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This page is written by the game's inventor, Tomas Forsman.

Hero and Superhero Chess

By Tomas Forsman

Hero Chess

In Hero Chess one of each player's Pawns is replaced by a Hero piece that can move and capture like any other of that player's pieces still on the board.

Setup

The Hero (H or h) replaces the King's Pawn, starting on e2 for white and e7 for black. 








   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
8  | r |:n:| b |:q:| k |:b:| n |:r:|
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
7  |:p:| p |:p:| p |:h:| p |:p:| p |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
6  |   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
5  |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
4  |   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
3  |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
2  | P |:P:| P |:P:| H |:P:| P |:P:|
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
1  |:R:| N |:B:| Q |:K:| B |:N:| R |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
     a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h

Rules

Hero Chess is conducted by rules of FIDE Chess, except for the presence of the Hero piece, and that Pawns may promote to Heroes in addition to the usual pieces.

The first time in a game that a Hero that starts on the board (as opposed to one obtained by promotion) is moved, it must be a non-capturing move.

The Hero's Move

The Hero can move and capture like any piece on the board of its color. Thus, if the player owning the Hero also has a Knight on the board, the Hero may leap like a Knight. Bishops give the Hero the ability to slide diagonally only on the color they occupy. Pawns give the Hero the ability to capture en passant, and Pawns on the 2nd rank give the Hero the ability to move two squares forward without capturing (Heroes, not being Pawns, may not themselves be captured en passant). 







 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 |   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|
 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |
 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 |   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|
 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 |:*:| + |:*:|   |:::|   |:::|   |
 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 | * |:*:| * |:*:|   |:::|   |:::|
 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 |:*:| H |:*:|   |:::| N |:::|   |
 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 | * |:*:| * |:*:|   |:B:|   |:P:|
 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 |:*:|   |:*:|   |:::|   |:K:|   |
 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
In the above diagram, black circles/'*'s show where the Hero can both move and capture, and the green circle/'+' where it may only move. Notice that the Hero can not move diagonally even though there is a Bishop of the same color on the board, as the Bishop is on a dark square, and only gives the ability to slide on dark squares.

Variant

Instead of replacing the King's Pawn with the Hero, replace the Queen.

Superhero Chess

Superhero Chess is just like Hero Chess, except that the Hero is replaced by a Superhero. A Superhero moves like a Hero, duplicating all of the moves of the pieces of its color, and additionally, can move to capture on any square attacked by any piece on its side, and move without capturing to any empty square that any piece on its side could move to. That is, if your Queen can move from d8 to d4 you can leave the Queen at d8 and move your Superhero to d4 from wherever it is standing.

Superhero Chess is a very fast variant.

Comment

I have looked around and I haven't found any piece with the movement I described for a Hero and Superhero, so from what I understand those are new pieces.

These pieces are also great to use in Chess problems.

Written by Tomas Forsman.
WWW page created: August 8th, 2002.