Game: Rococo Designed by Peter Aronson and David Howe, implemented by Peter Aronson, October 2002. Rococo is a development of Ultima, and like in Ultima, most of the pieces move like Queens, but capture in various ways. Rococo started as an experiment in making a version of Ultima more favorable to attack and clearer in its play. The result, however, is rather far from Ultima, but still seems to be an interesting game in its own right, where attack is stronger than defense, and that possesses reasonable clarity. The object of Rococo is to capture the opposing side's King. There is no check or checkmate. A stalemate or three-times repetition a loss for the player unable to move or repeating the move. The pieces: The Advancer captures by approach, and the Withdrawer by withdrawal. The Long Leaper captures hostile pieces by leaping over them, although it may not leap over friendly pieces. Multiple hostile pieces in a line with spaced between them may be captured in a single move. The Swapper can change places with any piece of either side an unobstructed Queen's move away, or move like a Queen without capturing. It may also capture an adjacent piece by mutual capture (both the Swapper and the target are removed from the game). The Immobilizer can not capture, but any hostile pieces next to it are unable to move. Cannon Pawns move without capturing like Kings, and may leap over adjacent pieces of either side, landing just beyond, and capturing any piece that might occupy the square landed in (capture by bombardment). On any move that lands them on the back two ranks (counting the outer ring), they may promote to any previously captured piece. The Chameleon captures other pieces the way they capture, leaping over Long Leapers, approaching Advancers, etc. It immobilizes opposing Immobilizers, and may Swap with opposing Swappers. The outer ring of squares on the board may only be entered when required by a capture. Moves within the outer ring are only allowed when capturing as well, and then as few squares as necessary. Thus, a piece on the outer ring may only move to capture or to leave the outer ring. A longer, more detailed description of Rococo can be found at http://www.chessvariants.com/other.dir/rococo.html, including animated diagrams of piece movement. Download Rococo Now!
Game: Rollerball Chess Invented (1998) and implemented by Jean-Louis Cazaux, November 2001. Rollerball was a science-fiction movie in the 70s about a futuristic sport where two teams were violently fighting around a ring. The direction of play is mostly clockwise. Rooks and Bishops can rebound on the sides or the corners. Victory is obtained by either checkmated the opposite King or bring your King on the starting square of the opponent King. Stalemate is a draw. Rook: slides any number of squares forward or sideways along the row or column. On the external ring, they have one rebound allowed on the corners of the board. Also, it can move 1 square orthogonally backward. The Rook is the strongest piece. They are 4 squares where the Rooks are very very strong: they can mate without assistance, watch out! Bishop: slides diagonally forward any number of squares with one rebound allowed on the sides of the board. Also, it can move 1 square diagonally backward. Pawn: moves and captures forward straight or diagonally. When reaching the starting square of opposite Pawns it promotes to either Rook or Bishop. King: can move to any adjacent square, but never to a square where it can be captured. When reaching the starting square of the opposite King, but only if turning clockwise, the King wins the game. The King have the royal privilege of beeing the only bi-directional piece. Time is very important since it is a very tactical game. Sometimes, it is more important than a material advantage. Visit web page (another view on Chess) : http://www.chez.com/cazaux/ Download Rollerball Chess Now!
Game: Rooksquare Chess Implemented by Uwe Wiedemann, June 2001 In the game of rooksquare chess, all rules of the normal chess game apply, but now there are two different ways to win the game: Checkmate the opponent (as usual.) Move any piece that is a starting square of one of the rooks of the opponent, i.e., White wins when he moves a piece to a8 or h8, and Black wins when he moves a piece to a1 or h1. Download Rooksquare Chess Now!
Game: Rotary Invented & artwork by Christian Freeling, 1981 Implemented by Mike Smolowitz, June 2000 Rotary is a chess-like game with rotating pieces. The objective, as in chess, is to checkmate the enemy king. Each type of piece can move in a specific combination of the eight compass directions. What makes Rotary unique that is all pieces (except pawns) can rotate to face in new directions. For instance, the Rook starts out facing west, north, and east. It could be rotated to face northwest, northeast, and southeast (or any of the eight possible orientations). No piece can move in all eight directions, so all pieces are vulnerable to attack from somewhere. For more information about Rotary, visit Christian Freeling's description of his game at http://www.mindsports.net/Arena/CompleteGames/Checkmate/Rotary.html. Download Rotary Now!
