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This page is written by the game's inventor, Christan Hupp.


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Squarcle (Skw-air-kol) Chess, or Chess on the Surface of a Cone

By Christian Hupp

Squarcle Chess is so called because it is the combination of a square board (SQUARe) and a circular board (cirCLE).

Think of it as a series of nested Monopoly™ boards. The centermost board is 4 squares in size, the next one is 12 squares in size, the next is 20, and so on and on.

There are two types of Squarcle Chess: 10X10 Squarcle Chess, and 8X8 Squarcle Chess. Both will be displayed simultaneously, and I will mark off parts that only pertain to one variant or the other.

The the reason this variant could also be called chess onthe surface of a cone becomes apparent when you see the board:


Below is shown the starting positions of the 10X10 version of Squarcle Chess. There are a total of fifty pieces:1 White king, 1 Black king, 1 White queen, 1 Black queen, 1 white Count, 1 Black count, 2 White ballistas, 2 Black ballistas, 2 White trebuchets, 2 Black trebuchets, 2 White Rooks, 2 Black Rooks, 2 White rabbits, 2 Black rabbits, 2 White knights, 2 Black knights, 2 White bishops, 2 Black bishops, 10 White pawns, and 10 Black pawns. There are 25 pieces per player.

As always, the right-most square closest to you is white.


10X10 Squarcle Chess

10


9


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5


4


3


2


1
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The diagram below shows the starting positions of 8X8 Squarcle Chess. Notice how familiar it looks. There are 16 pieces per player (totaling 32 pieces):1 king, 1 queen, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 2 rooks, and 8 pawns. Like the board above, the right-hand, closest square is white.

8X8 Squarcle Chess

8


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6


5


4


3


2


1
 abcdefgh


In this game, one special provision mut be made before I continue. It is a rule that already exists in FIDE chess, although it is a bit redundant in normal chess. The rule is as follows: no piece may move in such a way that the board looks no different at the end of the turn then it did at the beginning. This prevents people from being able to simply pass a turn.

All the pieces exist in both versions of squarcle chess, with the exception of the pieces marked.


The Pieces