Byzantine Chess

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

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Setup:

The board is setup as shown in the diagram.

Play:

Byzantine Chess is played very much like modern chess, with the following exceptions:

• The rook and king may not castle.
• Pawns may not make an opening move of two spaces.
• Because there is no opposite side of the board, there is no promotion of pawns.
• If two pawns belonging to the same player meet and block each other, the opponent may remove them without losing a turn.
• The queen can only move on the diagonal and only one space at a time.
• The bishops always move exactly two spaces diagonally, and may jump over pieces to do so.

There are three ways to win. Getting the king in checkmate. Stalemate (when your opponent can not move any of their pieces) is also considered a win, although not as desirable as a checkmate. The third way to win is called bare king, and occurs when a player has lost all other pieces. Unless they can bare the other king on their next move (making the game a draw) they have lost.

Here is a brief review of relevant modern chess rules:

• Pawns move forward one space at a time and capture on the diagonal ahead of them. In Byzantine Chess this means half the pawns will be moving clockwise and the other half counter-clockwise.
• Rooks move any number of spaces horizontally or vertically. This makes them very powerful on the circular board.
• Knights move two spaces forward plus one space to the side in any direction. They may jump over any other pieces.
• Kings move one space in any direction.
• When you end a move in a space occupied by your opponent, you capture that piece.
• When a King is threatened with capture it is in "Check". When the King can not escape it is called "Checkmate".