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Euchess

Carlos Cetina from México invented this variant on a 10 by 10 board. It can be seen as a variant on Freeling's Grand Chess. The basic idea of this game is to fill up the four squares that were left empty in Freelings game, and to introduce castling.

Cetina comments:

The Freeling's original idea of giving freedom to the rooks seems to me a good one, however I estimate that from a strategic viewpoint the castling is a more valuable and important rule than the initial liberty of the rooks.

Rules

Euchess is played by two players on a 10 by 10 board. Each player has:

The starting position is the following: 


  10  M . . . . . . . . M
   9  C R N B Q K B N R C
   8  P P P P P P P P P P
   7  . . . . . . . . . .
   6  . . . . . . . . . .
   5  . . . . . . . . . .
   4  . . . . . . . . . .
   3  p p p p p p p p p p
   2  c r n b q k b n r c
   1  m . . . . . . . . m              

      a b c d e f g h i j

Additional rules

Pawn promotion is as in orthodox chess, i.e.:
  1. A pawn promotes when it reaches the last row at the opponents side of the board.
  2. Pawn promotion is obligatory when the pawn reaches this last row.
  3. A pawn can promote to queen, marshal, cardinal, rook, bishop, or knight of the same color, regardless whether a piece of that type has been taken or not.
Castling (with a rook and a king) follows exactly the same rules as in standard chess.

Sample game

White: Isaac Balboa (12-year old)
Black: Carlos Cetina

Villahermosa, Mexico
November 28, 1998 

 1.f5    f6
 2.Ng4   e7
 3.Bd5   Bf7
 4.Bxf7  gxf7
 5.o-o   h6
 6.Ci4   Cc10
 7.Cxh6  Bf8
 8.Ci4   Ng7
 9.Nd4   i6
10.Mjf1  Ce8
11.e5    Nd7
12.e6    fxe6
13.fxe6  Cxi4+
14.jxi4  Nc5
15.Mac1  Qe8
16.Cb4   Nb7
17.Mj1   Cg6
18.Mj2   Rh9
19.Kg1   o-o-o
20.Cc6   d7
21.exd7  cxd7
22.Ca4   Mc9
23.Bf4   Nc5
24.Cb5   a6
25.Cc4   Rh8
26.Qf3   Reh9
27.b4    Nce6
28.Cd5   Ke9
29.Cb7   Mxb7
30.Qxb7  Rxh3
31.Nxe6  Nxe6
32.Bxb8  Rh1+
33.Mxh1  Rxh1+
34.Kxh1  Cxi4
35.Bc7+  Nxc7
36.Qxc7+ Kf9
37.Kg1   Ch3+
38.Kf1   Cxg4
39.Me1   Mh10
40.Qf4   Mh1+
41.Rg1   Qi4+
42.Rbg2  Mh2 mate

Comment

Carlos Cetina comments on the name:
I use the "eu" prefix (eu=well) to name the variant because the enrichment of any thing is a goodness, and in this case the traditional chess itself is enriched in its combinative possibilities by the presence of both the new pieces and the "hoop" or "circlet" of squares that surround to the 8 by 8 traditional board.
Readers are invited to play this game with Carlos Cetina. He can be contacted by email at: carlos_(email removed contact us for address) oo.com or (email removed contact us for address) mail.com.
WWW page made by Hans Bodlaender, based on email of Carlos Cetina.
WWW page created: December 2, 1998. Last modified: December 4, 1998.