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This page is written by the game's inventor, Aurelian Florea. This game is a favorite of its inventor.

Grand Apothecary Chess-Modern

files=12 ranks=14 symmetry=none holdingsType=1 promoZone=4 promoChoice=!P!X*N*B*C*W*Z*R3*Y3*F3*J3*G2*Q2*D2*L2*T2 graphicsDir=../graphics.dir/alfaerie/ whitePrefix=w blackPrefix=b graphicsType=gif squareSize=54 hole::::a1-l1,,a14-l14 pawn:P:mfW*fceF:pawn:b4-k4,f5,g5,,b11-k11,f10,g10 berolina:X:mfF*fceW:berolinapawn:a4,l4,e5,h5,,a11,l11,e10,h10 king:K:KimbsLimbsN:king:g2,,g13 rook::::a3,l3,b2,k2,,a12,l12,b13,k13:1 queen::::f2,,f13:1 bishop:B:B:bishop:c3,j3,,c12,j12:2 knight:N:NmHmA:knight:f3,g3,,f12,g12:1 wizard:W:FL:mage:d3,i3,,d12,i12 champion:C:WAD:champion:e3,h3,,e12,h12:1 cannon:Z:mRcpR:cannon:a2,l2,,a13,l13 knightrider:Y:NN:nightrider:c2,j2,,c13,j13 sangoma:S:BZ:cardinal1:f1,g1,,f14,g14 vulture:F:afafafsKafsafafKafafraflKafaflafrKafraflafKaflafrafK:bird:b3,k3,,b12,k12 joker:J:fI:fool:e1,h1,,e14,h14 Dragon:D:FyafsF:dragon:d2,,d13 Griffin:G:WyafsW:gryphon:e2,,e13 Lyon:L:DB2afyasfF:lion:h2,,h13 Tiger:T:AR3afafyasfW:tiger:i2,,i13 symmetry=mirror shuffle=G:BD,:BN,GDQ maxPromote=2 royal=3

Setup

The board is 12x12 with 8 brouhaha squares. The ranks are numbered (0),1,2,3,...,11,12,(13) with the parentheses standing for brouhaha squares only. There are in total 14400 initial possible setups. For the purpose of explaining the initial setup pieces are split into 7 categories:

  1. The king - the royal piece of the game. Always starts on  g1 for white and g12 for black.
  2. The regular pawns almost fill up rank 3 for white and rank 10 for black. The exception are the the a and l files.There are also 2 pawns on rank 4 on the f and g files.
  3. The berolina pawns occupy the fields a3,l3,e4 and h4 for white, respectively a10,l10,e9 and h9 for black
  4. The main board fixed pieces. They are four rooks at a2,b1,l2 and k1, two cannons at a1 and l1, and two nightriders at c1 and j1 for white. For black four rooks at a1,b12,l11 and k12, two cannons at a12 and l12, and two nightriders at c12 and j12.
  5. On the brouhaha squares there are two joker at e0 and h0 for white and respectively e13 and a13 for black.Also on the brouhaha squares at f0 and g0 and respectively at f13 and g13 there are two sangomas for each player.
  6. On the fields d1,e1,f1,h1,i1 for white and d12,e12,f12,h12,i12 for black are designated the heavy piece area and are occupied in the initial position at random by a queen, a dragon, a griffin, a tiger and a lyon for each respective player. That leads to 120 possibilities.
  7. At rank 2 for white and 11 for black between files b and k inclusively lies the are where lighter pieces lie. They are arranged in pair symmetrical to the middle of the rank. There are 5 such pieces which are arranged randomly on the right side and then symmetrically on the left side of the rank. These pieces are: the bishop, the vulture, the knight, the wizard and the champion. This also leads to 120 possibilities.

Pieces

The King moves like an orthodox chess King and it is the royal piece of this game.

The Pawn moves like an orthodox pawn. It can promote at the furthest 3 ranks for each player. On the rank closest to the player it promotes to either bishop, knight, vulture, cannon, wizard or champion. On the next rank the pawn can also promote to rook, joker, knightrider or sangoma.  At the furthest rank the pawn may also promote to queen, dragon, griffin, giant or Cyclops.

The Berolina Pawn is a reverted pawn that moves to the 2 forward fields and caputures ahead. Promotion rules are the same as with the regular pawn.

The Queen  is an orthodox chess queen.

The Dragon is a bent rider. It starts the move like a ferz and may stop here or continues toward outside like a rook.

The griffin is a bent rider. It starts the move like a wazir and may stop here or continues toward outside like a bishop.

The Lyon is a bent rider. It starts with a diagonal move of exact 2 spaces (it can stop here  or in the intermediate square) and then continues towards outside like a rook. It may also move like a dabbabah.

The Tiger is a bent rider. It starts with and orthogonal move of exact 3 spaces (it may stop here or in the intermediate squares) and then continues towards outside like a bishop. It may also move like an alfil

The rook is an orthodox chess rook.

The knightrider is a knight that may continue by repeating the first move.

The joker does not  have a move of it's own. Instead it copies the last move of the opponent.

The sangoma is a bishop+zebra(3 2 leaper) compound.

The cannon is the cannon from Xiangqi. It moves like a rook but captures by hoping over a piece called platform.

The bishop is a regular chess bishop.

The Vulture is a path mover akin to the falcon piece in falcon chess, but it's destinations are the 41&43 squares away from the piece.

The knight moves and captures like a regular knight but it can also move (but not capture) with a zebra (3,2) leap.

The champion steps 1 step orthogonally or jumps two steps diagonally or orthogonally.

The wizard steps 1 step diagonally  or leaps like a camel (3,1).

Rules

By far the main difference between the rules of classic chess and the rules of grand apothecary chess-modern is that grand apothecary chess-modern has five instead of three possible outcomes:

1. win - obtained through checkmating your opponent which worths 1 tournament point
2. advantage - obtained through stalemating your opponent or having at least 4 extra points in the points counting process (see bellow); worths 0.75 tournament points
3. draw - obtained through double bare kings or through having at most 3 ahead points in the points counting process (see bellow); worths 0.5 tournament points
4. disadvantage- when your opponent finishes at an advantage; still worths 0.25 tournament points
5. loss - you got checkmated
At any time players may give up (loss) or convene at a draw or advantage/disadvantage.

Point count occurs in two situations:
1. The 150 moves rule takes charge (akin to the 50th moves rule of orthodox chess but after 150 moves) i.e. 150 moves have taken place and no captures or pawn pushes happened.
2. An position has been repeated three times.



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By Aurelian Florea.

Last revised by Aurelian Florea.


Web page created: 2021-01-29. Web page last updated: 2021-03-29

Revisions of MSgrand-apothecary-chess-modern