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Grasshopper chess

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8
a8 black rook
b8 black knight
c8 black bishop
d8 black queen
e8 black king
f8 black bishop
g8 black knight
h8 black rook
a7 black upside-down queen
b7 black upside-down queen
c7 black upside-down queen
d7 black upside-down queen
e7 black upside-down queen
f7 black upside-down queen
g7 black upside-down queen
h7 black upside-down queen
a6 black pawn
b6 black pawn
c6 black pawn
d6 black pawn
e6 black pawn
f6 black pawn
g6 black pawn
h6 black pawn
a3 white pawn
b3 white pawn
c3 white pawn
d3 white pawn
e3 white pawn
f3 white pawn
g3 white pawn
h3 white pawn
a2 white upside-down queen
b2 white upside-down queen
c2 white upside-down queen
d2 white upside-down queen
e2 white upside-down queen
f2 white upside-down queen
g2 white upside-down queen
h2 white upside-down queen
a1 white rook
b1 white knight
c1 white bishop
d1 white queen
e1 white king
f1 white bishop
g1 white knight
h1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
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Grasshopper chess. Second and seventh ranks are occupied with grasshoppers.

Grasshopper chess is a chess variant, in which the pawns are allowed to promote to a fairy piece, the grasshopper. The grasshopper (shown as an inverted queen) must hop over other pieces in order to move or capture.

In some variations grasshoppers may also be present on the board in the opening position, in addition to the usual pieces. For example, pawns can be moved forward and grasshoppers put along the second and seventh ranks[1] as shown on the diagram at right. Another possibility is to replace queens with grasshoppers in initial position, while pawns can still be promoted to queens.[2] Grasshoppers are capable of moving as a queen but must jump over a piece and land one spot past the piece that they jump. Pawns are not allowed to go twice for their initial move.

References

  1. ^ J. Boyer (1951). Les Jeux D'Echecs Non Orthodoxes.
  2. ^ Pritchard, D. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.