Polymorph Chess
by Gregory Strong
The standard rules of Orthodox Chess apply, with the following exceptions:
I. Polymorphs
The Knights and Bishops are Polymorphs.
Polymorphs move like a Knight when they are in the form of a Knight, and like a Bishop when in the form of a Bishop.
On a turn, instead of making a normal move, a player may transform one of his own Polymorphs that is in the form of a Bishop into that of a Knight, or vice versa.
Additionally, a Polymorph may also take the form of a Knishop or a Bishight with such a transformation move. The Knishop moves forwards like a Knight, and backwards like a Bishop; the Bishight is the other way around.
II. Opening Setup
White always starts with the standard Chess setup, but as a consolation for moving second, Black gets the benefit of selecting his setup from the following four options:
- the standard Chess setup
- all four of Black's Polymorphs are Knights
- all four of Black's Polymorphs are Bishops
- Black's Bishops are Bishights, and Knights are Knishops
III. Pawn Promotion
A pawn, upon reaching the eigth rank, promotes to either a Queen, a Rook, or a Polymorph in any of the four forms, at the owner's discression.
Computer Play
ChessV, a freeware program for playing Chess variants, plays this game with a fairly high level of skill. Also see the link below.
You can also play this game if you have Zillions of Games installed on your computer. See the link below.
You can also play this game by email, using the web-based Play by Mail system on this site. See the link below.