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This page is written by the game's inventor, Vincenzo Rapisardi. This game is a favorite of its inventor.

Banzai Chess

Banzai Chess was created by Vincenzo Rapisardi and some friends as a way of making chess more dynamic and creative. It keeps all the standard rules with just few adjustments. It's easy to learn and super fun to play!

Rules

The game is played with a normal set of pieces, from the normal starting setup.

Pieces have the same movement as in standard chess, except that they can also move to squares occuped by friendly pieces.

There are only 5 additional rules:

  1. Push Rule - new
  2. Bounce Rule - new
  3. Pawn 2 Steps Rule - enhanced
  4. Pawn En Passant  Rule - enhanced
  5. Pawn Promotion Rule - enhanced

PUSH 

The first and main addition is the Push Rule. 

 

1) Pieces can move to a square occupied by other friendly pieces, pushing them.

 

The pushed piece is moved to an adjacent square according to the direction of the initial piece's movement.

 

To execute a push the destination square must be unoccupied. It is not possible to capture while pushing.

 

To see the destination square simply follow the direction of the initial piece's movement and the positions of the pieces on the board.

 

 

Visual rapresentation of all the different push directions.

               

 

 

 

            

 

BOUNCE

The second addition, the Bounce Rule, is actually a by-product of the Push Rule. In fact, only a pushed piece can bounce.

 

2) A piece on the edge pushed diagonally can bounce inward.

 

The bounce operates as a push, meaning the piece will move one square if that square is empty, but with a new trajectory.

 

 

Visual rapresentation of all the different bounce directions.

         

Bounce directions clockwise and counterclockwise                      Queen in action with push and bounce directions

     

 

BANZAI PAWNS

The third and final addition concerns pawns and consists of a mini set of 3 simple rules.

3) Pawns can advance by 2 squares, even if they have already moved, as long as they are on their respective first two ranks colorwise.
4) Pawns can perform the En Passant capture even on the third and sixth ranks.
5) Pawns that reach promotion via push (or bounce) cannot become queens.

    

 

 

Notes

A king in check can push and be pushed.

A pinned piece can still be pushed.



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 Vincenzo Rapisardi.

Last revised by Vincenzo Rapisardi.


Web page created: 2024-04-18. Web page last updated: 2024-04-18

Revisions of MSbanzai-chess