OctaChess
OctaChess is a variant of Chess with Different Armies. There are a total of eight armies that includes four armies inspired by the classics (Chess, Shogi, Xiangqi, Janggi) and four modern armies with new fairy chess pieces. Besides the King and Pawns, none of the armies have pieces that can move exactly like a piece from another army.
The chess variant armies in OctaChess have been designed to be of about equal strength. A spreadsheet comparing the different strengths calculated from Zillions of Games are attached in the Notes section below.
Setup
Every army in OctaChess has King and Pawns, plus pieces equivalent to the Queen, Bishop, Knight, and Rook pieces in Orthodox Chess (or Queen Chess). The pieces for each OctaChess army are arranged in the same way as the equivalents in Queen Chess. The pieces and their moveset for each army in OctaChess are described below.Pieces
Queen Chess
Moves as the Rook in Orthodox Chess
Moves as the Knight in Orthodox Chess
Moves as the Bishop in Orthodox Chess
Moves as the Queen in Orthodox Chess
Moves as the King in Orthodox Chess
Moves as the Pawn in Orthodox Chess
Cannon Chess
Moves any number of squares orthogonally, and can capture by sliding or jumping over a piece (Rook+Cannon)
Moves one square orthogonally, or one square orthogonally, then one square diagonally outward (Horse+General)
Slides up to two squares, or moves one square orthogonally (Elephant+Advisor+General)
Moves one square diagonally or one square orthogonally without capturing
Moves as the King in Orthodox Chess
Moves as the Pawn in Orthodox Chess
Dragon Chess
Slides any number of squares orthogonally, or one square diagonally
Moves one square diagonally, one square orthogonally forward, or leaps two squares forward in an ‘L’ shape (Silver General+Laurel Horse)
Moves one square orthogonally, or one square diagonally forward
Slides any number of squares diagonally, any number of squares orthogonally forward, or one square orthogonally sideways and backward (Dragon Horse+Lance)
Moves as the King in Orthodox Chess
Moves as the Pawn in Orthodox Chess
Stallionn Chess
slides any number of squares orthogonally, and up to two squares diagonally (Chariot+Advisor+Janggi Chariot diagonal move in the Palace
Moves one square orthogonally, then one or two squares diagonally forward (Janggi Elephant+Horse)
Can only move by leaping over any piece (similar to the Janggi Cannon but it can leap over another Cannon piece)
Slides any number of squares orthogonally, one square diagonally, or leaps over a piece exactly one square diagonally (Chariot+Advisor+Janggi Cannon diagonal move in the Palace
Moves as the King in Orthodox Chess
Moves as the Pawn in Orthodox Chess
Chimera Chess
Moves one square orthogonally, captures any number of squares orthogonally
Leaps two squares orthogonally, diagonally, or in a orthogonal-diagonal sequence in an ‘L’ shape (Knight+Alfil+Dabbabah)
Moves one square in any direction
Moves one square orthogonally like the Chimera, one square orthogonally without capturing, and captures one square diagonally (Knight+Alfil+Dabbabah+Pawn that can act sideways and backward)
Moves as the King in Orthodox Chess
Moves as the Pawn in Orthodox Chess
Dark Knight Chess
Leaps like a Knight up to three consecutive 'L' shapes in the same direction, moves one square orthogonally without capturing, or captures one square diagonally (Knightrider+Pawn that can act sideways and backward)
Slides up to two squares orthogonally or diagonally
Moves one square diagonally, or leaps two squares diagonally (Ferz+Alfil)
Moves one square orthogonally, or leaps two squares orthogonally (Wazir+Dabbabah)
Moves as the King in Orthodox Chess
Moves as the Pawn in Orthodox Chess
Plato Chess
Leaps two squares in an `L` shape or two squares orthogonally (Knight+Dabbabah)
Moves as the Pawn in Orthodox Chess
Slides up to two squares diagonally
Slides up to six squares forward, one square sideways and backward, or two squares diagonally
Moves as the King in Orthodox Chess
Slides up to 4 squares orthogonally or leaps 2 squares diagonally
Noble Chess
Moves one square in any direction, can capture any number of squares orthogonally
Moves one square in any direction, or leaps two squares in an ‘L’ shape
Moves one square in any direction, can capture any number of squares diagonally
Moves one square orthogonally without capturing, or captures by leaping one or two squares diagonally
Moves as the King in Orthodox Chess
Moves as the Pawn in Orthodox Chess
Rules
The King can castle with the Rook equivalent as in Orthodox Chess. The Pawn can promote to a Queen, Bishop, Knight, or Rook equivalent upon reaching the last rank. The en Passant rule is the same for all chess variants in OctaChess.Notes
Each chess variant in OctaChess is designed to be of about equal strength to the Orthodox Chess army. The strength of the pieces is calculated using Zillions of Games. Details of the calculation can be found in the attached spreadsheet below.
Play with Zillions of Games
Click the links below to download Zillions of Games files where you can play the eight armies in OctaChess against each other. The classic variants are Chess, Cannon Chess (based on Xiangqi), Dragon Chess (based on Shogi), and Stallion Chess (based on Janggi). The modern variants are Chimera Chess, Dark Knight Chess, Plato Chess, and Noble Chess.
This 'user submitted' page is a collaboration between the posting user and the Chess Variant Pages. Registered contributors to the Chess Variant Pages have the ability to post their own works, subject to review and editing by the Chess Variant Pages Editorial Staff.
By Albert Lee.
Last revised by Albert Lee.
Web page created: 2021-11-23. Web page last updated: 2023-11-15