[The following was transcribed directly from the published pammplet, regardless of existing typographical errors.] CHESSERY FOR DUFFER AND MASTER BY V. R. PARTON -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 1] CHESSERY FOR DUFFER AND MASTER The ideas explained in this booklet of Chessery are intended to challenge the bold and rash, the adventuring and imaginative spirit in all players, ranging from very low grade Duffers up to top-rank Masters. (The ideas are from Alician Chess). Perhaps the real difficulty for a Duffer is that he has far too wide a choice of moves in playing the ordinary game of chess. He has, as it were, rather a banquet instead of merely digestive biscuits to munch chessically!! In order to prevent Duffers having such painful "chessopsychical sickneww" through over-rich food, the idea explained in this section reduces chess to a simple meal of permitted moves in play. The initial arrangement of pieces used in playing Simpletons' form of Duffery is just the same as that in ordinary chess. This Simpletons' variation is played under the following rules or rather restrictions:- First, if one of the player's chessmen can make a check on the enemy king, then he may make that checking move. Between two or more ways of checking that enemy monarch, the player has a choice. Secondly, if one of the player's pieces can take an enemy, then that capturing move may be made; but the player, of course, has a choice between two ways of capturing which chance to occur at the very same turn. Thirdly, if the player can make neither a check nor a capture with any of his chessmen whatever, then he must play some pawn in his force. Fourthly, if his king should be in check, the player is permitted to move this king out of check. Capturing a hostile piece that gives check is naturally allowed under the first rule stated above. Moving a piece between the player's own king and some checking enemy is not permitted except in the case of a pawn, which is naturally permitted under the third rule. (It is obvious that castling cannot be used under the restrictions of this Simpletons' form of Duffery). 1. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 2] The simple form of Duffery is the Advancing game, for which the chessmen are set on the chessboard in the normal initial arrangement. The basic rule of this Duffery is that all pieces as well as pawns are strictly limited to both moving and taking in forward directions only. If any piece or pawn should chance at last to reach the opposite back rank, it remains there until the very end of the game. The player who succeeds in capturing his opponent's king by some forward take (vertical or diagonal) is the winner. Should both kings safely escape capture in their advancing across the board, the game is, of course, drawn. Another variation of Duffery is the game in which rooks, bishops, queens, etc., can take in their normal manner as they take in ordinary chess; but they are totally forbidden to move if not capturing some foe or other. Pawns can, however, advance whether they are taking or not. Capture of the enemy king wins the game, but a player loses if he has no piece able to take nor pawn able to advance. THE GAME OF RETTAH CHESS The idea of Rettah can be played on the ordinary chess- board with the normal set of chessmen, but these are not arranged on the board in the usual manner. The player's king is placed in his lefthand corner square, and his pieces are set as follows:- P P P P P P O O P P B R H O O O K Q B R H O O O The letter H denotes Horse or Knight, O denotes empty square. The idea "Rettah" was the first I ever thought of in the chessical field. The game of "Rettah" was the creation with which I first dared to leave the orthodox parochial corner and step over the official boundary into those forbidden realms where Queen Caissa has a vast empire of rebels and heretics. My own terrible heresy lay in the fact that under my new chessical idea his Majesty the King himself was most violently seized and by magic transformed from a gentle monarch into a Monster!! 2. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 3] The idea of Rettah arose from my strong dislike of the weak kings in the ordinary variants of chess. Such a monarch at that time offended my own belief (and theory) of what is the "ideal and perfection" for the game. The king ought to be strong, not feeble and tottering, by aesthetic standards: he is the centre around which turns the whole game itself. In consequence, my Rettah monarch is the most powerful of all the chess pieces engaged in the battle. Whichever enemy piece attacks (checks) the great Rettah, then, if needs be, this new type of monarch himself must be able to capture his checking foe. In consequence, this Rettah King has the moves and taking powers of the three basic sorts of chess pieces; namely, rook, bishop and knight (horse). The special "rule of check" which may be applied in Rettah is that an enemy piece checking the Rettah king must be taken at once. If no other fellow piece is just then available to capture that foe checking the Rettah, then the foe must be taken by the Rettah king himself. Should two hostile pieces be checking the Rettah king at the same time, the king can take either, but he must take one of them. The player who captures the hostile Rettah monarch is, of course, the victor in this chessical variant. The following position will illustrate "checking" as it concerns the Rettah kings: White; king on KB1; rook on KR4; knights on KKt4 and KR2. Black: king on QKt5; Q on KB3; B on QR6. Here the move belongs to white whose king is attacked (checked) by the black queen; and white must capture that queen at once. He can do so in two ways: (1) If white plays K x Q then black plays B - QKt 7 with check again. White is now forced to capture with K x B, and thereupon black promptly wins with K x K. (2) If white plays Kt x Q then the black monarch becomes checked by the white rook being unmasked. Black must play K x R, to which white replies Kt - KB3 with check of course; next follows K x Kt by black, and white wins with K x K. 3. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 4] At its first move, a pawn may advance only one square. The variation of Double Rettah is the extension of this idea in which a second Rettah king is added to the player's normal sixteen pieces, together with a second queen and with perhaps some extra pawns to complete a particular desired arrangement. On the ordinary chessboard, pieces for Double Rettah may be initially arranged as shown in this diagram: P P P P P P P P K Q P B H R K Q P B H R In the Double Rettah game the special "rule of check" is omitted, as the player who can first checkmate one of the two enemy Rettah monarchs in the proper orthodox manner in chess is the winner. SEMI-QUEEN CHESS The formation of the game of SQ Chess arose from my idea of "halving" the power of the normal chess queen into two comple- mentary and fairly balanced component "halves" as it were of that strong chess piece. The chess queen can be regarded as a compound of rook and bishop; but one is hardly able to think of either of them as being a logical or ideal sort of "half" of a chess queen because their powers are far too unequal and their patterns in movement are quite unrelated. In theory, an alternative compounding for the chess queen can be established which gives two logical and balancing Semi- Queens or SQ types as "halves." When the non-taking moves are completely separated from the capturing moves, it will be seen that the queen has really four components that can be used for compounding. It is now possible to combine the diagonal (bishop) non-taking move of the queen with her orthogonal (rook) taking move into one type of SQ and her orthogonal (rook) non-taking move with her diagonal (bishop) capturing move into the other type of SQ. 4. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 5] These two 'half-sisters',as they may be considered, of the queen are consequently first, the "Biok" which moves like the bishop for mere change of position but captures like a rook; and second, the "Roshop" which behaves reversely, moving like a rook for mere change in position but capturing like a bishop. Together, these two "Semi-Queen", or Half-Queens, compound into the Queen proper. The game of SQ Chess is played on the decimal board (100 squares), for which each player adds the Biok and the Roshop, with two extra pawns, to his normal force of sixteen pieces. On the decimal board, the Biok is initially placed between the King and his bishop, and the Roshop between the Queen and her bishop. As the Biok attacks like the rook, when playing SQ Chess, a player will naturally regard his Biok as an auxiliary sort of rook; and as the Roshop attacks along diagonal lines like the bishop, the player will treat his Roshop as an auxiliary kind of bishop, though it has the great advantage of being able to change from one colour system of squares to the other when required. The extension of "Semi Queen Chess" is that each player adds both a pair of Bioks and a pair of Roshops to his normal force of sixteen piecesm but without extra pawns. The initial setting of pieces on the back rank of the decimal board is: rook, biok, roshop, bishop, queen; king, bishop, roshop, biok, rook. The eight pawns and two knights are placed in the rank in front, the two knights in the centre of this line, so that the king and Queen are guarded by these knights, and not as usual by pawns THE DIVERSION OF ZETA The game of "Zeta" is based on a simple type of idea which can be played in two or three ways. For ordinary purposes Zeta is played on the 8 x 8 chessboard. The elementary form of Zeta is played in the following manner:- A player has eight pawns which he initially arranges on the squares of his rear or base row. A pawn can move any number of squares in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal direction like the queen in chess. A pawn, however, may cross only over empty squares in its move to some vacant position. Pawns have no capturing power whatever. 5. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 6] The aim of a player in Zeta is to form a straight line with five of his pawns; and this may be horizontal, vertical or diagonal. The positions where such a "line of five" (or zeta) may be formed are subject to certain limitations. If this line is horizontal then the player is forbidden to form his five pawns into a row in his own half of the board; such a horizontal line of five is thus valid for victory in Zeta only if it has been formed in the opponent's half of the board. In the case of a diagonal line of five, it is necessary that three of the five pawns forming this line shall lie in the enemy half and only two of them lie in the player's own half. The same restriction of position applies, of course, in the case of a vertical (or column) line of five. Naturally, four of the five pawns may be in the enemy half and only one in the home half. A player is forbidden to form a line of six or more. A pawn when it has once been moved into the enemy half of the board cannot return to the player's own half. White begins the game; and his first move must be to advance a pawn from his base row into the enemy half of the board. Black's first move is also to play one of the black pawns into white's half. For "short games" the aim of a player can be reduced to forming a straight line of four pawns instead of five for a win in Zeta. Another manner of playing Zeta is the following. A pawn can advance any number of squares either straightforward in its column or cornerwise forward. When a pawn reaches the opposite base row it remains immobile there until the game is ended. Instead of eight pawns, a player can have in his base row the normal eight pieces in chess, namely, king, queen, two bishops, two knights and two rooks. Each piece moves in its own usual manner, but no capturing of pieces is permitted, of course, in Zeta. A king is naturally regarded as an ordinary piece. White's first move is to advance his queen into the opponent's half of the board, and black's to advance a bishop or rook or the queen into white's half. Once a piece is moved into the enemy half, it cannot return to its own side of the board. 6. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 7] The aim of a player is to form a straight line with five of his chessmen, three of which must be in the opponent's half if this line is diagonal or vertical (column); but all five must be in the enemy half if this is horizontal. The special form of this Zeta game is that the player's king must be one of his five pieces forming the straight line for victory. MEDDLERS CHESS GAME For playing the game of Meddlers Chess, the ordinary set of chessmen are initially arranged on the 8 x 8 board in the usual formation. The pieces and pawns on the Queen-side of a player's force must, however, be clearly distinguished from those standing on the Kingside of his force. Such difference between the Queen- side and Kingside pieces can easily be shown by using larger sized pieces and pawns for those set on the Queenside, or by placing coloured elastic bands (or tape) round each of the pieces on the Queenside. At each turn of play in Meddlers, a player has to make not just one move as in ordinary chess but two moves. For the first of his two moves he simply plays one of his Kingside pieces, but for the second he must "meddle" with the opponent's men on the board. This means naturally that for his 2nd move of that turn he has actually to play one of the enemy pieces!! The player is strictly limited to playing only Queenside men (and pawns) in the hostile force, never playing Kingside pieces in that enemy force. (This rule is the reason, of course, why Kingside and Queenside pieces must be clearly distinguished, to avoid confusion in play). A player aims to checkmate the enemy king as well as he can under the rule or restriction in Meddlers, that he cannot move any of his own Queenside men to assist in checkmating that monarch. As a form of compensation, however, the player is able to move enemy Queenside pieces to positions where they will give the least trouble. When the player's king is in check, he must destroy that check on his first move; and he is thus obliged to move his checked monarch out of that danger or to move one of his Kingside pieces for that purpose. 7. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 8] A player can capture one of his own men when moving an enemy Queenside piece, it is obvious!! He may also advance an enemy Queenside pawn into his own back rank where it must be promoted to queen. When the player moves an enemy Queenside piece, he can expose the enemy king to check. A simple variation of Meddlers Chess is that a player may "meddle" with any pawn in the enemy force, but not with enemy pieces proper. If the player is unable to move any of those enemy pawns, he is permitted to play the enemy king instead! CHESS TWEEDLE The ordinary form of chess is very frequently regarded as being the dogmatic orthodoxy for the chess game. The idea of Tweedle is that form which I have created to be my idea of the logical and complete, perfect and ideal orthodoxy in chess. The reason for the special name Tweedle will be clear later from the description of my idea. The basis of "ordinary orthodox chess" gives to each player a pair of Rooks, a pair of Bishops and a pair of Knights or Horsemen. One Rook is thus matched and balanced by the other Rook of the same colour; this is also true for the Bishops, of course, and the Horsemen. Balance and symmetry are logical as well as aesthetically ideal, from the view-point of design, shape and structure for a game-idea. Even a pawn is symmetrically placed, balance by some other pawn of its own colour, so that pawns are really in "pairs." Where a player thus has "pairs" in his force of Rooks, etc., why in the very name of the Spirits of Reason and Imagination, should the player have only one Queen in his force? It is obvious that the natural completion and logical perfection of the orthodoxy in chess requires that the player must have a 'pair' of Queens in his force to harmonize with his other pairs of chessmen which he has already in the ordinary game of chess itself. A second Queen in the player's force will add enormous scope for possible combination and will greatly multiply the power of attacks generally. The fluid character of positions will naturally increase through the great mobility contributed by the second Queen on each side. These four Queens together 8. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 9] must create play of very vigorous action. The further natural development of this essential principle of "pairs" of pieces leads to what the ordinary ortho- dox may find startling in my Tweedle idea for the pure form of dogmatic orthodoxy in chess. This is that the player must like- wise have a pair of Kings, one King being matched and balanced by the other King of his force. One is,as it were, Tweedledum to the other being Tweedledee! In this chess idea, the two white monarchs, who must obviously be named the King Tweedledee and the King Tweedledum, share the kingship in the white realm, just as their rival pair of Tweedle monarchs share in the black. Naturally the two Tweedle kings in the same force are exactly the same in status and in dignity; and equally have the same vital role to play during the conflict between the two colours. This basic feature in Chess Tweedle that a player has now two vital centres at which he can strike in the enemy camp, will doubly sharpen the dangers inherent in any attacks and doubly increase the troubles in defence of the Tweedle pair. It is understood that the protections for both Tweedle monarchs in the player's force are equally essential and vital. In the Tweedle game, a player is defeated immediately one of his Kings (Tweedle) is properly checkmated in orthodox fashion by enemy pieces. The checkmate of one of this player's Tweedles is at once destruction for its fellow Tweedle, as they share jointly the victory or disaster resulting from the struggle. For playing Tweedle on the decimal (10 x 10) board, a player has twenty pieces, having a second Queen and second King added, with the corresponding pawns, to the normal force of sixteen chessmen. The ten pieces proper are arranged symmetrically in the player's back rank in this manner R-H-B-K-Q; Q-K-B-H-R; the ten pawns occupying the rank immediately in front. Sudden switching of attack from one enemy King Tweedle to the other can deeply complicate difficulties for the protection which the opponent must carefully provide for both. It is even possible that a player may have to face the terrible menace where check is made simultaneously on both of his monarchs by a single enemy. If he is to save his game, then this player so doubly checked must obliterate the check against each Tweedle; in which terrible situation the only saving defence is to capture that foe checking, if such escaping move happily exists. 9. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 10] In the strict Tweedle idea it is proper that the initial formation of a player's pieces should be completely symmetrical. His two Tweedle Kings, one on each wing, must be identically situated and protected at the commencement of play itself. From both the offensive and defensive aspects of play, logical perfection demands totally that the opening formation should begin with abso- lute equality for all four Tweedle Kings engaged in their struggle. It is only play which ought justly to create serious inequality later in the game between the player's two kings regarding their individual defence. The player, when one of his Tweedles becomes heavily attacked, will probably be obliged to stiffen this king's protection by withdrawing pieces away from the defence of the other Tweedle, so leaving the latter at greater risk if the opponent swiftly changes his attack on to the latter and away from the king first attacked. Symmetrically placed, the Tweedle monarchs are ideally balanced, so that no Tweedle begins under the slightest disadvantage in defence compared with the others. Tweedledum is no easier to deafeat than his companion Tweedledee. THE BASIS OF TRISCACIA The game to which I have given the name "Triscacia" is my special idea for a reasonable form of chessery in which three persons play the game together as three truly independent players, each trying to win for himself alone. In the old-fashioned way of playing the three-handed game, the play is supposed to proceed until one of the three opponents is crushed, after which the two remaining merely continue the game very much like the game for two players. That old method becomes just "a degenerating reduction" into the ordinary chess for two. My idea of Triscacia is, on the contrary, a true three-handed variant from start to finish. The result in Triscacia is decided by the first checkmate, so that all three players are actively engaged in the struggle until the final move is made. The basic rule in Triscacia is: A player can check his lefthand opponent's king, but is strictly forbidden to put his righthand adversary's monarch into any kind of check whatever. 10. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 11] As a preliminary point, the three distinguishing colours will be Blue, Green and Red with the order (rotation) of turns to the left being B-G-R, and with the first move itself in the game being made by Blue. In accordance with the basic rule stated, Blue will, for example, be required to direct his real attacks on his lefthand opponent Green; but the latter (Green) must check, not the blue king, but the red king. By the same rule, Blue has to suffer the attacks of his righthand adversary Red, on whom, of course, Blue is very strictly forbidden to retaliate by checks on the red king in any manner whatever. Green has to suffer the checks of Blue, and Red the checks of Green. Obviously one consequence of the basic rule is that a player cannot check his lefthand opponent's king if such a move would create check on his right opponent's monarch at the very same time. A certain situation which perhaps needs some clarification is the following:- Suppose that some piece of a player shields the king of his righthand opponent from check by a piece belong to his left- hand opponent. For example, blue knight on square d3, green rook on h3 and red king on a3. In this position Blue find his knight interposing between the green rook and the red monarch in the same rank. By the basic rule of Triscacia blue cannot here move his own knight for such would expose the red king to that green rook's check. In this particular case, the blue knight is "pinned" as it were by the green castle against the red monarch. Even in a situation where the player is defending his own king against any type of checks he must not break the basic rule. For example, blue king on square a3 and blue bishop on d1; green rook on square g1, with red king on a1 and red rook on h3. Here the red rook (h3) checks the blue monarch (a3) but even so Blue cannot play his bishop to square b3 (to cover up the attack on his own king by the red rook) because such move would at once expose also the red monarch to check from that green rook. Another case of possible ambiguity is where some piece of a player shields his left opponent's king from check by a piece which belongs to his right opponent: how will the basic rule of Triscacia operate here? 11. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 12] For example, blue knight on square d2 is interposing as a shield between the green king on a2 and a red rook in h2. Here the question at issue is whether Blue may move his knight so as to expose that green monarch to the red rook's check. As really the aim of blue in Triscacia is to defeat his lefthand opponent (Green), then Blue can quite justifiably use checks given by red chessmen against the green king to hel him (Blue) towards trying successfully to achieve such aim. Consequently, it is understood that a player can make a move (or take) exposing his left opponent's king to check by some piece which belongs to his right opponent; and such play can even involve direct checkmate of that monarch. The following is an example:- Position: Blue king on square d1. Green king on h1 and green knight on d3. Red king on square h3 and red rooks on a1 and d8. Here blue plays K - d2 moving his