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This page is written by the game's inventor, Glenn Nicholls.

TigerChess
Incorporating LancerChess

Contents

Cast

Overview and Object

Army Personnel and abbreviations

Board and Initial Situation

Notes on Initial Situation

Notes on Personnel

Powers of Army Personnel (LancerChess)

TigerKnight moves

Deployment phase-the Open variation

Deployment phase-the Countdown variation

Deployment phase-the Dragon variation

Deployment phase-the Symmetrical variation

The Engagement phase and Rules

The TigerVariation

Combination Lock

Copyright©
G. Nicholls 2003/4

Cast:

The Players:

The Emerald Lord, being the winner between:

The Siberian Warlord and
The Bengal Warlord
Timed by TigerClocks

The Settings:

The Great Forest
The Emerald Kingdom
The Forest Clearings
The Palaces
The Watchtowers
The Strongholds
The Borderposts
The Dwellings
The Chessfield

The Participants:

The Lords of The Forest

The Siberian TigerKnight
The Bengal TigerKnight

Royal Personnel

The Kings
The Queens

Nobility

The Barons
The Baronesses

Military Personnel

The Kings’ Lancers (The Standard Bearers)
The Queens’ Lancers
The Archers
The Knights
The Swordsmen
The Pikemen
The Royal Guards

Constructions

The Kings’ Towers
The Queens’ Towers

Regalia:

The Siberian Standard
The Bengal Standard   

The Medieval Battle known as TigerChess
Which is based upon Western Chess and is
A Gyroscope Game

Overview and Object

The Game of TigerChess is played by two players who are known as The Siberian Warlord and The Bengal Warlord.  The Siberian Warlord plays The Siberian Army and the Bengal Warlord plays The Bengal Army.

The Battle takes place in The Emerald Kingdom which is the standard 64 square Chessboard (called the Chessfield) with Palaces, Watchtowers, Strongholds and Borderposts.  There are also Dwellings and Forest Clearings, and all encircled by The Great Forest.  The Siberian Army is situated at the top of the board and the Bengal Army at the bottom with the bottom right-hand corner being light coloured.

Both Warlords claim the right to govern the Emerald Kingdom, and though peaceful means have been tried this has failed to resolve the dispute and with army personnel being deployed war is about to break out.

The object of each Warlord is to become The Emerald Lord by delivering Checkmate to the opposing Queen (Kings do not shelter in castles whilst their Queens go into battle) in the same manner as the King in Chess or by Occupation of the opposing palace (explained under “The TigerVariation”).  The Game Points awarded are different for each object and are shown in the scoring table in the rules.

For competition play the game of TigerChess may be arbitrated by one known as the Arbiter who will ensure that both the spirit and the rules of the game are adhered to.  He/She has the power to decide the game in favour of the spirit of the game over the rules of the game. It should be noted that any clocks used are of the Triple Countdown type (clocks working on this principle are known as TigerClocks and also include a Double Countdown type) as explained in the rules section.   The Arbiter may offer the service of moving army personnel and operation of clocks.

Army Personnel and abbreviations

Siberian

The PersonnelAbbreviation

The Siberian TigerKnight

SIBTKN

The Siberian King

SKG

The Siberian Queen SQ

The Siberian Baron

SBR

The Siberian Baroness

SBS

The Siberian King’s Lancer

SKL

The Siberian Queen’s Lancer SQL
The Siberian King’s Tower SKT

The Siberian Queen’s Tower

SQT

The Siberian Knights

SKN

The Siberian Pikemen

SPK

The Siberian Archers

SA

The Siberian Swordsmen

SS

The Siberian Royal Guard

SG

The Siberian Standard

SSD

Bengal
The PersonnelAbbreviation

The Bengal TigerKnight

 BENTKN

The Bengal King

BKG

The Bengal Queen BQ

The Bengal Baron

BBN

The Bengal Baroness

BBS

The Bengal King’s Lancer

BKL

The Bengal Queen’s Lancer BQL
The Bengal King’s Tower BKT

The Bengal Queen’s Tower

BQT

The Bengal Knights

BKN

The Bengal Pikemen

BPK

The Bengal Archers

BA

The Bengal Swordsmen

BS

The Bengal Royal Guard

BG

The Bengal Standard BSD

Initial Situation

Notes on Initial Situation

The Situation of the two Armies prior to the deployment phase is exactly the same as in Chess.  The following pertain, however.

