Neighbors

Rob Nierse

Introduction

Neighbors is a Chess-like abstract strategy/tactical game for 2, 3 or more players using Chess pieces on a board of 42 squares. Inspiration for this game came from the games Nachbarn, PsAddle and Eufrat & Tigris.

Board and Setup

Neighbors is played on a board that is 6 rows by 7 files.

The following pieces are used:

• 8 Queens
• 8 Rooks
• 8 Bishops
• 8 Knights
• 10 Ferzes

There are a total of 42 pieces, one for each square on the board. The pieces should be distributed randomly. (One approach would be to mark the piece types on the back of poker chips which are then draw out of a cloth bag, and placed on the board in row than column order.)

Play

• Both players can move any piece on the board.
• Players alternate taking turns, moving one piece at the time.
• Players are not allowed to pass.
• When playing with three or more players, play is clockwise.
• A pieces can only move to capture. If a piece cannot capture, it remains in the game just to be captured.
• All pieces capture as in FIDE Chess, except for the Ferz, which captures one square diagonally in any direction.
• The game ends when no more captures can be made.

Winning

The player with most points wins.

Scoring for Three and Greater Players

When playing with three or more players, points are scored for each captured piece, the number of points scored depending on the type of piece captured. Pieces are worth the following points:

• Ferz = 1 point
• Knight = 2 points
• Bishop = 3 points
• Rook = 5 points
• Queen = 8 points

Scoring the Two Player Game

When playing with two players, one point is achieved for the capturing of the majority of pieces of one type. E.g. if Player A captures 5 Rooks and Player B 3 Rooks, Player A scores 1 point.

Optional Rule

A player can only capture with a piece that is on the file or row of the landing place of the previously moved piece. E.G.:

*     *     *     *     F     *     *
*     *     *     F     *     *     *
*     R     *     N     *     B     *
*     *     *     *     *     *     *
*     F     *     Q     *     Q     *
*     *     *     *     *     *     *

Equipment

This game can be played using the pieces from four regular Western Chess sets, using the Kings as extra Queens, and the Pawns as Ferzes. The color of the pieces would not matter, and either player could move any color piece.

Computer Play

An implementation of two player Neighbors has been written for Zillions of Games. You can download it here:

• neighbors.zip