Omega Chess

This is just an information thread, not a variant game in progress.

Below is a diagram of the board and starting position for Omega Chess.

And here is the website for those of you who can't wait for more information:  http://www.omegachess.com

You'll see two different pieces in the diagram.  The crescent moon represents the wizard and helmet represents the champion.

The wizard is a leaper, like the knight. It can move one square diagonally in all four directions. Or, like an exaggerated knight move, the wizard can jump three squares horizontally or vertically and then one square to either side.

The wizard is bound to the color of its starting square. The wizard can jump over pieces to also control up to twelve squares.

The champion is also a leaper. It can move one square orthogonally, forward, backward or to either side. Or the champion can jump two squares forward or backward or to either side, or jump two squares diagonally in all four directions. The champion can jump over pieces and it can control up to twelve squares.

All the other pieces move as in chess except the pawns which may move up to three squares on their first move. 

En Passant: The principle for capturing an opposing pawn en passant in Omega Chess remains the same as in standard chess. If a pawn moves two or three squares initially and passes an opposing pawn on the fourth or fifth rank, the pawn may be captured en passant. The opposing pawn moves onto the square through which the pawn moved. Capturing en passant is optional unless it is the only legal move available. The capture must be made on the next move.

OK, that's it for now.  Head over to the official site for more info, diagrams, and other goodies.

AllThe Wizard is also classified as a leaper. It can move one square diagonally in all four directions. Or, like a Knight move, the

Wizard can jump three squares horizontally or vertically and then one square to either side. The Wizard is b

ound to the color of its starting square. The Wizard is also classified as a leaper. It can move one square diagonally in all four directions. Or, like a Knight move, the Wiza

rd can jump three squares horizontally or vertically and then one square to either side. The Wizard is bound to the color of its starting square.

Here's some more information about Omega Chess for those of you concerned about the larger board and its implications for knights and pawns (and it does, from my experience, have a big effect on those pieces).  (Note:  The info is copied directly from the Omega Chess website, so it is pretty marketing biased.  Sorry.  In my opinion knight and pawn play, although different than in chess, is very interesting.)

Implications of a Larger Board

Despite its larger board size, the game actually plays just as smoothly as regular Chess because the additional new pieces have good mid-range striking capabilities and are fairly powerful. You are basically not wasting time shuffling pieces from one side of the board to the other.
The game generally tends to be more aggressive, develops faster following the first 5 moves and ends on average within 40 moves. Pinning the King in one of the 4 Wizard corners is one way of ending the match quicker.
The pawns have also been extended to a 3-square forward thrust on the first move which allows them to reach the center of the board right away and get into action.
All other pieces (except Knight and Pawn - see below) are unhindered by the larger size since they can move just as easily from one side to the other.
The only pieces which are minimally affected are the Knight and the Pawn, since they require one additional move to reach the other side of the board (and 1.5 for the Knight on the diagonal). From a tactical perspective a player needs to be an even better strategist than before, since he/she must make very careful use of the Knight during each step of the attack.

Here's a position from one of my Omega Chess games.  I'm black.  (It's move 44, btw, just so you know how long it took us to get there.)  From this position my opponent moved a4, and I resigned.  I was down a bishop and some pawns, my king was outside the square of his passed pawn, and my wizard (which can never leave color) cannot cover the promotion square.  So I was right to resign, correct?

I've been thinking of adding this to my variant collection, but I've been putting it off. I've been putting it off for two reasons: the bigger board, and the new pieces seem odd for the sake of being odd. I guess the second one doesn't make a lot of sense. But take the hawk and elephant from Sierawan chess, which move as bishop+knight and rook+knight. So their moves are still within the realm of normal chess moves, unlike the wizard and the champion. It's not that oddness is bad, but I'm just not seeing what it adds to the game.

Have you played many games? What's your feel for the large board and the new pieces?

I've played probably a couple dozen games, all of them via email (I use Cyberboard, btw).

Anyway, I think the wizard and champion have well-thought-out movement capabilities, not arbitrary.  But yes, since they don't incorporate directly the movement of chess pieces they take some getting used to.  So depending upon what you are looking for in a variant, they could be off-putting.  For me, I liked the new pieces a lot (but then I also play Chu Shogi (12x12 with dozens of pieces)...so talk about odd movement capabilities).  Do the wizard and champion add anything more, tactically or strategically, than the new pieces in Seirawan chess?  Probably not, just different ones.

Yes, the big board is very different, especially in terms of knight and pawn play.  Knights can seem quite lost in all that turf.  Trying to optimize them is challenging.  And as pawns advance, they open up a lot of space behind them, space that is easily invaded by all the leapers.  But like Alice (the character, not the game), I enjoyed all the "what to do, what to do?"  Again, that's just me.  By the way, I did NOT perceive any of this, neither new pieces nor board size, as game flaws.

Maybe the best bet is to try Omega Chess online first, before you invest in a set (although the set is very nice).  I probably shouldn't mention this, but you can play turn-based Omega Chess over at Richard's Server.  So you could give it a go there, if you want.

Cool. Thanks for the info.

I checked Richard's Server a little while ago and there are two Omega Chess games going on over there.  But the games are horrible...so I hope they don't taint your view of Omega Chess.  That's why I always play Omega Chess with friends instead of random strangers.

Yes, your movement diagrams for the wizard and champion are correct.  And yes, other pieces can move to the "w" square if they can reach it.  That means rooks can't enter them at all, and bishops and wizards cannot enter "w" squares of opposite color.  Leaping pieces can enter or exit "w" squares even if they fly over "empty space".  For example the wizard on w1 can reach a2 on its first move.

And yes, change the pieces however you like.  That sounds like you may be setting up an Omega Chess game here soon !

 The first part of that statement is correct, but I can only hope it will be soon.