1) The Queen, though she has the same powers (i.e. can move to or capture on any adjacent square) and vulnerability (i.e. to Checkmate) as the Western Chess King, stands on the same square as the Western Chess Queen.

2) The King, who has the same powers as the Western Chess Queen stands on the same square as the Western Chess King.

3) The Baron stands next to the King and the Baroness stands next to the Queen, which are the squares occupied by the Chess Bishops.

4) The Lancer on the King-side is the King’s Lancer, and the Lancer on the Queen-side is the Queen’s Lancer.  The squares they occupy are the same as those of the Chess Knights.

5) The Queen’s Tower stands in the same position as the Queen-side Rook in Chess and The King’s Tower stands in the same position as the King-side Rook in Chess.

6) The Pikemen occupy the same positions as the Chess Pawns.

7) Situated within their Strongholds are the Knights and situated in the centre of the Palaces are the TigerKnights who have arrived from the Great Forest and have been given quarters in the Palaces.

8) Each side’s Swordsmen and Archers are situated in their Borderposts.  The Swordsmen are posted in the deployment phase of the game, which precedes the engagement phase of the game.

9) The Royal Guards are situated in the centre of the Watchtowers.

10) The Standards are flown at the front and centre of the Palaces.

11) The Forest Clearings extend to the Great Forest and form the borders of the Emerald Kingdom.

Notes on Personnel

The appearances of personnel broadly follow the following:

1) The Queens differ only in colouring.

2) The Kings differ only in colouring.

3) The Baron and Baroness differ in appearance, but only as to colouring between Armies.

4) The King’s Lancer, Queen’s Lancer and the Knights all differ in appearance, but only as to colouring between Armies.  The Knights bear the letters from A to H but otherwise do not differ between themselves.

5) The Queen’s Tower is taller than the King’s Tower, which is broader, but between Armies only differ as to colouring.

6) The Pikemen bear the mark of the letter of the file they are on at initial situation (i.e. A to H) but otherwise do not differ and only differ between Armies as to colouring.

7) The TigerKnights differ in colour and by the fact that the Siberian TigerKnight is slightly the larger.

8) The Archers bear the mark of Roman numerals i to iv, but otherwise do not differ and only differ between Armies as to colouring.

9) The Swordsmen bear the mark of Roman numerals i to iv, but otherwise do not differ and only differ between Armies as to colouring.

10)The Royal Guards differ only in colouring.

11)The Standards differ only in colouring.

Powers of Army Personnel

The names of the Personnel have been altered from their equivalents in Chess and Draughts, and there are some alterations in their powers of movement, exchange (promotion) and powers of capture.  Their details and equivalents are given below.

Tiger Chess Name

Chess/Draughts Equivalent

Moving Powers

Capturing
Powers

Exchange
Occurrences

Queen

King

Same

Same

N/A

King

Queen

Same

Same

N/A

Towers

Rooks

See 1

Same

N/A

Baron & Baroness

Bishops

Same

Same

N/A

Lancers & Knights

Knights

See 2

See 2

See 3

Pikemen

Pawns

Same

Same

See 3

TigerKnight

None

See 4

See 4

See 3

Swordsmen

Draughtsmen

Same

See 5

See 5

Archers

(Draughts) Kings

Same

See 6

N/A

Note:  The Standard Bearers, Standards and Royal Guards, are described under “The Tiger Variation”.

Powers of Army Personnel
Change 1

The two Towers, namely the Queen’s Tower which, at initial Situation stands on the Queen-side corner of A1/A8 and the King’s Tower which, at initial Situation stands of course on the King-side corner of H1/H8, have the same powers of movement and capture as the Rooks in Chess.  The difference lies in Protecting the Queen (Castling) which is the reverse of Chess Castling.

The conditions for Protecting the Queen with the Queen’s Tower are: 

1)  Neither the Queen nor the Queen's Tower must have been moved.

2)  The Queen must not be under attack.

3)  Any squares passed over or landed on by the Queen must not be under attack.

4)  All the squares between the Queen and the Queen's Tower must be unoccupied. 

