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32cfcea4 | 1 | p.boxed |
2f3c8451 | 2 | | Most pieces look the same but behave very differently. |
32cfcea4 | 3 | | They generally move like an orthodox queen, |
2eef6db6 | 4 | | but capturing rules are complex. |
32cfcea4 | 5 | |
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6 | p |
7 | | Note: 'Baroque' is the initial name thought by the author, | |
8 | | but 'Ultima' is also largely adopted. | |
9 | a(href="https://www.chessvariants.com/people.dir/abbott.html") | |
10 | | He prefers 'Baroque' | |
11 | | , and I think me too. | |
12 | ||
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13 | h3 Specifications |
14 | ||
15 | ul | |
16 | li Chessboard: standard. | |
17 | li Material: "standard". | |
18 | li Non-capturing moves: often like queen. | |
19 | li Special moves: none. | |
20 | li Captures: very special. | |
2f3c8451 | 21 | li End of game: standard; see below. |
32cfcea4 | 22 | |
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23 | h4 Pieces names |
24 | ||
25 | p Pieces names refer to the way they capture, which is described later. | |
26 | ul | |
27 | li Pawn : pawn or pincer | |
28 | li Rook : coordinator | |
29 | li Knight : long leaper | |
30 | li Bishop : chameleon | |
31 | li Queen : withdrawer | |
32 | li King : king (same behavior as in standard chess) | |
33 | p. | |
b41d5704 | 34 | Besides, a new piece is introduced: the immobilizer, written by the letter 'm' |
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35 | in FEN diagrams and PGN games. It is represented by an upside-down rook: |
36 | ||
37 | figure.diagram-container | |
38 | .diagram | |
39 | | fen:8/8/4m3/8/8/8/3M4/8: | |
40 | figcaption Immobilizers on d2 and e6. | |
41 | ||
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42 | h3 Non-capturing moves |
43 | ||
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44 | p. |
45 | Pawns move as orthodox rooks, and the king moves as usual, | |
46 | one square in any direction. | |
47 | All other pieces move like an orthodox queen. | |
15c1295a | 48 | |
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49 | p. |
50 | When a piece is adjacent to an enemy immobilizer, it cannot move unless | |
51 | the enemy immobilizer is adjacent to a friendly immobilizer or chameleon | |
52 | (cancelling the powers of the opponent's immobilizer). | |
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53 | p |
54 | | Note : this corresponds to the "pure rules" described on | |
55 | a(href="http://www.inference.org.uk/mackay/ultima/ultima.html") this page | |
56 | | , which slightly differ from the initial rules. | |
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57 | | The aim is to get rid of the weird suicide rule by weakening the immobilizers lock. |
58 | | In particular, in the original rules two adjacent immobilizer are stuck forever | |
59 | | until one is captured. Note that it's still the case if all chameleons disappeared. | |
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60 | |
61 | h3 Capturing moves | |
62 | ||
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63 | p. |
64 | Easy case first: the king captures as usual, by moving onto an adjacent square | |
65 | occupied by an enemy piece. But this is the only piece following orthodox rules, | |
66 | and also the only one which captures by moving onto an occupied square. | |
67 | All other pieces capture passively: they land on a free square and captured | |
68 | units are determined by some characteristics of the movement. | |
15c1295a | 69 | |
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70 | p Note 1: the immobilizer does not capture. |
71 | ||
72 | p. | |
73 | Note 2: for passive captures, a 'X' is added at the end of the move notation, | |
74 | to indicate that something was taken (replaying the game is necessary to know where). | |
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75 | |
76 | h4 Pawns/Pincers | |
77 | ||
78 | p. | |
79 | If at the end of its movement a pawn is horizontally or vertically adjacent to an | |
80 | enemy piece, which itself is next to a friendly piece (in the same direction), | |
81 | the "pinced" unit is removed from the board. | |
82 | ||
83 | figure.diagram-container | |
84 | .diagram | |
85 | | fen:7k/5ppp/2N5/2n5/3rB3/8/PPP5/K7: | |
86 | figcaption 1.Pc2c4 captures both coordinator and long leaper. | |
87 | ||
