Trubix-43

David Short

Introduction

I have submitted many interesting chess variants on this site, but one of the games I always had some fondness for and was disappointed at how little response it got was one I had submitted a couple of years ago for the 41 Squares Contest called TRUBIX.

Therefore for the 43 Squares Contest I have decided to update TRUBIX by adding two new squares, one additional piece and augmenting the powers of the knight to that of a crowned knight (moves like king or knight). The squares on ranks 0 and 10 connect with both squares directly in front of them on ranks 1 and 9 (respectively) in much the same way that I devised this "interesting connectivity" (as Peter Aronson put it) in my games SLANTED ESCALATOR CHESS and ULTRA SLANTED ESCALATOR CHESS. That is to say, any piece may move from bc0 to b1 or c1, from cd0 to c1 or d1, from bc10 to b9 or c9, or from cd10 to c9 or d9, and vice versa, and may of course continue along more squares along the same rank or diagonal if it is able to. Other than that, the game is almost completely identical to the original TRUBIX game with slight adjustments made to the original text where necessary.

Setup


       +---+---+
bc10-->|*Q*|*K*|<--cd10    10
 +---+---+---+---+---+
 |*@*|*C*|*S*|*C*|*@*|      9
 +---Z---+---+---Z---+
 |*$*|*$*|*$*|*$*|*$*|      8
 +---+---+---+---+---+
 |*@*|   |*$*|   |*@*|      7
 +---X---+---+---X---+
     |   |   |   |          6
     +---+---+---+
     |   |   |   |          5
     +---+---+---+
     |   |   |   |          4
 +---X---+---+---X---+
 | @ |   | $ |   | @ |      3
 +---+---+---+---+---+
 | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ |      2
 +---Z---+---+---Z---+
 | @ | C | S | C | @ |      1
 +---+---+---+---+---+
bc0--->| Q | K |<---cd0     0
       +---+---+
   a   b   c   d   e

Names of the pieces

King              K
Queen             Q
Crowned Knight    C
Woozan            $
Fleurbic          @
Squire            S

Please note that BLACK pieces are surrounded by **asterisks**
Thus, the diagram is similar to those used on Richard's
Play By Email Server.

Pieces

Unless otherwise noted, a piece captures the same way it moves.

KING

Moves like a regular chess king -- Checkmate the king to win the game.

QUEEN

Moves like a regular chess queen

CROWNED KNIGHT

Moves like a regular chess knight or king

SQUIRE

Moves like a regular chess rook but may also move one square diagonally in any direction.

WOOZAN

Moves one square, forwards or backwards, and captures one square diagonally forwards or backwards. A WOOZAN in the player's second rank (White's rank 2 or Black's rank 8) and on its initial move of the game may move two squares forwards (but not backwards). White's WOOZAN on c3 and Black's WOOZAN on c7 may not make an initial two-step move.

Also note that a WOOZAN of EITHER color may move from a3 to b4, from b4 to a3, from e3 to d4, from d4 to e3, from b6 to a7, from a7 to b6, from d6 to e7, or from e7 to d6. A WOOZAN on its inital move of the game may move from (in white's case) a2 to b4 or from e2 to d4, or (in black's case) from a8 to b6 or from e8 to d6, but only if the intervening square is unoccupied. A WOOZAN may not move and capture with the same two-step move. To draw attention to this fact those squares are marked by an "X"


For example,

       +---+---+
bc10-->|   |   |<--cd10    10
 +---+---+---+---+---+
 |   |:::|   |:::|   |       9
 +---Z---+---+---Z---+
 |:::|   |:::|   |:::|       8
 +---+---+---+---+---+
 |   |:::|   |:::|   |       7
 +---X---+---+---X---+
     |   |:::|   |           6
     +---+---+---+
     |:::|   |:::|           5
     +---+---+---+
     |*$*|:::|   |           4
 +---X---+---+---X---+
 |   |:::| $ |:::|   |       3
 +---+---+---+---+---+
 |:$:|*Q*|:::|*N*|:$:|       2
 +---Z---+---+---Z---+
 |   |:::|   |:::|   |       1
 +---+---+---+---+---+
 c0--->|   |   |<---cd0      0
       +---+---+
   a   b   c   d   e

