This is the second game I've designed to be played on the surface of a soccer ball. The game is played on both the outside and inside of a soccer ball, with the 12 pentagons serving as "gateways" between the two sides. Along with the 12 pentagons, there are 40 hexagons - 20 on each side, making 52 cells altogether.
Players of ALICE CHESS with recognize the similarities - it's like having two boards, with pieces able to move from one to the other.
The name and the idea come from C.S. Lewis's novels, "Chronicles of Narnia". Remember the wardrobe? and the magic picture frame? These and other "gateways" allowed passage from Earth to Narnia. One could also recall Jack L. Chalker's "Wellworld" science-fiction novels : there was a gateway at the pole of many planets, allowing people to travel to the Wellworld. The pentagons in this game serve a similar purpose.
In the initial setup, all of the pieces have Pawns or Guards on top of them. The Pawns or Guards must move off before the pieces can move. You can do that by clicking on the cell where you want the Pawn or Guard to move. You *cannot* move a piece until the Pawn or Guard on top of it has moved off first.
The King begins the game off-board. The first move of the game is to "crown" on of your other pieces, making it royal. In the Zillions of Games implementation, do that by clicking on the King (who occupies a dummy-cell off-board) and moving it on top of the piece of your choice.
PIECES
Brief descriptions of each piece follow. Bundled with the ZIP file are graphics demonstrating the movements.
KING - this piece is inspired by the Goal in Klinzha. The King, who begins the game off- board, has no movement powers of his own (except on the first move of the game) and must be carried by another piece. The first move of the game is, therefore, to move the King on top of the piece that will carry him. The Zillions version treats the King and the piece carrying him as a single piece. The ROYAL ROOK, ROYAL BISHOP, ROYAL KNIGHT, ROYAL RINGMASTER, ROYAL SATELLITE, and ROYAL WIZARD are the resulting pieces. Each royal piece retains the movement capabilities of its simple form, but may not move into or through check.
ROOK - rides any number of cell along a straight path between two pentagons. The Rook may cross over from one surface of the board to the other, and back again.
BISHOP - rides in diagonal loops - defined as hexagonal cells connected by a line between two other cells. Players of many hexagonal chess variants will recognize this piece. Each Bishop is confined to one surface of the board; it cannot cross over to the other side.
WIZARD - rides in pentagonal loops - defined as pentagonal cells connected by a line between two hexagonal cells. The Wizard moves on pentagons much as the Bishop does on hexagons, and was inspired by the hexagonal bishop. As a pentagonal piece, the Wizard is simultaneously on both surfaces of the board. In this version, unlike the original Chess on a Soccer Board, one Wizard may not attack another. This is because in the initial setup of the Symmetrical Version, each wizard is in position to attack another, and White could capture a Black Wizard on its first move if allowed to do so. This would, in my opinion, give White an unfair advantage.
KNIGHT - leaps (a) from one hexagon to another hexagon three cells away, (b) from a hexagon to a pentagon three cells away, or (c) from a pentagon to a hexagon three cells away. The Knight may cross over from one surface of the board to the other, and back again.
RINGMASTER - rides in hexagonal loops around a single pentagon. As each hexagon is adjacent to three pentagons, a Ringmaster may move in any one of three directions. Each Ringmaster is confined to one surface of the board; it cannot cross over to the other side.
SATELLITE - rides in crooked hexagonal loops around "equators", i.e., paths that divide the board equally in two. Each "equator" consists of ten hexagons and has five hexagons and six pentagons on either side of it. Each Satellite is confined to one surface of the board; it cannot cross over to the other side.
PAWN - moves one cell without capturing on hexagons, or captures by moving one cell from a hexagon to a pentagon, on which it morphs into a Guard. The Pawn, unlike its FIDE counterpart, may move backward or sideways as well as forwards. At the beginning of the game, every Pawn stands on top of another piece and must move off before that piece can move. The Pawn may not attack a royal piece (i.e., a piece carrying the King). By changing into a Guard, a Pawn may cross over to the other surface of the board.
GUARD - moves one cell without capturing on pentagons, or captures by moving one cell from a pentagon to a hexagon, on which it morphs into a Pawn. At the beginning of the game, the Guard stands on top of the Wizard, and must move off before the Wizard can move. The Guard may not attack a royal piece (i.e., a piece carrying the King). As a pentagonal piece, the Guard is simultaneously on both surfaces of the board.
HIDDEN PIECES - pieces with Pawns or Guards on top of them, and are paralyzer until the Pawn or Guard moves off. NOTE : if you are playing Zillions, the yellow and red pieces in the initial setup are really white and black pieces, respectively, with Pawns or Guards on them. When the Pawn or Guard moves off, the piece left behind will change colour.
ROYAL PIECES - ordinary pieces that are carrying a King. In Zillions, when the King mounts a piece, a crown appears above it.
HOW TO PLAY
- The game begins by moving the King on top of the piece that will carry him. Any piece in the initial setup may be chosen.
- Next, start moving Pawns and Guards off pieces. In the Zillions implementation, you will get an error message if you try to move a piece with a Pawn or Guard on top of it - "Sorry, that piece cannot move now." Choose a piece, and click your mouse on the cell where you want the Pawn or Guard to move. It will move off, leaving the piece behind - which will change colour (yellow to white, red to black).
- Pawns and Guards *may not* give check to a royal piece. You may well ask why not. When play-testing with Zillions of Games, I found that every game seemed to be like "fool's mate" in FIDE - every game lasted a mere 3-5 moves, with White winning every time. Frankly, I don't find "fool's mate" much fun - I like games to last a little while. I found the pawns were responsible for most of the premature checkmates, so I disabled their ability to attack royal pieces.
- The game is won by checkmate, stalemate, or baring the enemy King.
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