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This page is written by the game's inventor, Charles Gilman.

Doubly Nested Chess

This variant came about by extending Nested Chess to another level of nesting. This time I pushed the boat out and went for riders of semi-royal pieces. I noticed a similarity to Timur's Chess, which extends the Xiang Qi one-binding-per-bound-piece-type rule to a larger number of bound pieces. The most severly bound Timur pieces do not appear in their own right in this variant, but their riders and compounds do.

Unlike Nested Chess itself I stick to just a face-to-face array - reflecting the character of the doubly-transformed subarray and the original pieces equally well.

The name is self-explanatory. No geographical theme is intended, despite a similarity in sound to the Irish city of Dublin.

Setup

Note the missing corner squares, derived from the Nested Chess board.

Pieces

Pieces fall into four groups. Short-range radial pieces (group A) have special properties. Others may be bound to some or all of the 64 squares of the original board (group B), bound to all 141 cells of the intermediate board (group C), or unbound (group D). Any intermediate cell that cannot be stopped on can be leaped over, noting that initial double-length moves are optional. Thus a Dabbarider or Elephrider moving four squares can leap over pieces on any intermediate square except the middle one, but a Rook or Bishop doing so can leap over none. This is to prevent bound pieces being affected by pieces outside their binding. Note the uniform extrapolation of my usual Hopping-piece images to Group A's 2-step linepieces.

Group A:
The KING is the usual royal piece that moves one square in any radial direction and must be kept out of check.
The ALIBABA moves two squares orthogonally or one diagonally. The name is derived from its components the Alfil or leaping Elephant and the Dabbaba. A player with no Alibaba cannot move their group B pieces, but group C and D pieces are unaffected.
The FEZBABA moves two squares orthogonally or one diagonally. The name is derived from its components the Ferz and Dabbaba. A player with no Fezbaba cannot move their group C pieces, but group B and D pieces are unaffected.
The WAFFLE moves one square orthongoally or two diagonally. The name is derived from its components the Wazir and Alfil or leaping Elephant. A player with no Waffle cannot move their group D pieces, but groups B and C pieces are unaffected.
Group B:
The DABBARIDER moves an even number of squares orthogonally, leaping over intervening pieces on odd but not even squares. It results from transforming the original Rook via Bishop.
The CHAROLAIS makes any 4:2 leap, and cannot be blocked. It results from transforming the original Knight via Camel.
The ELEPHRIDER moves an even number of squares diagonally, leaping over intervening pieces on odd but not even squares. It results from transforming the original Bishop via Dabbarider.
The ALIBARIDER combines the Dabbarider and Elephrider moves. It results from transforming the original Queen via Fezbarider.
The VANGUARD moves two squares along the forward orthogonal except when capturing, which it does two squares along either forward diagonal. It results from transforming the original Pawn via Esquire. See also my piece article Man and Beast 16: Diverging Further.
Group C:
The BISHOP moves any distance diagonally through empty intermediate squares. It results from transforming the original Rook.
The CAMEL makes any 3:1 leap, and cannot be blocked. It results from transforming the original Knight.
The FEZBARIDER combines the Bishop and Dabbarider moves, leaping over intervening pieces on odd orthogonal squares but no others. It results from transforming the original Queen.
The ESQUIRE moves one square along either forward diagonal except when capturing, when it moves two squares along the forward orthogonal. When capturing it can leap over an intervening piece. It results from transforming the original Pawn. Again see MAB 16.
Group D:
The ROOK moves any distance orthogonally through empty intermediate squares.
The KNIGHT makes any 2:1 leap, and cannot be blocked.
The QUEEN combines the Rook and Bishop moves.
The WAFFLERIDER combines the Rook and Elephrider moves, leaping over intervening pieces on odd diagonal squares but no others.
The PAWN moves one square along the forward orthogonal except when capturing, when it moves one square along either forward diagonal.

Rules

The one-foot-in-the-grave rule prevents (a) pieces moving along a diagonal comprising only the ends of an edge rank and an edge file; (b) Knights moving between an edge rank and an edge file at all in a single move.

Pawns, Esquires, and Vanguards all have an optional double-length noncapturing initial move. The halfway square must be empty. A piece making such a move may immediately be captured En Passant by an enemy of the same kind but by no other piece, not even one of the other two forward-only kinds.

Castling involves a King and Rook, or an Alibaba and Dabbarider, moving toward each other. The King/Alibaba moves four squares, and the Rook/Dabbarider to the King's/Alibaba's halfway square. All intermediate squares on the first rank, or even ones on the second, must be empty at the start of Castling. The subset of those on the King/Alibaba path must be unthreatened.

A Pawn reaching the end of a file must be promoted. It can be promoted to any other Group D piece or, if it is on a group C piece's starting square and the player no longer has a Fezbaba, to a Fezbaba. It can optionally be promoted to an Alibaba if it is on a group B piece's starting square on the penultimate rank and the player no longer has an Alibaba. The latter promotions reactivate pieces.

An Esquire reaching the end of a file must be promoted. It can be promoted to any other Group C piece or, if the player no longer has a Waffle, to a Waffle. It can optionally be promoted to an Alibaba if it is on the penultimate rank and the player no longer has an Alibaba. The latter promotions reactivate pieces.

A Vanguard reaching the enemy Alibaba rank must be promoted. It can be promoted to any other Group B piece or, if the player no longer has a Waffle, to a Waffle or, if the player no longer has a Fezbaba, to a Fezbaba. The latter promotions reactivate pieces.

Check, Checkmate, and Stalemate are as in FIDE Chess.

Notes

Pieces can represented by three distinguishable FIDE sets as follows:
large pieces as themselves;
medium K/Q as Fezbaba/Waffle;
medium R/B as Wafflrider/Fezbarider;
small K/Q as Alibaba/Alibarider;
small R/B as Dabbarider/Elephrider;
medium N as Camel;
small N as Charolais;
medium P as Esquire;
inverted medium R as extra Esquire;
small P as Vanguard.

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By Charles Gilman.
Web page created: 2007-01-09. Web page last updated: 2016-03-17