The White WOOZAN on c3 could move to c2 or c4, could capture the Black WOOZAN on b4, capture the Black queen on b2 or capture the Black crowned knight on d2. It could not make a two-step move. The White WOOZAN on e2 could move to e3 or d4 if on its first move. It could also move to e1. The White WOOZAN on a2 could move to a1 or a3, but could not move to b4 nor capture the Black WOOZAN on b4.


       +---+---+
bc10-->|   |   |<--cd10    10
 +---+---+---+---+---+
 |   |:::|   |:::|   |       9
 +---Z---+---+---Z---+
 |:::|   |:::|   |:::|       8
 +---+---+---+---+---+
 |   |:::|   |:::|   |       7
 +---X---+---+---X---+
     |   |:::|   |           6
     +---+---+---+
     |:::|   |:::|           5
     +---+---+---+
     |   |:::|   |           4
 +---X---+---+---X---+
 |   |*$*|   |:::|*@*|       3
 +---+---+---+---+---+
 |:$:|   |:$:|   |:$:|       2
 +---Z---+---+---Z---+
 |   |*Q*|   |*N*|   |       1
 +---+---+---+---+---+
bc0--->|   |   |<---cd0      0
       +---+---+
   a   b   c   d   e

In the next diagram above, the White WOOZAN on c2 could move to c1, c3 or c4 (only to c4 if it was its initial move of the game), or could capture the Black WOOZAN on b3, capture the Black queen on b1 or capture the Black crowned knight on d1. The White WOOZAN on a2 could move to a3 or to b4 if on its first move. It could also move to a1, or capture the Black WOOZAN on b3 or the Black queen on b1. The White WOOZAN on e2 could move to e1, but could not move forwards because its way is blocked by the Black FLUERBIC on e3. It could also capture the Black crowned knight on d1.

WOOZAN PROMOTION: A White WOOZAN, upon reaching rank #9, may promote to a crowned knight or FLEURBIC. Only by reaching the squares bc10 or cd10 may it promote to a queen or squire. A White WOOZAN may enter bc10 from b9 or c9, and may enter cd10 from c9 or d9. A Black WOOZAN, upon reaching rank #1, may promote to a crowned knight or FLEURBIC. Only by reaching the squares bc0 or cd0 may it promote to a queen or squire. A Black WOOZAN may enter bc0 from b1 or c1, and may enter cd0 from c1 or d1. Also, a White WOOZAN on a8 may move to b9, or on e8 may move to d9. Likewise, a Black WOOZAN on a2 may move to b1, or on e2 may move to d1. To draw attention to this fact, these squares are marked by a "Z". These special rules relating to the movement of WOOZANs makes it possible for them to move back towards the inside of the board if they are on the outside of the board. Only White WOOZANs make use of the special moves on Black's side of the board on the "Z" squares, and only Black WOOZANs on White's side of the board make use of the special moves on the "Z" squares. WOOZANS of EITHER color may make use of the special moves on the "X" squares.

Players may only have one queen on the board at any time. If a player already has a queen on the board and is promoting a WOOZAN, it must under-promote to either a crowned knight, fleurbic or squire.

Please note that a White WOOZAN on the 9th rank (or a Black WOOZAN on the 1st rank) may remain un-promoted and remain a WOOZAN, so that it might be able to promote to a queen or squire upon reaching bc10 or cd10 (or bc0 or cd0 in Black's case). An unpromoted WOOZAN in the 9th/1st rank may not be promoted to a crowned knight or FLEURBIC simply by remaining in that rank and promoting before the turn. If the player leaves it unpromoted and then later changes his mind and wishes to promote it in the 9th/1st rank, it would have to move backwards and then forwards again.

