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This page is written by the game's inventor, Patrik Hedman.

Pawnier Chess

Inspired by "Chessence" and "Wolf Chess".

Setup

Starting position:
								
	K	P	P	P	P	P		
$	$	$	$	$	$	$		
P	P	P						
								
								
								
						P	P	P
		$	$	$	$	$	$	$
		P	P	P	P	P	K	
								
Squares c5, e6, and g7 are blackened out squares and can't be occupied or passed through. They can be jumped, though.

White setup: sergeants on c3, d3, e3, f3, g3, h3, i3; king on h2; pawns on g4, h4, i4, and c2, d2, e2, f2, and g2

Black's setup mirrors white's diametrically.

Pieces

Pawns function differently from most cases. They don't promote.

Sergeants function as in wolf chess. 1 step forward in all 3 directions. Either just by moving or by taking out enemy agents. They can promote.

When promoted to knights, the knight function exactly as knights in orthodox chess. They can move and capture as knights usually do, and they can relay knight powers to pawns located a knight's move away.

Rules

Change of rules from orthodox chess:
¤ The game is played on an 9x11 board instead of an 8x8 board, but 3 squares are missing. Missing squares can neither be occupied nor passed through, but they may be jumped.
¤ There is no castling move.
¤ If a pawn is orthogonally adjacent to a friendly pawn, then both have the ability to move as rooks. If a pawn is diagonally adjacent to a friendly pawn, then both have the ability to move as bishops. If a pawn is a knight’s-move away from a friendly pawn, then both have the ability to move as knights. A pawn with more than one position relationship has the ability to move in more than one way. If a pawn has no position relationship according to the previous, then it can move one step in any of the four orthogonal directions, but it can’t capture any agent or give check. The king and sergeants have no bearing on how the pawns may move. Pawns never promote, but sergeants promote to pawns or knights on the 9th rank (option is open every promotion). Knights relay their way of moving to friendly pawns located a knight’s-move away.
¤ Each of the players has 6 extra pawns beside the board at the start of the game. For a turn, a player may either move one of his/her agents, or alternatively, he/she may place one of those extra pawns on any unoccupied square on his/her first 4 ranks.

(The king functions as in orthodox chess.)


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By Patrik Hedman.
Web page created: 2014-03-16. Web page last updated: 2014-03-16