--- /dev/null
+p.boxed
+ | The player in second has a different set of pieces,
+ | moving roughly like "augmented knights".
+
+img.img-center(src="/images/variants/Orda/Orda.png")
+
+p
+ | Orda Chess is a chess variant designed in 2020 by Couch Tomato.
+ span.italic
+ | Note: he'd rather remain anonymous :)
+ | Anyway this text and all the images are from him.
+ | The idea of the game was to create a true asymmetric chess with
+ | two different armies. Ralph Betza's
+ a(href="https://www.chessvariants.com/unequal.dir/cwda.html")
+ | Chess with Different Armies
+ | was an inspiration, but the goal was to be a little more streamlined
+ | with the theme here.
+ | In this case, the theme of the new army is knight-based movement,
+ | where most pieces have an element of knight movement.
+ | Given the knight (or horse) theme, this was modeled after the
+ | Mongol army and named the Horde. An "orda" was a military structure
+ | for the people of the Steppes, which also gave rise to the English word
+ | "horde." The original chess army is named the Kingdom for contrast.
+ | The game itself is incredibly balanced by engine evaluation (even more
+ | than standard chess), with a near 50-50 win ratio for
+ | the Kingdom and Horde.
+
+h3 General Rules
+
+ol
+ li.
+ Setup is as above. Despite new pieces, the placement of the Horde pieces
+ mirror their chess counterparts.
+ li The Kingdom always moves first.
+ li The Horde cannot castle.
+ li.
+ As Horde pawns start on the third rank, they do not have the option to
+ move two spaces or be captured by en passant. Kingdom pawns retain the
+ ability to move two spaces initially and to be captured via en passant.
+ li Pawns can only promote to a queen or kheshig.
+ li.
+ An additional method of victory is available: called campmate. Campmate is
+ achieved by moving one's king into the final rank without being check.
+ li Other rules, including stalemate and repetition are as in chess.
+
+h3 Horde Pieces
+
+p.
+ There are four new units unique* to the Horde: 2 Lancers, 2 Horse Archers,
+ 2 Kheshigs, and 1 Yurt (* exception being that the Kingdom can still obtain
+ a Kheshig by promotion). The Kheshigs are the strongest piece
+ (knight + king movement) and lead each flank, while the Yurt is a fairly
+ weak piece unlike the Queen. The Horde's king is called the Khan and looks
+ different, but is essentially the same as the Kingdom's King, also using
+ the same abbreviation (K) — the change is purely aesthetic and
+ thematic.
+
+p.
+ The Horde Lancer and Horse Archer are unique in that they capture
+ differently than movement. Remember that the Horde is horse-based, so the
+ Lancer and Horse Archer both move like knights. They capture like rooks
+ and bishops, respectively. The Kheshig is more traditional in that it
+ captures where it moves; it combines the movements of the knight and king.
+ Similarly, the Yurt also captures the same way it moves; it moves as the
+ silver general in Shogi.
+
+table
+ tr
+ th Horde piece
+ th Kingdom "counterpart"
+ th Movement
+ th Capture
+ tr
+ td Yurt
+ td Queen
+ td "Silver"
+ td "Silver"
+ tr
+ td Horse Archer
+ td Bishop
+ td Knight
+ td Bishop
+ tr
+ td Kheshig
+ td Knight
+ td Knight+King
+ td Knight+King
+ tr
+ td Lancer
+ td Rook
+ td Knight
+ td Rook
+
+p.
+ Details and diagrams of each piece are below. Green dots represent movement,
+ red dots represent capture, and yellow represents both.
+
+h4 Yurt (Y)
+
+img.img-center(src="/images/variants/Orda/Yurt.png")
+
+p.
+ The Yurt moves and captures one space diagonally or one space forward.
+ This is the same as a silver general from Shogi or the bishop/khon
+ from Makruk. There is only one yurt, starting in the queen's spot,
+ but unlike the queen, it is very much a minor piece, the weakest piece
+ in the game aside from a pawn. It should not be underestimated though,
+ because it is one of the few Horde pieces that can move and capture
+ the same way. The other two are the Khan and Kheshig, which are the two
+ most valuable pieces. Therefore the yurt has the unique role of reliably
+ supporting pawns and other pieces without fear of retaliation.
+
+p.
+ A yurt is a mobile home for Mongol and Turkic people in the steppes of
+ Asia. Their limited mobility but importance for supporting the army is
+ reflected in this piece.
