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If you already know how to play chess, you can learn how to play Gothic Chess in about 15 seconds. For the complete rules
of the game see below.
As shown above, you set up the pieces in the framed rectangular areas exactly the same as you would a regular chessboard. Next, place the King in the center of the board between the pieces. On the Queenside place the Chancellor and on the Kingside place the Archbishop.
The Archbishop has the ability to move like a Knight or a Bishop on any turn, but an enemy King must evade both
checking auras in order to successfully be considered out of check.
The Chancellor has the ability to move like a Knight or a Rook on any turn, and the enemy King must likewise evade both
checks if being attacked by this piece.
Each of these pieces can carry their own unique brand of venom. See this link for more information.
Pawns may now promote to not only all of the chess pieces (Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight) but also the newer pieces as well (Chancellor and Archbishop).
The only other rule change involves castling, which is demonstrated below.
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As shown above, black elected to castle his King. In Gothic Chess, this is accomplished by moving the King three squares horizontally (shown
by the dots in the left diagram above) and then placing the Rook right beside it (as shown on the right). The only difference is that on the
8x8 chessboard, the King moves twice instead of three times. The rule also states that in order to castle, the King cannot be in check, nor
can either of the squares it traverses or lands on be under attack.
The King may castle to either side of the board. You can see that the white King can castle kingside or castle queenside from the position
shown above. A smart player would avoid castling queenside because a deadly Archbishop checkmate can be issued immediately afterwards.
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Most of the rules associated with standard 8x8 chess apply to Gothic Chess as well. In the event you are not a chess player, or you need a refresher
course, here are all of the rules as they apply to Gothic Chess:
The Rook
From its present location, a Rook is able to slide on the board in a horizontal or vertical direction, as many spaces as the open board allows.
The Rook cannot slide past any pieces of the same color. The Rook can slide and occupy the first square that an encountered enemy piece resides on, and in so doing, remove the enemy piece from the board. Such a move is said to be a capture. The Rook also participates in a special move with the King known as castling.
The castling move is described here.
The Bishop
From its present location, a Bishop is able to slide on the board in a diagonal direction, as many spaces as the open board allows.
The Bishop cannot slide past any pieces of the same color. The Bishop can slide and occupy the first square that an encountered enemy piece resides on, and in so doing, remove the enemy piece from the board. Such a move is said to be a capture.
The Knight
From its present location, a Knight is able to move two squares horizontally or vertically, then one square perpendicular to the previous motion.
The Knight makes an "L-shaped" move if its path is traced on the board. The Knight may jump over both friendly and enemy pieces.
The Knight can jump onto an occupied square than an enemy piece resides on, and in so doing, remove the enemy piece from the board. Such a move is said to be a capture.
The Queen
From its present location, a Queen is able to slide on the board in a diagonal direction, like a Bishop, or horiztonally or vertically, as a Rook,
as many spaces as the open board allows.
The Queen can therefore move as Rook or a Bishop on any given turn. The Queen cannot slide past any pieces of the same color. The Queen can slide and occupy the first square that an encountered enemy piece resides on, and in so doing, remove the enemy piece from the board. Such a move is said to be a capture.
The Chancellor
From its present location, a Chancellor is able to jump on the board, like a Knight, or slide horiztonally or vertically as many spaces as the open board allows, as a Rook.
The Chancellor can therefore move as Rook or a Knight on any given turn. The Chancellor cannot slide past any pieces of the same color. The Chancellor can slide and occupy the first square that an encountered enemy piece resides on, and in so doing, remove the enemy piece from the board. Such a move is said to be a capture. The Chancellor can also capture like a Knight, by jumping onto a square occupied by an enemy piece.
The Archbishop
From its present location, an Archbishop is able to jump on the board, like a Knight, or slide diagonally as many spaces as the open board allows, as a Bishop.
The Archbishop can therefore move as Bishop or a Knight on any given turn. The Archbishop cannot slide past any pieces of the same color. The Archbishop can slide and occupy the first square that an encountered enemy piece resides on, and in so doing, remove the enemy piece from the board. Such a move is said to be a capture. The Archbishop can also capture like a Knight, by jumping onto a square occupied by an enemy piece.
