Kevin Pacey wrote on Tue, Nov 28, 2017 10:00 PM UTC:
A variant idea occured to me today, but I'm not yet sure it's at all any good (partly since a game may be long, or the rules difficult/awkward to learn). I'm posting the diagram for the setup, and rules, for it below, for my study at leisure. A possible name for the idea is "Bloodline" (as the name 'War of the Roses' is taken already). [edit: I'm liking 'Royal Succession' better as a name now] There is no initial double step for pawns or castling. Pawns may promote to Prince (i.e. the guard figurine) or Princess (i.e the archbishop figurine). They may also promote to a Queen, unless the player who is promoting has no king on the board at the moment of promotion (i.e. this would not include if a player has just turned a prince into a king as part of a turn of his where he promotes a pawn).
There is a series of special rules, some sort of alluding to a kind of 'royal line of succession' that favours maleness:
1) A king (or else lone royal queen on the board, without the existence of a player's own king, i.e. this queen has become understood to be 'royal') must stay or get out of check if possible (stalemate of either the player's king or lone royal queen being a draw);
2) If a player's king (or lone queen, if it has become royal) is checkmated, and he has no pieces other than pawns left, he loses by 'final checkmate';
3a) Otherwise, if a player's king is mated then on his next turn he has to remove his king from the board and replaces one of his existing princes not under attack (if any available), making it into a king, and then makes a move (all feasible with Game Courier). If all of his princes are under attack, he loses by final checkmate;
3b) If this (see rule 3a) is not possible due to his having no princes on the board, then he chooses one of his queens on the board not under attack (if any) to become royal (if all his queens are under attack, then the player loses by final checkmate), and on his next turn he removes his king from the board, plus removes all of his queens other than the one he chose to be understood to be royal, and he then makes a move. If he has no queens to make the royal one, he instead chooses one of his princesses not under attack to be become the lone royal queen, replacing it with a queen, then makes a move. If all his princesses are under attack then he loses by final checkmate;
4a) If a player's lone royal queen is checkmated then on his next turn he must remove it from the board and make one of his princes not under attack (if any available) a king and then make a move (if all existing princes available are under attack then the player loses by final checkmate);
4b) If a player's lone royal queen is checkmated and he has no princes, but he does have any princesses not under attack, then on his next turn he must remove his lone royal queen, then replace a princess on the board with a queen, which will be understood to be his lone royal queen, then make his move. If his princesses are all under attack then he loses by final checkmate;
5) A three-fold repetition of position rule and a 50 move rule apply, as in chess;
6) When a checkmate is not the final one that wins the game, the opponent says/writes 'royal checkmated', else says/writes 'final checkmate'.
[edit: I'd tentatively estimate the piece values here as P=1; G(Prince)=7.11 (also K's approx. fighting value); A(Princess)=8.625 and Q=10.25. Note I'd put B=3.75, N=3.875, R=5.5 and C(Chancellor)=10.375 on such a 6x6 board.]
A variant idea occured to me today, but I'm not yet sure it's at all any good (partly since a game may be long, or the rules difficult/awkward to learn). I'm posting the diagram for the setup, and rules, for it below, for my study at leisure. A possible name for the idea is "Bloodline" (as the name 'War of the Roses' is taken already). [edit: I'm liking 'Royal Succession' better as a name now] There is no initial double step for pawns or castling. Pawns may promote to Prince (i.e. the guard figurine) or Princess (i.e the archbishop figurine). They may also promote to a Queen, unless the player who is promoting has no king on the board at the moment of promotion (i.e. this would not include if a player has just turned a prince into a king as part of a turn of his where he promotes a pawn).
There is a series of special rules, some sort of alluding to a kind of 'royal line of succession' that favours maleness:
1) A king (or else lone royal queen on the board, without the existence of a player's own king, i.e. this queen has become understood to be 'royal') must stay or get out of check if possible (stalemate of either the player's king or lone royal queen being a draw);
2) If a player's king (or lone queen, if it has become royal) is checkmated, and he has no pieces other than pawns left, he loses by 'final checkmate';
3a) Otherwise, if a player's king is mated then on his next turn he has to remove his king from the board and replaces one of his existing princes not under attack (if any available), making it into a king, and then makes a move (all feasible with Game Courier). If all of his princes are under attack, he loses by final checkmate;
3b) If this (see rule 3a) is not possible due to his having no princes on the board, then he chooses one of his queens on the board not under attack (if any) to become royal (if all his queens are under attack, then the player loses by final checkmate), and on his next turn he removes his king from the board, plus removes all of his queens other than the one he chose to be understood to be royal, and he then makes a move. If he has no queens to make the royal one, he instead chooses one of his princesses not under attack to be become the lone royal queen, replacing it with a queen, then makes a move. If all his princesses are under attack then he loses by final checkmate;
4a) If a player's lone royal queen is checkmated then on his next turn he must remove it from the board and make one of his princes not under attack (if any available) a king and then make a move (if all existing princes available are under attack then the player loses by final checkmate);
4b) If a player's lone royal queen is checkmated and he has no princes, but he does have any princesses not under attack, then on his next turn he must remove his lone royal queen, then replace a princess on the board with a queen, which will be understood to be his lone royal queen, then make his move. If his princesses are all under attack then he loses by final checkmate;
5) A three-fold repetition of position rule and a 50 move rule apply, as in chess;
6) When a checkmate is not the final one that wins the game, the opponent says/writes 'royal checkmated', else says/writes 'final checkmate'.
[edit: I'd tentatively estimate the piece values here as P=1; G(Prince)=7.11 (also K's approx. fighting value); A(Princess)=8.625 and Q=10.25. Note I'd put B=3.75, N=3.875, R=5.5 and C(Chancellor)=10.375 on such a 6x6 board.]