hmm
1) i dont understand the logic behind ferz-then-rook
2) we can divide the pieces by 10 to see roughly what this variant values them in the normal piece valuations for normal chess (orthodox pawn is 10)
knight is 3.3
rook is 6
bishop is 4.5
queen is 10.5
this game seriously needs debuffs for colorbound pieces
This is a variant where you can summon in pieces throughout the game and use a fairly wide variety of pieces to ultimately achieve checkmate.
The board is 11x11 and begins completely empty. Nobody has any points in the beginning.
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It just so happens that this lack of pieces or points can be solved by summoning a royal piece. This royal piece sets white's point total to 100 points (it doesn't add 100 points, it sets the value before being bought, I don't want people to get carried away making an army of royals and an Amazon right at the start), but will cost them something (probably, unless they just want to summon in a royal tree that can't ever move).
All pieces must be left/right symmetrical in their movement pattern.
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For every direction a royal piece can move peacefully, it costs 4 points. For every direction it can capture, an additional 4 points. If it can slide infinitely like a rook in some direction, that is 4x more expensive. If it can do so like a bishop, that is 2.5x more expensive. Anything else (e.g. like a knight-rider) is 2x the initial cost.
So suppose white summons in a royal bishop. It will cost 8 points to move and capture in each direction, so 32, which is then multiplied by 2.5, so 80. White will only have 20 points left after this turn. (this is rather expensive and ill-advised).
Royal pieces may castle with any piece by repeating their normal move however many times in any direction and that piece moves into the gap.
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Normal pieces cost a number of points based on their movement and capture directions too, however they are quite a bit cheaper than royal ones.
Peaceful moves that are at least as forward as they are sideways, including forward diagonals, cost 2. Capturing moves cost 4. Both together, i.e. a normal move, is 6.
Peaceful moves that are mostly sideways but also somewhat forwards cost 1.5. Captures cost 3. Both is 4.5 Keep in mind these are always paired in left-right symmetrical pieces so there should never be pieces with fractional point values.
Peaceful moves that are sideways or backwards or any combination cost 1. Captures cost 2. Combined costs 3.
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So the Orthodox chess pawn has a forward peaceful move (2) and a pair of diagonal-forward capture-only moves (8). Therefore it costs 10 points.
The antipawn, or Berolina pawn, has a forward capture-only move (4), and a pair of diagonal-forward peaceful moves (2). Therefore, it costs 8 points.
The soldier, which can only move and capture forwards, cost 6 points.
We can also invent a piece, the civilian, which can only move forwards and cannot capture. This piece costs 2 points. It is the cheapest piece that can move off its starting row.
There are some better pawns. For example, a forward Ferz costs 12 points. The non-retreating Wazir costs 12 as well. The super pawn that can move and capture forward diagonally costs 18. A non-retreating Mann is stretching the concept of a pawn but costs 24 points (compared to 33 for a regular Mann). A sideways rook that also has the forwards move of a civilian is 26, which seems too strong.
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Pawns will be important to this game, so we should go ahead and define what pieces can be considered a pawn:
A pawn is any piece which is unable to retreat, has the ability to move forward peaceful but cannot move forward more than one square, and is worth no more than 20 points. We will also say that royal pieces cannot be pawns and vice versa.
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Pawns have several special abilities.
1. Pawns are always spawned on the second row instead of the first.
2. Pawns can double advance from the second row.
3. Pawns generate a trickle of points after they pass the middle of the board. Passed pawns generate 1 point at the start of every turn if they're in the sixth row, 2 on the 7th, 3 on the 8th, 4 on the 9th, 5 on the 10th, and 6 on the end row.
4. Pawns can promote to captured piece or pawn types.
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Summoning pieces:
You may summon any right-left symmetrical piece you can afford or any royal piece costing up to 100. Pawns start in the second row and everything else on the back row.
You may not capture by summoning a piece.
You may not attack anything, even pawns, by summoning a piece.
You may not block an attack by summoning a piece.
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Captures:
When a piece is captured, there are two options.
1. You gain the captured piece's point value.
2. You promote the capturing pawn to the captured piece, and gain the capturing pawn's point value instead.
Note this means the only way that the point value in circulation can decrease is if royal pieces are summoned by someone who has >100 points banked, which shouldn't happen because royal pieces are objectively worse and more expensive than their non-royal counterparts.
