Origin
This game was created as an entry to
the ChessVariant.org tenth anniversary 10 contest. The element of 10
required by the contest rules is contained in the 10 x 10 board.
To create the game I used an
approach similar to that used by Carl Jung when he philosophized about the I Ching
and the concept of synchronicity. Jung would obtain a certain I Ching reading
at random and apply it to reality
a synchronistic event. Could I do the same
thing with Runes to create a game? Would the game make sense? I explained the
rune experiment to my wife. What if it doesnt work? she asked. Indeed
it
was a strange idea.
I quickly decided to use a 10 x 10
board, 10 pawns, to be determined by a random rune drawing and 10 pieces per
side (2 of each piece type), also to be determined by a random drawing of
runes.
To put myself in the right frame of
mind for creating the rune game I first concentrated on Odin and Chess. In
Nordic mythology Odin is a wise god who brought the runes to mankind, something
akin to Prometheus bringing fire to men. I then thoroughly shuffled and mixed
a set of rune cards and randomly selected six. 1 of the six would be for runic
Pawns, the other 5 would be doubled for the pieces.
I was surprised by the results.
Ethel was drawn for the pawns. And I instantly realized that they would move
as described by their vector image. And as for the pieces, I was amazed to see
an obvious Rook and Bishop among them. But as for the other three pieces, what
where they and how would they move?
I wanted pieces that were truly
inspired by rune images and meanings so I consulted two works, both listed in
the bibliography.
A Practical Guide to the Runes, by Lisa Peschel,
and
Rune Magic, Complete Instructions
for the use of Cards and Dice, by Donald Tyson
While thinking about a runic chess
game and reading about the meanings of the randomly drawn runes, i.e., the
meanings as provided by Peschel and Tyson, I was quickly able to make sense of
the new chess variant.
Note: For the
actual Odins Rune Chess a traditional non-checkered board would be used, as in
Shogi, Go, and Xianqi. The board would be made of stone with lines carved into
it to create the squares. However, for those of us in the Western world such
stone boards are difficult to make. Colorized boards make things much easier
when it comes to seeing diagonals and understanding piece movement, not to
mention acquiring or making the boards. Thus a Western style board is being
used in these instructions.
Objective
Capture both of your opponents
Kings to win. Draws are possible; stalemates are not.
Rules
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Piece
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Runic
Name
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How it moves and captures:
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Rook
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RAIDHO,
RAD
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Like a Rook in Western Chess. But
there is no castling.
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Forest
Ox
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URUZ,
UR
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Moves like a Knight in Western Chess. Captures as a Knight
in Western Chess, plus can optionally remove any one piece one space
away orthogonally or diagonally [while
staying on the square it just moved to]. Thus the Forest Ox can
capture 2 pieces in one turn:
(a) capturing a King, piece, or pawn on the destination square, and then (b)
optionally removing a second King, piece, or pawn on a square adjacent to the
destination square. In this case the long horns of the Forest Ox briefly
extend into the adjacent space (the Forest Ox, however does not move for this
removal capture). If it captures both Kings you win.
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In the diagram the Forest Ox could move from position 1 to
position 2. It would capture whatever enemy piece was at position 2. On the
same turn you could remove a King, piece, or pawn from any one square
adjacent to position 2. The Forest Ox would stay at position 2 during the
removal of the adjacent item. When moving to position 2, the Forest Ox, of
course, will no longer be seen at position 1. The Forest Ox can only make
its optional removal capture if it has first made its knight movement.
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Bishop
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BEORC
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Like a Bishop in Western Chess.
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Pawn
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OTHEL,
ETHEL
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These Pawns do not promote and there is no Pawn en
Passant. The Pawns are quite powerful and need to be, especially considering
the deadly Forest Ox that can kill twice in a single move. The pawns move as
shown on their runic vector image [they would start at the center of the
X]. They can move and capture diagonally forward or backward. If they
have at least one free forward diagonal they can move to and/or capture on
the same color square 2 spaces forward from their starting square. When a
pawn makes a capture on a forward diagonal it cannot then proceed to the
fifth point. The next two figures illustrate movement and capture.
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The Pawns Move as
Depicted by their Runic Image
(The following figure explains captures)
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In the above figure the following Pawn moves are possible:
(a)
The B2 Pawn could move to A1, C1, A3 or B4.
(b)
The D2 Pawn could move to C1 or E1.
(c)
The H3 Pawn could move to G2 or I4. It could make a
capture at I2, G4, or H5.
(d)
The I2 Pawn could move to J1, H1, J3, or capture at
H3.
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Valkyrie
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PERDHRO,
PEORD
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Like a Queen in Western Chess. A Valkyrie can capture
enemy Kings, Pawns, and pieces, that are then removed from the board .
But Valkyries
can also capture a friendly King, piece or pawn by
(a) moving to that pieces location, then (b) immediately placing that
friendly King, piece, or pawn on any one square that the Valkyrie just
traveled through. (See following diagram).
