2 Queen Rocky Horror Lycanthropic Chess

Each piece in this game automatically transforms into a completely different piece every time it moves!!!

Queens transform into Kings and Kings into Queens!
Wusses transform into Mamras and Mamras into Wusses!
Normal pawns transform into Berolina pawns!

(Okay, true, that last one just wasn't quite as exciting as the other two, not to those of us who aren't great pawn enthusiasts anyway.)

Warning: Several of the links below have nothing to do with chess.

Carlos Cetina and I have been having a lot of fun playing this game and he created a version of it that is just as fun as the one I describe below. In this version, queens are changeling mamras and kings are changeling wusses. Changes are automatic, regardless of check or capture. The corner squares are eliminated and an extra Mamra-Queen is added.

2 Queen Rocky Horror Lycanthropic Chess - Symmetric Variation (Carlos Cetina's contribution), where automatically Queens become Mamras and Kings become Wusses!

In this version, the king can castle by moving either two or three squares towards the rook on either side, with other normal castling rules applying.

I am very inspired playing this version of it. In some ways, it's more picturesque and reflecting of the title since you can see the two queens clearly in the opening setup and the two queens play an important role throughout.

Thank you, Carlos, for adding your ingenuity, time, accessibility and encouragements. You are a wonderful fellow explorer of chess variants.

Setup


   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
8  |:w:| s |:r:| f |:h:| h |:f:| r |:s:| w |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
7      |:p:| p |:p:| p |:p:| p |:p:| p |  
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
6      |   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|  
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
5      |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |  
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
4      |   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|  
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
3      |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |  
       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
2      | P |:P:| P |:P:| P |:P:| P |:P:|  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
1  |:w:|:S:| R |:F:| H |:H:| F |:R:| S | W |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
     x   a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h   y

Game starts out looking exactly like Mamra Chess with Wuss, Wusses on the x-file, Mamras on the y-file and "Standard Chess" ("FIDE") pieces and setup in between (Wuss, Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King, Bishop, Knight, Rook, Mamra).

Only the two players are privy and complicit with the understanding that what they see is only one side of two faces for each piece!

Pieces

Werewolf

Each time the Mamra moves, it turns into a Wuss and each time the Wuss moves, it turns into a Mamra. I shall call this piece the Werewolf.

The Wuss is like a quiet and unassuming person, but the Mamra is a horrible and practically invincible piece, Truly Terrible to encounter but Quite Wonderful to be wielding,

Exceptions:

(1) When Mamra is checking or capturing, it gets to remain a Mamra at the end of its turn.

(2) When Wuss is fleeing from check, it must remain a Wuss.

What is Wuss? It is a piece that moves like a queen but can't capture and must move when put in check. In other words: When the Wuss is checked, it can only move and no other piece can move. Nothing can capture the checking piece. Nothing can obstruct the checking piece. Wuss must move when checked (and if it can't move out of check, the game is lost).

What is Mamra? A piece that is invincible, except for Philidors and Silver Bullets (Mamras can't capture other Mamras). Only Philidors and Silver Bullets can attack and / or capture Mamra. The Mamra moves like a king (which moves like a guard moves, i.e., one space in any direction), but can't be checked.

Transvestite

Each time the King moves it turns into a Queen and each time the Queen moves it turns into a King. This piece is called the Transvestite.

Exceptions:

(1)When Queen is capturing or checking, she gets to remain a queen at the end of her move.

(2)When King is fleeing Check, he has to remain a King at the end of his move.

Regret

Each time the Knight moves, it turns into a Phoenix (Waffle = Alfil + Wazir) and each time the Phoenix moves, it turns into a Knight. This piece will be called the Regret. I would tell you how I came up with the name for this piece, but one of us might regret it. Email me if you insist on knowing.

Famous Oxford Don

Each time the Bishop moves, it turns into a Guard (moves one space in any direction; like a king, but can't be checked) and each time the Guard moves, it turns into a Bishop. This piece will be called the Famous Oxford Don. I would tell you how I came up with the name for this piece, but one of us might REALLY regret it! Again, email me if you insist on knowing.

Philidor

Each time the standard European pawn moves, it turns into a Berolina Pawn and each time the Berolina pawn moves, it turns into a European Pawn. This piece will be called the Philidor. For those who don't know, this is an homage to an early chess master who famously remarked, "Pawns are the soul of chess." Philidors in this game are also known as ZOMBIES! Philidors can capture by en passant in the usual way.

Silver Bullet

Each time the Rook moves it turns into a Cylindrical Bishop and each time the Cylindrical Bishop moves, it turns into a rook. This piece will be called the Silver Bullet. As we know, Silver bullets are the only types of bullets that can kill a werewolf. Therefore, besides Zombies, Silver Bullets can capture Mamras!!!

Rules

You must not be in check after the end of your turn but before your opponent has moved. So it is not allowed to move a Queen so that it becomes a Royal King in check. Please note: If there is more than one King on the board, only one of them will be royal - see Two Kings rules below. It is not allowed to move a Mamra and have it become a Wuss in check.

Rules are the same as in regular chess, but with the following provisions, i.e., there is castling, en passant, pawn promotion (pawns can promote to any piece on the board including to Werewolf or Transvestite.)

Please note the 'Pieces' Section especially regarding Wuss, Mamra, King and Queen, re: checks and captures.

The piece that appears on the board at any given time I will call a "facet." Here I shall refer freely to pieces by their facets from time to time.

Philidors (ZOMG!!!) can promote to any facet of any piece, except Philidors.

