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This page is written by the game's inventor, Abdul-Rahman Sibahi.

Chess with a Fool

To quote : "Fool, Joker, Jester, Buffoon, Clown, Jongleur, Saltimbanco, Mime, so many names throughout the ages have defined this central character of the King's court."

This is an almost modest chess variant . It takes inspiration from Omega Chess Advanced (which add a couple of features to the original Omega Chess, including the immortal piece, the Fool.)

I liked the Omega Chess implementation with regards to the Fool , so this is simply adapting THEIR version of the piece to Standard Chess . Queen guarding isn't included , and neither is immobilization.

Link to Omega Chess Advanced :
http://www.omegachess.com/home.html?action=advanced
All quotes in this page are from that page .

Of course , this way of implementing the fool is more like a mutator than a full blown variant . Please notify me if this has been done in exactly the same way before or if i am infringing any copyright , or something .

I don't claim authorship over this . It should be given to the author of Omega Chess Advanced (I don't know who.)

Setup

Same , old , orthodox chess setup :

   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
8  | r |:n:| b |:q:| k |:b:| n |:r:|
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
7  |:p:| p |:p:| p |:p:| p |:p:| p |  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
6  |   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
5  |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
4  |   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
3  |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |:::|   |  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
2  | P |:P:| P |:P:| P |:P:| P |:P:|  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
1  |:R:| N |:B:| Q |:K:| B |:N:| R |  
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+  
     a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h    

Each player has one Fool in his hand .

The Fool (F) is just another piece . But , as you can see , it doesn't have a proper place in the starting setup , "nor a specific entry time".  Details follow .

Pieces

The Fool , simply put , moves like (or imitates) the piece just moved by the enemy . For example , if the enemy moves the Knight , then your Fool can move like a Knight in the next turn . The next turn , his move changes according to the enemy piece moved .

- A Fool imitating a Pawn may not promote .
- A Fool imitating a Pawn may only move a single square forward (relative to the Fool's color .)
- A Fool imitating a King is not subject to check or checkmate or anything royal , which means it can move to a neighboring cell to the enemy King .
- A Fool imitating a King may not Castle.
- A Fool imitating a Fool moves like the piece the enemy Fool imitated .
- A Pawn may promote to a Fool .
- When a Pawn is promoted , the Fool moves like the promoted piece (if the Pawn promotes to a Queen , the Fool moves like a Queen .) If the Pawn promotes to a Fool , the Fool moves like a Pawn .

Rules

The Fool , having no position in the starting setup , is "dropped" on the board at any time one wishes , following the following conditions :

- One may drop the Fool when he moves a piece , any piece , from its initial position . That includes Pawns and Kings , but not promoted Pawns . It , naturally enough , is dropped on the square just vacated .
- One may drop the Fool during castling . It may be dropped on either the King's square or the Rook's square .
- One may drop the Fool when one makes a capture , placing the Fool on the square the capturing piece just vacated .
- It's preferable , when dropping the Fool , to hold it BEFORE making the move , placing it in place of the piece to move , and moving it to the desired destination . In case of dropping it on the Rook's square in a castling , one might need to announce one is dropping the Fool before moving the King . (This is a deviation from the Omega Chess Advanced rule , but it's just a formality . I think this is more practical .)
- The Fool must be dropped within the first 20 moves of the game . Afterwards , it's too late , one has lost a piece .

Notes

Notation of the piece :

F         : e.g. Fe3 , Fxe3
F-O       : King-side castling with Fool appearing in the King's square
O-F       : King-side castling with Fool appearing in the Rook's square
F-O-O     : Queen-side castling with Fool appearing in the Rook's square
O-O-F     : Queen-side castling with Fool appearing in the Queen's square
[move]*F  : Fool appearing after the first move of a piece or after a capture. Ex: Kg2*F, Qxc6*F, Nxd7+*F

--

The Fool is an interesting piece . Follows are examples of its use and strategy .

Fig. a : Example of Fool droppings for moving from the initial square .

8  r - b q k b n r    
7  f p p p - p p p   1.e4      e5  
6  p - n - - - - -   2.Nf3     Nc6
5  - B - - p - - -   3.Bb5*F   a6*F
4  - - - - P - - -
3  - - - - - N - -
2  P P P P - P P P
1  R N B Q K F - R

   a b c d e f g h


Fig. b : Example of Fool dropping after capture . Note that the White Fool was captured immediately , with dropping the Black Fool .

8  r - b q k b n r    
7  - p p p - p p p   1.e4      e5  
6  f - B - - - - -   2.Nf3     Nc6
5  - p - - p - - -   3.Bb5     a6 
4  - - - - P - - -   4.Bxc6*F  axb5*F
3  - - - - - N - -
2  P P P P - P P P
1  R N B Q K - - R

   a b c d e f g h


Fig. c : Example of Fool usefulness in an endgame . (Slightly modified from the Omega version .)

8  - - - - k - - -    
7  - - - - - - - -    Note that , normally , Qxd2 is checkmate .
6  - - - - - - F -    However , Black can't move either the Queen
5  - - - q - - - -    or the Bishop , because they will grant the
4  - - - - - b - -    Fool diagonal movement , which puts the King
3  - - - - - - - -    in check , which is illegal . As far as this
2  - - - P - - - -    game is concerned , the Bishop and the Queen
1  - - - K - - - -    are pinned .

   a b c d e f g h


Fig. d : How to capture a Fool . (From the Omega Chess Advanced page .)

8  - - - - - - - -    
7  - - - - - - - -    Pieces cannot threaten the Fool normally .
6  - - q - - - - -    Because , if they move to threaten it , it
5  - - - p - - - -    can just capture them using their movement .
4  - - - - - p - -    Here's a useful trick : in this position , 
3  - - - - - F - -    Black moves his d5 Pawn , exposing the Fool
2  - - - - - - - -    to capture . The poor Fool is unable to move ,
1  - - - - - - - -    there's an enemy Pawn blocking HIS pawn move ,
                      and can be devoured next turn .
   a b c d e f g h



===

As usual , how does this game play with other mutators ? Atomic is too dangerous .... how about CrazyHouse ?


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 Abdul-Rahman Sibahi.
Web page created: 2008-11-09. Web page last updated: 2008-11-09