own king out of check by red rook at square a1, but at the same checkmates the green king. It is, of course, forbidden for Green to play his knight to c1 or to e1 because that would expose the monarch of his right- hand opponent (Blue) to check by the red rook at d8; and naturally the green king's own moves to g2 or h2 would put him into the red king's field of checking. Consequently here has Blue checkmated the green king without involving checks form any pieces of his own blue force!! To begin the game Triscacia, the three players in rotation place their pieces one at a time on empty squares of the board. The order in which each puts his own chessmen is not fixed unless agreed beforehand. One method of placement is that Blue puts his pieces in the area marked out on the ordinary board by a1 - a3 - h3 - h1 (an area of 24 squares); Green in the area of it marked out by a4 - a8 - d8 - d4 (comprising 20 squares); and Red places his pieces in similar area e4 - e8 - h8 - h4. The kings can be placed in definite position, which are blue king on square d1; the green on b7; and the red on g7. A player has only three pawns besides his eight pieces proper. Pawns remain on their squares until captured, or until a player loses his queen,after which one of the pawns is converted into queen. 12. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 13] Triscacia is played on the decimal or 10 x 10 board in similar manner. THE ALICE CHESS GAME The reader familiar with Lewis Carroll's two stories about the young maiden Alice will remember that in the second story "Through the Looking-glass" Alice enters into the world of chessmen and thus becomes involved in a very strange game. This fantasy inspired me to the creation of a curious form of chess to which the name of "Alice" has therefore been given. Just as Alice encounters strange situations by passing through that magic looking-glass from reality to its reflection, so for Alice Chess a strange game is created by playing it on two separate boards!! One board being as a looking-glass to the other board as it were, the resulting play is a game which has a character as fantastic perhaps as Alice's own game in "Through the Looking-glass." The two chessboards used in Alice Chess are placed side by side between the two opposing players. At the start of play the pieces of both players are arranged in the normal manner on one of the two chessboards, termed Board A; the other, termed Board B, is, of course, unoccupied by pieces initially. The basic rule of the game Alice Chess is this: After a player has moved one of his pieces, whether it is a simple move or a take, this piece played cannot remain on that board where it has just been moved, but at once must be transferred to the corres- ponding square on the other board. Any piece moved in Alice Chess thus vanishes strangely off its board to appear suddenly on the other board, magically out of thin air like the Cheshire Cat!! For this special move to be "legal" the corresponding square to which the piece is transferred on the other board must be vacant. If that corresponding square should be occupied, even by an enemy, then the whole movement is forbidden, as such trans- fer of the piece played is compulsory. Naturally, the piece must make a legal move or take on its board before it is transferred to the other board. For example, it is a basic rule that the king may never move to a checked square on his board, even though the transfer to the other board immediately afterwards might actually move the king to a safe square there free from check. 13. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 14] The ordinary notation requires no alteration for this Alice Chess. The move P - K4 for instance simply implies that the K pawn makes the proper advance to square K4 on its own board and immediately transfers to the corresponding square K4 on the other board. The regular opening of (1) P - K4, P - K4 will, for example, leave the two kings facing one another in open file on their board (that is Board A) as their pawns are now on the other (Board B) the one initially empty of pieces. A piece attacks or checks only squares of the board on which it is actually standing and it does not attack and check their corresponding squares on the other board. This particular point follows from the rule that any pieces should be transferred only to the corresponding squares on the other board if these are not occupied at the time. A brief examination of what happens when the popular opening in ordinary chess of (1) P - Q4, P - Q4 is played in the Alice game, may indicate a little of the strangeness of my idea. After that opening, white plays Q x Q!! It will be noted that the white queen cannot be captured by the black king, as she has been transferred to square Q8 on the Board B after she captured the black queen. Moreover, the white queen (on Q8 of Board B) is not checking the black king though in one sense they are on adjacent squares!! Another brief example of an opening in Alice Chess (1) P - KR4 Kt-KB3 and white plays (2) R x P but black retorts with Kt x R. Obviously, the ordinary notation does not require the further mention of the particular board on which a piece is standing, because one in a pair of corresponding squares must at least be unoccupied. Naturally, a piece which has moved an even number of times in play is on Board A (its original board) and a piece which has moved an odd number of times is on the other Board B, the initially empty board. The checkmate of the enemy king is orthodox as far as possible, but the rules of this Alice idea can bring certain unpleasant surprises for the player whose king happens to be hard pressed. Though a king checked may be able safely to move out of that check on his board, he may nevertheless find his escape route barred on the other board, because either the corresponding square on that board is already occupied or else it under attack from an enemy piece on that board. 14. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 15] The player will frequently find as illusion due to his customary interpretation of some chess position on a single board. He may think,quite unconsciously, that one of his pieces is really protected by another on the same board - just from mere habit!! In the Alice idea of chess it is not the actual square on which a piece stands that needs guarding, but it is the corresponding square on the other board that needs guarding; for an enemy will, after seizing that piece, transfer to this corresponding square. The opening (1) P - KR4, P - K4 (2) R x P will illustrate the illusion of the black King's rook guarding the pawn before him. The black rook cannot take the white rook in retaliation as these two rooks are now on opposite boards. However, in the opening (1) P - KR4 Kt - KB3, clearly the black knight guards the square corresponding to that on which the threatened pawn is standing; and consequently, if white plays R x P then black will sharply answer Kt x R. When a player wishes to interpose a piece between his king checked and the foe that is checking, he may forget that his pieces on the same board as his king are useless for such a purpose. For this intervention he must find a piece on the other board able to move there legally and then to transfer to a position between the king and that checking enemy piece. The Alice game is really a pair of complementary positions. It resembles the task of a painter who has a pair of uncompleted paintings on which he is working, simultaneous; and when the artist has decided to paint a certain detail on one of the pair of pictures, he is obliged by his task to paing that detail exactly as it ought to be, not on that truly proper for it, but in the same spot exactly on the other picture. Fool's Mate in Alice Chess style. (1) P - K4, P - Q4 (2) B - K2, P x P (3) B - Q Kt5 and the black king is now fixed in an "Alice checkmate." Here it will be seen that the move Q - Q2 (as well as B - Q2) fails to intervene as the Q (or B) would be transferred to the other board, while still leaving their king in check to the white bishop. Naturally, the move K - Q2 is forbidden because the black king would break the basic Alice rule that he must make a legal orthodox move before being transferred to the other board. 15. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 16] THE IDEA OF GRYPHON CHESS For the fancy and fun of the Gryphon game, the pieces of ordinary chess are arranged on the board in their usual formation, but kings are omitted. The basic idea in this chessery is that when a piece moves, it not only changes its squares, but also its very nature at the same time, because it is "compound monstrous and complex," or in other words, it is Gryphonic. If a player advances one of his pawns, on its new square it becomes a completely new piece, namely a knight!! Should he move one of his knights, this piece becomes on the new square a bishop. In like fashion, a Gryphonic bishop changes into a rook and a Gryphonic rook into a queen. Finally, on moving to a new square, the players' queen changes her gender and becomes this player's King!! Briefly, the rule of Gryphon promotion or change in pieces is: P - Kt - B - R - Q and finally K, the order of change being the ranking of the importance of the chess pieces themselves. It wil be seen at once that a Gryphon pawn reaches the status of kingship in five moves, wheras a Gryphon rook does so in two. When having at last attained kingship, a Gryphon remains a king until the end of the game. In consequence, a player may find himself in time the proud possessor of several kings. If one even of those kings is checkmated, then the game will, of course, be lost to their player. The aim of early play is to attempt to force the opponent to be the first to promote a Gryphon queen to kingship. Naturally, a player will not capture the enemy queen, neither will he desire to move his own (initial) queen to provide the necessary vital target for his opponent to win by its checkmate. Perhaps the player of Gryphon may follow rigidly the theory: to play only pawns until they all become knights; next to play only knights until these are all changed into bishops; etc. One result might thus be that each player might have 15 queens on the board, but nothing else!! The reader may complain that several extra boxes of chess- men will be needed for Gryphon in actual play. To keep the spirit of the Gryphon idea, however, is the true purpose here; hence a limitation on the number of pieces of the same sort actually on 16. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 17] the board is imposed on each player's force of chessmen. If not more than four rooks, four bishops or four knights in action are permitted to the player, then only one extra box of pieces will be required for this game of Gryphon. Two queens are the limit for a player. Clearly, interest in this variation arises from the deliberate scheming by each player to remain in his "kingless state" up to the longest time possible. The aggressive player will, however, see no real excuse for delaying the entry of kings into the battle, and will no doubt demand their presence on the board from the start. In my other form of Gryphon, such a player's wish is granted!! For this second variant of Gryphon Chess the sixteen pieces (including the king) of each player are arranged in their usual formation on the board. In this new idea of Gryphon, a queen on moving does not change into a king but changes into a pawn. The pieces are now "circular Gryphonic" in character, and in consequence a piece may change twice (or even more times) through the change order of Q - P - Kt - B - R - Q - P. The restriction that a player cannot have more than four rooks, four bishops or four knights, or two queens, on the board should also be imposed for this Gryphon game. The simplified form of Gryphon is played as follows: a player has only his king and eight pawns on the board. The pawns change through the regular Gryphon order and terminate in kingship. Until a player has captured an enemy piece, he is forbidden to move his king sideways or backwards. Gryphonic pieces are also termed "complicacious" in Alician Chess. ROYAL FURY Duffers and Masters in the coming Millennium will certainly require a truly futuristic idea to play in chessery. It is proper and right that a new idea should be introduced for a chessical game of great logical skill to be played by futuristic minded Duffers and Masters, to welcome 2000 A.D. and beyond!! The new idea must be challenging to the spirit of adventure and imagination of players in a far higher degree than can present- day ideas of chessery. The range and variety in this new idea 17. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 18] must be astronomical in comparison with the present ideas. It must be designed in a reasonable and practical scale. The final part of this booklet is concerned with the new idea which I have created to be what may be called "Futuristic Chessery Game." Essentially the new idea must be based on a larger scale than ordinary chess. The board of play must therefore be larger than the ordinary chessboard, and the number of pieces needed more than the number involved in normal chess. The new idea of Royal Fury is based chiefly on pieces fundamentally distinct in modes of attack from each other. Such distinctions creat new types of play in a "deeper sense" than the difference between rook and bishop, for example in ordinary chess. The 24 pieces used for the Royal Fury Game are initially arranged on the decimal board in the manner shown below A A A A A A A A M X D J J D X M G H C F F C H G The extreme left and right files are not occupied at the start. The Advancer can advance on square at a time, either cornerwise forward or straightforward in its file or column. It can capture a foe in front (cornerwise and straight) by occupying the adjacent square of that foe. If the Advancer can cross into the enemy half it can be promoted to J. The Jumper has the skew jump of the knight (horseman) in ordinary chess. The Gorgon can move any number of unoccupied squares in the same diagonal, horizontal or vertical direction, and can take a foe in her path by occupying its square. In addition to these, the Gorgon has a very curious power; she can "petrify" any hostile piece on which her gaze falls directly as it wer. This means, such enemy so petrified by the Gorgon is completely unable to move (or take) as long as it is facing the gaze of this Gorgon whether adjacent or in open line. 18. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 19] Should later this Gorgon move to a new position where she no longer gazes on that foe, then naturally that foe becomes quite free to move and take once again in its own proper manner. If some piece, whether friend or foe, happens to come between the Gorgon and her "petrified" foe. such spell is, of course, broken and so that foe regains its freedom of normal move. As the Gorgon can both petrify and take a foe, her power in this game is very terrible but there are several ways in which the Gorgon can be counteracted. When the situation arises where the Gorgon is directly gazing at the enemy Gorgon then it results logically that both these rival Gorgons are mutually petrified, neither being able to mover from her position, even to take. In such a situation, even though the two opposing Gorgons have petrified and immobilized one another, each of them will still petrify any hostile piece adjacent or in open line with her gaze. One vulnerable spot in the Gorgon's power is that the jumper can capture this monster for obviously the jumper by his skew jump (chess knight) movement in taking the enemy Gorgon is not in open straight line with that piece at the start of such chess kinght type capture. The Ximaera (or Chimaera) moves like the Gorgon, any distance orthogonally or diagonally when changing position. The Ximaera cannot take any hostile piece but she has a special power instead. When the Ximaera appears to be attacking like the Gorgon at some foe, this Ximaera can interchange position with the foe concerned. That is, the Ximaera can occupy her victim's square, not making a capture but instead forcing her victim to transfer to that very square which the Ximaera as herself just quitted. The Ximaera of opposing forces are not, of course, able to capture each other but they are, of course, able to force interchange of squares. The Dragon moves like the Gorgon and the Ximaera, any number of empty squares either diagonally, horizontally or verti- cally. The Dragon can capture an isolated foe in her path by leaping over that foe to some vacant square on the other side of her capture along the same straight line or direction. (The 19. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 20] Dragon may be separated from her foe by one or more empty squares.) If the Dragon by so capturing one foe comes to a square from which she can take another isolated foe, the Dragon may continue to take. In this manner the Dragon can capture as many hostile pieces as she wishes. There is no compulsion in this game, however, on Dragons to take or to continue such taking. Naturally the Dragon cannot continue taking if she leaps over some foe (to take it) into a square at which she becomes petrified by the enemy Gorgon. It will be seen that the Gorgon is not vulnerable to the Dragon's capturing power at any time. Dragons can capture Advancer, Jumper, Ximaera and Dragon. The Capricorn moves like the Gorgon, Ximaera, Dragon, any distance diagonally, horizontally or vertically to change position. The Capricorn may move only across vacant squares, and only into an empty square. The take of the Capricorn differs completely from those of the Gorgon and Dragon. The Capricorn can capture a foe by "charging", that is, by moving to some square that is situated adjacent to that foe. If this Capricorn should move to a vacant position adjacent to several hostile pieces, then all these foes are captured at the same time. Besides the chess knight moving Jumper in this game, the Capricorn is another piece able to capture the Gorgon in the enemy force. The Capricorn can reach a square adjacent with that of the enemy monster (Gorgon) to make its charging attack, provided that the two foes are situated in neighbouring files, ranks or diagonals. (In the same open file, of course, the Capricorn would be "petrified" by that Gorgon's gaze). The Harpy moves like the Gorgon, Ximaera, etc., any number of empty squares along a diagonal, horizontal or vertical direction. The special take of the Harpy is that this Fury piece can take any hostile piece in the same orthogonal or diagonal line as herself by occupying that foe's square, provided that between this Harpy and that foe there is some other piece intervening, whether friend or hostile being immaterial. For example, the Harpy on square a1 and the enemy on a4; if some other piece is between them (on a2 or a3) then the Harpy 20. