Oxybeles Chess

This page contains one or more presets for playing a game online with Game Courier, an online server for playing Chess variants by correspondence.

Oxybeles Chess follows the rules of orthodox chess. It is played on the Gustavian board with extra corner squares. The Oxybeles catapult moves like a king, one step in any direction, but it cannot capture in this way. Instead the Oxybeles, when it moves, has the power to sling a piece located behind itself to a forward square in the alignment direction. The slung piece, which can be of any colour, is located immediately behind the Oxybeles, in the opposite direction of the move. This piece can hit an enemy piece in the forward direction, provided that any intermediate squares are empty. If there is no enemy piece then the catapulted piece lands on the remotest square in a series of empty spaces. The Oxybeles's value is the same as a knight (estimate).

The Oxybeles can be used for transporting friendly pieces, attacking enemy pieces, or removing enemy pieces from good positions. Pawns can be catapulted to their promotion square, when they are promoted to queen as only alternative. Pawns cannot be catapulted to the first rank, that is, the second rank is the limit. Kings and rooks retain their castle rights if catapulted away and back, while they haven't moved by their own accord.

Extended castle: when castling the king may jump three squares, but it can also jump two as usual. The rook ends up on its usual square. The extended castling rule makes play on the wings easier to achieve. The king can rapidly take control over the kingside or queenside corner square, and advancement on the wing can occur without putting the king at risk.

Oxybeles ("bolt shooter") : an ancient weapon used by the Ancient Greeks starting in 375 B.C.E. The weapon was basically an oversized composite bow placed on a stand.

In the following preset moves are validated and automated, including catapult moves, castling and 'en passant', but check, etc., are not parsed. Pieces can be moved by pointing and clicking. When promoting a pawn, it will automatically turn into a Queen. Should you prefer another piece then you must type it manually (e.g., add N a8; capture a7). Use small piece-letters for black. E-mails to your opponent are generated, but you can play online by intermittently pressing the browser's update button.

Oxybeles Chess

(You can also download a Zillions

implementation here.)

See also my other Game Courier presets.

This 'user submitted' page is a collaboration between the posting user and the Chess Variant Pages. Registered contributors to the Chess Variant Pages have the ability to post their own works, subject to review and editing by the Chess Variant Pages Editorial Staff.

By M Winther.
Web page created: 2009-06-17. Web page last updated: 2009-06-17