Silver Bullets can capture Mamras!!! (It warranted repeating! ) So, just to be clear: Only Silver Bullets and Philidors (Zombies) can capture Werewolves. Werewolves can't be captured by Transvestites or other Werewolves!

Winning can happen in three(!) ways:

(1) Checkmate a Royal King

(2) Checkmate a Wuss

(1A) + (2A) (Corollary to 1 + 2:) If King and Wuss are checked at the same time, that is checkmate since one of them will not be able to escape by the end of the turn.

(3) Eliminate all Transvestites and Werewolves from your opponent's army. Please note: The game continues if a non-royal King, Queen or Mamra is captured (but not if a Wuss or Royal King gets checkmated). The point being:Transvestites and Werewolves can be captured without losing the game if they are captured while Queens or Mamras or non-royal Kings (see what Abdul-Rahman Sibahi says below)!

As in Mamra Chess with Wuss, games end when Wusses are checkmated regardless of what other royal pieces remain on the board or where they are.

Alternately, games can also end the same way they can end in Kings, to quote Abdul-Rahman Sibahi (but while you read this substitute x-file for a-file, no pun intended either!):

The closest King to the a-file is the Royal, the one that has to be checkmated. In case of ambiguity, the King closer to the Home Rank (first for white; eighth, or tenth for black,) is the Royal. In other words, the closest King to the left handed corner (for white) or the right handed corner (for black) is the Royal King. If any of the other Kings moved closer to the a-file, the Royalty transposes to that King. This allows for strange ways to escape checkmate.

For example, if you, playing white, have a king on a7 and another on c5, your opponent wins be checkmating the a7 King. The other King is just an ordinary piece. It can be attacked and captured with no consequences.

It's illegal to make any move that exposes the Royal King to check, or to make a move that transposes the Royalty to a King that is attacked by an enemy piece.

Notes

This variant came out of a discussion about pieces that transform into other pieces.

The look of it is identical to Mamra Chess with Wuss but I hope and should expect that it vastly improves on Mamra Chess with Wuss. Mamra Chess with Wuss is no more than what I call a gimmick game, but I expect this game to be deeper than that, allowing for fewer forcing moves and therefore much greater strategy.

The werewolf is a very fine and versatile amusing piece! :)

So is the Transvestite! :)

Shucks, so are all these pieces! ;)

The alternate facets for the Rooks, Knights and Bishops were chosen mostly because although they are very different pieces, they have roughly match them in value. So in a sense they are like Alter Egos.

For me, a major part of the appeal of Mamra Chess with Wuss, and one of the reasons I created it, was to have a scenario where control of the center could be more dynamically balanced with securing the flanks. That makes the Cylindrical Bishops all the more appropriate for this variant. Please note: If the Cylindrical Bishop is on an x or y square, it can not act cylindrically. The board should be regarded as wrapped around itself from a - h, so that one can move from a1 to h2, h2 to a1, a7 to h8, h7 to a8, etc.

I'd like to thank Sam Trenholme to whom I dedicate this variant, for bringing to our attention Mats Winthers' Warlock piece.

Thanks to Sam Trenholme (again) for his suggestion that Wuss remain Wuss while fleeing from check. Thanks to Nicholas Wolff for beating me so handily at Mamra Chess with Wuss and for his suggestion that Mamra remain Mamra when capturing or checking. These same ideas were applied to Queen and King.

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 Jeremy Gabriel Good.
Web page created: 2009-10-15. Web page last updated: 2014-10-01

Comments

2 Queen Rocky Horror Lycanthropic Chess. Featuring pieces that automatically flip into wyrd and not so strange counterparts. (10x8, Cells: 68)

💡📝Jeremy Good wrote on Sun, Nov 2, 2014 12:01 PM EST:

To John Smith: I've finally figured out how to answer your question. If a Cylindrical Bishop goes to an x or y square it acts normally and not cylindrically. The board shall be regarded as cylindrical only in an 8 x 8 way while seeming to exclude the unusual corner squares (which still exist, just not in cylindrical space). I've updated the rules to reflect this. Thank you for bringing attention to this formerly unaddressed problem.

💡📝Jeremy Good wrote on Sat, Aug 30, 2014 12:16 PM EDT:

Hi John. Yes. 

Edit...

Afterthought: Yes but in a way no, because at some point it will have transformed in the process of moving - hence it will never actually have been a wuss in check.

John Smith wrote on Sat, Jan 16, 2010 04:03 AM EST:

Can a Wuss move into check and become a Mamra because it moved and was not originally checked?

💡📝Jeremy Good wrote on Thu, Dec 31, 2009 08:27 PM EST:

John, thank you. I hadn't been thinking about this problem. I think you may have a very good point and I'm not sure yet how to address it. Regards.

John Smith wrote on Thu, Dec 31, 2009 01:00 AM EST:

/play/pbm/play.php?game=2+Queen+Rocky+Horror+Lycanthropic+Chess&log=sissa-ultimatecoolster-2009-337-933 Jeremy, there seems to be a problem regarding the cylindrical nature of the board and the corner squares. If one moves a Cylindrical Bishop in the direction of a corner, as it is in one square of the corner, the square loops diagonally to the square one removed from the opposite corner of the same rank, e.g. a7 loops to h8. However, the visually proceeding square is just the corner, e.g. x8. Does this mean it can move to both h8 and x8? Or only h8, or only x8? Or do they become the same square, causing the board to fold into itself and create a wormhole? When I visualize Cylindrical Chess, the left file usually orthogonally corresponds to the right file. However, in Rocky Horror Chess (if that's an acceptable short form), this would imply the adjacency of the corner squares and squareless spaces along the rest of the files.