Check out Atomic Chess, our featured variant for November, 2024.

This page is written by the game's inventor, Glenn Nicholls.

TigerSquares - 80 & 100

TigerSquares: © Copyright G. Nicholls 2011 TigerSquares is a game that has some similarities to Citadel, but whereas Citadel is based to some extent on Tamerlane Chess with a slight amount of Capablanca Chess, TigerSquares is based more so on Capablanca Chess with a slight amount of Lasker’s suggestion of changing the positioning of Knights and Bishops. The game is described as being a Vortex game. The Players: The TigerGuard of Tiger Forest, being the winner between: The Northern Guardian of Tiger Forest, who plays the North Region Personnel and who may be assisted once by The North Region Counsellor And The Southern Guardian of Tiger Forest, who plays the South Region Personnel and who may be assisted once by The South Region Counsellor The Settings: The Uncharted Regions, which surround: Tiger Forest At the North of Tiger Forest is the North Region Castle, and At the South of Tiger Forest is the South Region Castle The Board: The board, called the “Tiger Forest board – 80 (or 100)”, is two-sided with side one being of ten files and eight ranks and side two being of ten files and ten ranks. The two boards are distinguished between by being designated “80” for the 10 x 8 or by being designated “100” for the 10 x 10. The pieces (sides) are called Personnel (North or South Region), and there are two differing sets of such Personnel (pieces) which are distinguished between by using the names of “Strike” or “Crossfire”. The initial deployment for each of these four possible variations is shown below: Notes: • The four variations are as described above i.e. Strike 80, Strike 100, Crossfire 80 and Crossfire 100. • Squares are called Squares and not Positions as in some games. • Squares in each of the Castles can be called (North or South) Castle Rooms. • The designation of Squares is that files are designated A to J from west to east and that ranks are designated 1 to 8 (or 10) from south to north. • At the commencement of the game, the Southern player (Guardian) has the choice of whether to play the Strike pieces or the Crossfire pieces. After this choice, the Northern player (Guardian) then has the choice of whether the game is played on the 80 board or the 100 board. If the Southern player does not make a choice then the Strike pieces are played and if then the Northern player does not make a choice then the 80 board is used. • The two Castles each consist of the six Squares (Rooms) coloured grey situated at the North and South of Tiger Forest. They have many maze-like corridors and passageways (some unknown and some underground). Only the Queens/Empresses know all the intricacies of their own Castles. Some believe the Castles to be haunted. • Castles do not impede or affect the movement or capturing powers of any piece except the Queen/Empress as explained later. Overview: The time is that of pre-Citadel, which is itself pre-The Great Change and pre-TigerChess, which is itself post-The Great Change Tiger Forest is unknown to any but the inhabitants who live there. These inhabitants have always found the Forest to be ideal for all their requirements and there has never been any conflict despite a broad grouping of inhabitants with differing cultures and ideas at the North and South Regions of this huge Forest, and each of these groups of inhabitants have their own Castle and their own King, Queen and so forth. There has come a time, however, when all feel that the Uncharted Regions should be explored with a view to cultivation of such resources as may be found there and in addition to this there are those who feel an organisation should be set up to protect and guard the Forest, its wildlife and any expansions to the existing regions and future cultivation thereof, and that this organisation should be called “the Order of Tigers” after the name of their Forest. Time has passed and the idea of this organisation has become ever more popular and an initial organisation has been formed from both regions and which both regions support and have passed legislation in support thereof and the Order has become an independent organisation. Still more time has passed and further legislation has been passed and it has now become apparent that the “Order of Tigers” has acquired power and wealth to match any other grouping in the Forest. Finally all those of the Forest have decided to appoint a Guardian (or Guard) as initial head of the Order who is to watch over and regulate the activities of all of the Forest and its surroundings, and it is seen and accepted that this Guardian would have vested in him more powers than any individual in the entire Forest. Each region has proposed a candidate Guardian and each candidate has received a great deal of support from their own region but has garnered little support from elsewhere. No compromise has been forthcoming and both regions will only accept their own candidate and so a drift to conflict has begun and now after much heated debate both sides have finally marched to Battle to decide who will become the Guardian of the Forest and be known as the TigerGuard. Object: The object of the game is to Checkmate the opposing Queen/Empress and this wins the Battle.

Setup

Moves & capturing powers of Personnel:

In all four variations the pieces and their deployment are the same for the Northern player and in both Strike 80 and Strike 100 the Southern player has the same pieces as the Northern player.  For both Crossfire 80 and Crossfire 100 the Southern player has pieces that are effectively those of Capablanca Chess and also effectively deployed as in Capablanca Chess, though the roles of the King and Queen (and so castling) are reversed to Capablanca Chess or Western Chess as they are in all four variations.

Captured Personnel (pieces) are held captive in the opposing Castles though they can be placed in the appropriate Uncharted Regions of the board.

