LeaperChess

LeaperChess is a variant of Capablanca Chess (10x8 board) where the Archbishop and Chancellor are replaced with two extra Knights per side.  The minor pieces are randomly placed between the King and Rooks in a mirror-symetric setup.

Setup

The pieces are all standard chess pieces, but each side has four Knights instead of two.  The King and Rooks are in their normal position for Capablanca Chess - the Kings on f1 and f8 and the Rooks in the corners. The minor pieces are placed between them in a random mirror-symetric setup, resulting in three possible starting positions.

Pieces

All pieces move as in orthodox Chess.

Rules

All the rules of Capablanca Chess apply, except that Pawns cannot promote to Archbishop or Chancellor (which do not exist in this game.)

Notes

This variant was developed while working on the GoshawkChess engine as a simplification where no new pieces were added, but the 10x8 board was retained.

An engine for this variation is under development. 

I have three .cvc files, one for each starting setup, that work with Greg Strong's ChessV program.  These are available by request from the inventor.

Last revised by James Zuercher.