If these conditions are met the relevant Warlord may exercise his right to Protect the Queen, and the procedure is as follows:

1) The Queen's Tower is temporarily placed in its forest clearing and this indicates the exercising of the right to protect the Queen is taking place.

2) The Queen is placed on B1 for the Bengal Queen or B8 for the Siberian Queen.

3) The Queen's Tower is now placed on C1 for the Bengal Queen's Tower or C8 for the Siberian Queen's Tower.

 4) The move is now complete and the relevant Warlord now presses his clock and the move passes to his opponent.

Protecting with the King’s Tower follows the same conditions and procedure as above, but the placement of the Queen and the King's Tower are similar to “long” Castling in Chess and so the Bengal Queen is placed on F1 and the Siberian Queen is placed on F8, and the Bengal King's Tower is placed on E1 and the Siberian King's Tower is placed on E8.

Unlike Chess there may be some advantage in the “long” alternative due to the different powers of the Lancers.

Powers of Army Personnel
Change 2

There are three designations of the equivalents of Knights, each with their own powers of movement and capture:

The King’s Lancer can move to any square either one or two squares away in a vertical or horizontal direction and can jump over any intervening personnel if moving two squares.   He can capture on any of these squares.  For example, if this Lancer were situated on E4, he could move to or capture on E5, E6, E3, E2, C4, D4, F4 and G4.  He must capture on the square he moves to and not any square he moves over when moving two squares.

The Queen’s Lancer can move to any square either one or two squares away in a diagonal direction and can jump over any intervening personnel if moving two squares.   He can capture on any of these squares.  For example, if this Lancer were situated on E4, he could move to or capture on D5, C6, F5, G6, D3, C2, F3, and G2. He must capture on the square he moves to and not any square he moves over when moving two squares.

The Knights move and capture in exactly the same way as the Knights in Chess.

It can be seen that were the three types of Knight placed in the centre of a 5x5 box of squares each would attack the squares not attacked by the other two.  The three Knights are therefore complementary to each other in a similar sense to the two Chess Bishops which operate on complementary squares.

LancerChess

If the only change to the game of Chess were to replace the Chess Knights with the Lancers (plus the reversal of the King’s and Queen’s roles) then the game would fundamentally change: the Kings’ Lancers cover more squares along the edge and in the corners of the board than the Chess Knights (six and four, compared to four and two); the Queens’ Lancers operate on opposite coloured squares to each other and are confined to them; the Barons operate on opposite coloured squares to each other, but the same as those of their Queens’ Lancers.  The minor pieces therefore become more individual than the Bishops and Knights in Chess.  This simplified version of TigerChess is therefore called LancerChess.  With LancerChess the normal Chess board is used, Protecting the Queen (Castling) is as described for TigerChess (i.e. the reverse of standard Chess), promotions of Pikemen take place whenever a Pikeman reaches the eighth rank, as in standard Chess, and are the choice of: King, Tower (which, in promotion, need not be distinguished as King’s or Queen’s), Baron/Baroness (which depends on the colour of the square of promotion – the name should be consistent with their square colours at the start of the game) or Lancer (King’s if the colour of the promotion square is the same as the colour of the square of the original King’s Lancer or Queen’s if the colour of the promotion square is the same as the colour of the square of the original Queen’s Lancer).  It is probably advisable to play a few games of LancerChess before TigerChess so as to gain a feel for the difference this makes to the game when compared to standard Chess.

Powers of Army Personnel
Change 3

The first Pikeman (Pawn) to reach his eighth rank is automatically exchanged for (promoted to) the TigerKnight and the TigerKnight’s powers are immediately in effect and can be exercised upon the following move.  The Pikeman then occupies the TigerKnight’s position.   Before reaching the eighth rank a Pikeman must obviously reach the seventh rank and upon so doing there are exchange implications:

A) If a Pikeman has already reached the eighth rank, then a Pikeman upon reaching the seventh rank is automatically exchanged for a Knight.  The Knight selected is the one bearing the same letter as the Pikeman. The Pikeman then occupies the selected Knight’s square.

