Thanks for reading my post :D.
I've also been playing with the idea of having a new win condition where the king can claim victory if they can get to the other side of the board. It's very similar to the Midline Invasion rule in Chess 2 but increased to account for the forces starting closer together.
Hello all,
I've been thinking about a new variant of chess that can add some interesting variety to chess games. This is played on a standard 8x8 chess board without any new fairy pieces. That said, as I play test I hope to add some new pieces for opposing sides to be different (e.g. such as in Chess 2). All normal Chess rules apply unless stated otherwise:
Board Initial Condition: Only the pawn rows are placed on the board but are moved to ranks 3 and 6, for white and black respectively.
Start of Play: Starting with White, each player takes turns placing a non-pawn anywhere in their first 2 ranks, with the following conditions:
1) Rooks must be on opposite sides of the king (effectively means King cannot start in the corners). They do not have to be on the same rank.
2) Bishops must start on opposite colors.
Then play continues as normal. Rather than thinking of it as different stages, it's a single stage where the first 16 moves are placement.The logic for this is that White has a disadvantage for placing first, but has an advantage for moving first. Hopefully this balances those out.
Additional Changes:
1) No Castling, unless the rook and King start as normal.
2) No En Passant captures
3) No Initial 2 step pawn movement
4) Pawns may initially take a single step backwards for their first move.
Handicap Games:
If there is a handicap, the superior player has less options for placing units. A starting handicap has the King start in the normal position. As the handicap gets higher, they follow the order of Q-R-B-N (both used before next down) being placed in standard position depending on how much of a handicap is needed.
I don't have many people to play with so I've done limited play testing. So far though games are fast and hectic, especially since the forces start so close to each other. This, to me, seems to combine the best aspects of International Chess, Makruk and Sittuyin, while adding some of the principles behind Shogi castles during placement.
Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on this? I'm by no means trying to "fix" chess and there may be some inherent issues. This is just for fun. Thanks for any and all responses.