Game: Rubik Chess Invented and implemented by L. Lynn Smith, June 2001. This 3D Chess variant is called Rubik Chess, not because Rubik invented it, but because the playing field upon which it is played resembles a Rubik Cube. There are only two types of pieces, Pawn and King. Both King and Pawn move one space in any orthogonal or diagonal direction. The King is not allowed to move to an attacked space. The game is won by checkmating the opponent's King. Happy Hunting. Download Rubik Chess Now!
Game: Ruddigore Chess Invented and implemented by Peter Aronson, December 2002. Ruddigore Chess was inspired by the comic opera Ruddigore (http://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/ruddigore/html/rudi_home.html) by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. It is a variant of Chessgi (Ruddigore has a "gi" in its name, only spelled backwards). Ruddigore Chess depicts the Loser-Take-All battle between the forces of Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd (white), and the forces of Sir Despard Murgatroyd (black) over who has to be the cursed Bad Baronet of Ruddigore. (If you are familiar with the piece, and wish to object that no such battle took place in it, and furthermore, Sir Ruthven didn't have any forces other than his faithful steward Adam Goodheart, well, I can't help it if G&S missed such an obvious crowd pleaser, can I?) Ruddigore Chess is a variant of Chessgi, which in turn is a hybrid of Chess and Shogi. It is played like regular Chess except that captured pieces are put into the hand of the capturing player, and can be dropped onto the board in later turns, the King is replaced by a Baronet who also capture like a Knight and can capture friendly pieces (If a man can't capture his own pieces, whose pieces CAN he capture?), the Knights are replaced by Gentlemen, the Pawns by Quick Pawns, and there's the curse. Because of the curse, if a player does not capture a piece on an even turn (even their own piece), they must sacrifice a piece to the curse, and it is gone from the game for good. Zillions does not play this game particularly well, but if given enough time it will play well enough to let you figure the game out. For exciting play, a human opponent is suggested. A longer, more detailed description of Ruddigore can be found at http://www.chessvariants.com/other.dir/ruddigore-chess.html. Download Ruddigore Chess Now!
Game: Scirocco Implemented by Adrian King. Scirocco's direct roots (although they may not be immediately obvious) are in Courier Chess, Christian Freeling's Grand Chess, and Chu Shogi. Indirectly, a number of the Scirocco pieces are derived from Timur's Great Chess, or Tamerlane Chess. The immediate inspiration for Scirocco was the following sentence in the entry for Courier Chess in D.B. Pritchard's The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants: The Courier (believed then to be the strongest piece) moved as the modern B... When I saw this I thought, What if the Courier were indeed the strongest piece in Courier Chess? You could change the move of the Courier to make it stronger, and perhaps reduce the strength of the true strongest piece in Courier Chess, the Rook.... Pursuing these ideas farther, the Courier evolved in my mind into the Scirocco, the shape of the 12 by 8 Courier Chess board changed to the 10 by 10 Scirocco board, and I added various pieces that I hope will make an interesting game. To me, Scirocco has a sort of "antique" feel, like the chess variants from the medieval Islamic world.I named the game (and the most important piece in the game) for the wind that blows from the Sahara into Europe because that wind seemed like a good emblem for the Arabic influence that brought to Europe the game of Shatranj, which evolved into the modern Orthochess. Download Scirocco Now!
Game: Secret Service Chess Created by Chris Huntoon, May 2001. This Chess Variant is inspired by the notion of when the President is threatened the Secret Service are supposed to jump in front of him to take the bullet while pushing him to safety. Whenever the King is threatened (in check) if there are any of the player's pieces that could normally reach the square occupied by the King, then the King and the other piece must switch places. Simply move the King to space occupied by the other piece. A Pawn can only switch places with the King in a straight forward, non-attacking move. A Pawn can not switch places with the King if it would cause the Pawn to promote. There is no castling or En Passant. Other than this, normal Chess rules apply. Download Secret Service Chess now!