B) If no Pikeman has reached the eighth rank then the relevant Warlord has a choice:

      i) He may elect to exchange the Pikeman for a Knight and then he selects the Knight bearing the same letter as the Pikeman.  The Pikeman then occupies the selected Knight’s square.  The move is then completed whereupon the relevant Warlord presses his clock and the move passes to his opponent.

      ii) He may elect to forego the exchange in i) so that the Pikeman then has the opportunity to be the first to reach the eighth rank.  This choice means that the Pikeman can no longer be exchanged for a Knight. This decision is indicated by the relevant Warlord pressing his clock without exchanging for a Knight.

C) There can therefore arise a situation by which one or more Pikeman can be on the seventh rank who have foregone the opportunity to be exchanged for Knights and where another Pikeman has reached the eighth rank first and so has been exchanged for the TigerKnight.  For those Pikemen so situated on the seventh rank they now have no Exchange possibilities and must remain on the board as Pikeman until and unless captured.  They can of course still move to or capture to the eighth rank but here they must remain until and unless they are captured.

D) There can only be one exchange for the TigerKnight.  Should the TigerKnight be captured he cannot subsequently be exchanged.        

E)  As with the TigerKnight, a Knight upon entering the game has his powers immediately in effect and they can be exercised upon the following move.

Powers of Army Personnel
Change 4

The TigerKnight has no equivalent in Chess or Draughts. His powers to move and capture by leaping are as shown under the heading "TigerKnight moves" and are all the non-linear squares within a 7x7 box. He can move to or capture on any of these squares regardless of any intervening personnel. There is one slight difference between the moves of the two TigerKnights as shown. It can be seen that the TigerKnight covers all the squares within this box not covered by the King (if the King were on the same square) and so his powers are complementary to the King.

Powers of Army Personnel
Change 5

A Swordsman (Draughtsman) moves exactly the same as an English Draughtsman, i.e. to either forward adjacent diagonal square, if vacant, and can capture one or more opposing Army Personnel in the same way as in the game of English Draughts i.e. by a diagonal forward single square jump(s) to a vacant square and this capturing sequence can be continued, but in contrast, he is not obliged to make a capture if able to do so as in Draughts and has total freedom of choice of when to stop a capturing sequence or which alternate path(s) of capture to take, if more than one. Upon reaching his eighth rank a Swordsman is automatically exchanged for an Archer and his powers are immediately in effect and can be exercised upon the following move. The choice of Archer is the one bearing the same Roman numeral as the Swordsman. The Swordsman then occupies the selected Archer’s square. The move is then completed whereupon the relevant Warlord presses his clock and the move passes to his opponent.

Powers of Army Personnel
Change 6

An Archer (Draughts King), like an English Draughts King can move to an adjoining diagonal square, forwards or backwards, if vacant, but can capture one or more opposing Army Personnel in a similar way as in the game of Spanish Draughts. This capture is made by jumping diagonally forwards or backwards but the jump is not restricted to, though includes, only a single square as with a Swordsman but may also include a jump(s) of any number of vacant squares between himself and the personnel member to be captured, to land on the vacant square immediately behind the captured personnel member, e.g. an Archer on F2 can capture an opposing member of personnel on C5 by landing on B6 provided E3 and D4 are vacant. This capturing sequence can be continued in like manner in the same direction or by turning off along diagonals forwards or backwards or even by backtracking. Captured personnel must be removed immediately since they cannot be used as part of any continuing capturing sequence. Like the Swordsman, the Archer is not obliged to make a capture if able to do so and has total freedom of when to stop a capturing sequence or which alternate path(s) of capture to take, if more than one.

TigerKnight moves

As can be seen, The Siberian TigerKnight has another four squares which adds a long jump (more than two squares) to his leaping abilities and this is not available to The Bengal TigerKnight.  The reason is that in the game of TigerChess the Bengal Warlord would, all things being equal, exchange to the TigerKnight one move earlier than The Siberian Warlord, and so by way of balance a few extra squares to compensate are considered in order.  It should be noted that jumping involves linear movement whereas leaping involves oblique movement.

Deployment Phase-The Open variation

The Deployment Phase is carried out whereby the deployment of the eight Swordsmen is decided according to the following rules. The order of postings follows ascending order of mark of Roman numeral on Swordsmen:

1) The Siberian Warlord posts his first Swordsman on any square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore sixteen squares to choose from.

2) The Bengal Warlord posts his first Swordsman on any square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore sixteen squares to choose from.

3) The Bengal Warlord must now post his second Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore fifteen squares to choose from.

