Gamma2 Chess
Gamma2 Chess is chess on a 10x8 board with Berolina Pawns and special Ship and Archer pieces. The variant's name was inspired by it being a second attempt at a game with the special Ship and Archer piece types, which have powers including ones perhaps somewhat akin to the discharge of Gamma rays, and the variant's name was also inspired by there being 2 such pieces in total per side in the setup.
There is a preset available for play on Game Courier.
Setup
Pieces
This game uses three unorthodox piece types:
Berolina pawns (X) can only move forward. When a Berolina pawn makes a non-capturing move, it goes one square diagonally forwards. When a Berolina pawn is still on its original square on the second row, it can make a non-capturing move diagonally forwards of one or of two squares - if it moves two squares, the first square must be empty. A pawn captures one square vertically forwards. When a Berolina pawn has moved two squares forwards, the opponent has the possibility to take it en passant: in the directly following turn a (Berolina) pawn of the opponent may take it also on the square that was passed by. When a Berolina pawn reaches a promotion square, that is, a square on the last row of the board at the opponents side, it promotes. The owner of the Berolina pawn may decide to which piece the pawn promotes, which can be any piece type in the setup except for a king.
The Ship (SH) in this game is a novel compound piece that moves like a cannon (i.e. which moves as a rook but must hop over an intervening piece to capture) or like a guard (i.e. which moves to any adjacent square).
The Archer (AR) in this game is a novel compound piece that moves like a vao (i.e. which moves like a bishop but must hop over an intervening piece to capture) or like a guard.
Rules
Castling is as in standard chess, except a king goes three squares sideways during the process (instead of two squares). Threefold repetition of position or stalemate is a draw as in chess, and similarly the 50 move rule is also in effect in Gamma2 Chess (i.e. game drawn if no captures or [Berolina] pawn moves before 50 consecutive moves by both sides).
Notes
For this game's 10x8 board I tentatively put X(Berolina Pawn)=1.05(or 1 approx.); N=3.38(or 3.25 approx.); B=3.75; R=5.5; SH(Ship)=6.2625(or 6.25 approx.); AR(Archer)=5.45(or 5.5 approx.); Q=R+B+P=10.25 and K's fighting value=3.2. Note that all the Berolina Pawns are protected in the setup.
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By Kevin Pacey.
Last revised by Kevin Pacey.
Web page created: 2023-12-24. Web page last updated: 2023-12-24