+
+h4 Kheshig (H)
+
+img.img-center(src="/images/variants/Orda/Kheshig.png")
+
+p.
+ The Kheshig is a hybrid piece that moves and captures as a knight and
+ king combined. This piece type is also generically called the centaur.
+ The kheshig starts in the knight's spot, but unlike the knight,
+ is the strongest Horde piece. It can be thought of the general that leads
+ its own troop on each flank. It is generally preferred to keep the kheshigs
+ safely behind during early to mid game because of their extreme importance
+ to the Horde in the endgame.
+
+p.
+ The kheshigs were the elite imperial guard for the Mongol royalty.
+ Appropriately, it is incredibly difficult for the Kingdom to checkmate
+ the khan without at least eliminating one of his kheshigs first.
+
+h4 Horse Archer (A)
+
+img.img-center(src="/images/variants/Orda/Archer.png")
+
+p.
+ The Horse Archer, or simply abbreviated Archer, is a unique "pseudohybrid"
+ piece that moves and attacks differently. The archer moves as a knight but
+ captures as a bishop. Because the archer is not colorbound,
+ its value is greater than its bishop counterpart.
+
+p.
+ Horse Archers were one of the two core components of the Mongol cavalry,
+ functioning as the light cavalry. Their speed and prowess as mounted
+ archers made them a unique threat. Their ability to quickly position
+ themselves for a deadly skewer or fork make them a dangerous threat
+ for the Kingdom.
+
+h4 Lancer (L)
+
+img.img-center(src="/images/variants/Orda/Lancer.png")
+
+p.
+ The Lancer is a unique "pseudohybrid" piece that moves and attacks
+ differently. The lancer moves as a knight but captures as a rook.
+ Because the lancer is not as mobile as the rook, it is generally
+ weaker than the rook, and this becomes more pronounced in the endgame,
+ as it cannot move across the board as quickly as a rook can.
+ Its value is still comparable to the horse archer.
+
+p.
+ Lancers were one of the two core components of the Mongol cavalry,
+ functioning as the heavy cavalry. Despite being weaker than the rook,
+ their ability to come into play much earlier in the game is an advantage
+ that the Horde player should utilize.
+
+h4 Piece valuation
+
+p.
+ Accurate piece values are unknown. However, these are the values used by
+ Fairy Stockfish, noting that they are generic values,
+ not necessarily specific to Orda chess.
+
+table
+ tr
+ th Kingdom piece
+ th Value (Early / Late)
+ th Horde piece
+ th Value (Early / Late)
+ tr
+ td Pawn
+ td 120 / 213
+ td Pawn
+ td 120 / 213
+ tr
+ td Queen
+ td 2538 / 2682
+ td Yurt
+ td 630 / 630
+ tr
+ td Bishop
+ td 825 / 915
+ td Horse Archer
+ td 1100 / 1200
+ tr
+ td Knight
+ td 781 / 854
+ td Kheshig
+ td 1600 / 1700
+ tr
+ td Rook
+ td 1276 / 1380
+ td Lancer
+ td 1050 / 1250
+
+p
+ | For those who want a more simplified approach, this table may be
+ | an approximation.
+ span.italic Note: this simplification is used by the weak bot here.
+
+table
+ tr
+ th Kingdom piece
+ th Value
+ th Horde piece
+ th Value
+ tr
+ td Pawn
+ td 1
+ td Pawn
+ td 1
+ tr
+ td Queen
+ td 9
+ td Yurt
+ td 2
+ tr
+ td Bishop
+ td 3
+ td Horse Archer
+ td 4
+ tr
+ td Knight
+ td 3
+ td Kheshig
+ td 7
+ tr
+ td Rook
+ td 5
+ td Lancer
+ td 4
+
+p.
+ As a whole, the Horde army is weaker than the Kingdom in value
+ (based on Stockfish valuation).
+ However, the Horde also starts with pawns in the third rank,
+ which balances the game.
+
+h3 Strategy
+
+p.
+ The game is still young, so strategy is still being developed!
+ Much of the data is currently based on Engine play.
+ The Horde cannot castle. However, a very fundamental component of a
+ majority Horde openings is to move the Khan to f7.
+ Reaching this spot in within the first four moves is ideal
+ — in fact, Fairy Stockfish opened up with Kf7 in 56% of its games.
+ The rest is variable.
+ For the Kingdom, d4, g3 and b3 are the most common openings in that order.
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