4) The Siberian Warlord must now post his second Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore fifteen squares to choose from.

 5) The Siberian Warlord must now post his third Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore fourteen squares to choose from.

6) The Bengal Warlord must now post his third Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore fourteen squares to choose from.

7) The Bengal Warlord must now post his fourth Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore thirteen squares to choose from.

8) The Siberian Warlord must now post his fourth Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore thirteen squares to choose from.

    This completes the Deployment phase and the game now moves to the Engagement phase with the Bengal Warlord moving first.  The total number of possible deployment moves is therefore 16x16x15x15x14x14x13x13 = 1,907,942,400.  Since there are 576 ways to reach each final position there are therefore 3,312,400 possible positions prior to engagement though this calculation would require checking.  Under the TigerVariation this would increase sixteenfold to 52,998,400 possible positions prior to engagement.

It can be seen that symmetry (postings on the same file and equivalent rank) can only be forced by either player for three of their four postings.  Either player can therefore prevent full symmetry.

Deployment Phase-The Countdown variation

The Deployment Phase is carried out whereby the deployment of the eight Swordsmen is decided according to the following rules. The order of postings follows ascending order of mark of Roman numeral on Swordsmen:

1) The Siberian Warlord posts his first Swordsman on any square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore sixteen squares to choose from.

2) The Bengal Warlord posts his first Swordsman on any square on his third or fourth rank, except the symmetrical square.  For example if the Siberian Warlord had posted his first Swordsman on C6 then the Bengal Warlord can post his first Swordsman on any square on his third or fourth rank except C3. There are therefore fifteen squares to choose from e.g. F4.

3) The Bengal Warlord must now post his second Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank except the symmetrical square of C3.  There are therefore fourteen squares to choose from e.g. B3.

4) The Siberian Warlord must now post his second Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank except the symmetrical squares of F5 and B6 There are therefore thirteen squares to choose from e.g. H5.

 5) The Siberian Warlord must now post his third Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank except the symmetrical squares of F5 and B6.  There are therefore twelve squares to choose from e.g. C5.

6) The Bengal Warlord must now post his third Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank except the symmetrical squares of C3, C4 and H4.  There are therefore eleven squares to choose from e.g. G3.

7) The Bengal Warlord must now post his fourth Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank except the symmetrical squares of C3, C4 and H4.  There are therefore ten squares to choose from e.g. E4.

8) The Siberian Warlord must now post his fourth Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank except the symmetrical squares F5, B6, G6 and E5.  There are therefore nine squares to choose from e.g. A6.

    This completes the Deployment phase and the game now moves to the Engagement phase with the Bengal Warlord moving first.  The total number of possible deployment moves is therefore 16x15x14x13x12x11x10x9 = 500,918,400.  The calculation of possible deployment positions by dividing by 576 may not be appropriate in this variation, though would increase sixteenfold under the TigerVariation.

Deployment Phase-The Dragon variation

The Deployment Phase is carried out whereby the deployment of the eight Swordsmen is decided according to the following rules. The order of postings follows ascending order of mark of Roman numeral on Swordsmen:

1) The Siberian Warlord posts his first Swordsman on any square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore sixteen squares to choose from.

2) The Bengal Warlord posts his first Swordsman on any opposite coloured square to the Siberian Swordsman, on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore eight squares to choose from.

3) The Bengal Warlord must now post his second Swordsman on any vacant same coloured square as his first, on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore seven squares to choose from.

4) The Siberian Warlord must now post his second Swordsman on any vacant same coloured square to his first, on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore seven squares to choose from.

 5) The Siberian Warlord must now post his third Swordsman on any vacant same coloured square as his first two, on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore six squares to choose from.

6) The Bengal Warlord must now post his third Swordsman on any vacant same coloured square as his first two, on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore six squares to choose from.

7) The Bengal Warlord must now post his fourth Swordsman on any vacant same coloured square as his first three, on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore five squares to choose from.

8) The Siberian Warlord must now post his fourth Swordsman on any vacant same coloured square as his first three, on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore five squares to choose from.