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Stalemate:
Stalemate for any reason is a loss for the stalemated player. You must do something on your turn, even if it's just summoning an immobile tree in your back rank for free.
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Draws:
The game is considered a draw if 50 full moves occur without making progress. What is progress? Progress is defined as summons, captures, or irreversible moves.
The game is also considered a draw if it is not possible to create sufficient materials to checkmate (this shouldn't really happen given that you can just summon a royal tree and then 10 pawns worth of materials, but if for some strange reason it occurs, well, it's a draw).
If a position is repeated three times with the same point values, that is also a draw.
Finally the game can be considered a draw if both players agree.
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Some clarifications:
1. Can I start by summoning a bunch of immobile trees so I don't have a royal piece to checkmate?
Sure! But if you do, you'll spend valuable tempi and back rank real estate where pieces could go, and you won't be able to get rid of them without your opponents' help. Additionally, filling your entire back rank with trees while having no points or movable pieces will result in a loss by stalemate when you eventually run out of space.
I'm not saying there's never a tactical use for plonking down a free tree here and there, but it's not a get-out-of-checkmate-free card. You'll need to place a royal at some point in the opening.
2. Can I summon a sniper piece that can reach over the entire board to attack their back rank?
Sort of. You can make something like a forward capture only dabbaba rider that can peacefully step side to side (for only 10 points!) However, I've decided to limit the base leaping range of pieces to 4, and riding pieces to 3, and they could still block you by moving a pawn forward. Also keep in mind you can't summon it attacking a piece. You'd have to summon it and then move it into position.
3. Can I summon an offset rider? Yes. Just remember the directional cost of the riding component is based on the most valuable square added in that direction. So for example a piece that moves as a Ferz and then as a rook at a 45 degree angle would be considered 2*3*6 + 2*3*4.5 + 2*3*3 + 2*3*3 + 18 (ferz) = 119 point cost.
4. What are the point costs of some common pieces?
Soldier = 6 points.
Berolina pawn = 8 points.
Go between = 9 points (16 royal)
Orthodox pawn = 10 points
Stone general = 12 points
Empire soldier = 12 points
Shogi knight = 12 points (16 royal)
Antisteward = 16 points (32 royal)
Steward = 17 points (32 royal)
barC = 15 points (32 royal)
Wazir, Dababba, Threeleaper, Fourleaper = 15 points (32 royal)
Lance = 18 points (32 royal)
Ferz, Alfil, Tripper, Commuter = 18 points (32 royal)
Crab = 18 points (32 royal).
Copper general = 21 points (32 royal)
Silver general = 24 points (40 royal)
Gold general = 27 points (48 royal)
Ferocious Leopard = 27 points (48 royal)
Blind tiger = 27 points (56 royal)
Drunk elephant = 30 points (56 royal)
Mann, alibaba, WA (waffle), Kirin, etc = 33 points (64 royal).
Snif = 33 points (64 royal)
Knight, camel, etc = 33 points (64 royal)
Sidemover = 33 points (80 royal)
Fibnif = 36 points (64 royal)
Charging Knight = 36 points (72 royal)
Verticalmover = 42 points (80 royal)
Bishop = 45 points (80 royal)
HFD ("halfduck") = 48 points (96 royal)
Steward rider = 50 points
Antisteward rider = 55 points
Empire Eagle = 57 points
Empire Duke = 57 points
Charging Rook = 57 points
Dragon horse = 60 points
Rook = 60 points
Empire Cardinal = 65 points
Knightrider = 66 points
Centaur = 66 points
Camelknight = 66 points
Bear (second ring mover) = 66 points
Empire Seige tower = 75 points
Archbishop/Princess = 78 points
Dragon king = 78 points
Chancellor/Empress = 93 points
Buffalo (Camel-Knight-Zebra) = 99 points
Colonel (Charging rook with forward Ferz and knight moves) = 100 points
Queen = 105 points
Zebra/Camel+archbishop = 111 points.
Amazon = 138 points.
Buffalo bishop = 144 points
Buffalo rook = 159 points
Buffalo queen = 204 points