External Link: Bolyar Chess
(I have now come to regard this variant as a figment. It's probably not an authentic historical variant/ Mats W.)In Bolyar Chess (Bulgarian Chess) the goal is checkmate. The following pieces move as in classical chess: king, pawn, knight, rook, and general (which is the same as queen). The general only appears when a boat promotes. Castling is "long" also on the king's wing (while the central board is 9 squares wide). Rules for 'en passant' capture are standard. The following pieces use special movement rules. The bishop moves on the diagonals like a regular bishop, but it can also move one square forward, provided that this square is empty. The bolyar (which means "royal knight"), initially positioned on either side of the king, moves like a queen, but can only capture on the orthogonals (that is, capture is not allowed when moving diagonally). The boat, initially positioned on the extra corner squares, can move maximally two squares, orthogonally, diagonally, or like a knight. However, it can only capture when moving orthogonally (like a rook). Moreover, it cannot move in the backward directions, except when capturing orthogonally. The promotion rules differ much from regular chess. Most piece types can promote when reaching the far side.
A Zillions
program and more information is here.External Link: http://mlwi.magix.net/bg/bolyarchess.htm
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Author: M Winther.
Web page created: 2006-11-12. Web page last updated: 2006-11-12