| In Orphic Chess the objective is checkmate. Pieces and pawns move as in orthodox chess, except that castling doesn't exist. Promotion rules are the same as in orthodox chess. All the pawns are positioned on the third rank, while the rest of the pieces are in the reserve. In the first phase the players take turns to drop pieces anywhere on the board, or on a friendly pawn. In the latter case the removed friendly pawn must immediately be relocated to an empty position, but not beyond the fourth rank, and not on the first rank. The two bishops must be dropped on different colours.
Before the friendly King has been dropped, pieces and pawns may only make capture moves. Hence, in this stage, the pieces cannot move to empty squares. The King can be dropped at any time, however, as long as other pieces remain in the friendly reserve, the King may only be placed on the first rank. If the King is the last piece to be dropped, it can be placed anywhere on the board.
Variants with Elks (see Elk Chess) instead of Rooks have also been implemented, and variants where the King is not restricted to the first rank. The Elk is suitable for this game because, as a drop-piece, it is lethal. |