This completes the Deployment phase and the game now moves to the Engagement phase with the Bengal Warlord moving first.  The total number of possible deployment moves is therefore 16x8x7x7x6x6x5x5 = 5,644,800. The calculation of possible deployment positions by dividing by 576 may not be appropriate in this variation, though would increase sixteenfold under the TigerVariation.

This deployment variation therefore results in each players Swordsmen being all on same coloured squares but on opposite coloured squares to those of their opponent It can also be seen that symmetry can only be forced by either player for three of their four postings.  Either player can therefore prevent full symmetry.   

Deployment Phase-The Symmetrical variation

The Deployment Phase is carried out whereby the deployment of the eight Swordsmen is decided according to the following rules. The order of postings follows ascending order of mark of Roman numeral on Swordsmen:

1) The Siberian Warlord posts his first Swordsman on any square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore sixteen squares to choose from.  For example C6.

2) The Bengal Warlord must post his first Swordsman on the square which has his same numbered rank and the same file as his opponent and will be of an opposite colour.   In this example the Bengal Warlord must post his first Swordsman on C3.  There is only one square possible.

3) The Bengal Warlord must now post his second Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore fifteen squares to choose from.  For example G4.

4) The Siberian Warlord must now post his second Swordsman in accordance with the logic in 2) above.  There is therefore only one choice: G5.

5) The Siberian Warlord must now post his third Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore fourteen squares to choose from.  For example C5.

6) The Bengal Warlord must now post his third Swordsman in accordance with the logic in 2) above.  There is therefore only one choice: C4.

7) The Bengal Warlord must now post his fourth Swordsman on any vacant square on his third or fourth rank.  There are therefore thirteen squares to choose from.  For example H3.

8) The Siberian Warlord must now post his fourth Swordsman in accordance with the logic in 2) above.  There is therefore only one choice: H6.

This completes the Deployment phase and the game now moves to the Engagement phase with the Bengal Warlord moving first.  The total number of possible deployment moves is therefore 16x1x15x1x14x1x13x1 = 43,680. The calculation of possible deployment positions by dividing by 576 may not be appropriate in this variation, though would increase sixteenfold under the TigerVariation.

This variation always gives full symmetry.

The Engagement Phase and Rules

The Engagement phase follows according to the main rules of Chess, the Bengal Warlord moves first and players make alternate moves until Checkmate, Stalemate or a Draw occurs.  For tournament or match play there are one or two rules in addition to those of Chess as follows:

1) The Arbiter shall ensure both the rules and spirit of the game are adhered to.

2) The Arbiter can award a decision based on the spirit of the game above the rules of The Game.

3) The Arbiter may move the personnel and operate the clocks.

4) Players may be disqualified for not giving of their best and forfeit any possible points.

5) The board should be much larger than standard Chess or Draughts boards, coloured in shades of green and should include a good measure of the Great Forest.

6) Moves, including the deployment phase, should be recorded.

7) Captured personnel are placed in their opponent’s Forest Clearing behind the Palace and Watchtower for the remainder of the game.

8) The prime colours of The Siberian Army and Standard are orange, with some black and white.

9) The prime colours of The Bengal Army and Standard are white, with some black.

10) Once personnel have been touched by either player or the Arbiter then they must be moved if possible.  The move cannot be retracted once the player’s or Arbiter’s hand has let go.  The Arbiter must follow the player’s instructions in this regard.  This rule applies in both phases of the Game.  Care should be taken with multiple captures by Swordsman and Archers.

11) Clocks must be of the Triple Countdown type.  For example, say that each player is allocated 30 minutes on his clock, which counts down, to complete the deployment phase and should not exceed this limit.  Upon the commencement of the engagement phase a further 150 minutes is added to each players clock on top of any remaining balance from the Deployment phase.  Each player should now complete all, or as many as possible of, his moves before his clock counts down to zero.  If, however, a player’s clock reaches zero during the deployment phase he does not automatically lose but may not make any further postings of Swordsmen, his opponent then posts his remaining Swordsman with the same clock rule applying and may post these Swordsmen anywhere on his third or fourth rank.  During the engagement phase each move a player makes builds up 60 seconds on a separate reserve (or separate clock) and if his main clock counts down to zero he must then complete all his moves within this reserve time or will lose the game.  For example if a player has made 50 moves during the engagement phase and his clock has counted down to zero he is allowed a final 50 minutes (which countdown) to complete all his moves in.  Moves made during this final phase do not build up any further time.

