Items Authored by Ralph Betza
Craft
- Building an 8 by 8 by 8 board. On how to design a three dimensional chess board. Author: Ralph Betza.
Game
- 2x2x16 Race Chess. Race Chess on a 2-level circular board with Crooked Bishops and Queens. (2x(2x16), Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- 3d offset chess. Chess variants, invented by Ralph Betza, on non-cubic three dimensional boards. By Ralph Betza.
- 4x16 Race Chess Revisited. New version of race chess on circular 4 by 16 board. (16x4, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Alice chess against normal chess.. Alice's Army. By Ralph Betza.
- The All Around Allstars. A set of chess pieces with different movement, that can be matched against `The Fabulous FIDEs'. By Ralph Betza.
- The Amazon Army. One player has an Amazon (a queen with knights move) and handicapped rooks. By Ralph Betza.
- Amontillado. Pieces have combined `halfling' powers, going half the usual distance. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Anti-Prechess. The opponent must place your piece on the board. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Archoniclastic Chess. Pieces are augmented on squares of their color. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Ataturk Chess. Players may announce a different piece to be royal. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Augmented Chess. Players give standard chess pieces small additional movement possibilities from predescribed set. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Augmented Different Knights. Knights receive different additional movement possibilities. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Augmented Half Chess. Pieces can go half as far, but then are augmented with additional
movement possibilitie. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Betza's Flying Circus. Bombers and interceptors fly above the chess board. By Ralph Betza.
- Betza's Three Dimensional Chess Games. Several 3d-chess variants by Ralph Betza. By Ralph Betza.
- The Black Ghost. Black gets a teleporting Ghost piece that can not capture to balance White's first move advantage. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Buypoint Chess. Buy your fighting force - each piece costs a number of points. By Ralph Betza.
- Captain Spalding Chess. Find an Elephant in your Pajamas. By Ralph Betza.
- Cassandra Chess. Prophesy the doom of opposing pieces two turns in advance to capture them. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Castlingmost Chess. All movement in this variant is a form of castling. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Cavewars CSIPGS Chess. Three dimensional chess variant based on Cavewars game. By Ralph Betza.
- Chatter Chess. Variant based on the idea of line chatter where rider pieces can switch to other friendly pieces' lines of movement. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Chess For Any Number of Players. Rules for multiplayer chess that can be played with an arbitrary number of players. By Ralph Betza.
- Chess on a Really Big Board. Chess on multiple chess boards. (16x16, Cells: 256) By Ralph Betza.
- Chess Variants with Inverse Capture. Several variants around the idea that captures are done in the manner of the captured piece. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Chess with Different Armies. Betza's classic variant where white and black play with different sets of pieces. (Recognized!) By Ralph Betza.
- Chess with Mixed Pawns. Four normal and four Berolina pawns per player. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Chessopoly. Board with a hole in the middle where pawns move clockwise. (12x12, Cells: 128) By Ralph Betza.
- Chigorin Chess. White has knights instead of bishops and a chancellor for his queen; black has bishops instead of knights. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Chutes and Ladders Chess. Game played on two boards with two sets with user placed and removed chutes and ladders connecting the boards. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Circular Chess, Improved. Circular Chess where Bishops and Queens are crooked, and all Pawns go in the same direction. (2x16, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Closing Time. During certain turns, you must move pieces out of a central area of the board (`the pub'). (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- The Colorbound Clobberers. A team for Chess with Different Armies with many colorbound pieces. By Ralph Betza.
- Colorboundmost and Nearly Colorboundmost Chess. Games with all pieces either completely or almost completely colorbound. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Confusion Chess 1b. Every piece is replaced by something roughly equivalent that moves strangely. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Crowd Chess 1: Safety in Numbers. More pieces can occupy the same square - you can only form or move to a crowd by a non-capturing move. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Crowd Chess 2: All Go Together. More pieces can occupy the same square and share the same fate. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- csipgs Chess. Design and buy new chess pieces during play. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- The Cylindrical Cinders. Army for Chess with Different Armies where many of the pieces can move as if the board was a cylinder. By Ralph Betza.
- DemiChess. Most pieces have about half the strength as in normal chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- DemiChess Revisited. Updated information on DemiChess. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- DemiRifleChess. Rifle Chess where most pieces have about half the strength as in normal chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Diceless Chessgammon. Move all pieces off the opponents side of the board. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Double Hammer Chess. Missing description (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Doublestep Chess and Doubletime Chess. Missing description (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Doublewide Chess. A discussion of the variant where two complete chess sets (including two Kings per side) are set up on a doublewide board. (16x8, Cells: 128) Author: Ralph Betza.
- Duck Soup Chess. Pawns on
turnwise randomly determined colored squares cannot be taken. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Earthquake Chess. An earthquake caused a kind of Z-form in the board. (8x8, Cells: 8) By Ralph Betza.
- Elevator Chess. Multiple boards with simultaneous games are linked through central elevator squares. By Ralph Betza.
- The Fair First Move Rule in Chess. Every turn you flip a coin to see who goes first. By Ralph Betza.
