Object: Checkmate the opponent's King.
Ultra Chess is a modern large chess variant of a Standard Chess game. The game rules was invented by Ruggero Micheletto for the 1999 contest of the Large Chess Variants. Full rules description can be found at http://www.chessvariants.com/large.dir/contest/ultrachess.html.
Here the idea of game creation is introduced by its author.
In the past Xianqi had to move from Asia to the Aristocracy in Europe. People of that times felt the necessity to introduce King and Queen to fit the spirit of that age. What they did, was to create nowadays chess as we know it.
In another variant I was considering, I tried to reproduce Xianqi as it was, a War game, with a General (King), two powerful warrior at his side (Queens) and so on.
There is another possibility, I think also reasonable and logical, to introduce the King and Queen as our ancestors wanted. The only way to do that without removing one of the powerful warriors - and then create the nowadays 8x8 chess game - is to leave all the war pieces as they are, and to substitute the single piece general with the two pieces King and a Queen. In this way the board gets 10x10 and everything is symmetric.
For reason of space, the pawns must obviously move more forward, that's why I introduced a 3rd steps forward.
Due to the lot of space the strategy in this variation should be really great, this game should be very open and complex. The player has all the space and pieces to use his creativity.
The Soldiers are introduced, like two modern chess Queens in a 10x10 checkerboard.
Every piece can move one step in every direction (!) I introduced this rule as it is. It is necessary to increase the general power of the pieces. A mere Knight or Bishop in a 10x10 board is easily taken by the opponent team. Things are different if they can move one step in any direction.
This gives a lot of flexibility to pieces movement and equilibrate the super attack power of two Soldier on the board. Just imagine to have a Bishop on a diagonal, and just shift it on another one... a great new potential in gameplay.
The Queen moves only in any direction like her King. That nowadays chess role is taken by the two Soldiers. Her power will appear in the final, where she will follow and protect her King. |
