Benedict Chess
By W. D. Troyka
Rules
Standard chess rules apply, except:
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There is no capturing.
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At the end of a move, all enemy pieces attacked by the moving piece (under normal chess rules) are flipped to become friendly pieces.
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Win by flipping the enemy King.
Benedict Chess is a chaotic game of rapidly shifting alliances.
You must move your pieces to attack enemy pieces and establish a presence near the enemy King as soon as possible. Because there
is no capturing, the full complement of 32 pieces remains on the board at all time, and the game is strictly positional.
Flipping the opponent's array pawns is not as advantageous as may first appear. Because they cannot capture, flipped pawns can
serve as shields preventing, temporarily, flipping of the blockaded pieces. This helps to neutralize White's opening
advantage.
Games are quick and seldom last over twenty rounds.
Computer Play
An implementation of Benedict Chess has been written for Zillions of Games.
A half-board version has been implemented by Ken Franklin. It can be downloaded from the Free Downloads section at the Zillions of Games web site.
Written by W. D. Troyka.
WWW page created: September 28, 2002.