Emperor Raumschach is played on a 5x5x5 field between two opponents, White and Black.
- White PAWN steps forward orthogonal or upward orthogonal witout capture. It steps forward diagonal, upward forward diagonal, upward sideway diagonal or upward forward triagonal with capture.
- Black PAWN steps forward orthogonal or downward orthogonal witout capture. It steps forward diagonal, downward forward diagonal, downward sideway diagonal or downward forward triagonal with capture.
- Either PAWN promotes to any of the player's previously captured pieces upon reaching the farthest rank of the farthest level. It may not move onto this rank if there are no pieces available for promotion.
- KNIGHT leaps from the corner cell of a 1x2x3 area to the opposite corner cell.
- BISHOP slides diagonal.
- ROOK slides orthogonal.
- HERALD slides triagonal or leaps as KNIGHT.
- QUEEN slides orthogonal, diagonal or triagonal.
- EMPEROR leaps to any cell on the field. Cannot attack a defended EMPEROR.
The game is won by capturing the opposing EMPEROR.
Emperor Raumschach is a variant of Dr. Fredinand Maack's Raumschach, developed by L. Lynn Smith.
The ability to leap was added to the Unicorn, thus creating the HERALD, increasing the piece's power and freeing it from its triagonal field pattern.
Replacing the King with the powerful leaping EMPEROR reduces the potential for draws and the amount of material necessary to form a mating positon.
The PAWN is allowed its most powerful interpretation, adding the triagonal capture move, assuring the piece with the ability of strong development during the opening game and increasing its chance of promotion, thus such restricted to the recovery of captured pieces.
The win by capture of the EMPEROR is specific to this implementation, checkmate would normally be sufficient.
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