SPQR

This chess variant aims to bring the battle formation of chess to perfection. 

SPQR was the inscription on the Roman flag, meaning: "The Senate and the People of Rome". 

Setup

The setup looks like this:

Pieces

Each player has 16 Pawns, 8 Knights, 4 Rooks, 4 Bishops, 3 Centurions, and a King.

The Centurions move and behave like a Queen. 

Pawns can still make a double move if they land on the starting square of another friendly Pawn. 

Rules

There is no castling.

All chess rules apply, except for the promotion rules. 

Pawns promote on the last four lines in the enemy territory.

The first promotion line is reserved for the Knights, the second for the Bishops, the third for the Rooks, and the last one for Centurions (represented as Queens). 

If a Pawn reaches a promotion line and does not promote straigt away, it will have to advance to the next promotion line in order to be eligible again for promotion. 

Promotion is compulsory on the last promotion line. 

The game ends when

• One of the Kings is checkmated
• One of the Kings reaches the last rank in the enemy territory, provided it is not in check. 

The stalemate rules also apply. 

Last revised by Florin Lupusoru.