88 | h4 Coordinators (rooks) | |
89 | ||
90 | p. | |
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91 | Imagine that rook and king of the same color are two corners of a rectangle |
92 | (this works if these two pieces are unaligned). | |
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93 | If at the end of a rook move an enemy piece stands in any of the two remaining |
94 | corners, it is captured. | |
95 | ||
96 | figure.diagram-container | |
97 | .diagram | |
98 | | fen:8/2b4K/2q5/3p1N1p/8/8/2R5/k7: | |
99 | figcaption 1.Rc5 captures on c7 and h5. | |
100 | ||
101 | h4 Long leapers (knights) | |
102 | ||
103 | p. | |
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104 | A knight captures exactly as a queen in international draughts game: by jumping |
105 | over its enemies, as many times as it can/want but always in the same direction. | |
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106 | In this respect it is less powerful than a draughts' queen: |
107 | on the following diagram c8 or f6 cannot be captured. | |
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108 | However, the knight does not have to maximize the number of captured units |
109 | (as is the case in draughts). | |
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110 | |
111 | figure.diagram-container | |
112 | .diagram | |
643479f8 | 113 | | fen:2n4k/3r4/5b2/3p4/1m6/3b4/3N4/K7 d4,d6,d8,a5: |
3ad85eac | 114 | figcaption All marked squares captures are playable from d2. |
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115 | |
116 | h4 Withdrawer (queen) | |
117 | ||
118 | p. | |
119 | The queen captures by moving away from an adjacent enemy piece, in the opposite | |
b41d5704 | 120 | direction (without jumping, the path must be free). |
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121 | |
122 | figure.diagram-container | |
123 | .diagram | |
643479f8 | 124 | | fen:7k/8/8/3Qr3/8/8/8/K7 a5,b5,c5: |
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125 | figcaption 1.Qa5, 1.Qb5 or 1.Qc5 captures the black rook. |
126 | ||
127 | h4 Chameleon (bishop) | |
128 | ||
129 | p The chameleon captures pieces in the way they would capture. So, it | |
130 | ul | |
05084186 | 131 | li pinces pawns (if moving like a pawn), |
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132 | li withdraws from withdrawers, |
133 | li leaps over long leapers, | |
134 | li coordinates coordinators. | |
135 | p ...and these captures can be combined. | |
136 | ||
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137 | p. |
138 | Remark: the move indicated on the diagram doesn't capture the black pincer | |
139 | on e5, since it is a diagonal move (not like a pawn). | |
140 | ||
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141 | figure.diagram-container |
142 | .diagram | |
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143 | | fen:7k/8/8/r3pP2/2n5/8/B7/K7 a5,c4: |
144 | figcaption 1.Bd5 captures the two marked pieces. | |
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145 | |
146 | p. | |
147 | Besides, chameleon immobilizes immobilizers (but cannot capture them since they | |
148 | do not capture). | |
149 | ||
150 | p. | |
151 | A chameleon captures the king in the same way the king captures, which means that | |
152 | a chameleon adjacent to a king gives check. | |
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153 | |
154 | h3 End of the game | |
155 | ||
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156 | p. |
157 | Checkmate or stalemate as in standard chess. Note however that checks are more | |
158 | difficult to see, because of the exotic capturing rules. For example, on the | |
b41d5704 | 159 | following diagram the white king cannot move to e5 because then |
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160 | the black pawn could capture by moving next to it. |
161 | ||
162 | figure.diagram-container | |
163 | .diagram | |
643479f8 | 164 | | fen:7k/8/8/p4r/4K3/8/8/8 e5: |
15c1295a | 165 | figcaption 1.Ke5 is impossible |
32cfcea4 | 166 | |
e081ffe3 | 167 | h3 More information |
32cfcea4 | 168 | |
c75838d9 | 169 | p |
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170 | | A good starting point is the |
171 | a(href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_chess") Wikipedia page | |
172 | | , which also gives pointers to other interesting pages (including | |
173 | | chessvariants.com, as usual). |