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Valkyries can move and capture just like Western
Queens do. In the diagram, the Valkyrie on A3 could also
capture its own King on D3 and that King would then be placed on A3, B3, or
C3 (the Valkyries points of travel or its starting point). The Valkyrie on
F1 could capture its King on D3 and move it to F1 or E2. But the best move
here would be for the F1 Valkyrie to capture the Forest Ox on F7. Both dark
Kings would then be immobilized (see the following King Movement Section).
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King
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ANSUZ,
OS
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A King can only move when it has at least one friendly
non-King piece (or pawn) adjacent to it; or if a Valkyrie can move it as
explained previously. If a Pawn, Valkyrie, and Forest Ox were next to a
King, the King could move and capture as would any one of those pieces [just
as if he were that piece]. The King could
even perform the Valkyrie piece movement move or the Forest Ox double kill; providing
that it had those pieces adjacent to it.
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There are two Kings per side. If both are captured you
lose the game. There is no castling. It is legal to move into check, and
there are times when this is fine. For example, if you have two Kings but
your opponent is down to one, moving one of your Kings into check could
threaten the capture of your opponents last remaining King. He therefore
would lose by capturing either of your Kings. Note: A Forest Ox could
possibly capture both Kings on a single turn, as could a King that was
adjacent to a friendly Forest Ox. A King that is in check does not have to
move out of it.
NOTE: In Odins Rune Chess players
are not obligated to call Check. This is because capturing a King is legal and moving into check
is legal. Players can call Check if they want to
but to keep the Check
quiet and hope to capture a King on the next move is wiser in this game.
Isolated Kings (with no adjacent Pawns or Pieces) cannot
move unless a friendly Valkyrie can move them. Immobile Kings are quite
vulnerable and should generally be avoided (unless part of a brilliant
plan). Two Kings next to each other, but otherwise isolated, are both
immobile (unless their Valkyrie(s) can assist).
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This diagram was presented earlier for a discussion of Valkyrie
movement; but here we will look at the four Kings. In this diagram the King
on D3 can move like a Forest Ox, Bishop, or Pawn as these friendly pieces are adjacent to it. It
could also be relocated by Valkyrie movement as explained in the Valkyrie
section. The King on I3 is stranded at the moment. It cannot move even
though the other King can. The dark Kings (at E6 and G7) can presently move
like a Forest Ox.
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About the Runes used in Odins Chess
I blindly and randomly drew 6 runes from a set of 24
Germanic futhark Rune cards
(using a Donald Tyson rune deck). Of the 6 rune cards drawn [values still
unknown to me at the time] one was randomly selected to specifically represent
the Pawns. From a Carl Jung philosophical synchronicity prospective, the
results were quite amazing. The odds of getting three images, i.e., for Rooks,
Bishops, and a Knight-like N image were quite slim. At the time I did not
even know about the R and B images
so drawing those was a real surprise.
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Piece
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Rook
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RAIDHO, RAD: The Nordics associated this rune with travel,
such as by wagon. Because of the letter R association I have it traveling
as a Rook. Interesting is that the Chinese Chariot in Xianqi (somewhat like
a wagon) has the Western Rook movement.
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Forest
Ox
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URUZ, UR: This rune
represented a wild beast known as the Urus. It was a large long-horned wild
ox that once roamed German forests. The creature is now extinct. Both Peschel
and Tyson erroneously refer to the Urus as the Aurochs, which was a later and
smaller animal, though it is most likely a close relative. The rune is
similar to a lowercase n which instantly reminded me of a western Knight
represented by N in English Descriptive chess notation. The runes meaning
conjured up images of
Mr. R. Wayne Schmittbergers piece, the Wildebeest. However, while liking the
Wildebeest piece, I created a new one in the spirit of the contest; thus this
new Forest Ox piece, which moves as described above. The idea of the long
horns extending into adjacent squares determined the movement.
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Bishop
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BEORC: This is actually a fertility rune. But I
interpreted the B image as a Bishop for Odins Rune Chess. Because it
moves like a Bishop and has the B which is easy to recognize as a Bishop, I
have decide to retain the Bishop piece name.
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Pawn
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OTHEL, ETHEL: This is a rune of possessions. According
to Donald Tyson the symbol originally pertained to homeland. Interestingly
enough Tyson states that the homeland meaning expanded in definition from a
single home, to a clan territory, tribal land, and eventually a nation. When
I blindly chose 6 runes for creating Odins Rune Chess, this one was randomly
chosen to specifically represent the pawns. The idea of pawns moving forward
to gain territory seems fitting. In addition, using the rune image to
represent how the Pawn moves is convenient. I have no doubt that this is
the best possible pawn image for Odins Rune Chess. Should these pawns band
together and destroy the Forest Ox, then let us remember that in reality the
ancient wild Forest Ox was driven to extinction by men.
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Valykrie
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PERDHRO, PEORD: This is considered a mystery rune by many
and there is disagreement among rune experts as to its true meaning. It has
been referred to as representing a dice cup, a musical tune, a cornucopia on
its side, and even a chessman. As a Chessman interpretation I am calling
it a Valykrie since I have given it a feminine (Queen movement) aspect and
since it and can carry off the friendly forces to other locations, in a manner
of speaking. Tyson pointed out that the cornucopia image is one on its
side, thus displacing the contents. This concept of Displacement, while in
the Odin Chess mental state,
gave me the idea of Valkyries moving Vikings to Valhalla, and thus
moving friendly pieces in Odins Rune Chess.
