Chess in a Toroidal Board
Black a b c d e f g h +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 14| P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | 0 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 13| | | | | | | | |-1 The 15th line is identical +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ to the 1st, in other words, 12| | | | | | | | |-2 the 9th line is the -5th. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 11| | | | | | | | |-3 White's pawns in the 2nd line +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ or Black's pawns in the 9th 10| | | | | | | | |-4 (or -5th) move forward. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 9| p | p | p | p | p | p | p | p |-5 White's pawns in the 0th +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ (14th) or Black's pawns in 8| r | n | b | q | k | b | n | r | 8 the 7th line move backwards. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 7| p | p | p | p | p | p | p | p | 7 The a and h columns are +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ adjacent. 6| | | | | | | | | 6 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 5| | | | | | | | | 5 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 4| | | | | | | | | 4 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 3| | | | | | | | | 3 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 2| P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | 2 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 1| R | N | B | Q | K | B | N | R | 1 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ a b c d e f g h WhiteAll other rules (castling, en-passant, promotion, etc) apply - but notice that the board has no center, so castling doesn't give any extra protection to the King.
A sample game could be:
1- e4 e11 2- c4 [attacking f7 with the Bishop and the Queen!]Notice that a Bishop, in an empty board, controls half of the squares! Example: a Bishop initially at f1, moving along the f1-a6 diagonal, would keep going along h7-a14 (=a0), then along h1-a8, and so on.
This variant can lead to subvariants, or similar games:
- Cylindrical Chess, the base subvariant, where the a and h columns are separated.
- Klein Chess, if the glueing between the 11th/12th lines (or -3rd/-2nd) was done after a switching, so that a11 would glue to h12, etc.
Written by Alberto Monteiro, (email removed contact us for address) troin.com.br.
WWW page created: October 6, 1997.