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Omega Transplant

This page contains one or more presets for playing a game online with Game Courier, an online server for playing Chess variants by correspondence.

Omega Transplant is played identical to orthodox chess except for the addition of new pieces, some modifications to the pawn’s initial moves, extended en-passant rules, flexible castling, and the ninja pawn drop rule.

Click here to play the preset for Omega Transplant

Note that the two ninja pawn icons will disappear after the preset is started. Drop a ninja pawn as follows: e.g. ~P-e2
View Game Logs of Omega Transplant

Example Game : Fools Mate


Piece Movement

The Pawn

The movement of the pawn is identical to its counterpart in standard chess except for the modifications to the initial moves described below:
A pawn situated on the lower half of the board can at any time move forward 1-3 vacant squares to reach the center of the board (rank 5 for white, rank 6 for black). Once the pawn reaches the center row, it can move forward only one square at a time.
Some examples: the white pawn at f2 can start f2-f5 or it can move f2-f4 then f4-f5, or f2-f3 followed by f3-f5, or move f2-g3 to capture enemy piece at g3 followed by g3-g5 next time it moves.
En Passant rules are extended to accommodate this movement, see rules below.

The Ninja Pawn

The ninja pawn possesses slightly different modes of movement and capture depending on which half of the board it is on.

Movement:
The ninja pawn can always move 1 square up or 1 square sideways to an empty square from any part of the board.

When the pawn is situated in the lower half of the board (for White, rank 0-5 and for black 11-6), it can move forward multiple vacant squares (1-3 squares) to reach the middle of the board (rank 5 for White or rank 6 for Black). This move can be done at any time regardless of how many times the pawn has moved.

Once it passes the middle, the ninja pawn can only move 1 square forward at a time, or move 1 square horizontally.

Capture:
Like the standard pawn it can capture one square diagonally up, regardless of which half of the board it is on.
When the ninja pawn is on the top half of board (White rank 6 +, Black rank 5-) , it can also capture one square horizontally.

There is no en-passant. It cannot capture another pawn or ninja pawn via En-Passant nor can any other pawn capture it this way.

Promotion: The ninja pawn promotes on the last row (rank 10 for white, rank 1 for black), to any piece. Promotion to a piece is mandatory so it would cease to be a pawn in the last row.

Dropping:
The ninja pawn is not present at the start at the game and is dropped by the player into the drop zone, which are on each side's 2nd rank. For example, the drop zone for white is from a2-j2 and for black a9-j9 .
The square must be vacant to drop the pawn. You can drop a ninja pawn and move it forward 1-multiple empty spaces towards the center in one move.
You can also drop the pawn and not move it.
You can drop a pawn to check or to checkmate the opposing king. A maximum of 4 ninja pawns can be dropped by each side during a game.
Note that you cannot drop a pawn and then capture with it on the same move. You are only allowed to make an optional forward move

The Wizard Moves/captures like a Camel + Ferz.

The Champion The Champion can move one or leap two steps orthogonally or leap 2 squares diagonally. It can capture by replacement only on the square it lands. It cannot move 1 step diagonally.

Note that the above 2 compound pieces are from Omega Chess. This preset is just an experiment testing how these pieces would play on the new board system developed for Birds and Ninjas, Stealth Ninja Chess and Raptor Chess.

Rules

  1. En Passant: If a Pawn moves two or three squares initially and passes an enemy Pawn on the 4th or 5th rank, it may be captured en passant by the enemy pawn.
    E.g. White pawn on a2 black pawn on b4. White pawn moves a2 - a4 (or a5), black pawn on b4 can capture it as if it had moved to a3.
    Similarly, black pawn on b5 and white pawn moves a2 - a5, then black pawn can capture the white pawn as if it moved to a4. Note in this case the white pawn can still avoid the black pawn by moving to a3 instead.
    If a pawn slides forward 2 squares on its second move, it can also be captured en passant by an opposing pawn on the fifth rank. E.g. white pawn on a3 and black pawn on b5. White plays a3-a5, black pawn on b5 can capture the pawn en passant by moving to a4.
    Capturing en passant is optional unless it is the only legal move available. The capture must be made on the next move.
    Note that en-passant does NOT APPLY to the Ninja Pawn.
  2. Castling: Unlike standard Chess, castling is flexible with the king able to travel 1, 2, 3, or 4 squares towards the rook.
    There are 7 possible castling positions, the most extreme wing castling involves the king relocating to the b or i file. The choice of castling positions will depend on whether it is immediately necessary for the king to be tucked away at the wing or for the rook to be centralized.
    The usual castling criteria apply: No piece can occupy the spaces travelled by the king and castling rook. Cannot castle out of check. King cannot pass over or land on squares attacked by enemy, but rook can.
    1. 1 space transposition - King Side Castling
      White moves King one space from f1-g1 and rook from i1-f1
      Black moves King one space from f10-g10 and rook from i10-f10
    2. 1 space transposition - Queen Side Castling
      White moves King one space from f1-e1 and rook from b1-f1
      Black moves King one space from f10-e10 and rook from b10-f10
    3. 2 space transposition - King Side Castling
      White moves King two spaces from f1-h1 and rook from i1-g1
      Black moves King two spaces from f10-h10 and rook from i10-g10
    4. 2 space transposition - Queen Side Castling
      White moves King two spaces from f1-d1 and rook from b1-e1
      Black moves King two spaces from f10-d10 and rook from b10-e10
    5. 3 space transposition - King Side Castling
      White moves King three spaces from f1-i1 and rook from i1-h1
      Black moves King three spaces from f10-i10 and rook from i10-h10
    6. 3 space transposition - Queen Side Castling
      White moves King three spaces from f1-c1 and rook from b1-d1
      Black moves King three spaces from f10-c10 and rook from b10-d10
    7. 4 space transposition - Queen Side Castling
      White moves King four spaces from f1-b1 and rook from b1-c1
      Black moves King four spaces from f10-b10 and rook from b10-c10
    8. Any other piece can occupy j1, j10, a10 or a1 during castling.
  3. Pawn Promotion: A pawn or ninja pawn must promote to a piece (any piece) once it reaches the last rank.
  4. Ninja Pawn Drop Rule:
    • Each side may drop up to 4 Ninja Pawns ( 1 per turn) in an empty 2nd rank square at any time.
    • Dropping a pawn constitutes a move.
    • If possible, a pawn may deliver check or checkmate when dropped.

Notes

Having used this board system for many of my games, I was always curious about this experiment. Those who play Omega Chess might enjoy the subtle differences that this variant offers.

Below is a list of my games that use this 104 square system:

This 'user submitted' page is a collaboration between the posting user and the Chess Variant Pages. Registered contributors to the Chess Variant Pages have the ability to post their own works, subject to review and editing by the Chess Variant Pages Editorial Staff.


By Charles Daniel.
Web page created: 2008-05-08. Web page last updated: 2008-05-08