CHESS

No-capture chess plus:

First player makes one move, then players make series of two moves until
captures are made, whereupon the series become of length three, etc.

Captures may be made as a series of one move only. The first capture
may be of either type, hand-grenade(*) or machine-gun(:), (which must
make the maximum number of takes available for that particular move);
and after that each player's capture types must alternate.

During a series of non-captures it is permissible to play a piece into
a position where it could make either sort of capture but does not do so,
at the mover's choice. Declaration of ambiguous capture type is unnecessary.

r . . . . Q . .     |  1. e4               11. Ng5::
. p k r . . b .     |  2. e5 Nc6           12. Bf6:
p . p . . R . .     |  3. Nf3 c3           13. f4* +
. . N p . . . .     |  4. d5*              14. Kf7e7d7c7
O . . O . . . .     |  5. Bb5: +           15. Nd2b3c5 Qg4
. . O . . . . .     |  6. c6:              16. Be6 Rf7d7 h6
. O . . . . O O     |  7. 0-0 d4 a4        17. Qg8::
R . . . . . K .     |  8. Be7 Nf6 O-O      18. Bg7*
____________________'  9. Bh6**            19. f5f6f7f8Q Rf6
                      10. Nh7*             20. resign