Chess on triangular fields
Chess on triangular fields or triangular chess for short is a group of variants of the game of chess , which is played on boards whose individual fields represent equilateral triangles. Three variants - Triangular Chess, Tri-Chess for two and Tri-Chess for three players - were developed in 1986 by George R. Dekle the Elder. Ä. invented and published in World Game Review No. 10 by Michael Keller. The fourth variant presented here - Jester's Game - was developed from its predecessor (Noris chess, invented in 1974) and published online in 2004.
variants
The game boards can overall be regular or irregular hexagonal, but also regular triangular, diamond-shaped and approximately rectangular. Some versions have additional rows for the starting positions, in which they are similar to the four-piece chess boards. Apart from that, the edges of the playing fields are mostly straight like in standard chess, but not jagged like in hexagonal chess. A special feature of several variants is the notation: the individual fields are not to be marked with two, but three coordinates, because otherwise the positions cannot be clearly determined. The horizontals or rows of the variants of Dekle are denoted by letters from a to h, the numbers from one to eight denote the lines falling or rising from left to right at an angle of sixty degrees to the horizontal, the number is here the falling line first, that of the rising line is noted second. z. B. the notation a2 in diagram 1 refers to white bishop and white queen at the same time. Only the third coordinate makes it possible to clearly determine the position: the bishop is on a-2-5, the queen on a-2-6. It is also important whether a piece first moves through a corner or over an edge to the neighboring field.
In the variants described below, the moves of the rooks are marked with red, the bishops with blue, the knights with yellow. Violet and orange stand for fields that are covered by two different figures at the same time. Moves of the pawns are represented by small circles, green stands for silent moves, red for fields. Half and half describes the situation when the pawns are actually unable to make silent moves because they have reached the edge of the playing field; then the pawns move along the edge of the field as if they were capturing until they reach a conversion square.
Triangular Chess
Game board and starting position
The Triangular Chess board consists of 96 triangular fields that together form a regular hexagon. Each player has a standard set of chess pieces with three additional pawns and a '' unicorn ''.
Triangular Chess: Chessboard with starting position
Triangular Chess: moves by bishop, knight, rook, unicorn
Triangular Chess: pawns moves
Rules of the game
As in chess, White draws, the goal is to checkmate the opposing king. Other rules of chess also apply, including castling, the initial double move of the pawns and thus the en-passant capture and the promotion of pawns on the last row. However, the shape of the fields requires special movement patterns for the figures.
The moves of the figures
- A tower moves in a straight line, starting with the vertical crossing of a field edge (three directions are possible).
- A runner moves in a straight line, starting with crossing a corner of the field (three directions are possible). They too can change the color of their squares, in contrast to orthogonal or hexagonal chess.
This means that runners and towers are qualitatively equivalent, they differ primarily in whether they first move over an edge (tower) or a corner (runner).
- The queen moves either like a tower or a bishop (six directions).
- The king moves one step at a time like the queen. With short castling (0-0) the king moves two steps, with long castling (0-0-0) three steps towards the rooks.
- A knight moves as follows: first a step like a bishop into the next field, then onto the next field of the same color as the intermediate field, each time away from the starting field. The unicorn moves as follows: first a step like a tower into the next space, then onto the next space of the same color as the intermediate space, away from the starting space (green spaces). Figures in between are jumped over by jumpers and unicorns.
Here, too, the difference lies primarily in the field entered first, but it is also expressed in the range of the characters. Pawns move one step straight forward, regardless of whether through a corner or vertically over an edge. From the starting position the pawn can move two squares straight ahead. Pawns hit the fields of the same color that are diagonally in front of their starting fields or offer check there. If a pawn reaches an edge of the field that does not allow straight-ahead movement, he moves step by step to the opposing baseline as if he were to hit, even if he only moved. This is due to the shape of the playing field as a hexagon.
Tri-chess
Tri-Chess for two players: starting position
Tri-Chess for two players: king and rook
Tri-Chess for three players: starting position
Tri-Chess for three players: pawns and bishops
Tri-Chess for three players: rook, king, castling: red chancellor side, white cardinal side
Tri-Chess for two players
Tri-Chess for two is a variation of Triangular Chess that was developed by Dekle in the same year as Triangular Chess. The game uses the field and set of pieces, basic position and rules of triangular chess, with the exception of the extended movements of the pieces. Only pawns and knights move like in triangular chess.
- The runner moves in all six directions perpendicular to the outer edges of the playing field. He can change the color of the field. These moves are classified as diagonal.
- The tower moves in six directions along the lines or rows.
- The king in tri-chess moves either one step like the bishop or two squares like the rook.
- The queen moves either like the rook or the bishop.
Tri-Chess for three players
Tri-Chess is also the name of a variant of chess for three players invented by George R. Dekle Senior in 1986. The game board comprises 150 triangular fields. Each player has the pieces of standard chess, with one more pawn, but without a queen, instead additionally with a marshal (or chancellor = rook plus knight) and cardinal (alias Janus = bishop plus knight). White draws, clockwise draws. If a player is mated or stalemated, his king is removed from the playing field, the remaining pieces go to the mating or stalemate player. The peasants of the armies taken over do not change their direction of movement (to the field of transformation). The last remaining player wins the game.
- The runner moves like the runner in the two-player variant, in six directions.
