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This page is written by the game's inventor, Adrian Alvarez de la Campa.

Random Wormhole Chess

In this variant randomly generated "wormholes" affect the movement of pieces in various ways. One result is the possibility to move as if the board was a cylinder.

Setup

The orthodox chess pieces and board, two 8-sided dice (preferrably of differing color) and a set of flat counters (e.g. checkers, poker chips).

Rules

All F.I.D.E. laws apply.

After moving a player rolls the two dice to generate the coordinates of a square. For example, a two and three would stand for the square at the second file, third rank. If vacant, place a counter on the square: a wormhole is created. If the square is occupied by a piece, a counter is placed under the piece: the wormhole will not come into effect until the piece moves to a different square. If the square is already marked by a wormhole, it is removed.

For example: White plays e4, rolls (1,4) and places a counter on a4. Later in the game (1,4) is rolled again, so the wormhole at a4 is removed.

Traversing the Wormholes (The fun part)

For all pieces except the King, a square marked with a wormhole does not exist as a space on the board. A non-royal piece can simply bypass a wormhole and arrive at the next existing square. (The Knight must move an extra Knight's move in the same direction.) When a King moves onto a square containing a wormhole, the wormhole is removed.

Non-royal pieces may also enter a wormhole and exit the next wormhole in the direction of the piece's movement, making it possible to "leap" pieces standing between two wormholes.

With wormholes at b4, d3, e3 and e5, White can now play Pawn takes c4, or Knight to d7 check. Additionally his Pawn can enter the wormhole at e3 and exit the wormhole at e5 to arrive at e6. Note that the black Knight's movement is not affected by the wormhole at b4.

Additionally, wormholes at the edge of the board have a special property. They act as a gateway for pieces passing through them, wrapping the opposite edge of the board around as in Cylindrical Chess.

In this diagram, the womhole at h3 allows the Bishop at g2 to control the a4-e8 diagonal and therefore to check the Black King. Because of the wormhole at f1 the White King cannot castle. If he moved to f1 the wormhole would be removed.



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By Adrian Alvarez de la Campa.
Web page created: 2002-08-31. Web page last updated: 2013-07-21