Chess Variants/Omega Chess

w4 wd <W4   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I W3>   J w3 wd
9 a9 zd b9 rd c9 nd d9 bd e9 qd f9 kd g9 bd h9 nd i9 rd j9 zd 9
8 a8 pd b8 pd c8 pd d8 pd e8 pd f8 pd g8 pd h8 pd i8 pd j8 pd 8
7 a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 h7 i7 j7 7
6 a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 h6 i6 j6 6
5 a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5 i5 j5 5
4 a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4 i4 j4 4
3 a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 h3 i3 j3 3
2 a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 g2 h2 i2 j2 2
1 a1 pl b1 pl c1 pl d1 pl e1 pl f1 pl g1 pl h1 pl i1 pl j1 pl 1
0 a0 zl b0 rl c0 nl d0 bl e0 ql f0 kl g0 bl h0 nl i0 rl j0 zl 0
w1 wl    A<W1  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I    JW2> w2 wl
Initial position of Omega chess

Introduction

Omega Chess is a commerical chess variant played on a 10 by 10 board with additional jumping pieces.

History

Omega Chess was released in 1992 by Canadian Daniel McDonald. One of his major aims with the variant was to equalise the number of sliding pieces and jumping pieces, so he added two new jumping pieces to the traditional piece set, and one was designed to be colourbound as an analogue to the bishop.

The variant has been endorsed by US grandmaster Michael Rohde and the Hungarian Chess Federation, amongst others.

In 2008 Daniel developed an optional extension to Omega Chess named Omega Chess Advanced, which adds two new pieces and several new moves.

Rules

Omega chess is played on a 10 by 10 board, with four additional corner squares positioned diagonally behind the corners of the main board. Unlike most other chess variants White's home rank is given the number zero instead of one. The four added corner squares, called "wizard squares", are notated as (beginning from White's queen's corner square and proceeding counterclockwise) w1, w2, w3 and w4. Despite their unusual position the four wizard squares are considered part of the board and all pieces (except the rooks and pawns) may enter and exit them.

The normal set of pieces is used, and two new pieces are added: the champion and the wizard. Both players have two of these pieces at game start: the champions in the corners, and the wizards in the four wizard squares.

The champion () may jump two squares in any of the eight directions, or it may slide one square horizontally or vertically.

The wizard () may either step one square diagonally or make an extended knight jump: three squares horizontally or vertically, followed by another square at a 90 degree angle.

The movement of pawns has also been enhanced to accomodate the larger board:

  • On its first move, a pawn is allowed to move one, two or three squares forward. After that, it can only move one square.
  • A pawn may capture an enemy pawn en passant if the enemy pawn moves more than one square forward and the pawn can move diagonally to any square the enemy pawn crossed over during its move.
  • A pawn may promote to champion or wizard in addition to the usual options.

All other rules remain the same as standard chess.

Omega Chess Advanced

The rules of the Omega Chess Adanced extension can be added to the game if the players agree on it beforehand. Omega Chess Advanced adds the following rules:

  • A new move is added, called guarding. This is like castling, but it is done with the queen and rook - the queen moves two squares towards the rook and the rook moves to the other side of the queen. Like with castling there may be no pieces in the way and neither the queen or rook may have been previously moved.
  • A new piece is added, called the fool (). Each player starts with one.
    • Unlike the other pieces the fool does not begin on the board at game start. Instead, at any point during the first twenty moves of the game, or when a player's piece is moved for the first time, or when a player's piece makes a capture, the player may place the fool on the square their piece just vacated.
    • When a player castles or guards, the fool may be placed on the previous squares of the king, queen or rook.
    • The fool is also offered as a promotion option for pawns.
    • The fool has a unique method of movement - it copies the movement power of the last piece the opponent moved. So for example, if White moves a bishop, than Black's fool will effectively become a bishop until White moves a different type of piece.
    • The fool has some restrictions on how it may copy piece movements:
      • If the fool is copying a pawn, it can only move one square at a time and cannot promote.
      • If the fool is copying a king, it cannot castle.
      • If the fool is copying a queen, it cannot guard.
      • If the fool is copying the opponent's fool, it copies the piece the opponent's fool is currently copying.
    • When an opponent's pawn promotes, the fool copies the piece the pawn promotes to. If that is fool, the fool copies a pawn.
    • The fool can also jump between any of the wizard squares, provided they are unoccupied.
    • If the movement of a piece would cause the enemy fool to gain a power that places the friendly king in check, the piece will effectively be barred from moving unless it can blcok the check or capture the fool.

The extension also comes with two optional rules:

  • The fool may be given the additional power to immobilise enemy pieces. If the fool ends its move horizontally or vertically adjacent to an enemy piece, the enemy piece will be immobilised and rendered unable to move until the fool moves away or is captured. The immobilisation can be released if a friendly fool moves horizontally or vertically adjacent to the immobilised piece.
  • The two knights can be replaced with templar knights. The templar knight has the same "L"-shaped move as a standard knight, but it can also make a longer leap that takes it three squares and then two at a 90 degree angle. Unlike the normal move this longer move can only be done if the destination square is unoccupied.

Sub-variants

This chess variant does not have any notable sub-variants.

Category:Book:Chess Variants#Omega%20Chess%20
Category:Book:Chess Variants