 The moves and capturing powers of the pieces are as follows:

Note:  A description of the moves and capturing powers of the Western Chess pieces and the additional Capablanca Chess pieces can be found in the game of Citadel.

Pieces

The King (North & South Regions): The King has the same powers of movement and capture as the Queen in Western Chess. He is not vulnerable to Checkmate and does not have to evade Check or anything suchlike. The Queen (North & South Regions): The Queen has the same powers of movement and capture and vulnerabilities (to Checkmate and Check) as the King in Western Chess. When castling, which is called “Safeguarding the Queen”, the Queen moves three Squares towards the relevant Besieger (Rook) and the Besieger moves to stand on the inside adjacent Square to the Queen – e.g. for Strike 80 and Kingside Safeguarding of the South Region Queen, she would move to Square H1 and the relevant Besieger would move to Square G1. The standard Western Chess rules on castling apply to Safeguarding the Queen, e.g. the Queen must not be in Check and must not have previously moved etc. The Chancellor (South Region only): The Chancellor has the same powers of movement and capture as both the Rook and Knight in Western Chess. He is then the same as the Chancellor in Capablanca Chess or the Plains-Marshall in Citadel. This piece only appears in the two Crossfire variations. The Minister (South Region only): The Minister has the same powers of movement and capture as both the Bishop and Knight in Western Chess. He is then the same as the Archbishop in Capablanca Chess or the Plains-General in Citadel. This piece only appears in the two Crossfire variations. The Knight (North & South Regions): The Knight has the same powers of movement and capture as the Knight in Western Chess. He is placed differently at initial deployment for the Southern player between Strike and Crossfire variations. The Serviceman (North & South Regions): The Serviceman has the same powers of movement and capture as the Bishop in Western Chess. He is placed differently at initial deployment for the Southern player between Strike and Crossfire variations. The Besieger (North & South Regions): The Besieger has the same powers of movement and capture as the Rook in Western Chess except that his moves when Safeguarding the Queen (castling) are the reverse of the Rook’s moves in Capablanca Chess. The Forester (North & South Regions): On the 80 Square board the Forester has the same powers of movement and capture as does the Pawn in Western Chess; he also has the same optional two Square initial move (and restrictions thereon) as does the Western Chess Pawn and the same capture by the en-passant rules applies. When he reaches any Square on his end rank he can be exchanged for any one of his captured fellow pieces (except another Forester) or he can be promoted to a Besieger, a Serviceman or a Knight. He cannot stay as a Forester. When exchanged for one of his captured fellows the Forester is held captive in the Castle in place of the exchanged fellow who now occupies the end rank Square the Forester reached. Normally exchanges occur for pieces other than those the Forester can be promoted to e.g. (if available), a captured King, a captured Chancellor etc. On the 100 Square board the above rules apply except that the Forester also has an additional optional three Square initial move as well as the usual one or two Square initial move. The same logic and restrictions apply to this three Square initial move as the two Square initial move and the same logic applies with en-passant captures. This is the only difference in the rules between the 80 Square board and the 100 Square board variations. The Empress (North & South Regions): If a Queen makes a move known as “Traversing the Castle” then she is transformed into an Empress. Traversing the Castle takes place as follows: • The Queen must be situated on one of her six Castle Squares (Rooms). • The Queen must not have partaken of Safeguarding (castling). • The Queen can otherwise have already moved and can have left and returned to her Castle. • The Queen can be in Check or Checkmate or Stalemate. • If the above apply then the Queen can move to or capture on any un-attacked Square in her Castle (regardless of intervening pieces) and if the destination Square is not adjacent to the Square she is situated on (i.e. the move is not a normal Queen move) then she has Traversed the Castle and henceforth the (now) Empress can, when situated in her own Castle, Traverse her Castle and so move to or capture on any Square within her own Castle (regardless of intervening pieces) as well as retaining her usual Queen’s move and capturing power to adjacent Squares. • When Traversing the Castle, the Queen or Empress can pass over Squares attacked by opposing forces but cannot land or capture on such an attacked Square. • The Empress is not confined to her Castle and is free to move all over the board as does a Queen, but outside of her own Castle she only has the moving and capturing powers of a Queen. • The Empress has the same vulnerabilities as the Queen to Check and Checkmate. • The game scores change as shown in the scoring table. • The Queen is not obliged or forced to Traverse the Castle in order to avoid Checkmate (or Stalemate) and the relevant player may accept Checkmate (or Stalemate) to his Queen (see the scoring table). The Empress, in contrast however, must Traverse if necessary. The Emperor (North & South Regions): If a Queen Traverses her Castle and so is transformed into an Empress then the opposing player may choose, in lieu of a move, to promote both Kings into Emperors. The following apply: • The player must choose to make this promotion immediately or instead make a usual move in which case his choice will lapse and the Kings stay as Kings. • A second Traversing of a Castle by the remaining Queen will give the opposing player the same choice and conditions to promote the Kings into Emperors if they have not already been so promoted. • The choice is for both or neither of the Kings to be promoted and if so promoted and one or both Kings have been captured and are held captive then they are still promoted into Emperors and can then be exchanged as Emperors if a Forester reaches his end rank. • An Emperor retains his moving and capturing powers of a King and in addition can also move and capture with the powers of a Western Chess Knight. He therefore has the moving and capturing powers of a Western Chess Rook, Bishop and Knight combined. • A player cannot choose to promote Kings into Emperors if his Queen/Empress is in Check as he must move to evade the Check. • A player cannot choose to promote Kings into Emperors if this would place his Queen/Empress in Check or Checkmate. • A player is not obliged or forced to promote the Kings into Emperors in order to avoid immediate Stalemate and the player may accept such a Stalemate situation. • See General rules & notes on assistance from Counsellors. The Prince & Princess (North & South Regions): The moves of the Prince & Princess (and the TigerGuard) are described with reference to the following diagram where they are situated on an empty 100 board in the centre, edge and corner. The Squares shown in the diagram in black with a number are the example Squares they are occupying and the number is the total number of Squares they can move to. Comparative numbers are given for other pieces. The Prince and Princess can first move the same as the Knight in Western Chess and these squares are called the Pouncing Squares and are coloured orange in the diagram; they can move (leap or pounce) to or capture on these Squares like the Western Chess Knight i.e. regardless of any intervening pieces. From the Pouncing Squares the Prince or Princess can then continue along the associated Follow-through Squares (or Paths) as shown in the diagram coloured yellow - they can slide along these Follow-through Squares to move or capture in the manner of the Western Chess Rook (for the Prince) or in the manner of the Western Chess Bishop (for the Princess) - they cannot jump or leap over any pieces situated on the Follow-through Squares. The Prince or Princess cannot leap over or jump over a Pouncing Square that is occupied – if a Pouncing Square is occupied by a fellow piece then the Prince or Princess cannot move to or capture on the associated Follow-through Squares; if a Pouncing Square is occupied by an opposing piece then the Prince or Princess can capture this piece but cannot move to or capture on the associated Follow-through Squares (the normal rules of Chess apply in that a piece cannot move to a Square occupied by another piece of the same side). The Follow-through Paths are as shown in the diagram and cannot be varied by turning off from the Pouncing Squares at any other angles to those shown; these Paths are described as of ongoing direction and most closely match the direction of the associated Knight’s move. The TigerGuard: The TigerGuard is the name given to the winning player and so he does not of course appear on the Tiger Forest board as a piece during the game. Were he to do so at another time however, his newly won powers of movement and capture are those combined of a Prince and Princess and are as shown in the following diagram

