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Wand Chess. Pieces have a magic wand, that gives random outcomes.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
James Hutchings wrote on Sun, Mar 31, 2019 05:09 PM UTC:

"White has Ke4, Black has Ke6; if both Kings are fast, whoever moves can capture the other King (somebody made an illegal move, otherwise this position could not have happened);"

I think this could arise legally: someone uses an unidentified wand on one of the Kings, and it turns out to be a Wand of Speed.


Michael Nelson wrote on Tue, Jul 21, 2015 12:10 AM UTC:
The rules as given make the answer to the first question clear: checkmate ends the game immediately (if the checkmating move is legal) per the FIDE rules which apply to this game unless otherwise stated; so what would have happened after is irrelevant. Win for the checkmating player.

The second is unclear--an already stoned piece ignores the effect of being zapped, but does stoning undo the effect of a wand which the piece had been zapped with on a previous turn? This is not limited to the sickness case. For example, does stoning a pacifist piece allow it to resume capturing after the stoning wears off?

I would answer no to the second question, but am far less sure than in the firs question that my understanding of Ralph Betza's intent is correct. If my interpretation is correct, a stoned King will die at the appointed time, as it is now immune to a wand of healing--so the only recourse available to the king's owner is to checkmate, stalemate, or create a second king before the king dies.

Julian Lin wrote on Tue, Jul 14, 2015 12:07 PM UTC:
If the King is checkmated, but the other king will die from sickness on that move, is it a win or a draw?

Also, if a king which is already sick is stoned, will it still die from sickness?

(zzo38) A. Black wrote on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 03:27 PM UTC:
You can use a heraldic set and d12, perhaps.

Anonymous wrote on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 12:52 AM UTC:
What if the King is checkmated, but zapping a wand might escape the check?

George Duke wrote on Wed, Sep 26, 2007 12:33 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
This is a series of mutators that apply to almost any other set of rules, and we shall use some in '91.5 Trillion...' for one place. Ralph Betza: 'Instead of a normal move, a piece may zap its wand at any neighboring square or itself'. A random number generator(coins, dice) determines which wand is in effect of twelve. 'Twelve' work for dice perfectly, the first shows which of 1-6 or 7-12, and so the chances being equal, the second specifies the exact number. The adjacent target square named, the 12 Wands(effects) may be 1)Teleport the piece there to square of choice 2)Death(capture) 3)Sleep 4)Stoning 5)Sloth 6)Polymorph 7)Demotion 8)Peace 9)Sickness 10)Speed 11)Protection 12)Healing. In a further toss of dice, there is a 1/3 chance of a misfire, meaning no effect and a wasted turn. Once a piece has its wand, it is stuck with it for the game. If a piece has a Speed Wand(10), one of the few favourable, the player probably applies it to itself, in order to move twice, or a different fast piece move once. This one 1996 Betza article is more packed than some entire month's of 'What's New' after 2003. Roberto Lavieri likely got the idea for Reducer(which causes adjacent pieces to be able to move one square only) of Altair, Achernar etc. from these Betza mutators, and there are similarities in other CVs that must have also drawn inspiration here without commenting. Betza recommends an alternative Wand of Invisibility.

Anonymous wrote on Fri, Apr 14, 2006 05:23 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
How about wands of weakness that turn Rooks into Wazirs,Bishops into Ferzes and Knight into there Xiang-Gi cousins?

Charles Gilman wrote on Tue, Jan 6, 2004 09:51 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

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