Abyss Angel Chess

Considering Chess, Chess Variants and the game of Chess in general as created imaginary perceived objects and phenomena located in the objective mental space of a chess player, I summoned from the depths of my subconscious the Abyss Angel, who showed me a game that forever changed my understanding of board logic games.

Warning

This chess variant can be potentially dangerous for fragile minds. 
People who are easily vulnerable and susceptible to external stimuli are advised to refrain from playing this game.

A king, the angel of the bottomless pit; whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon; in Latin Exterminans.

— Revelation 9:11, Douay–Rheims Bible

Abyss Angel Chess

Setup

The game uses a board of 10 x 11 squares. White and Black respectively occupy the 1st to 2nd and the 9th to 10th ranks, as shown in the playing board below.

In algebraic notation, files are lettered a through k, and ranks are numbered from 1 to 10 (from one to ten).

The bottom left square of the game board (a1 for White) must be dark in color.

To start the game, White's pieces are placed on the first rank in the following order (from left to right):

rook - knight - bishop - bishop - knight - queen - king - abyss angel - royal bishop - royal knight - royal rook

Pawns are placed on each square of the second rank.

Black's position mirrors White's, with equivalent pieces on every file.

Pieces

Each player has 11 Pawns, 2 Knights, 2 Bishops, 1 Rook, 1 Queen, 1 Abyss Angel, 1 Royal Bishop, 1 Royal Knight, 1 Royal Rook and 1 King.

Chess pieces are two sets of white and black pieces, each consisting of one king (K), one queen (Q), one abyss angel (A), one rook (R), one royal bishop (rB), one royal knight (rN), one royal rook (rR), two bishops (B), two knights (N), and 11 pawns.

In addition to the standard chess pieces, the player has four fairy chess pieces:

Royal Knight - combines the moves of a regular knight and a king.

Royal Bishop - combines the moves of a regular bishop and a king.

Royal Rook - combines the moves of a regular rook and a king.

Abyss Angel - combines the moves of a regular queen and a camel (3-1, 1-3). It cannot declare check but can capture both a friendly king and an enemy king. If a player accidentally captures his own King, he immediately loses the game.

To make a capture, the Abyss Angel must first capture either a friendly piece and then an enemy piece, or vice versa. The Abyss Angel cannot make a capture if this condition is not met. Thus, after the Abyss Angel makes a capture, a friendly piece and an opponent's piece are removed from the board. If, as a result of such a capture, the Abyss Angel captures a friendly king, the owner of the Abyss Angel loses the game. The same applies if the Abyss Angel captures both a friendly king and an opponent's king.

This double movement of the Abyss Angel as a result of a capture counts as one move.

In all other cases, when making a simple move without capturing, the Abyss Angel makes one movement.

Let's look at the examples of what this amazing piece, the Abyss Angel, is capable of.

White to move and win in 2

1. Kf8 and Black has only two options:

1. ...Kk9 2. Axk9xk8 or 2. Axk8xk9
1. ...Kj10 2. Axj10xf6 or 2. Axf6xj10

White to move and win in 2

1. Ah10 and any move by Black leads to a loss:

1. ...Kk10 2. Axk9xk10 or 2. Axk10xk9 
1. ...Kxk9 2. Axk9xf4
1. ...Kj9 2. Axk9xj9
1. ...Ki9 2. Axi9xk9 or 2. Axk9xi9
1. ...h7 2. Axj10xk9 or 2. Axk9xj10

White to move and win in 1

1. Bj7+ To eliminate the check Black can do only one thing:

1. ...Axj7xj8

Black captures his own king and loses the game.

Rules

White moves first, after which players alternate turns. One piece is moved per turn (except when castling, during which two pieces are moved). 

Pawns may make an initial double step, but also an initial triple step, i.e., a white pawn on e2 can move to e3, e4, or e5. On squares passed over, the pawn can be taken en passant.

When reaching the last row, the pawn promotes to a queen, abyss angel, rook, royal rook, bishop, royal bishop, knight, royal knight to the owning players choice.

Castling is always done to the left for White and to the right for Black. It consists of moving the king to c1 and the rook to d1 for White, or moving the king to c10 and the rook to d10 for Black.

The Object of the Game

The object of the game is to checkmate the opposing King or to capture it by the Abyss Angel.

A game of Abyss Angel Chess can also end in a draw in which there is no clear winner. A draw may occur one of four ways:

1. Stalemate: A stalemate occurs if a player who is not in check cannot move any piece, including the King, without placing their King in check.

2. Insufficient Mating Material: When neither player has the pieces needed to checkmate the other player. eg. Bishop and King vs. King; Abyss Angel and King vs. Abyss Angel and King etc.

3. Threefold Repetition of Position: The game is drawn if the same position (with the same person on move) has appeared on the chessboard three times.

4. 50 Moves Rule: If there have been 50 consecutive moves of White and Black without any piece capture or any pawn move.

In all other respects, Abyss Angel Chess follows the rules and laws of FIDE Standard Chess.

Abyss Angel Chess Piece Values

The value of standard chess pieces remains unchanged and, depending on the situation on the board, fluctuates within certain limits:
Pawn - 1
Knight and Bishop - 3
Rook - 5
Queen - 8

The situation with the Royal pieces is also quite clear:
Royal Knight has a value of approximately 4 points, Royal Bishop 5 and the Royal Rook just over 6.

The situation is different with the Abyss Angel. Its value is quite curious and is directly related to the presence of material on the chessboard.
At the beginning of the game, the Abyss Angel can be valued at 10 points. It is a fairly powerful piece and it retains its potential exactly as long as it has the ability to make captures and there is enough material to do so. As the number of pieces on the board decreases, the value of the Abyss Angel drops and can even reach zero, in a situation where the only friendly piece left on the battlefield besides it is the King.

Given the phenomenal abilities of the Abyss Angel, the beginning of the game is characterized by careful and thoughtful play. Hasty introduction of this piece into the battle can lead to disaster.
For example, after 1. Ah1-g4 White is simply left without one of their strongest pieces at the beginning of the game - 1. ...Axg9xg4

Taking into account all of the above, we can conclude that we have before us a chess variant in which the usual goals and objectives of Standard Chess are in stark contrast to the conceptual model of such a fairy chess piece as the Abyss Angel.

Preset for playing online on chessvariants.com:

Abyss Angel Chess by correspondence

The game is uncoded, but it is quite suitable for playing by correspondence.