2 | The player in second has a different set of pieces,
3 | moving roughly like "augmented knights".
5 img.img-center(src="/images/variants/Orda/Orda.png")
8 | Orda Chess is a chess variant designed in 2020 by Couch Tomato.
10 | Note: he'd rather remain anonymous :)
11 | Anyway this text and all the images are from him.
12 | The idea of the game was to create a true asymmetric chess with
13 | two different armies. Ralph Betza's
14 a(href="https://www.chessvariants.com/unequal.dir/cwda.html")
15 | Chess with Different Armies
16 | was an inspiration, but the goal was to be a little more streamlined
17 | with the theme here.
18 | In this case, the theme of the new army is knight-based movement,
19 | where most pieces have an element of knight movement.
20 | Given the knight (or horse) theme, this was modeled after the
21 | Mongol army and named the Horde. An "orda" was a military structure
22 | for the people of the Steppes, which also gave rise to the English word
23 | "horde." The original chess army is named the Kingdom for contrast.
24 | The game itself is incredibly balanced by engine evaluation (even more
25 | than standard chess), with a near 50-50 win ratio for
26 | the Kingdom and Horde.
32 Setup is as above. Despite new pieces, the placement of the Horde pieces
33 mirror their chess counterparts.
34 li The Kingdom always moves first.
35 li The Horde cannot castle.
37 As Horde pawns start on the third rank, they do not have the option to
38 move two spaces or be captured by en passant. Kingdom pawns retain the
39 ability to move two spaces initially and to be captured via en passant.
40 li Pawns can only promote to a queen or kheshig.
42 An additional method of victory is available: called campmate. Campmate is
43 achieved by moving one's king into the final rank without being check.
44 li Other rules, including stalemate and repetition are as in chess.
49 There are four new units unique* to the Horde: 2 Lancers, 2 Horse Archers,
50 2 Kheshigs, and 1 Yurt (* exception being that the Kingdom can still obtain
51 a Kheshig by promotion). The Kheshigs are the strongest piece
52 (knight + king movement) and lead each flank, while the Yurt is a fairly
53 weak piece unlike the Queen. The Horde's king is called the Khan and looks
54 different, but is essentially the same as the Kingdom's King, also using
55 the same abbreviation (K) — the change is purely aesthetic and
59 The Horde Lancer and Horse Archer are unique in that they capture
60 differently than movement. Remember that the Horde is horse-based, so the
61 Lancer and Horse Archer both move like knights. They capture like rooks
62 and bishops, respectively. The Kheshig is more traditional in that it
63 captures where it moves; it combines the movements of the knight and king.
64 Similarly, the Yurt also captures the same way it moves; it moves as the
65 silver general in Shogi.
70 th Kingdom "counterpart"
95 Details and diagrams of each piece are below. Green dots represent movement,
96 red dots represent capture, and yellow represents both.
100 img.img-center(src="/images/variants/Orda/Yurt.png")
103 The Yurt moves and captures one space diagonally or one space forward.
104 This is the same as a silver general from Shogi or the bishop/khon
105 from Makruk. There is only one yurt, starting in the queen's spot,
106 but unlike the queen, it is very much a minor piece, the weakest piece
107 in the game aside from a pawn. It should not be underestimated though,
108 because it is one of the few Horde pieces that can move and capture
109 the same way. The other two are the Khan and Kheshig, which are the two
110 most valuable pieces. Therefore the yurt has the unique role of reliably
111 supporting pawns and other pieces without fear of retaliation.
114 A yurt is a mobile home for Mongol and Turkic people in the steppes of
115 Asia. Their limited mobility but importance for supporting the army is
116 reflected in this piece.
120 img.img-center(src="/images/variants/Orda/Kheshig.png")
123 The Kheshig is a hybrid piece that moves and captures as a knight and
124 king combined. This piece type is also generically called the centaur.
125 The kheshig starts in the knight's spot, but unlike the knight,
126 is the strongest Horde piece. It can be thought of the general that leads
127 its own troop on each flank. It is generally preferred to keep the kheshigs
128 safely behind during early to mid game because of their extreme importance
129 to the Horde in the endgame.
132 The kheshigs were the elite imperial guard for the Mongol royalty.
133 Appropriately, it is incredibly difficult for the Kingdom to checkmate
134 the khan without at least eliminating one of his kheshigs first.
138 img.img-center(src="/images/variants/Orda/Archer.png")
141 The Horse Archer, or simply abbreviated Archer, is a unique "pseudohybrid"
142 piece that moves and attacks differently. The archer moves as a knight but
143 captures as a bishop. Because the archer is not colorbound,
144 its value is greater than its bishop counterpart.
147 Horse Archers were one of the two core components of the Mongol cavalry,
148 functioning as the light cavalry. Their speed and prowess as mounted
149 archers made them a unique threat. Their ability to quickly position
150 themselves for a deadly skewer or fork make them a dangerous threat
155 img.img-center(src="/images/variants/Orda/Lancer.png")
158 The Lancer is a unique "pseudohybrid" piece that moves and attacks
159 differently. The lancer moves as a knight but captures as a rook.
160 Because the lancer is not as mobile as the rook, it is generally
161 weaker than the rook, and this becomes more pronounced in the endgame,
162 as it cannot move across the board as quickly as a rook can.
163 Its value is still comparable to the horse archer.
166 Lancers were one of the two core components of the Mongol cavalry,
167 functioning as the heavy cavalry. Despite being weaker than the rook,
168 their ability to come into play much earlier in the game is an advantage
169 that the Horde player should utilize.
174 Accurate piece values are unknown. However, these are the values used by
175 Fairy Stockfish, noting that they are generic values,
176 not necessarily specific to Orda chess.
181 th Value (Early / Late)
183 th Value (Early / Late)
211 | For those who want a more simplified approach, this table may be
213 span.italic Note: this simplification is used by the weak bot here.
248 As a whole, the Horde army is weaker than the Kingdom in value
249 (based on Stockfish valuation).
250 However, the Horde also starts with pawns in the third rank,
251 which balances the game.
256 The game is still young, so strategy is still being developed!
257 Much of the data is currently based on Engine play.
258 The Horde cannot castle. However, a very fundamental component of a
259 majority Horde openings is to move the Khan to g7.
260 Reaching this spot in within the first four moves is ideal
261 — in fact, Fairy Stockfish opened up with Kf7 in 56% of its games.
262 The rest is variable.
263 For the Kingdom, d4, g3 and b3 are the most common openings in that order.
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