Game: Selfeliminator Invented by John Gallicano and Steve Mann in 1997. Implemented by Uwe Wiedemann, November 2001 The game of Selfeliminator is played as usual chess, but players may also take their own pieces. Castling is permitted also when there are pieces between the king and the rook, but this means that these pieces are simultaneously removed from play. Download Selfeliminator Now!
Game: Separate Chess Invented by Brian Wong, 1999, implemented by Uwe Wiedemann, November 2001 In the game of Separate, all rules of the normal chess game apply, but there is another setup. The idea here is that the Queens each start trapped behind enemy lines. Initially, the Queens cannot get out, but neither can they be taken. There is no castling. Download Separate Chess Now!
Game: Shatranj (Arabian Chess) Implemented by Malcolm Maynard, December 2001. The game of Shatranj (the Persian or Arab predecessor of modern Chess) is still played widely in the Middle East and is far from being a dead game. Indeed, Shatranj is the normal form of chess in Arab countries and Iran. This ZRF file is largely a revamped version of Shatranj, for the sake of using graphics more like traditional Shatranj pieces. Stauton chess pieces can be used in a pinch, of course, but when you have a towering Stuaton Queen representing the much weaker Firzan (General) it can lead to a bit of confusion. This Scrip uses a total of 4 different sets (all based on scanned drawings): 1) Set1 is the "newest" set, more like what might be seen about today. 2) Set2 is quite old and less refined of a set. 3) Set3 an ancient set, not very refined pieces at all. 4) Set4 is basically a Stauton set, for those who *really* want it. Also, for the sake of the traditional feel of Shatranj, this script uses more traditional Arab names (per Gollon's "Chess Variations," 1968: Shah ----> King Firzan --> General (much weaker than chess Queen) Fil -----> Elephan (precursor of the chess Bishop) Faras ---> Horse (same as the chess Knight) Rukh ----> Rook (same pieces as in chess) Baidaq --> Pawn (slightly less power than the chess Pawn) Also, more in keeping with traditional Shatranj, I have used an uncheckered board. This does take a bit of getting used to, though. Again, this is more for a traditional "feel" for the game so as not to confuse the user with modern chess... Download Shatranj Now!
Game: Shatranj Plus Redone by Malcolm Maynard, June 2003. The game of Shatranj (the Persian or Arab predecessor of modern Chess) is still played widely in the Middle East and is far from being a dead game. Indeed, Shatranj is the normal form of chess played in Arab countries and Iran. This ZRF file was first created to use graphics other than Stauton chess pieces. Stauton pieces and a checkered board seem take away from the traditional feel of Shatranj. The pieces I used for this ZRF are the creation of LL Smith, the prolific ZRF author and includes several he generously made for me, as my own graphic artistry is not the best. These graphics do a good job of giving a better feel for Shatranj than Stauton chess pieces, while adding a more modern look to it. There are also four variants in this script, which are all stand-alone games in their own right which enjoyed notable popularity in their day. These variants are: Shatranj Kamil I (Complete Chess variation I) on a 10x10 board, with the addition of Camel pieces. Shatranj Kamil II (Complete Chess variation II) on a 10x10 board, with the addition of War Machines, instead of Camels. Shatranj Al-Husun (Citadel Chess) on a 10x10 board with extra "citadel" squares on the corners. Includes a more powerful War Machine piece. Shatranj Timur (Tamerlane's Chess) on an 11x10 board, with one extra "citadel square" for either player. Includes some interesting long range pieces, such as the Giraffe, Picket, Camel and War Machine. The promotion rules are much stronger than in the original, in an attempt to speed up the end-game somewhat. For a more traditional feel of Shatranj and its variants, I have used uncheckered boards, as well as more traditional Arabic or Persian names for the pieces (per Gollon's "Chess Variations," 1968). These names are: Shah (King) Firzan (General) Vizir (Chancellor) Baidaq (Pawn) Fil (Elephant) Faras (Horse) Jamal (Camel) Dabbabah (War Machine) Taliah (Picket) Zarafah (Giraffe) Rukh (Rook) Download Shatranj Plus Now!
