| In Geminus Chess (Twinmove drop-chess) the objective is to capture the enemy king. Pieces move as in orthodox chess. The pawns also move as in orthodox chess, but have no initial double move. As the pawns are all located on the third rank, they can reach the fourth rank immediately anyway. Castling doesn't exist. In the first phase the players take turns to drop pieces on the board (two moves per turn), either behind the pawn chain, or on a friendly pawn. In the latter case the removed friendly pawn must immediately be relocated to another empty position, that is, somewhere on the second rank. The rooks must only be dropped on the first rank. The two bishops must be dropped on different colours. After all the pieces have been dropped the play begins.
Geminus Chess is a double-move variant. The double-move, after the dropping phase, is constituted by a pawn move followed by a piece move, which is mandatory. There exist two variants of Geminus Chess. In one variant pawn moves are compelled, until there exist no more pawn moves, when the pieces can continue moving without being preceded by a pawn move. Should a pawn become free to move again, it is compelled to move. In the other variant the player may abstain from the pawn move, and instead move a piece, but then he has lost his double-move.
Note that a player, when the king is threatened, can make a pawn move before taking measures to protect the king. He can also make a pawn move that discloses his king to an enemy piece, but he is well adviced to protect his king in the subsequent move. This implementation only allows promotion to queen.
Geminus Chess is a combination of Swedish Chess and Twinmove Chess. In Geminus Chess the 'en passant' capture, the pawn's double step, and castling, are all redundant. The name is inspired by the two-faced Roman god Janus Geminus, and reflects on the ambivalent nature, and two-fold aspects, of this game.
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