12) All Squares on the Chessfield are termed “Positions”.

13) The Scoring Table is as follows

a) For Checkmate delivered  – three game points are awarded.

b) For a Draw – one game point is awarded.

14) For a conceding by a player the normal award is three game points.  The Arbiter may overrule in exceptional circumstances.

15) For a loss on time the normal award is three game points.  The Arbiter may overrule in exceptional circumstances.

16) Players may agree to a draw, but must have given of their best.  The Arbiter may overrule.

Rules – Deployment

17) Players may only agree to play the Open variation.  In the absence of such an agreement the Arbiter must cast a standard six-sided dice from a cup, whereupon if the uppermost number is:

a) 2, 4 or 6 then the Countdown variation must be played.

b) 3 or 5 then the Dragon variation must be played.

c) 1 then the Symmetrical variation must be played. It should be noted that transpositions can occur and are allowed.

17a)    Following 17, whichever of the four variations are to be played, the Arbiter must cast two standard dice from a cup, whereupon if the uppermost numbers are the same (a double), the TigerVariation must be played.

17b) Games played under the TigerVariation have the deployment phase described as the TigerOpen variation, the TigerCountdown variation, the TigerDragon variation or the TigerSymmetrical variation.  

18) Players may post two Swordsmen simultaneously where appropriate.

Rules – Other

19) Players should state check when their Opponent’s Queen is under attack though it is not compulsory to do so.

20) Should a member of army personnel waiting for entry into the game be in a situation where it is no longer possible to enter the game (e.g. a Knight cannot enter the game if his corresponding Pikeman is captured) then this member should be placed in his area of the Forest Clearings alongside one of his Borderposts for the remainder of the game, though this is not compulsory.

The TigerVariation

When playing this variation the following changes apply:

1) The object of the game is to:

a) Occupy the opposing Palace, which scores six game points, or

b) Deliver Checkmate, which scores three game points.

Any other result except conceding or a loss on time results in no game points being awarded to either player.

2) The Deployment phase is carried out as follows:

a) The Siberian Warlord transfers his Standard to his King’s Lancer who is then known as The Standard Bearer. His Siberian TigerKnight is then placed in his Forest clearing.

b) The Siberian Warlord then chooses to post his Royal Guard to his Palace on either the C wing (in line with the C file), D wing (in file line), E wing (in file line) or F wing (in file line).

c) The Siberian Warlord then places his TigerKnight in the centre of his Watchtower.

d) The Bengal Warlord carries out the same procedures as above and has the choice of posting his Royal Guard to either the C, D, E or F wing of his Palace.

e) The Swordsmen are now posted in the usual way according to which deployment variation (Open, Countdown, Dragon or Symmetrical) applies.

3) All clock times are doubled.

4) Occupation of the Palace is carried out as follows:

a) The Standard Bearer must capture the Royal Guard and therefore be the sole occupant of the opposing Palace by means of jumping over the opposing Stronghold to land on the Palace wing occupied by the Royal Guard.  His Queen must not be in check and he must play his usual two square vertical jump.

b)  For example, if the Siberian Royal Guard were posted on the E wing of his Palace then the Bengal Standard Bearer could capture him and occupy the Palace only if he were situated on the square E8.

5) The Standard Bearer may not move outside the Chessfield (unless captured) for any other purpose than to occupy the opposing Palace and apart from this his moving and capturing powers are unchanged.  He may not enter an empty wing of the Palace.

6) Conceding the game or losing on time usually results in the loss of six points though if the winning player has had his Standard Bearer captured this will be three points.  Both players may agree to an award of three points if Checkmate is inevitable.  The Arbiter may overrule.

7) The capture of the Standard Bearer(s) does not affect the game other than to leave Checkmate as the only winning object for the player(s) concerned.

8) Although the Royal Guards have the theoretical power to capture on any wing of their Palace, this power is not called upon and they cannot move without capturing and so remain in a fixed position until and unless captured.   

An Identity Check
Called
Combination Lock

The author of “Dragon”, “TigerChess” and “TigerBridge”,

G. Nicholls, can identify himself by:

Showing the moves leading to the following positions:


C1AAAAAAA
C2ABBCCAA
C3AACCBBA
C4ACBACBA