| The objective is to checkmate the opponent's king. Normal chess rules apply. However, a piece (except pawn and king) can turn into a "shaman" (that is, go into a "spiritual trance-state") and travel directly to any empty square on the board. However, in the shamanic state the piece cannot interact with other pieces, that is, cannot make captures. A shaman can (and must) move directly to another empty square after having been transformed, however, in order to leave the shamanic state and become a normal piece again the player must use up a move on the spot. You transform a piece (either shaman to piece or piece to shaman) by simply pressing on the piece. A shaman can only transform himself to the type of piece he was before. A letter on top of the shaman signifies which type of shaman it is. The shaman is only mobile directly after its transformation. Hence it becomes immobile on the square where it has landed. So the only option is, later, to transform it to a normal piece again.
However, there is an additional variant of Shamanic Chess where the shamans are allowed to move about freely. |
