Colossus
Colossus is a 10x10 board Chess variant in which each player starts off with 10 Pawns, 4 Knights, 4 Bishops, 4 Rooks, 1 Queen and 1 King.
The two armies begin as close to each other as in traditional chess making early tactical attacks just as, or even more, likely.
Setup
White:
King f2; Queen e2; Rook a1, b2, i2, j1; Knight c1, c2, h1, h2; Bishop d1, d2, g1, g2;
Pawn a3, b3, c3, d3, e3, f3, g3, h3, i3, j3.
Black:
King f9; Queen e9; Rook a10, b9, i9, j10; Knight c9, c10, h9, h10; Bishop d9, d10, g9, g10;
Pawn a8, b8, c8, d8, e8, f8, g8, h8, i8, j8.
Initial Setup:
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Pieces
This game utilizes FAST PAWNS!
Pawn Movement:
The Pawn's move is modified slightly to make it stronger and faster. It can move 1 or 2 spaces forward at any time. A Pawn can capture an enemy pawn en passant that made a double space move to bypass it on the previous move. Pawns promote on the last rank to Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Knight.
Rules
Other than flexible castling and faster pawns, the game rules are the same as in orthodox Chess.
Castling:The game utilizes flexible castling, which enables the king and rook to choose from 7 castling positions. The king and rook must be adjacent to each other after castling and the king cannot be in check or pass over attacked squares during castling.
Castling can be done by moving the King 1 to 3 spaces King-side or 1 to 4 spaces Queen-side towards the Rook, and moving the Rook over to the first square on the other side. The most extreme wing castling occurs with the King moving 3 spaces King-side or 4 spaces Queen-side to the Rook's square, while the Rook moves 1 space towards the King. Conversely, the most centralized Rook castling involves the King moving just 1 space words the Rook, and the Rook filling the King's square.
The choice of castling positions depends on whether a centralized Rook or a King tucked away at the wing is more desired. Note that while there are more castling options in this game, there are also more opportunities to not castle at all! Depending on your plans, you might simply choose to move your King to the back rank.
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By Charles Daniel.
Last revised by Greg Strong.
Web page created: 2010-02-10. Web page last updated: 2021-05-15