Game: Shogi Implemented by Fergus Duniho, © 1999-2000. Shogi is Japanese Chess. Although Zillions comes with its own implementation of Shogi, it has various shortcomings. Around the same time in 1999, Steve Evans and I were each working on new and improved Shogi ZRFs. I released mine first, and instead of releasing one of his own, Steve told me what he had been doing to improve the Shogi ZRF. We had each identified separate shortcomings in the original ZRF. I was focusing on making drops more efficient, and Steve had focused on getting the script to realize that promoted Rooks and Bishops are worth more than unpromoted ones. I incorporated Steve's ideas into my ZRF, releasing an update that brought together all of our ideas. I had also changed the graphics, so that the game would be easier to play for people who don't know Japanese. I included alternate Shogi sets I had designed, and I used a checkered board to make it easier to visualize Bishop movements. I also used the standard system of coordinates that is used by all other Shogi programs I have ever seen. Since then, Zillions has gained the ability to use multiple piece sets, and Steve has included some additional piece sets with his ZRFs for Micro and Kyoto Shogi. This update makes use of the multiple piece set feature to include a choice between six different piece sets. These include the westernized set pictured below, a diagrammatic set, both designed by myself, the default set provided with Zillions, and the three sets Steve originally provided with Micro and Kyoto Shogi. The westernized set pictured below is made from Armando Marroquin's Chess Motif font, except for the Gold and Silver Generals and the Lance, which I drew myself. The Gold and Silver Generals are represented by the alchemical symbols for gold and silver, which are the same as the astrological symbols for the sun and moon. A circle with a dot represents gold, and a crescent moon represents silver. The image below comes from a game played between the original Zillions ZRF for Shogi and my own Shogi ZRF. Both scripts had five seconds of thinking time, and the original script played black, moving first. Despite going first, the original Shogi ZRF lost. Its main blunder was when it moved a Bishop into the promotion zone without promoting it. Because it didn't promote, white was able to trap it, capture it, and use it as one of the pieces contributing to its eventual checkmate of black. This implementation of Shogi is by Fergus Duniho. Thanks go to Steve Evans for suggesting some improvements to the script and for contributing additional piece sets. For more games by Fergus Duniho, goto http://fergus.duniho.com/games. Updated 10/31/00 fixed traditional board problem with Zillions 1.2.1. Download Shogi Now!
Game: Shogi with Handicaps Implemented by Malcolm Maynard, November 2001. Shogi is Japanese Chess. The object is to checkmate your opponent's King. In Shogi, captured pieces belong to the player who takes them and may be replayed later in the game as a turn. Captured pieces may be placed on any unoccupied square, except for Pawns, which can be placed only on unoccupied squares on columns without any friendly Pawns. This implementation of Shogi is a modification of the Shogi Script by Fergus Duniho. I have created three seperate Shogi Scripts, as follows: Beginner's, with the notation using English names and no traditional Japanese Kanji Pieces. Traditional Shogi Set, with letters and numbers on the board to denote the grid lables, something that is frequently done in printed Shogi material. Large Shogi Board, with a mix of pieces that are traditional and for beginners. It's just, well, big, using larger grapics. The most important alteration I made to Mr. Duniho's Shogi Script, though, was to include handicaps. One of the nice things about Modern Shogi is that it has a well defined and workable handicap system, where the stronger player moves first, but has less pieces. The greater the difference in playing strength, the larger the handicap. I have included a total of 10 handicaps, from the small Left Lance handicap all the way to the challenging (!!) 8 Piece handicap. And while handicaps do allow weaker players a better chance to win, they also serve as an exercise for the stronger player to practice more challenging play too. Please note that in all the handicaps, White moves first, not Black! The rationale being that Black's first move is considered to be the removal of the pieces White shall not be using. Note too that the missing pieces will be unavailable for either side to use. Note that one of my main reasons for creating this set of shogi scripts is so that shogi players can record their games with Zillions as well as use it for playing live games on the Internet, using handicaps. Download Shogi with Handicaps Now!
