Drop Chess

These two games are chess variants that follow the same principle on different sized chess boards. In both, there are a total of 9 chess armies giving 81 different types of games that can be played with each one. In all of the games you get to place the front-row men wherever you want to.

Other than that, the games are similar to chess except no castling, no initial double-moving pawns, and No en passant moves. Some armies have different pawns. All pawns promote when reaching the last rank (either queen or dragon). All armies have different types of kings which are a different color than the rest of the pieces with the object of the game being to capture your opponents king..

The main purpose is to see how different types of chess pieces compare with each other without any special rules getting in the way.

I made both chess variants myself and would just like someone elses opinion if the armies are equally balanced or not.

There are 7 basic types of chess pieces used for describing most of the chessmen in the different armies. They are: ferz (moves one square diagonally), wazir (moves one square like a rook), daba (jumps 2 squares like a rook), alfil (jumps two squares diagonally), and the knight, bishop, and rook which move like they do in normal chess.

The following descriptions list the front-row pieces first and then the second-row (pawn) piece is listed. For the 8x8 chess variant:

King

Front-row:

2 bishops
2 knights
2 rooks
1 queen (bishop+rook)
royal: king (wazir+ferz)

Second-row: pawn (moves forward 1 sqare and captures one square diagonally forward)

Flag

Front-row:

2 archbishops (bishop+wazir)
2 towers (rook+ferz)
1 queen (bishop+rook)
1 sideguard (moves like the king but not to the squares directly in front or behind)
1 topguard (moves like the king but not to the squares directly to the right or left)
royal: flag (cant move)

Second-row: pawn (same as for king)

Pawnmaster

Front-row:

1 gold (moves like the king but not diagonally backwards)
1 silver (moves like the ferz or one square straight back)
1 vertical (moves front or back like the rook and to the side like a wazir)
1 rookie (moves like the rook to the front and sides and moves backwards like the wazir)
1 phoenix (alfil+wazir)
1 priest (ferz+alfil)
1 dragon (ferz+wazir+daba+alfil+knight)
royal: ferz-king (ferz)

Second-row: iron (moves and captures one square in any of the three forward directions)

Fast

Front-row:

2 archdeacons (bishop+daba)
2 checkers (ferz+alfil+daba)
1 linesman (moves forward and back like the rook and to the side like a daba)
1 rowsman (moves left and right like the rook and front and back like a daba)
1 jumper (moves like the queen but only in 2 step jumps)
royal: fast (alfil+daba)

Second-row: chariot (moves and captures one square diagonally forward, or can make a 2 step forward jump [not a capture])

Alfil

Front-row:

1 queen (bishop+rook)
1 cardinal (rook+knight)
1 crusader (bishop+knight)
1 knight
1 bishop
1 rook
1 fork (moves forward like the bishop and backwards like the rook)
royal: alfil-king (alfil)

Second-row: peon (moves and captures one square forward)

Daba

Front-row:

1 princess (moves like the bishop or forwards and backwards like the rook)
1 empress (moves like the bishop or right and left like the rook)
1 goldsmith (moves like the queen but not diagonally backwards)
1 spy (knight+alfil)
1 thin-bottle (moves like the ferz, to the right and left as the wazir, or front and back like the daba)
1 wide-bottle (moves like the ferz, to the front and back like the wazir, or right and left like the daba)
1 diamond (moves like the knight or can make a 3 square jump in a rook direction)
royal: daba-king (daba)

Second-row: stone (moves and captures one square front or backwards)

Knight

Front-row:

2 leapers (knight+daba+alfil)
2 minirooks (wazir+daba)
2 guards (ferz+wazir)
1 dragon (ferz+wazir+daba+alfil+knight)
royal: knight-king (knight) Second-row: pawn (same as in king, flag)

Wazir

Front-row:

2 minirooks (wazir+daba)
1 priest (ferz+alfil)
1 squire (ferz+daba)
1 duke (knight+wazir)
1 baron (knight+ferz)
1 amazon (rook+bishop+knight)
royal: wazir-king (wazir)

Second-row: grunt (moves forward one square and captures sideways one square)

Diagonal

Front-row:

2 bishops
2 archbishops (bishop+wazir)
2 archdeacons (bishop+daba)
1 pope (bishop+wazir+daba)
royal: diagonal (ferz+alfil)

Second-row: reversi (moves diagonally forward one square and captures forward like the wazir)

The 9x9 chess variants have the same pawns as their 8x8 equivalent so only the front-row men are listed.

