Hecatomb

In World Game Review, issue 13, Michael Keller describes this variant, which has been invented by Kevin Maroney.

The variant was described in the context of Zillions Of Games, a (not yet marketed) program that one can learn to play new abstract board games. Michael Keller wrote a rules file for Hecatomb for this program, and the program won the first game it played on August 1, 1997 against Michael.

Rules

The game is played by two players on a board of 8 by 8 squares. Each player has 32 pieces: 31 queens and one king. The kings are positioned in the opening setup on e1 (for white) and e8 (for black); the other squares each contain a queen: a white one on each square (except e1) of the first four rows, and a black one on each square (except e8) of the last four rows.

Apart from this particular opening setup, the game is played following all applicable rules of chess.