Game: Shogi Super Chess Invented and implemented by Harvey Patterson, March 2002 All the normal rules of chess apply except for a few minor enhancements. The board is a 9x9 shogi-sized board with the pieces arranged as they are in shogi. The pieces move like normal chess pieces but three additional compound pieces are added: the Marshall [R+N], the Cardinal [B+N] and the Amazon [Q+N]. Castling is still legal but since the king is an equal distance from both rooks, the terms "short/long castling" are no longer valid; and since black's setup is the reverse of white's, "queen-side/amazon-side castling" is relative, so the preferred convention is: for castling towards the a-file, "O-O-O", or towards the h-file, "O-O". In both cases the king moves three spaces instead of the normal two. Also, because the pawns begin on the third rank there is no initial double step and, therefor, no en passant capturing. Pawns promote on the 9th rank to whatever piece they choose, other than the king. This game is young and may see minor changes in the future. Updated 07/12/03 ZoG2 piece set added; improved help Download Shogi Super Chess Now!
Game: Simple Chess Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, July 2002 Object: Checkmate the opponent's King. White plays against Black. The number on the piece show how far they can move into any orthogonal or diagonal direction. The Pawns (carrying the number 2) are an exception. A Pawn can only move straight or diagonally forward. Promotion works as in standard chess. The piece with the number 1 is the king. There is no castling. You win if you checkmate the opponent's king. Repetition is a loss. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Updated 08/03/02 game text corrected Download Simple Chess Now!
Game: Sissa Invented by Carlos Cetina, 1998, implemented by Uwe Wiedemann, November 2001 In the game of Sissa we have additionally to normal chess more squares and a piece called Sissa. A Sissa moves as follows: in one turn, first, the Sissa moves one or more squares like a rook or a bishop, and then the Sissa moves the same number of squares like the other of the two (bishop or rook). So, the Sissa has the following options: First, it moves a number of squares as a rook. Then it makes a corner of 45, 135, 225, or 315 degrees, and then moves the same number of squares as a bishop. All squares that are passed by must be empty, i.e., a Sissa does not jump over pieces. First, it moves a number of squares as a bishop. Then, it makes a corner of 45, 135, 225, or 315 degrees, and then moves the same number of squares as a rook. Again, all squares passed by must be empty. Bishops have, in addition to their normal diagonal movement, one extra property: the bishop moves one square horizontally or vertically at the first time it moves during the game. This may be done only once, with one of the players bishops. Also, for one of the bishops of the player, the first move made with this bishop must be of this special type. This move is called conversion. Note that a player may choose which bishop he converts, but if he makes a normal move with one of his bishops, the first move made with the other bishop must be a conversion move. Note also that a player never can make more than one conversion move in a game, and a promoted bishop does not make conversion moves. It is possible to take a piece of the opponent by conversion. I don't know the castling roles of Sissa. So I have taken the role of Symmetric Sissa, which was invented by Cetina in the same year: The king goes always three steps in castlings. Sissa is a chess variant invented in 1998 by Carlos Cetina. The piece called Sissa is taken from another chess variant of Cetina, called Coherent Chess. The piece is named after the probable inventor of Chaturanga. Download Sissa Now!
Game: Symmetric Sissa Invented by Carlos Cetina, 1998, implemented by Uwe Wiedemann, November 2001 In the game of Symmetric Sissa we have no bishops and queens, but Sissas and cardinals. A Sissa moves as follows: in one turn, first, the Sissa moves one or more squares like a rook or a bishop, and then the Sissa moves the same number of squares like the other of the two (bishop or rook). So, the Sissa has the following options: First, it moves a number of squares as a rook. Then it makes a corner of 45, 135, 225, or 315 degrees, and then moves the same number of squares as a bishop. All squares that are passed by must be empty, i.e., a Sissa does not jump over pieces. First, it moves a number of squares as a bishop. Then, it makes a corner of 45, 135, 225, or 315 degrees, and then moves the same number of squares as a rook. Again, all squares passed by must be empty. The cardinal has the combined moves of bishop and knight. The king goes always three steps in castlings. Symmetric Sissa is a chess variant invented in 1998 by Carlos Cetina. The piece called Symmetric Sissa is taken from another chess variant of Cetina, called Coherent Chess. The piece is named after the probable inventor of Chaturanga. Download Symmetric Sissa Now!