King

Front-row:

2 bishops
2 knights
2 rooks
2 queens (bishop+rook)
royal: king (wazir+ferz)

Flag

Front-row:

2 archbishops (bishop+wazir)
2 towers (rook+ferz)
2 queen (bishop+rook)
2 guards (ferz+wazir)
royal: flag (cant move)

Pawnmaster

Front-row:

1 guard (ferz+wazir)
1 crusader (knight+bishop)
1 vertical (moves front or back like the rook and to the side like a wazir)
1 bunker (rook+alfil)
1 hunter (ferz+wazir+alfil)
1 horizontal (moves left or right like the rook and to the front and back like a wazir)
1 top-seeker (moves forward and backwards like a knight, alfil, or daba)
1 side-seeker (moves left or right like a knight, alfil, or daba)
royal: ferz-king (ferz)

Fast

Front-row:

2 archdeacons (bishop+daba)
2 checkers (ferz+alfil+daba)
1 linesman (moves forward and back like the rook and to the side like a daba)
1 rowsman (moves left and right like the rook and front and back like a daba)
1 priest (ferz+bishop)
1 ubervillian (moves like the queen or jumper [from 8x8 flag])
royal: fast (alfil+daba)

Alfil

Front-row:

1 queen (bishop+rook)
1 cardinal (rook+knight)
1 crusader (bishop+knight)
1 dragon (ferz+wazir+daba+alfil+knight)
1 knight
1 bishop
1 rook
1 guard (ferz+wazir)
royal: alfil-king (alfil)

Daba

Front-row:

1 princess (moves like the bishop or forwards and backwards like the rook)
1 empress (moves like the bishop or right and left like the rook)
1 goldsmith (moves like the queen but not diagonally backwards)
1 demon (rook+ferz+alfil)
1 thin-bottle (moves like the king or moves forwards and backwards like a daba)
1 wide-bottle (moves like the king or moves right and left like a daba)
1 top-eagle (moves like the ferz, alfil, or front and back like a daba)
1 side-eagle (moves like the ferz, alfil, or right and left like a daba)
royal: daba-king (daba)

Knight

Front-row:

1 leaper (knight+daba+alfil)
1 ronin (ferz+wazir+knight)
1 agent (knight+daba)
1 baron (knight+ferz)
1 duke (knight+wazir)
1 spy (knight+alfil)
1 diamond (same as 8x8 equivalent)
1 megadiamond (ferz+daba+diamond)
royal: knight-king (knight)

Wazir

Front-row:

1 minirook (wazir+daba)
1 priest (ferz+alfil)
1 squire (ferz+daba)
1 camel (moves 3:1 like a knight)
1 minister (ferz+wazir+daba+alfil)
1 phoenix (alfil+wazir)
1 cardinal (rook+knight)
1 amazon (rook+bishop+knight)
royal: wazir-king (wazir)

Diagonal

Front-row:

2 bishops
2 archbishops (bishop+wazir)
2 archdeacons (bishop+daba)
2 popes (bishop+wazir+daba)
royal: diagonal (ferz+alfil)

Written by Key McKinnis.

WWW page created: February 23, 2000.

Comments

Drop Chess. Players can select from nine chess armies on an 8x8 or 9x9 board. (9x9, Cells: 81)

Bob Greenwade wrote on Sat, Jul 15, 2023 12:51 PM EDT:Good ★★★★

I'll agree (though not vehemently) with the assessment that the 8x8 parts are basically Chess With Different Armies. But the 9x9 parts are their own variant, and arguably deserve their own page.

I also agree that this needs a better name; I found this while looking for an article to explain the drop rule.

But the only real complaint I have is the lack of any diagrams to show what order the back-row pieces are set up in; on that point I don't have a clue. Diagrams showing the various Pawns' moves would be helpful too.

George Duke wrote on Tue, Nov 16, 2010 05:26 PM EST:

Joyce mentions different Pawns and many of these pairs fit the sub-category chess different pawns. 9 different armies for 9x9 or 8x8 making 81 possible match-ups per board (at least the 162 total unique line-ups) sure to wreck opening convention. A couple core armies, such as Alfil Army, seem stronger than the others, which would recommend some alteration. The piece-types mixed are not so conventional as first appearance by standard indicia RNB-WADFN, because of twists like forward-only components, as if wanting to apply a Shogi brush occidentally for some reason; also side and not vertical, forward as Bishop backward Rook after Schultz's 1940s Hunter-Falcon etc.

H. G. Muller wrote on Tue, Mar 30, 2010 12:43 PM EDT:

This game is ideally suited for implementation in Fairy-Max: all pieces are normal Chess pieces with straightforward moves and no side effects. So it is just a matter of adapting the table of move steps in the ini file. I guess I should test the equivalence of the armies one day with it. The fact that it is a shuffle game also provides an ideal way to avoid duplicate games: I can just start with randomly shuffled setups.

Anonymous wrote on Mon, Mar 29, 2010 01:00 PM EDT:Excellent ★★★★★

George Duke, did yu know that Chess with different armies is not the first
chess game with diffirent armies? I think, Drop chess is even a bit more
interesting than CWDA. CWDA, of course, also have good points: it can be
played with standart chess set. I think, CWDA is good when you want to play
game, wich is close to chess, and DC is good if you want to play new game.
Actually, i don't think that this game is 'excellent', my real opinion
is 'good', i just don't want it's avarage rating be 'below average'.

George Duke wrote on Thu, Feb 3, 2005 01:41 PM EST:Poor ★

'DEF,LargeCV': 'Drop Chess' a misnomer, it is a Chess-Different-Armies copycat. Nine armies mean eighty-one new games. None of Ralph Betza's elan or panache here, no Betza-style reasoning and rigour. 'I would just like someone's else's opinion if the armies are equally balanced or not' --McKinnis. Sweep this one aside and start from scratch if wanting to add teams to 25-year-old Chess-Unequal-Armies.

Number of ratings: 3, Average rating: Average, Number of comments: 5