- Falling Off. `Captured' pieces do not disappear, but get
momentum, and
can fall off the edge of the board. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Feeble Chess. Pieces are weak as they must use a turn to change direction or flip between taking and non-taking mode; includes Weakest Chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Fetch Chess. Double-move game where the Cat (who may be a 3rd player) may or may not fetch your pawns back. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Fifo Chess. Each square acts as a First-In-First-Out queue. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- FireFighter Chess. A game where one piece is a secret fire fighter with special powers. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- The Forward FIDEs. A team for Chess with Different Armies where pieces can advancer easier than retreat. By Ralph Betza.
- The Game for the Trees. Pieces grow on the board, occupying multiple squares. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- The Game of Nemoroth. For the sake of your sanity, do not read this variant! (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Golden Age Chess On a Really Big Board. Variant on 16 by 16 board with several different pieces. (16x16, Cells: 256) By Ralph Betza.
- Greener Chess. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence -- and your pieces are stronger there too. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Half Chess. Pieces have approximately half their usual movement possibilities. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Halfling Chess. Game where all pieces (except Knights) are Halflings. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Hans37 Chess. Chess variant for four players on a board of 37 squares. (Cells: 37) By Ralph Betza.
- Hans38 Chess. A form of Chess with a Limited Supply of Squares; entry of the 38-challenge. (8x8, Cells: 38) By Ralph Betza.
- Het Amazone leger. Dames kunnen als paard zetten, maar de toren kan maar 4 vakken ver. (Dutch Language) Author: Jos Jansen of Lorkeers and Ralph Betza. Inventor: Ralph Betza.
- Hitpoint Chess 1. Pieces have hitpoints, like in a wargame. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Inchworm and Longworm Chess. Pieces move their heads to a new square, then move their tail to that square on a later move. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- The Iron Knight. A number of variants with uncapturable pieces. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Jack-Be-Nimble Chess. Jumping pieces have to learn how before they jump tall pieces. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- The Jovan Army. An army for Chess with Different Armies featuring heavy pieces that move forward slowly. By Ralph Betza.
- Koopschaak (BuyPoint Chess). Bij het begin van het spel heb je pionnen en koning en 31 punten waarmee je andere stukken kan kopen (Dutch Language) Author: Ralph Betza and Jos Jansen of Lorkeers. Inventor: Ralph Betza.
- Lag Chess. The last move made by your opponent is not known to you. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Lene Hau Chess. Pieces take several turns for doing one move, going only one square per turn. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Limited Doublemove Chess. Several variants on Doublemove Chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Limited Square Chess. A form of Chess with a Limited Supply of Squares; entry of the 38-challenge. (8x8, Cells: 38) By Ralph Betza.
- Many Rules in One Game. List chess and variants. By Ralph Betza.
- Minigolf Chess on a Really Big Board. Pieces have momentum, bounce against the walls, and can be spinned in variant on 8 by 16 board. (16x8, Cells: 128) By Ralph Betza.
- Missing the Mark. Making intentional errors. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Momentum Chess. Pieces keep moving in the same direction. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Monster Chess Variants. A Discussion of the value of Double-Move pieces. (8x8, Cells: 64) Author: Ralph Betza.
- More Shifted Square Chess. Shifted Square Chess needs more than one page to explore its possibilities. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Multiple Occupancy Miscellany. Various chess variants with multiple pieces per square. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Nemoroth, The Game of. For the sake of your sanity, do not read this variant! (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- New Types of Progressive Chess. Several new progressive chess variants. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- The Nutty Knights. A team for Chess with Different Armies based around the moves of the Knight. By Ralph Betza.
- One or Two. Make a normal move, or denote two pieces for which your opponent chooses how they must be moved. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- OOmost Chess. All movement in this variant is a form of castling. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Outrigger Chess. On 10 by 8 board, with several variants. (10x8, Cells: 80) By Ralph Betza.
- Overprotection Chess. If an attacked piece is more often defended than it is attacked, it gains extra powers. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- PASGL 312 Chess. Critters steal lunch in the forest, while trying to get close to the campfire and avoid the train. (Cells: 68) By Ralph Betza.
- Piazza San Marco Chess. On random moments, the middle of the board gets flooded, meaning that pieces can get out only by using
special walkways. By Ralph Betza.
- Pied Color Chess. Oh no! All the colors on the board have been scrambled -- however will the pieces move? (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Poker Chess. Squares contain cards, and players win by forming poker hands with the cards on the squares occupied by their pieces. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Polypiece Chess. Each time a piece moves, all pieces of that type on both sides change their move. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Race Chess. On a circular board where white and black pawns move in the same direction. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Rebellion chess. Besides normal moves, you can move a piece of the opponent. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Rectahex Chesss. A chess variant that looks like hexagonal chess but can be played on a normal chess board. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Refreshing Bubble Fizz Chess. When a piece moves, he can create a bubble. Pieces in bubbles cannot move for three turns, but may make two non-capturing moves. By Ralph Betza.
- The Remarkable Rookies. A team for Chess with Different Armies with Rook-like pieces. By Ralph Betza.