Game: 6D Chess Created by W. D. Troyka, November 2001. 6D Chess is the final installment in the nD Chess series, which began with 3D Chess, 4D Chess, and 5D Chess. These games take chess from the regular 2D environment to boards of successively higher dimensions. This is accomplished, in essence, by adding one orthogonal axis per dimension. The rules of standard chess apply, subject to the following: 6D Chess is played on a 2x2x2x2x2x2 board. Each of the eight 2x2x2 cubic sub-boards is connected to its three neighbors (4-east or 4-west, 5-up or 5-down, 6-east or 6-west) such that each space in a sub-board is orthogonally adjacent to its counterparts in the neighboring boards. These three connections, along with the three within any 2x2x2 cube, give each space six orthogonally adjacent neighbors. The board is perfectly symmetric along all six axes. Diagonal motion of the Queen and Bishop takes place in any plane defined by two of the board's six axes (i.e., they do not move "triagonally," "quadragonally," etc.). In other words, a diagonal step consists of two orthogonal steps, each along a different axis. The King moves only orthogonally. The Knight has a non-capturing and a capturing move. When not capturing, it moves one step triagonally (i.e., to a space three orthogonal steps away, with each step along a different axis). When capturing, it moves one step orthogonally. Pawns move one orthogonal step in the direction of the opponent's King row (up, 4-east, 5-up, or 6-west for White), capture as they move (i.e., no diagonal captures), and promote on the opponent's King row. No castling, en passant, or two-step Pawn moves, and stalemate is a loss. In the variant, Pawns can capture enemy Pawns along any diagonal. This rule allows for Pawn interaction which does not exist in the principal game because the Pawns are on inverted rows. The nD Chess series attempts to preserve as much from standard chess as is possible through the translation to higher dimensions. The boards in each variant contain 64 squares, starting with 4x4x4 in the 3D version, and progressing to 4x4x2x2, 4x2x2x2x2, and 2x2x2x2x2 in the 6D variant. Each game begins with the regular complement of 32 pieces which retain, as far as practicable, their move definitions. The Rook in all four games slides along an orthogonal and the Bishop along a diagonal. The Queen combines the powers of the Rook and Bishop. The Knight in the 3D, 4D, and 5D versions moves in the familiar fashion by taking two steps in a line followed by a perpendicular step. The principal differences from regular chess motion lay in the King, Pawns, and 6D Knight. The King is confined to orthogonal motion in the 5D and 6D versions (and in the variants of the 3D and 4D games) because otherwise its mobility leads to frequent draws. The Pawns in each game move one orthogonal step in the direction of the opponent's King row and promote upon reaching that row, a natural definition which was adopted in Raumschach. In the 3D and 4D versions they capture, as might be expected, to either side of a square to which they could move. In the 5D and 6D games they capture as they move; otherwise they are too powerful. The 6D Knight has a unique definition because the regular Knight's move is impossible (there are no dimensions of the required three units in length). Finally, castling, en passant, and the Pawn double step, which serve no purpose in these games, have been eliminated. Believe it or not, this is not the first attempt at a 6D version of chess. For a description of previous efforts, check out the History section that comes with the game. For another 4D chess variant, try Chesseract. For other hypergames, there's Hyperspace, Skava, Superstring, Wormhole, and the soon-to-be-released Tessa. Download 6D Chess Now!
Game: Smackdown Chess Created by W. D. Troyka, © 2001 Smackdown Chess is based upon the theory that there is not enough violence in chess. Although the King's minions fare poorly in a typical chess game, the method of capture is sterile, and the King himself is never actually taken. Smackdown Chess seeks to remedy this situation by introducing a new method of capture, the "body slam." At the conclusion of a move, all adjacent enemy pieces are frozen for one round. This is called the "chokehold". Then, on the next turn, the attacking piece can body slam any held piece by moving to the square it occupies. The slammed piece swaps places with the attacking piece and becomes an inert fixture on the board. The player can remove the slammed piece on any subsequent turn by capturing it in the normal fashion. Or it can be left on the board as an impenetrable block to the opponent. A piece performing a body slam can choke additional enemy pieces as part of the same move. An attacking piece itself can be choked. Normal capture by replacement does not exist except with regard to slammed pieces. The King is not royal in this game, and a player wins by slamming the opponent's entire side. In the illustration below, White has won because all of Black's pieces are slammed. In the "Cage Match" variant, any piece can slam an adjacent enemy piece whether or not it attacked on the previous round. The chokehold rule remains in place. Smackdown Chess is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America. Download Smackdown Chess Now!
