Patchanka
DESIGN ON-GOING, NOT READY FOR PUBLICATION Involving pieces not used by the author in his other variants. Several pieces may promote.Setup
Pieces
King: moves 1 step in any of the 8 orthogonal or diagonal directions to an unattacked square. The King is in check if it is attacked by one or several enemy pieces. It is forbidden to play a move leaving one's King in check. The only difference with standard chess is that there is no castling in Patchanka.
Pawn: can move, without capturing, straight forward one square or two squares from its starting position if the interving square is empty. It captures one square diagonally forward. It may also capture and be captured "en-passant" (see below). Almost identical to standard chess, the only difference is related to its promotion (see below).
Soldier: is an "augmented Pawn". It captures 1-square diagonally forward like a Pawn, but moves with no capture either 1-square forward or sideways (left or right). It may also step two empty squares forward from any position on the board. Otherwise, it is identical to the Pawn (same promotion, en-passant capture rules). The soldier is also found in Zanzibar-Maasai Chess and in Bigorra. Betza's notation: fsmWfceFfmnnD
Wildebeest: combines the leaps of the Knight (2,1) and the Camel (3,1). Betza's notation: NC
Okapi: combines the leaps of the Knight (2,1) and the Giraffe (from Grant Acedrex = Zebra) (3,2). Betza's notation: NZ
Bison: combines the leaps of the Camel (3,1) and the Giraffe (from Grant Acedrex = Zebra) (3,2). Betza's notation: CZ
Kirin: combines the steps of the Ferz (1,1) and the leaps of the Dabbaba (2,0). This piece is from Chu Shogi. Betza's notation: FD. In Patchanka, the Kirin may promote (see below).
Phoenix: combines the steps of the Wazir (1,0) and the leaps of the Alfil (2,2). This piece is from Chu Shogi. Betza's notation: WA. In Patchanka, the Phoenix may promote (see below).
Badger: rides diagonally as a chess Bishop or leaps as a Dabbaba (2,0). Betza's notation: BD, hence its name BaDger.
Ram: rides orthogonally as a chess Rook or leaps as an Alfil (2,2). Betza's notation: RA, hence its name RAm.
Begum: mighty piece that combines the powers of the Badger and the Ram. In other words, it combines the moves of the chess Queen and the leaps of the Alfil and the Dabbaba. Betza's notation: QAD. This piece is not present on the initial array, it appears through promotion of Pawns or Soldiers only.
See the Interactive Diagram above and its facilities to illustrate the different moves.
Rules
Several classical chess rules apply here. This includes Pawn's en passant capture, Pawn's initial double step, Pawn's promotion on the last rank at the opposed side of the board (rank 10 for White, rank 1 for Black).
The only difference is that the Pawn may promote to a Begum (of the opposing color) and nothing else.
Notes
Inspired by Compound Chess (Kevin Pacey, 2023)
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 Jean-Louis Cazaux.
Last revised by Jean-Louis Cazaux.
Web page created: 2023-12-31. Web page last updated: 2024-01-26