FLEURBIC

A FLEURBIC moves ONE or TWO squares in ANY direction (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) and may also JUMP over pieces of either color when moving two squares. When making a jump, it must either land on an empty square or capture an enemy piece. The jumped piece is unaffected. The easiest way to remember how a FLEURBIC moves is that it moves exactly like a CHAMPION in OMEGA CHESS, except that a FLEURBIC MAY move exactly one square diagonally, whereas a CHAMPION may not.

Rules

The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king.
Stalemate is a draw.
There is no castling in the game, nor en passant.
There is nothing special about the squares bc0, cd0, bc10 or cd10. Any piece which can legally enter those squares may do so.
Three-fold repetition of position and 50 consecutive moves without a capture also result in a draw.
If all material is captured by both sides and it gets down to lone king vs. lone king, that is also a draw.

Notes

Because 30 of the 43 squares are initially occupied, things are likely to be a little crowded at first until some material is captured. The crowned knight is probably the weakest piece on the board, and is probably best used for defensive purposes rather than attack. The FLEURBIC is probably stronger than a WOOZAN. The queen becomes an extremely powerful piece here, but is also very vulnerable to attack by weaker pieces. Likewise, the squire is also a powerful piece once it gets some range of motion. The queen and squire will not be able to have much influence in the game until later on when some pieces get traded off and they have more range of motion. The king is not likely to be used as an attacking piece, unless an endgame is reached with only kings and WOOZANS left on the board. Clearly some pieces are going to be limited in their mobility early in the game because of the congestion. As more pieces are traded off and the pieces gain more mobility, things should begin to get more interesting.

Comments

Trubix-43. Unique piece and lines of movement on an hourglass board. (5x11, Cells: 43)

Nicholas Kuschinski wrote on Tue, Apr 8, 2003 12:12 AM EDT:

As a contestant in the 43 square competition, I felt it was probably my duty to go ahead and provide some feedback for my competitors, but in this case its really quite hard. The only way to be able to figure out just how the game plays is to actually do the playing, since I see no obvious patterns in the board or in the rules. In general, I would wonder about the two fleurbics that start on the front row. It seems a little disturbing to have a piece that powerful so far forwards. Also, the crowned night doesn't seem so weak at all, and I'd like you to explain why you think it is the weakest piece on the board. Also, about being crowded: No kidding! Giving the woozans the intial two step move limits the opening possibilities for black severely, and probably makes things worse, rather than better. The pieces, in general, seem incredibly strong, and makes me think that the openning is just a sort of massacre, where about a third of the pieces come off in very few moves. The weird geometry of the board, with some squares adjacent to more of the other squares than they really should be, doesn't help to make it any less crowded. Then again, this is really only speculation. In order to figure out what's going on in your game, I would actually have to play it, and I'm far too lazy to playtest your game for you.

David Short wrote on Tue, Jan 28, 2003 07:53 PM EST:

Thank you for your comments, Timothy. Woozans are essentially pawns which can not only move forwards and capture diagonally forwards, but also move backwards and capture diagonally backwards. <p>Woozans can make non-capturing moves diagonally forwards along the 'Z' squares on the opponent's sides of the board. Woozans of EITHER COLOR may make NON-CAPTURING diagonal moves EITHER FORWARDS OR BACKWARDS along the 'X' squares on both sides of the board. This last bit may not have been articulated by me properly in the rules, so anyone who attempts to write a ZRF for TRUBIX-43 needs to take this into account. <p>These special rules allow woozans to move from the outsides of the board back towards the center, and sometimes from the center towards the outside of the board. The 'X' squares along a player's own side of the board can also help a woozan make a two-step move. For instance, from a2 to b4. <p>On a board which is likely to get quite congested at times, the ability to move backwards will sometimes come in quite handy. <p>

Timothy R. Newton wrote on Tue, Jan 28, 2003 04:20 PM EST:

I have not tried your game, but it sounds quite fun! I would like some clarification, however, about the WOOZAN'S special moves. Thanks!