Chess with a Fool

To quote : "Fool, Joker, Jester, Buffoon, Clown, Jongleur, Saltimbanco, Mime, so many names throughout the ages have defined this central character of the King's court."

This is an almost modest chess variant . It takes inspiration from Omega Chess Advanced (which add a couple of features to the original Omega Chess, including the immortal piece, the Fool.)

I liked the Omega Chess implementation with regards to the Fool , so this is simply adapting THEIR version of the piece to Standard Chess . Queen guarding isn't included , and neither is immobilization.

Link to Omega Chess Advanced :
http://www.omegachess.com/home.html?action=advanced
All quotes in this page are from that page .

Of course , this way of implementing the fool is more like a mutator than a full blown variant . Please notify me if this has been done in exactly the same way before or if i am infringing any copyright , or something .

I don't claim authorship over this . It should be given to the author of Omega Chess Advanced (I don't know who.)

Setup

Same , old , orthodox chess setup :

   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
8  | r |:n:| b |:q:| k |:b:| n |:r:|
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
7  |:p:| p |:p:| p |:p:| p |:p:| p |  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
6  |   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
5  |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
4  |   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
3  |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
2  | P |:P:| P |:P:| P |:P:| P |:P:|  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
1  |:R:| N |:B:| Q |:K:| B |:N:| R |  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
     a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h    

Each player has one Fool in his hand .

The Fool (F) is just another piece . But , as you can see , it doesn't have a proper place in the starting setup , "nor a specific entry time".  Details follow .

Pieces

The Fool , simply put , moves like (or imitates) the piece just moved by the enemy . For example , if the enemy moves the Knight , then your Fool can move like a Knight in the next turn . The next turn , his move changes according to the enemy piece moved .

- A Fool imitating a Pawn may not promote .
- A Fool imitating a Pawn may only move a single square forward (relative to the Fool's color .)
- A Fool imitating a King is not subject to check or checkmate or anything royal , which means it can move to a neighboring cell to the enemy King .
- A Fool imitating a King may not Castle.
- A Fool imitating a Fool moves like the piece the enemy Fool imitated .
- A Pawn may promote to a Fool .
- When a Pawn is promoted , the Fool moves like the promoted piece (if the Pawn promotes to a Queen , the Fool moves like a Queen .) If the Pawn promotes to a Fool , the Fool moves like a Pawn .

Rules

The Fool , having no position in the starting setup , is "dropped" on the board at any time one wishes , following the following conditions :

- One may drop the Fool when he moves a piece , any piece , from its initial position . That includes Pawns and Kings , but not promoted Pawns . It , naturally enough , is dropped on the square just vacated .
- One may drop the Fool during castling . It may be dropped on either the King's square or the Rook's square .
- One may drop the Fool when one makes a capture , placing the Fool on the square the capturing piece just vacated .
- It's preferable , when dropping the Fool , to hold it BEFORE making the move , placing it in place of the piece to move , and moving it to the desired destination . In case of dropping it on the Rook's square in a castling , one might need to announce one is dropping the Fool before moving the King . (This is a deviation from the Omega Chess Advanced rule , but it's just a formality . I think this is more practical .)
- The Fool must be dropped within the first 20 moves of the game . Afterwards , it's too late , one has lost a piece .

Notes

Notation of the piece :

F         : e.g. Fe3 , Fxe3
F-O       : King-side castling with Fool appearing in the King's square
O-F       : King-side castling with Fool appearing in the Rook's square
F-O-O     : Queen-side castling with Fool appearing in the Rook's square
O-O-F     : Queen-side castling with Fool appearing in the Queen's square
[move]*F  : Fool appearing after the first move of a piece or after a capture. Ex: Kg2*F, Qxc6*F, Nxd7+*F

--

The Fool is an interesting piece . Follows are examples of its use and strategy .

Fig. a : Example of Fool droppings for moving from the initial square .

8  r - b q k b n r    
7  f p p p - p p p   1.e4      e5  
6  p - n - - - - -   2.Nf3     Nc6
5  - B - - p - - -   3.Bb5*F   a6*F
4  - - - - P - - -
3  - - - - - N - -
2  P P P P - P P P
1  R N B Q K F - R

   a b c d e f g h


Fig. b : Example of Fool dropping after capture . Note that the White Fool was captured immediately , with dropping the Black Fool .

8  r - b q k b n r    
7  - p p p - p p p   1.e4      e5  
6  f - B - - - - -   2.Nf3     Nc6
5  - p - - p - - -   3.Bb5     a6 
4  - - - - P - - -   4.Bxc6*F  axb5*F
3  - - - - - N - -
2  P P P P - P P P
1  R N B Q K - - R

   a b c d e f g h


Fig. c : Example of Fool usefulness in an endgame . (Slightly modified from the Omega version .)

8  - - - - k - - -    
7  - - - - - - - -    Note that , normally , Qxd2 is checkmate .
6  - - - - - - F -    However , Black can't move either the Queen
5  - - - q - - - -    or the Bishop , because they will grant the
4  - - - - - b - -    Fool diagonal movement , which puts the King
3  - - - - - - - -    in check , which is illegal . As far as this
2  - - - P - - - -    game is concerned , the Bishop and the Queen
1  - - - K - - - -    are pinned .

   a b c d e f g h


Fig. d : How to capture a Fool . (From the Omega Chess Advanced page .)

8  - - - - - - - -    
7  - - - - - - - -    Pieces cannot threaten the Fool normally .
6  - - q - - - - -    Because , if they move to threaten it , it
5  - - - p - - - -    can just capture them using their movement .
4  - - - - - p - -    Here's a useful trick : in this position , 
3  - - - - - F - -    Black moves his d5 Pawn , exposing the Fool
2  - - - - - - - -    to capture . The poor Fool is unable to move ,
1  - - - - - - - -    there's an enemy Pawn blocking HIS pawn move ,
                      and can be devoured next turn .
   a b c d e f g h



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As usual , how does this game play with other mutators ? Atomic is too dangerous .... how about CrazyHouse ?