Overboard
This is an oversized combination of many of my older ideas. Despite the name, I tried to keep everything simple, other than the size. Each piece has the same capturing and non-capturing moves, there are no multi-capturers, and only the pawns promote—but there are two types! It was originally meant to be smaller, but there wasn't room in 196 or even 225 squares for everything to fit comfortably.
Setup
Pieces
The King is the only royal piece. It makes one step diagonally or orthogonally. There is no castling or other special King move.
The Guard Pawn moves orthogonally forward to the nearest square that is not occupied by a friendly piece. It may promote upon reaching any of the last five ranks.
The Courier Pawn moves diagonally forward as far as possible until it lands on an enemy or is stopped by a friendly piece or the board edge. It may promote upon reaching any of the last five ranks.
The Chipmunk moves in any diagonal direction to the nearest space in that direction that is not occupied by a friendly piece.
The Guard moves in any orthogonal direction to the nearest space in that direction that is not occupied by a friendly piece.
The Monkey combines the moves of the Chipmunk and Guard. It moves in any diagonal or orthogonal direction to the nearest space in that direction that is not occupied by a friendly piece.
The Courier moves diagonally as far as possible until it lands on an enemy or is stopped by a friendly piece or the board edge.
The Hare moves orthogonally as far as possible until it lands on an enemy or is stopped by a friendly piece or the board edge.
The Elephant combines the moves of the Courier and Hare. It moves as a Queen as far as possible until it lands on an enemy or is stopped by a friendly piece or the board edge.
The Titan makes one or two diagonal steps, optionally changing direction for the second step. It may not return to it's starting square on the same move. This piece is also known as War Elephant in Shatranj Kamil X.
The Warrior makes one or two orthogonal steps, optionally changing direction for the second step. It may not return to it's starting square on the same move.
The Prince makes one orthogonal step, or one diagonal step, or one of each. It can reach the same squares as a King and a Knight, but it does not leap.
The Knight is the familiar chess knight. It makes a 1,2 leap.
The Camel too is it's familiar self. It makes a 1,3 leap.
The Zebra makes a 2,3 leap, as expected.
The Javelin leaps two or three squares diagonally.
The Ballista leaps two or three squares orthogonally.
The Bishop is the usual diagonal slider.
The Rook slides orthogonally.
The Queen slides diagonally or orthogonally, like a Rook or Bishop. Pawns may promote to Queens on the 13th rank.
The Ski-Bishop leaps to the second diagonal square and may continue it's move by sliding in the same direction.
The Ski-Rook leaps to the second orthogonal square and may continue it's move by sliding in the same direction.
The Ski-Queen combines the moves of the Ski-Bishop and Ski-Rook. It leaps two squares diagonally or orthogonally and may continue by sliding in the same direction. Pawns may promote to Ski-Queens on the 12th rank.
The Flying Bishop slides diagonally, but may pass over any friendly pieces in its path.
The Flying Rook slides orthogonally, but may pass over any friendly pieces in its path.
The Flying Queen slides diagonally or orthogonally, but may pass over any friendly pieces in its path. Pawns may promote to Flying Queens on the 14th rank.
The Rhinoceros makes a single orthogonal step and may then slide diagonally outward.
The Gryphon makes a single diagonal step and may then slide orthogonally outward. It was originally called Aanca in Grant Acedrex.
The Osprey makes a two square orthogonal leap and may then slide diagonally outward. Charles Gilman named this piece Lama.
The Condor makes a two square diagonal leap and may then slide orthogonally outward. This piece is also known as Zephyr and Ostrich.
The Unicorn makes a 1,2 leap and may then slide diagonally outward. It too was originally used in Grant Acedrex.
The Pegasus makes a 1,2 leap and may then slide orthogonally outward.
The Horse Queen combines the moves of the Unicorn and Pegasus. It makes a 1,2 leap and may then slide outward diagonally or orthogonally. Pawns may promote to Horse Queens on the 15th rank.
The Wonder should be the strongest piece in the game. It combines the moves of Knight, Camel, Zebra, Javelin, Ballista, and King; leaping to any square up to a distance of 3. Any Pawn that reaches the 16th rank must promote to a Wonder.
Rules
All rules are as in Chess unless otherwise indicated.Promotions
Guard Pawns and Courier Pawns may promote on any of the last five ranks. Promotions before the last rank are optional. These are the promotion options.
- Rank 12: Ski-Queen
- Rank 13: Queen
- Rank 14: Flying Queen
- Rank 15: Horse Queen
- Rank 16: Wonder
This 'user submitted' page is a collaboration between the posting user and the Chess Variant Pages. Registered contributors to the Chess Variant Pages have the ability to post their own works, subject to review and editing by the Chess Variant Pages Editorial Staff.
By Daniel Zacharias.
Last revised by Daniel Zacharias.
Web page created: 2024-04-04. Web page last updated: 2024-04-04