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King
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ANSUZ, OS: Here I am using the rune twice for the piece
image. Lisa Peschel states that when reversed this rune means trickery. I
first show it reversed (upside down F image). Peschel states when the rune
is upright it can mean taking advice and acquiring knowledge. So, it seemed
that the tricky King that could only move how it was advised to move. But
whose advice would it take on a given turn? It needed one or more adjacent
pieces to advise it
no one around and the King cant decide where to go. Of
course, dont forget the Valkyrie displacement factor.
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Problems
Here are a few problems to test your
understanding of Odins Rune Chess. Answers appear after problem 6. In each
case partial boards are used. Thus, assume that the only pieces on the entire
10 x 10 board are those visible on the partial board. For example, in Diagram
1 black has only 1 King on the entire 10 x 10 board.
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1.
In Diagram 1: White to
move. What is best?
2.
In Diagram 1: If it were
blacks move, what should he do?
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 Diagram 1
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3. In Diagram 2: White has one King left. It is sitting at
J1 and is attacked by the G4 Bishop. Can White prevent the immediate capture
of his King? How?
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 Diagram 2
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4. In Diagram 3: White to move. What is the best move?
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 Diagram 3
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5. In Diagram 4: Black to move. What is the best move?
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 Diagram 4
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6. In Diagram 5: White to move. What is the best move?
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 Diagram 5
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Answers
to problems:
- In Diagram 1: White to move. What is best? White King on C2 x C4. (The King moved like the
Pawn next to it and captured the Forest Ox.) Now if black plays Pawn B5
x C4 (capturing the King) White plays Rook A5 x King C5 and wins the
game. If instead of capturing B5 x C4 black moves his King (as it can now
move like a Pawn) White would capture the Pawn on B5 with the Rook. At
this point the dark King could no longer move and would be terminated in
two moves.
- Still using Diagram
1: If it were Blacks move, what should he do? Forest Ox on C4 takes King on D2, Removes King on
C2 (the optional second capture). End of Game.
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Diagram 1
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3. In Diagram 2: White has one King left. It is sitting at J1
and is attacked by the G4 Bishop. Can White prevent the immediate capture of
his King? How?
Yes. White moves the Valkyrie to J1, then relocates the King to F1, G1, H1,
or I1 (One of the Valkyries points of travel or its starting point.)
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Diagram 2
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4. In Diagram 3: White to move. What is the best move?
King on D3 captures King on B4 (by moving the King like the Forest Ox), then
as part of the same move make the optional capture by removing the King on A
5. Black has lost both Kings. Game Over.
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Diagram 3
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5. In Diagram 4: Black to move. What is the best move?
Forest Ox on D5 takes King on C3, then, as part of the same move, makes the
optional capture, removing the King at D2. Game Over.
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Diagram 4
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6. In Diagram 5: White to move. What is the best move?
King E1 takes King E5. This is possible because the White King had a
friendly Rook next to it. End of Game.
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Diagram 5
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Making
your own Pieces for Odins Rune Chess
I
recommend using Sculpy® which is an elastic polymer that can be easily molded
by hand.
The
result will be stone-like Rune chess pieces. There are other options, but I will
only discuss this one. Sculpy is available in many arts and crafts stores.
1.
Choose 2 different colors
of Sculpy® (light and dark). Best would be the Sculpy that looks like rock
after it is baked.
2.
Make irregular shaped
pieces approximately the same size and appropriate for your 10 x 10 board.
3.
Use a flathead screw
driver to make the Rune images in your blank pieces.
4.
Bake the images in a
ventilated area per the instructions that come with Sculpy.
5.
If desired paint the engraved Rune images to achieve
contrast between the vectors and the surrounding Sculpy material.
Bibliography
A Practical Guide to the Runes
Lisa Peschel, 10th printing, ©2002
[first edition 1989]
Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN
Rune Magic Cards &
Rune Magic Complete Instructions for the Use of Cards and Dice
Donald Tyson, © 1989
Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN
Special
Thanks To:
ChessVariants.org for hosting
and maintaining an excellent archive of playable chess variants and for
encouraging the creation of new variants via contests such as this 2005 10
contest.
Corel Corporation for the
Corel Draw program which allowed for editing several clip-art graphics used
within these instructions; and for permission to use the resulting graphics.
The late Carl Jung whose ideas
on synchronicity and random events encouraged me to attempt creating Odins
Rune Chess.
Lisa Peschel and Donald Tyson whose
writings on the Runes were a real inspiration and proved to be invaluable in
the creation of Odins Rune Chess.
Odins Rune Chess,
© Feb. 2005 by Gary K. Gifford
During Michael's coding a few questions arose, so I believe the following should be pointed out. Note that Michael's ZRF does enforce the correct rules and points out legal moves when you click on a piece.
