12 Augmenters Chess
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This was inspired by Ralph Betza's Augmented Chess
Setup
Pieces
The main pieces
The Pawn, Bishop, Rook and King all move as they do in regular chess. Pawns cannot hold any augmenters, while Bishops, Rooks and the King hold one augmenter each.
The Corps (in place of the Knights) cannot move on its own. However, it holds 3 augmenters.
The Regent (in place of the Queen) is a stronger version of the Corps. It holds one augmenter, and two out of three of the following base pieces: Bishop, Knight, Rook.
Finally, pawns promote to Amazons, which combine the Bishop, Knight and Rook but still do not hold any augmenters.
The Augmenters
The augmenters can be split into four categories: Queen line leapers, which move a fixed number of spaces orthogonally or diagonally; half-knights, which have four of the eight Knight moves; partial rooks, which move an unlimited distance but can only go in one direction; and the grasshopper which is in a category of its own.
Queen Line Leapers
- Wazir, moves 1 space orthogonally
- Ferz, moves 1 space diagonally
- Dabbabah, moves 2 spaces orthogonally
- Alfil, moves 2 spaces diagonally
- Threeleaper, moves 3 spaces orthogonally
Half-Knight
- Narrow half knight, moves 2 spaces vertically then 1 space horizontally
- Wide half knight, moves 2 spaces horizontally then 1 space vertically
- Crab, moves forward as a Narrow Half Knight, but backwards as a Wide Half Knight
- Barc, moves forward as a Wide Half Knight, but backwards as a Narrow Half Knight
Partial Rooks
- Lance, moves any number of spaces orthogonally forwards, but can be blocked.
- Side-mover, moves any number of spaces orthogonally sideways, but can be blocked.
Grasshopper
- Grasshopper, moves in any orthogonal or diagonal direction until it hits another piece of either colour, then lands one space beyond that piece. If there is no other piece in a direction, the Grasshopper can't move in that direction.
Rules
Setup Phase
Before the pieces start moving, each side must finish setting up their army. This happens in 5 stages:
- White chooses the two base pieces to place in their regent.
- Black chooses the two base pieces to place in their regent.
- If time control is being used, the clock starts ticking now.
- White places their 12 augmenters on their pieces
- Black places their 12 augmenters on their pieces
Now, white is ready to play the first move.
Gameplay phase
- The rules are the same as those of regular Chess unless stated otherwise.
- Each piece can move using its own basic capabilities or those of the augmenter(s) it has. For example, a Rook with a Ferz as its augmenter would be able to move any distance orthogonally or 1 space diagonally.
- The King can use his augmenter to get out of check, and a King with a Partial Rook augmenter can move through check as long as his destination is safe. However, the usual restrictions on castling still apply.
- Upon reaching the opponent's back rank, Pawns must promote to Amazons; they cannot choose to underpromote.
Notes
Piece values
- Corps: 5 pawns
- Bishop: 5 pawns
- Rook: 7 pawns
- Regent: 10 pawns
- Amazon: 11.5 pawns
Notice that the Regent is worth exactly 2 minor pieces.
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By Andrew L Smith.
Last revised by Andrew L Smith.
Web page created: 2021-09-21. Web page last updated: 2021-10-20