The Toddler

By Jean-Yves Boulay

Introduction

Board and Setup

The Toddler® is played on an 11 x 11 board.
The lines are numbered from 1 to 11 starting from top, and the columns from A to K.

White Toddler (T): F11 Emperor (E): H11 Empress (I): D11 Guardian Angel (W): E11 Genius (G): G11 Phoenixes (P): C11 I11 Androids (A): B11 K11 Nurses (N): A11 J11 Captain (C): F9 Soldiers (S) : A9 B9 C9 D9 E9 G9 H9 I9 J9 K9

Black Toddler (T): F1 Emperor (E): D1 Empress (I): H1 Guardian Angel (W): G1 Genius (G): E1 Phoenixes (P): C1 I1 Androids (A): A1 J1 Nurses (N): B1 K1 Captain (C): F3 Soldiers (S) : A3 B3 C3 D3 E3 G3 H3 I3 J3 K3

The Pieces

• The Toddler is the royal piece. It is the child of two other pieces, the Emperor and the Empress. The minor Toddler moves as a non-capturing King as long as one of his parents is still on the Board. It may also trade positions with one of its Nurses (with no limit on the number of exchanges). When both its parents have been captured, the Toddler becomes major. It may now capture, but cannot trade positions with a Nurse any longer.
  

• The Emperor moves as a Queen.
  

• The Empress also moves as a Queen. When the Emperor and the Empress see each other, the Empress cannot be captured. Besides, being a protective mother, the Empress can always reach a square adjacent to the Toddler's square, even if that square is occupied by an enemy piece (though not by a friendly piece).
  

• The Guardian Angel moves as a non-capturing Queen. It prevents adjacent friendly pieces from being captured. It can be captured only when it is threatened by two enemy pieces.
  When the two Guardian Angels are adjacent, all the pieces of the game are protected from capture.
  

• The Genius also moves as a non-capturing Queen. It prevents adjacent enemy pieces from capturing. It can be captured only when it is threatened by two enemy pieces.
  When the two Geniuses are adjacent, all the pieces of the game are protected from capture.
  

• The Phoenix has a move which generalizes the move of the Knight. It captures like the Knight, but jumps without capturing to any non-adjacent square of different color.
  Animal solidarity prevents a Phoenix from capturing a Phoenix.
  

• The Android has the move of a bifurcating Rook. It starts with a neutral Rook's move, followed by a (capturing or non-capturing) Rook's move in the orthogonal direction. (It doesn't matter whether the enemy Genius is adjacent to the bifurcating square.) It may also move and capture as a regular Rook.
  

• The Nurse moves as a Bishop. It may freely trade positions with its minor Toddler.
  

• The Soldier is an omni-directionnal Quadra-Pawn. It moves neutrally one square orthogonally, but captures one square diagonally. A Soldier doesn't promote when it reaches the end of the Board, but when a Soldier captures a piece other than a Soldier or a Captain, it then becomes a Captain.
  

• The Captain moves as a Soldier, but is also allowed a capturing diagonal move followed by a non-capturing orthogonal move, or a non-capturing orthogonal move followed by a capturing diagonal move. (In the latter case, it doesn't matter whether the enemy Genius is adjacent to the bifurcating square.)
  

Other rules

A player always has the right to pass his turn.

When both players have passed in succession, or when a Toddler which was not in check reaches a square adjacent to the other Toddler's square, the game is a draw. (It doesn't matter whether the Toddler is now in check.)

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