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This page is written by the game's inventor, Jean-Louis Cazaux.

Gigachess

 

Jean-Louis Cazaux (March 2001)

 

Even bigger ! This is a chess variant with 20 different pieces on a 14 x 14 board: such a board was used by some maharadjahs in old India. They are 196 cases and 48 pieces per side which give almost the same density than for Orthodox Chess.

In Gigachess one will find again all 13 kinds of men encountered in Shako , Tamerlane II and Perfect 12. The new 7 are the Amazon (Queen+Knight), the Marshall (Rook+Knight) and the Cardinal (Bishop+Knight) so often used in chess variants, the Crossbow is the diagonal version of the Cannon, the Machine is the orthogonal counterpart of the Elephant and the Buffalo is terrific leaper combining the powers of Knight, Camel and more.

In addition to these officiers, animals or weapons, there is a new improved Pawn : the Corporal whose inclusion here gives some interesting battle arrangements. Like a Pawn, it moves but cannot capture forward and gets a promotion on reaching the last row. Its difference is that it can move diagonally forward, advancing or capturing.

Players

Two.

Initial Setup

 

The board is a 14 x 14 checkered squares with a white one at the right end of each player.

There are 48 pieces per side:

The white King is placed on the center of the second row on a black square, the black King being on a white square. The Queen is also placed on the center, beside the King. The Amazon is just behind the King. On the 1st row there is the "animal side" with Gryphon, Lion, Buffalo from inside to outside, and the "knighted side" with Amazon, Marshall and Cardinal in this order. On 3rd row, Corporals occupy the six central columns.

Moves And Captures

Castling: there is no castling in Gigachess.

End Of Game

Victory is obtained when the opposite King is checkmated.

All other types of endgame (pat, perpetual check,...) are classic.

Pieces Value

Zillions gives these average values, normalized to 5 for the Rook :

Pawn: 0.8, Corporal: 1.2, Camel: 2, Elephant: 2.2, Knight: 2.2, Machine: 2.4
Prince: 2.5, Crossbow: 3.3, Bishop: 3.4, Ship: 4.5, Cannon: 4.9, Rook: 5
Cardinal: 5.5, Buffalo: 5.9, Lion: 6.7, Marshall: 7.1, Gryphon: 8.1, Queen: 8.3
Amazon: 10.4

Remarks

Gigachess is the latest and most complex stage of a series:
10 x 10 board: Shako
11 x 11 board: Tamerlane 2
12 x 12 board: Perfect 12
14 x 14 board: Gigachess

The zrf for Gigachess is available from here.

Any Comments?

Mail me at:

@chessvariants.com


Written by Jean-Louis Cazaux.


WWW page created: March 28, 2001.