- Rental Chess. You must pay rent for the squares where your pieces are: centre squares are more expensive. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Retrochess. Play chess from the end of the game backwards. (8x8, Cells: 64) By João Pedro Neto and Ralph Betza.
- Secret Agent Chess. Each player chooses one opposing minor piece to be a secret agent. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Shifted Square Chess. One square is removed from the normal playing area and one square is added at the edge of the normal playing area. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Sixteen Pawns. Trade a queen for 8 extra pawn. (8x8, Cells: 64) Author: Ralph Betza. Inventor: M. de Kemur.
- Taxi Chess. Pay for moves: long moves are expensive. By Ralph Betza.
- This Game is for the Birds. Game where pieces fly past obstacles and some pieces capture by pecking. (8x8, Cells: 64) Author: Ralph Betza and John Lawson. Inventor: Ralph Betza and Peter Aronson.
- Three Kinds of Billiards Chess. Pieces bounce off the edges of the board. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Tilting the Balance. Players can set off an atomic bomb. By Ralph Betza.
- Tingles, Bumps, and Punches. A set of variants on cylindrical and toroidal boards featuring a peace bump between the top and bottom of the board. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- TireBiter Chess. When taking, pieces can split and become a Tirebiter piece. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Touring Chess. Pieces can either move normally or leap on a Knight's tour only known in advance to the referee. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Trap Chess. Pieces can only be taken when they are trapped. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Trapdoor Chess. Pieces fall through the board if they stand still too long. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Tripunch Chess. Knights become Nightriders, Rooks add Gryphon moves, Bishops add Aanca moves, and Queens become unbelievable. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Troll Chess. When taken, pieces lose part of their strenght with they regenerate during successive turns. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Turning chess. Pieces can turn 45 degrees after movement. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Twinkie Danger Chess. Game on two initially unliked boards where each turn you add or drop a link. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Wand Chess. Pieces have a magic wand, that gives random outcomes. By Ralph Betza.
- Warm Spit Chess. One of your pieces in addition to your King is royal (your vice-president), and it can be changed. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Way of the Knight. Pieces with experience levels: a `role playing variant'. By Ralph Betza.
- Weak!. Black has 7 knights, and 16 pawns, White the usual array. (8x8, Cells: 64) Author: Ralph Betza.
- Weakest Chess. Pieces are weakenend as they must use a turn to change direction or flip between taking and non-taking mode. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
- Zero Relay Chess. Pieces can occcupy the same square and then relay their powers to each other. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Ralph Betza.
Interview
- Betza, Ralph. An interview with the `Grandmaster of Chess Variant Design'. Author: Hans L. Bodlaender and Ralph Betza.
Piece
- Bent Riders. A discussion of pieces, like the Gryphon, that take a step then move as riders. By Ralph Betza.
- The Crooked Bishop. Revisiting the Crooked Bishop. Author: Ralph Betza.
- The Crooked Bishop. Missing description Author: Ralph Betza.
- Halflings. Pieces that can travel at most half their usual distance. By Ralph Betza.
- Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 1). A discussion of the values of chess pieces. Author: Ralph Betza.
- Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 2). More on the value of Chess pieces. Author: Ralph Betza.
- Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 3). More on the value of Chess pieces. Author: Ralph Betza.
- Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 4). Additional details on the values of Chess pieces. Author: Ralph Betza.
- Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 5). A study of the value of Cannon-style jumpers. Author: Ralph Betza.
- Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 6). A study of the value of the Furlrurlbakking piece. Author: Ralph Betza.
- Spacious Pieces. Pieces that need a bit more open space to move. Author: Ralph Betza.
- The Crab: ffNbsN. Missing description By Ralph Betza.
- Thoughts on Chess with Different Pawns. The difficulties of composing Chess with Different Pawns. Author: Ralph Betza.
- Worse than Worthless. A discussion of pieces with negative value, and the Nattering Nabobs of Negativity! Author: Ralph Betza.
Piececlopedia
- Crooked Queen. Moves in a diagonal zigzagline or like a Rook. By Ralph Betza.
- Pancake. A piece that moves and captures like a non-royal King or a Nightrider-style cannon. By Ralph Betza.
Problem
- A Chess Problem with a Chancellor. Mate in two moves. Author: Ralph Betza. Inventor: Mw. L. Ferris.
Reference
- Betza Notation. A primer on the leading shorthand for describing variant piece moves. Author: Glenn Overby II and Ralph Betza. Inventor: Ralph Betza.
- Rule Zero. A base or starting rule set for most Chess variants. By Ralph Betza.
SampleGame
- Nemoroth. A Visit to. Ralph visits Nemoroth in a dream, and reports a game by its greatest champion. By Ralph Betza.
- A Remarkable Rookies Game. A sample game featuring the Remarkable Rookies vs the Fabulous FIDEs. By Ralph Betza.
- A Visit to Nemoroth. Ralph visits Nemoroth in a dream, and reports a game by its greatest champion. By Ralph Betza.
- The Weakest Endgame. The King vs King endgame from Weakest Chess. By Ralph Betza.
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