Omega Chess

Omega Chess - The game is played on a 10x10 board with an extra square in each
of the extreme corners where the wizards are placed at the start of the game.
The game is laid out like regular chess with the addition of a "champion"
in each corner and a "wizard" diagonally behind each champion.
http://omegachess.ru

After hearing about this game for years, I finally played a game of it last month.  At my Chess tournaments, I bring some variants and other games, and I encourage others to do the same.  Someone brought their Omega game, and we played it.

I wouldn't call it my favorite variant, but it was kind of cool.  The champion piece is sort of a territory control piece.  It can get to an awful lot of nearby squares.  Placed somewhere in the center of the board, it dominates that area.  That's something that Chess lacks.

It wasn't bad.  I don't think it's destined to be a replacement for Chess, but it was a pleasant enough diversion.

Chess it is number 1. But sometimes it would be desirable also something new.

How does a "wizard" move?

I love Omega chess, does anyone know a good Omega Chess Engine? Or software similar to arena to play Omega Chess. I have "Zillions of Games" but I was looking for something better.

Is there a site to play Omega Chess Online? 

WinBoard is similar to Arena, but also supports variants and is highly user configurable (e.g. you can adjust the board size and select out of 22 different piece types to create your own non-standard variant). Omega Chess is not amongst the standard variants, however. (It is a commercial variant, and it was not clear if it is allowed to distribute programs for that.) You would also need an engine that plays Omega Chess, however, as WinBoard is just a user interface, and doesn;t think up moves. It could be that the Nebiyu engine (which is also highly configurable for all kinds of variants) could do it.

Like an elongated knight. Additionally, he's a leaper (like the knight and the champion) and he may move to any adjacent diagonal square.

Is it usually a good idea to place the king in the four new corners, no escape square if attacked - just wondering.

IME it's a terrible idea. That would be the only time in Omega Chess when the opponent could checkmate with only a Bishop.

It's funny that you mention this, because my own Chess Variant piece, the magician, could be described the same. :P

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/invented-chess-piece-for-chess-variant

If you liked Omega chess, check out this variant - Cerebral (edema) Chess.

Cerebral Chess has better balance & complexity.

The changes from Omega Chess:

Knighting the Queen = Amazon Queen (Dragon)

Knighting the Bishop & Rook (Hawk & Elephant) off board

Crowning the Bishop & Rook (Archbishop & Fortress)

Replacing the Knight for a Leopard

Replacing the Champion for a Cannon

Replacing the Wizard for a Unicorn

Changed castling

This link will bring you to my forum post, where you'll see links to a poster, photos, and the online version (still needs a few tweaks, but playable).

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess960-chess-variants/cerebral-edema-chess-new-variant

@JKWums Isn't one thread for your advertising enough?

OMG!

Relax! This is my first time posting in a forum and I didn't realize each thread shows up. Don't worry, I post in any other threads again!

Thank you!

I'm playing my first game of Omega chess with a friend online on gamesbyemail.com - the board is quite small but it's definitely playable. 

Several questions come to mind....

Will chess.com include it as a variant that can be played on the site - I think with a good interface it would become as popular as chess96 - so far I don't think there's anything out there that could compare with the options available on chess.com. 

Alternatively, are there any other sites or is there any other software where you could play the game? I assume there are copyright issues but I'm not sure. 

Is there anyone out there with extensive programming knowledge who could write the software? I'd buy it if it was good!

musketeerchess2017 where was the board from? Do you know somewhere else you can play Omega chess?

Musketeer, if the Saturn-shaped pieces are supposed to be the wizards they are on the wrong squares.  Wizards start on the special four squares outside the main 10x10 board.  Champions, which in the physical set look like the crested pieces you drew, start in the corners of the main 10x10.

No apologies necessary.  The board looks very nice.

I didn't realize the Musketeer collection has a piece that looks like Saturn!

When using the huygens (a piece which jumps prime numbers of squares) is it OK if I use this graphic for the piece? It's a perfect icon for the huygens, because the huygens is best used on the infinite chessboard. The shape of "Saturn" represents the fact that the huygens can jump really far.

I really like all three of these graphics:

Please let me know if I can use one of them for a graphic of the huygens.

The board looks great! Well done MusketeerChess2017 :-)