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This page is written by the game's inventor, David Howe.

Infinite Recursion Chess

This is a variation of my Mega-Chess idea. Instead of all 32 pieces being mega-pieces, why not just one piece from each side? And why not make one of the mega-pieces part of the game that is the other mega-piece? And vice-versa? That's the general idea behind this variant. The description below is for a particular variant of this game in which the Kings' Knights are the mega-pieces, but this could be applied to any piece.

Setup

White's Board:
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| r | n | b | k | q | b | n | r |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| p | p | p | p | p | p | p | p |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| R | N*| B | K | Q | B | N | R |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+


Black's Board:
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| r | n*| b | k | q | b | n | r |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| p | p | p | p | p | p | p | p |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| R | N | B | K | Q | B | N | R |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

N*/n* are mega-pieces.

Pieces

A mega-piece is a piece that is itself another game (a "sub-game").

All the other pieces are as in international chess.

Rules

On White's board, the white player moves first, and the white kingside knight is replaced by a white mega-knight which is the sub-game on Black's board.

On Black's board, the black player moves first, and the black kingside knight is replaced by a black mega-knight which is the sub-game on White's board.


Mega-pieces have different states:

Neutral: the sub-game that this mega-piece is, is not complete. A Neutral mega-piece cannot capture or be captured. It can, however, make non-capturing moves and it does give check.

Armed: the sub-game that this mega-piece is, is complete, and the winning player is the owner of the mega-piece. An Armed mega-piece can capture, be captured, and can give check (ie. it moves as a normal piece).

Disarmed: the sub-game that this mega-piece is, is complete, and is a draw. A Disarmed mega-piece cannot capture, but can be captured and can give check. It can make non-capturing moves.

Frozen: the sub-game that this mega-piece is, is complete, and the winning player is not the owner of the piece. A Frozen mega-piece cannot move, but can be captured. It does give check.


           Capturing   Non-Capturing       Is       Gives
             Move          Move        Capturable   Check
           ---------   -------------   ----------   -----
Neutral       NO           YES             NO        YES
Armed         YES          YES             YES       YES
Disarmed      NO           YES             YES       YES
Frozen        NO           NO              YES       YES


Game play:

White makes the first move on the White board and Black makes the first move on the Black board.

Mega-pieces change states only after the moves on BOTH boards are completed. If both sub-games complete on the same move, mega-pieces do NOT change state.

Subsequent moves are made only when the current move on BOTH boards is complete, or if it is not possible to make a move on one of the boards.

Pawns promote as normal -- they may not promote to a mega-piece.

A sub-game on a particular board is won as in international chess (ie. checkmating the King).

The game is won by either:

1. Winning both sub-games.
2. Winning one sub-game and drawing the other.

The game is a draw if either:

1. Each player wins a sub-game.
2. Each player draws a sub-game.


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 David Howe.
Web page created: 2005-11-20. Web page last updated: 2005-11-20