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 21] can "fly over" the intervening piece and take that foe (on a4) by occupying it square. When there is no piece between the Harpy and its foe then the Harpy naturally has no attack on that foe. Should two or more pieces intervene between the Harpy and the foe, likewise there is no capture. The Harpy can obviously capture the enemy Gorgon, provided that a piece is intervening,for such intervening piece acts as a cover against the petrifying gaze of that hostile Gorgon on this Harpy. The Mimotaur (the spelling is correct as the name of this Fury monster) has the same move as the Gorgon, Ximaera, etc. The Mimotaur has no specific take of its own; but has the special power to capture a foe in exactly the fashion as that foe itself would attack the Mimotaur concerned. The characteristic power of the Mimotaur in this game is to "mimic" the attacking power of each type of enemy piece. The Mimotaur can capture an Advancer only if it is adjacent in front (straight or cornerwise) of that Advancer. Should the Mimotaur be adjacent at the side or rear of the Advancer, it cannot, of course, take that Advancer because there is no take for the Advancer in such positions which this monster could mimic in reply. In capturing the hostile Dragon, naturally the Mimotaur takes by leaping over that Dragon and against the enemy Capricorn, the Mimotaur can "charge" by moving to a square adjacent to that Capricorn for its capture. Lacking any specific attacks (or takes) of their own, it results consequently enemy Mimotaurs have no power at all to capture each other. Though the Ximaera cannot take, she can interchange positions with a foe; accordingly the Mimotaur is able to "mimic" the hostile Ximaera by interchanging squares in a position where that Ximaera could herself interchange squares with the Mimotaur concerned. Naturally in its power to "mimic" the enemy Gorgon, the Mimotaur will petrify that hostile monster when they stand in open line or are adjacent with each other. (A player can use his own Mimotaur thus, as a means of counteracting the enemy Gorgon). The Mimotaur can capture the enemy Jumper only by taking it with the chess knight form of taking which is characteristic of the Jumper. 21. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 22] Finally, the Mimotaur can take the hostile Harpy if between them there is some piece intervening over which the Mimotaur can "fly" to capture that Harpy by occupying her square. Now it is necessary to explain the "crowning" fundamental piece in my idea for which the other pieces had first to be described. The Star, the supreme glory of my idea,is the Fury!! The mighty Fury is the futuristic monster combining the powers of the Gorgon, Dragon and other pieces into one Supreme Terror. The Fury can take like Gorgon, Dragon, Capricorn, Harpy and Jumper; can interchange squares like Ximaera; and when not taking can move like Gorgon and Jumper; and all this enormous power of the Fury is totally her own power. The Fury is also the Royal piece. The capture of the enemy Royal Fury is consequently the supreme task of the player's attacking; and the guarding of his own Royal Fury against capture by his opponent is the supreme task for his defending. In certain situations the Mimotaur may clearly get the chance to capture the enemy Fury by using the Capricorn, Harpy or Jumper type of take; here naturally in mimic of such Harpy, Capricorn or Jumper power which that enemy Fury herself can use. Having the power of the Gorgon to petrify, consequently one Fury can petrify another Fury when they are adjacent or in open line orthogonally or diagonally. However, the Fury is able to capture the enemy Fury with the take of either the Capricorn, Harpy or Jumper. Through her possession of the Dragon's power, consequently the Royal Fury can, in the same turn, capture several foes as would the Dragon in like situation. When the Fury, in capturing a foe by occupying its square, moves adjacent to one or more other hostile pieces, they are, of course, captured at the same time; by reason that this Fury has "charged" at them, using her power as Capricorn for such capture. When the Fury captures (like the Dragon) by leaping over her captive and lands adjacent to other foes, they are also captured, as in the preceding case, by "charging." 22. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 23] Each player has two Royal Furies in his force. In the strict game of Royal Fury, it is necessary for victory that the player must capture both of the hostile Furies, without losing one of his own in such battle. (The game is drawn, however, if each player loses one of his Furies.) The simple method for making a set of pieces for Royal Fury is to cut out suitable square (or round) pieces of cardboard (or wood) and to mark, in one of the two colours chosen for the opposing forces, the capital letter of the name of that particular piece which the square (or round) of cardbaord (or wood) repre- sents in that colour. The board of 100 squares (10 x 10) required for playing Royal Fury is easily marked out on a large square sheet of stiff paper (or cardboard) the 100 spaces into which this board os divided being of suitable size to accomodate the square pieces comfortably. The variants of Chessery in this booklet are based on certain of my Alician (Through the Looking-glass) Chess ideas and themes. "Royal Fury" is the futuristicated idea of "Mad Party" of several Alician creatures!!