li The Empire cannot castle.
li.
As the Empire's 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.
+ option to move two spaces or be captured by en passant.
li Pawns on either side can only promote to a queen.
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.
+ One can win by bringing the king into the final rank without being check.
+ This situation is called "campmate".
li Stalemate and repetition are both losses.
li.
Facing kings — The King and Kaiser (Imperial King) may not face
- each other on a file or rank, similar to Xiangqi.
+ each other on a file or rank.
h3 Imperial Pieces
p.
- There are five new units unique to the Empire: 2 Siege Towers, 2 Eagles,
- 2 Cardinals, 1 Duke, and 2 Soldiers. The bottom rank are all stronger than
+ There are five new units unique to the Empire: Siege Towers, Eagles,
+ Cardinals, Duke, and Soldiers. The bottom rank pieces are all stronger than
their Kingdom counterparts with the exception of the Duke.
ul
li.
Kaiser (K) — The Imperial king is called the Kaiser and has a
- different symbol, but is essentially the same as the Kingdom's King,
- also using the same abbreviation (K) — the change is purely
- aesthetic and thematic.
+ different symbol, but the change is purely aesthetic and thematic:
+ it behave like an orthodox king.
li.
Soldier (S) — The Soldiers are the two pawn-like pieces replacing
- the two middle pawns. These act like promoted soldiers in Xiangqi and
- can move one square orthogonally in any direction except backwards.
+ the two middle pawns. They can move one square orthogonally forward,
+ or lateraly.
p.
- The remaining pieces are divergent pieces, pieces that move differently
+ The remaining pieces are "divergent" pieces: they move differently
than they attack (such as pawns). Imperial pieces all move as queens,
but attack like their Kingdom counterpart except for the Duke.
ul
li.
- Siege Tower (T) — The Siege Tower, or Tower for short, moves like a
- Queen but attacks like a Rook.
- li Eagle (E) — The Eagle moves like a Queen but attacks like a Knight.
- li.
- Cardinal (C) — The Cardinal moves like a Queen
- but attacks like a Bishop.
- li Duke (D) — The Duke moves like a Queen but attacks like a King.
+ Siege Tower (T) — The Siege Tower, or Tower for short,
+ attacks like a Rook.
+ li Eagle (E) — The Eagle attacks like a Knight.
+ li Cardinal (C) — The Cardinal attacks like a Bishop.
+ li Duke (D) — The Duke attacks like a King.
figure
img.img-center(src="/variants/Empire/EagleMoves.png")
figcaption.text-center Eagle's moves (green) & captures (red).
-h3 Piece valuation
+h3 Pieces valuation
p The following simplified values are used by the bot:
td -
td -
-h3 More information
+//h3 More information
-p
+//p
| See
a(href="https://www.pychess.org/variant/empirechess") Empire Chess
| on pychess-variants, where you can also play this variant.