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Rhombic chess

Rhombic chess starting setup. Each side commands a standard set of chess pieces. Cell colors highlight pointwise movement.

Rhombic chess is a chess variant for two players created by Tony Paletta in 1980.[1][2] The gameboard has an overall hexagonal shape and comprises 72 rhombi in three alternating colors. Each player commands a full set of standard chess pieces.

The game was first published in Chess Spectrum Newsletter 2 by the inventor. It was included in World Game Review No. 10 edited by Michael Keller.[3]

Game rules

The diagram shows the starting setup. As in standard chess, White moves first and checkmate wins the game. Piece moves are described using two basic types of movement:

  • Edgewise—through the common side of adjoining cells. If an edgewise move is more than one step, it continues in a straight line from the side of a cell through its opposite side, the line being orthogonal to these sides.
  • Pointwise—through the sharpest corner of a cell, in a straight line to the next cell. (The paths are highlighted on the board by same-colored cells.)

Piece moves

  • A rook moves edgewise only.
  • A bishop moves pointwise. It can also move one step edgewise.[a]
  • The queen moves as a rook and bishop.
  • The king moves one step edgewise or pointwise. There is no castling in rhombic chess.
  • A knight moves in the pattern: one step edgewise followed by one step pointwise (or vice versa), away from its starting cell. Like a standard chess knight, it leaps any intervening men.[2]
  • A pawn moves forward one step edgewise, with the option of two steps on its first move. A pawn captures the same as it moves. There is no en passant in rhombic chess. A pawn promotes to any piece other than king when reaching rank i (for White) and rank c (for Black).[b]

Parachess

Parachess starting setup. Each army includes two sorcerers. Cell colors highlight arcwise and wavepath movements.

Circa 2000, Paletta created Parachess[c] using the same board geometry but introducing additional ways to move:

  • An arcwise step—through the sharpest corner of a cell, to a cell not connected to the starting cell edgewise or pointwise.
  • A wavepath move—a series of arcwise steps, with each step in the opposite direction of the preceding step.

These ways to move are highlighted on the board by same-colored cells.

Piece moves

  • A rook moves edgewise only (as in rhombic chess).
  • A bishop moves pointwise (as in rhombic chess) or along a wavepath.
  • The queen moves as a rook and bishop.
  • The king moves one step edgewise, pointwise, or arcwise. As in rhombic chess, there is no castling.
  • The sorcerer moves in the pattern: one step pointwise, followed by one step edgewise or arcwise, or vice versa. It leaps any intervening men.
  • A pawn moves forward one step edgewise, pointwise, or arcwise; there is no initial two-step option. A pawn captures forward one step edgewise or pointwise. There is no en passant. A pawn must reach the opponent's furthest rank in order to promote.

Notes

  1. ^ "A necessary perk otherwise the two bishops would be restricted to four spaces."[1]
  2. ^ "Pawns [...] promote on the array spaces of opponent's pawns; thus they travel the same distance as in orthochess."[1]
  3. ^ From "parallelogram" + "chess". (Paletta)

References

  1. ^ a b c Pritchard (1994), p. 255
  2. ^ a b Pritchard (2007), p. 214
  3. ^ Keller, Michael, ed. (June 1991). "A Panorama of Chess Variants". World Game Review. No. 10. Michael Keller. ISSN 1041-0546.

Bibliography

  • Pritchard, D. B. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.
  • Pritchard, D. B. (2007). Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.
Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhombic_chess