Rules

General rules & notes: Much of the game is played with generally accepted rules and best practice of Western Chess. The following apply: • South moves first and moves are then played alternately by each side. • Main colours are orange & black for North with small amounts of light green and white & black for South with small amounts of dark green. • Clocks are TigerClocks – double countdown. These clocks are described in TigerChess and are somewhat based on Fischer clocks as are TigerIncrement Clocks as described in Dragon. • Boards should be much larger than standard chessboards. • Players should state Check if the opposing Queen or Empress is under attack though this is not compulsory. • The game points scores are as shown in the table below. The idea when playing Crossfire is that the Capablanca pieces are somewhat at a disadvantage and so move first as South and an extra point is awarded for a win by South, but by way of balance draws only score a half point for both sides. The idea when a Queen Traverses her Castle and becomes an Empress is that the opposing player then has a harder task to Checkmate the (now) Empress and so is awarded an extra point for the win and the Traversing player also has an easier draw and so has a half point deducted if he draws.

Notes

•	Each player may appoint someone who is known as The North Region or South Region Counsellor and who may give the player assistance no more than once (and possibly not at all) during the game.
Assistance by a player’s Counsellor may only be given for the player when and if the player has the choice to promote both Kings into Emperors and whilst the player's own clock is running.
 It is not compulsory to appoint a Counsellor, nor does a player have to ask for the assistance of one if able to do so.

•	Capturing/being captured can be stated as being “Taken Captive” and captured Personnel can be stated as being “Held Captive”.

•	Draws include Stalemate and Threefold repetition of moves/position.



TigerSquares – Optional notes addition 

One area of contention between the two regions is the system of voting for public officials used by the South Region.  This system (called the Balanced Vote system) gives each voter two votes – one “tick” and one “cross” – the voter can then tick for his/her most favoured candidate and cross against his/her least favoured candidate - the votes for and against are counted and declared for each candidate with the winner having the greatest (or least worst) net votes.  A voter is free to use both, either one or neither of his/her two votes.

This 'user submitted' page is a collaboration between the posting user and the Chess Variant Pages. Registered contributors to the Chess Variant Pages have the ability to post their own works, subject to review and editing by the Chess Variant Pages Editorial Staff.

By Glenn Nicholls.
Web page created: 2011-05-06. Web page last updated: 2011-05-06