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Omega Chess
Board Setup, Rules, & How Pieces Move
The Object of the Game
The object of the game remains the same as in Standard Chess; to checkmate the
opposing King. When a King is directly threatened by an opponent's piece, the
King is in check. The player in check must respond in one of three ways. He must
either:
- Capture the threatening piece
- Block the path of the threatening piece
- Move the King to an unthreatened square
Checkmate occurs when a player's King is in check and the
player has no way to get out of check on the next move. This ends the game with
the capturing player as the clear winner.
A game of chess can also end in a draw in which there is no clear winner. A
draw may occur one of four ways:
- Stalemate: A stalemate occurs if a player who is not in check
cannot move any piece, including the King, without placing their King in
check.
- Insufficient Mating Material: When neither player has the pieces
needed to checkmate the other player. e.g. Bishop and King vs. King (see
Game Endings)
- Threefold Repetition of Position: The game is drawn if the same
position (with the same person on move) has appeared on the chessboard three
times.
- 50 Moves Rule: If there have been 50 consecutive moves of White and
Black without any piece capture or any pawn move.
If a player feels that their position is hopeless, the player may end the game
by conceding to the other player. Alternatively, if the players feel that
neither side can win, they may agree to a draw. Initial Board Setup Omega Chess is played with two players. As in Standard Chess, before the start
of the game, the players must decide which color pieces they will play, white or
black. Just like chess, white makes the first move followed by black. All the
familiar pieces in Omega Chess follow the same rules as in Traditional Chess,
except for pawns which have been modified for play on a 10x10 board. Omega Chess
is played with the same rules of chess except for the pawns.
How Chess Pieces Move
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The King
The King can
move one square in any direction, except when castling. Castling is a
defensive move using the King and either Rook. A player can castle
provided that:
- The King is not in check.
- The King and the castling Rook have not been moved
during the game.
- All the squares between the King and the castling
Rook are unoccupied.
- The King would not be moving through or landing on a
square under threat.
- When castling, the King either moves two squares
towards the King's Rook, or the King move two squares towards the
Queen's Rook. The King's Rook or Queen's Rook then moves to the square
the King moved through.
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The Queen
The
Queen is the most powerful chess piece, combining the powers of the Bishop
and the Rook. It moves along an unobstructed path any number of squares
diagonally or orthogonally.
The queen is at her most powerful when the board is open, when the enemy
king is not well-defended, or when there are loose (i.e. undefended)
pieces in the enemy camp. Because of her long range and ability to move in
more than one direction, the queen is well-equipped to execute forks, but
these are only useful if the forked pieces are undefended, or one is
undefended and the other is the enemy king. |
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The Rook
The Rook is also a line piece. It moves in an
unobstructed path any number of squares orthogonally (horizontally or
vertically).
Rooks are most powerful towards the end of a game, where they can move
unobstructed by pawns and control large numbers of squares. They are
somewhat clumsy at restraining enemy pawns from advancing towards
promotion, unless they can occupy the file behind the advancing pawn. By
the same token, a rook best supports a friendly pawn towards promotion
from behind it in the same file. |
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The Bishop
The Bishop is a line piece
which moves in an unobstructed path any number of squares diagonally. As
can be seen in the diagram, a Bishop only occupies squares of its starting
color.
Bishops gain in relative strength towards the endgame as more and more
pieces are traded, and lines open up on which they can operate. When the
board is empty, a bishop can operate on both wings simultaneously, whereas
a knight takes several moves to hop across. In certain positions a bishop
can by itself lose a move (see triangulation), while a knight can never do
so. |
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The Knight
The Knight is a leaper. Unlike a
line piece it doesn't require an unobstructed path to move along and it
can jump over other pieces. The Knight can move two squares horizontally
or vertically and then one square to either side. Refer to the diagram for
a clearer illustration of the Knight's move.
The knight is the only piece that can move at the beginning of the game
before any pawn move has been made. Because of the above reasons, in most
situations the best square for the initial move of each knight is one
towards the center. Knights are usually brought into play slightly sooner
than the bishops and much sooner than the rooks and the queen. |
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The Champion
The Champion, like the Knight, is
classified as a leaper. It can move one square orthogonally, forward,
backward or to either side. Or the Champion can jump two squares forward
or backward or to either side, or jump two squares diagonally in all four
directions. The Champion can jump over pieces and it can control up to
twelve squares. (See diagram).The Champion cannot move one square
diagonally.
From the opening position, the Champion can immediately enter a game by
jumping to squares a2 - c2, h2 - j2, j7 - h7, a7 - c7. |
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The Wizard
The Wizard is also classified as a
leaper. It can move one square diagonally in all four directions. Or, like
an exaggerated Knight move, the Wizard can jump three squares horizontally
or vertically and then one square to either side.
The Wizard is bound to the color of its starting square. The Wizard can
jump over pieces to also control up to twelve squares.(See diagram).
From the opening position, the Wizard can immediately enter a game by
jumping to squares: a2, j2 -- j7, a7. |
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The Pawn
The Pawn can only move forward.
From its initial position, a Pawn in Omega Chess can move one, two or
three squares forward and after that, only one square at a time. A Pawn
cannot move one square initially and then two squares afterward. When
making an initial double or triple move a Pawn cannot jump over other
pieces. While Pawns move directly forward, they can only capture an
opposing piece by moving one square forward diagonally.
Pawn Promotion: The diagram shows a Pawn reaching the other side of the
board. When a Pawn reaches the far side of the board (the 10th rank) it is
immediately promoted to any piece except a King (generally to a Queen).
En Passant: The principle for capturing an opposing Pawn en passant in
Omega Chess remains the same as in Standard Chess. If a Pawn moves two or
three squares initially and passes an opposing Pawn on the fourth or fifth
rank, the Pawn may be captured en passant. The opposing Pawn moves onto
the square through which the Pawn moved. Note that in the diagram the
Black Pawns which are capturing en passant are on White's fourth and fifth
rank, not on the third. Capturing en passant is optional unless it is the
only legal move available. The capture must be made on the next move. |
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