- The tower moves along the lines or rows, as in the two-player variant, in six directions.
- A knight moves as follows: two squares like a bishop, then one square like a rook in an orthogonal direction. Figures in between are skipped.
- The marshal or chancellor moves like a tower or a bishop. The cardinal or Janus moves like a runner or jumper.
- The king moves either one step like the bishop or two squares like the rook. The king casts three spaces either “chancellor side” or “cardinal side”.
- Pawns move one step straight forward, regardless of whether over a corner or vertically over an edge. From the starting position the pawn can move two squares straight ahead. Pawns hit the fields of the same color that are diagonally in front of their starting fields or offer check there. If a pawn reaches an edge of the field that does not allow straight-ahead movement, he moves step by step to the opposing baseline as if he were to hit, even if he only moved.
Jester's Game
The game board has exactly one hundred fields. At the beginning each player has the standard set of pieces, plus an extra pawn and the eponymous “Jester” (= court jester). As in Noris chess, the notation is done horizontally to the edge of a board using numbers and perpendicular to it using letters.
Jester's Game: Starting position
Jester's Game: moves from knight, rook, bishop
Noris-Schach: Starting position
The figures
All moves of the figures are derived from the two basic moves (steps) of the bishop and the tower. The runner draws in a straight line to the nearest field of the color that touches a corner of his respective standing field, and always in a straight line, he is bound to his respective field color. The tower always changes the field color with every step. These pieces can move until one of them meets their own or an opposing piece. They can beat the latter. The lady moves either like a runner or a tower.
The knight and the jester are the only pieces that your own or opposing pieces may jump over. The knight moves one step like the rook and one step like the bishop (or vice versa). The knight always changes the field color when dragging. If there is an opposing figure on the target field, it can be captured.
The jester, the court jester, combines the moves of runner, rook and jumper. However, he is the only piece in the game that is passive, he cannot beat! However, he himself can be beaten if he is threatened by two opponents at the same time. However, the figure hitting him sacrifices itself, leaving the field with the jester.
The king moves and captures like the queen, he can only move one square (one step) away from his starting square. He can move through the directions of rooks (and of course bishops) without being in check!
The pawn pulls straight and strikes diagonally forward, never backwards or sideways. The pawn can only move one space at a time, with the exception of the first move in his line-up. Here he can move a move or two, but he cannot capture two squares. A pawn who has made the double move can be captured en passant. Since the pawn is not allowed to capture on a straight move, he can be blocked by other pieces. In addition, there is a field that he can only leave by hitting. The pawn always takes the capture at an angle. Capturing parallel to the line-up is only possible if the direction of capture leads in the direction of a generic line-up (pawn line-up). Only then can you hit right or left. The pawn conversion takes place when a pawn has reached the rear line-up of an opponent's king. He can then be converted into a queen, jumper, or jester.
castling
The following rules apply to castling: 1. The king and the rook concerned must not have moved yet. 2. The spaces between the king and rook must not be occupied by your own or other figures. 3. The king must not be threatened by "chess". 4. The king may not cross a square that is threatened by an opposing piece. 5. The king may not go into “check” by castling. In contrast to standard chess, castling is permitted if the rook is threatened or if it crosses a square that is threatened by an opposing piece.
Course of the game
It is pulled clockwise. The yellow party starts with the first move. The aim of every player is to bring one of his opponents into a mate situation. He must prevent another teammate from causing a mate situation.
Checkmate: A king is "checkmate" under the usual conditions. The third player cannot intervene here: If z. B. Yellow offers the blue king “check” and blue cannot avoid this situation, then blue is “checkmate” (even if red could intervene on the next move). A “liberation” of the checkmated king by the next but one moving party is not possible. If it is not possible to fend off the threat without one of the other kings being able to be defeated immediately, then the liberating move is not allowed. Defense is then not possible. "Checkmate" ends the game immediately.
Game rating
Jester's game has one winner and two equal losers. If a king is “checkmate”, the player who last bid “check” wins. The other two players lost the game: one because he couldn't escape the mate situation and the other because he didn't checkmate. The distribution of points described is based on an online calculation.
The winner: Whoever defeats his opponent on the left receives 2 points. Whoever defeats his opponent on the right receives 3 points because he is a bit more difficult to defeat. If the victory is achieved by a double matt, he receives 10 points.
The losers: 1 point is deducted from each of the losers.
The draw: If the game ends in a draw, each player receives 1 point.
Draw & stalemate: The game is undecided if the other two players accept the offer of a draw or if a king is stalemated, ie if the king of a party on the move is not in check but cannot move any piece without thereby getting in check with his king. A tie is also reached if a king only has his jester and from this point on the opponents are unable to checkmate him within 10 moves. The game is then a draw on move 11.
The predecessor of the Jester's Game, the Noris chess, is played with the same set of pieces on a smaller game board with external installation areas that are twice as large. With its exit rows, the playing field is reminiscent of Tri-Chess for three players. Another specialty of the Noris chess is the notation: nine digits and the letters from A to R result in an orthogonal coordinate system, in contrast to the Tri-Chess notation with three coordinates.
Other variants
At least one other variant not described here is modeled on the Japanese Shogi. There are also some variants that are played on triangular boards (all without a picture). Apart from the deep staggering of the figures in the starting position, these variants have no special features compared to the presented ones.