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This page is written by the game's inventor, Ralph Betza.

Crowd Chess 2: All Go Together

All Go Together Chess is based on the simple idea that all pieces on the same square share the same fate. Of course, this is already true in FIDE Chess, because in that game only one piece can be on a square; but in a game where multiple pieces, belonging to multiple players, may be on the same square, it is especially interesting.

For example, suppose you are playing All Go Together Chess for Any Number of Players, and on the same square there are a Green piece, a Blue piece, a Fuchsia and an Orange piece, and suppose that you are playing Fuchsia, Green is an ally to you, Orange is a foe, and Blue is neutral. If you capture on that square, you not only capture the enemy piece, but you also capture one of your own, one belonging to an ally, and one that is neutral. An interesting situation, don't you think?

Because crowds are dangerous in this game, the rules about how crowds are formed are permissive:

You may join a crowd or form a crowd by using the capture power of a piece or by using the movement power, at will -- simply move onto an occupied square, and that's that.

This means that you have the choice of refusing to capture, and instead moving onto the same square as an enemy piece and forming a crowd. Notice that if you forsake capture in order to move onto the same square as the enemy piece, and the foe then captures the crowd, the result is exactly the same as if you had captured in the first place, and then been recaptured in the normal way. Situations where you refuse capture and form a crowd will not be common; but they will, as a result of being uncommon, be memorable and enjoyable.

Here is an easy logical puzzle: How can you get a Queen on the same square as the enemy King? It can be done, but you can't just move there because it would have been check....

In this game, you cannot get enemy Kings onto the same square (unless there's a truce). However, for the sake of games where you can, I suggest that the same-square Kings can still be checkmated because the question of capture does not arise; or, if you wish, you can say that the capturing player removes the pieces from the board in whatever order desired, and so there is a threat to capture the enemy King -- the game ends before the player finishes removing all the pieces from the board.

Totally extraneous Spur-of-the-Moment Idea

Somehow it seems right to have a game where the White squares follow the rules of Safety in Numbers and the Black squares follow the rules of All Go Together; and so, I must digress from talking about multiple pieces on one square and start talking about multiple rules on the same board.

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Written by Ralph Betza.
WWW page created: April 23, 2001. Last modified: July 16, 2001.