Check out Balbo's Chess, our featured variant for October, 2024.

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

Exile Chess

I was thinking on trying only minor additions and changes from regular chess, but that would still mean theory regarding opening would be less important.

Promotion doesn't yield the most powerful of pieces, but a little more modest ones.

The way of taking out enemy pieces is by displacement.

Setup

Starting position:
R	A	X(W)	K	Q	B	X(W)	R
P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
							
							
							
							
P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
R	A	X(B)	K	Q	B	X(B)	R

Pawns are on ranks 2 and 7. White has two pieces among black's pieces and the other way around. Squares c8 and g8 have white pieces and squares g1 and c1 have black pieces. Otherwise they're where they're expected to be. 

The kings are on the d-file.

Pieces

X=Exile   Each player's exiles must be moved during the first and second move of the game. The exiles then each make 3 or 4 jumps as a knight, but is not allowed to capture any agent or give check during those two first moves. It's allowed to change direction for each jump during the first move of an exile (when moving with knight jumps). Each player moves one exile during the first move, and then the other exile during the second move. After that, each exile works as a wazir + alfil compound, meaning either one square orthogonally or jumping 2 squares diagonally (without changing direction during the move).

A=Archbishop (knight + bishop compound)

Pawns promote to dukes. Dukes move as a queen, but only 1 or 2 steps (and can't change direction during the move, naturally).

(The other letters denotate the same pieces as in orthodox chess.)

Rules

Change of rules from orthodox chess:
¤ Castling is free. The squares between the king and the rook must be empty, of course.
¤ Both exiles must have been moved at the end of the second move (see pieces).
¤ Pawns promote to dukes. The duke moves like a queen, but only one or two steps, and it takes out enemies the same way it moves. Pawns promote on the player’s eighth rank.
¤ If a player is reduced to bare king, then he/she has lost the game.
¤ If a player has no legal move when it’s his/her turn to make a move, then he/she has lost the game.


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 Patrik Hedman.
Web page created: 2014-03-18. Web page last updated: 2014-03-18