The Pawn
Quite surprisingly, the Pawn potentially has five different move operations available to it. Refer to the diagram above. From location (A), which is the
starting location for a white Pawn, the Pawn may move twice vertically on its first move only. The Pawn may also elect to move only one square vertically
on its first move. In location (B), and anywhere else other than the starting square, the Pawn may only move one square vertically on its turn. Pawns
capture in directions other than the way they move, and are the only piece that behave in this fashion. From location (C), the Pawn can capture by moving
diagonally one square to either the right or the left. Essentially, it captures like a Bishop with a range of only one square would capture. Because a Pawn's capturing power
is able to be bypassed by an enemy pawn that moves twice on its first move, a Pawn may also execute a special capture known as the en passant capture. From location (D), a black pawn is shown "passing" the effective capture aura of the white Pawn. The white pawn may elect to
capture this pawn on the next move only by treating it as if it moved only one square vertically, indicated by the dot. To execute the capture,
white occupies the en passant destination square, then removes the enemy Pawn from the board. This special capture is only available immediately after
the "bypassing infraction" occurs. A pawn that reaches the end of the board is also given a reward, called promotion, where it can become another
piece. From location (E) the Pawn moves forward and may elect to become any piece besides another Pawn, and a King. After
promoting, the Pawn is removed from the board, and the new piece is placed on the destination square.
The King
From its present location, a King is able to make one move in any direction. The only stipulation is that the square being sought after by
the King cannot be under attack of an enemy piece. The top-left portion of the diagram above shows the range available to a King that can
safely reach all of the squares available to it.
The King can also perform a special move in certain situations. This move is referred to as Castling. The bottom portion of the diagram
above illustrates how castling can be achieved.
Castling allows the King to move three squares horizontally towards any Rook, and on the same move, place the Rook next to the King.
The dots in the diagram above show where the King lands prior to moving the Rook. The bottom-most part of the diagram shows where the Rook would be
depending which one is used to participate in the Castling move.
You can castle to either side of the board, and you can castle only once in a game. When you castle towards the Rook that is on the
side of the board nearest to your Queen at the start of the game, the move is called a Queenside castle. For the player with the
white pieces, this is the left-hand side of the board. Castling the other way is referred to as a a Kingside castle.
For the player with the white pieces, this is the right-hand side of the board.
There are other stipulations associated with the priviledge of executing a castle move. In order to castle, all of the criteria
below must be satisfied:
- The King must not have moved prior to the executing a castle.
- The King must not be under attack when attempting to castle.
- The King must not be under attack when completing a castle.
- The squares that the King must cross in order to castle must not be under attack.
- The Rook that participates in the castle must not have moved prior to the castle request.
- The squares between the King and the Rook used to castle must empty.
Various Castling Scenarios
Checking The King
The King is a special piece. The game centers on being able to attack the King in such a way that it cannot remove the threat or
journey to a square not under attack. When a King is being attacked by an enemy piece, the King is said to be in check. The diagram
above shows how a King can be placed in check by each of the different piece types.
Whenever a King is in check, the next move made by the side in check must be one that removes the check. This can be done in either of three ways:
- Capture the piece delivering the check.
- Move the King in check to a square not attacked by the enemy.
- Block the check by interposing a piece that deflects the attack.
Any move made by one side must not leave the King in check. Moving into check is illegal.
If a King in check cannot get out of check, a checkmate has occurred and the side delivering the checkmate is declared the winner.
If one side has no legal moves but is not in check, the game is said to be a stalemate and is declared a draw.
Stalemates And Other Draws
The most common stalemate occurs when a Queen moves to a square that is a Knight's reach from the enemy King. If there are no other pieces for the side with
the King, the player with the Queen has unwittingly allowed a stalemate to occur. Such a stalemate is shown above (and the Black king can be on
any legal square.)
The game can also be drawn if one side has insufficient mating material. You can imagine the game cannot be won when it has distilled to just
one King against another King. The following endgames are all known to be drawn:
- King vs. King
- King + Knight vs. King
- King + Bishop vs. King
- King + Knight vs. King + Knight
- King + Bishop vs. King + Knight
- King + Bishop vs. King + Bishop
- King + 2 Knights vs. King
It should be noted that a King + 2 Knights still cannot force a checkmated against a lone King, but a King + Knight + Bishop is
able to checkmate a King.
A game is declared a draw should a position occur for the third time. This is the so-called Threefold Repetition Draw. Some people
confuse the requirement of the position repeating "3 times in a row" in order for it to be declared a draw. This is not the case.
If a position has occurred for the third time ever then the game is a draw. Most likely, the repetition will occur at the end
of the game and in successive moves, but this is not always the case.
A game can also be drawn by the 50 Move Rule. This rule is often stated in a confusing way in the chess world, so here is some clarification:
For each reversible move made in cascade, increment the counter. If any irreversible move is made, reset the counter to 0.
If 50 moves transpire for one side, then the game is declared a draw.
For example, if a piece capture occurs, the move is irreversible, so the counter is reset to 0. If a players castles, the move is irreversible,
so again, the counter would be reset to 0. A pawn move of any kind is irreversible. If none of these instances occur, and one player has made
50 reversible moves, then the game is declared a draw. |
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