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This page is written by the game's inventor, Bob Greenwade.

Snake vs. Mongoose

For as long as the Snake (aka Snaketongue) has been around, it's been lacking a counterpart. I recently created the Mongoose to fill that void, and the combination of the two just called for the two pieces to have it out.

Setup

satellite=wizard files=10 ranks=10 graphicsDir=/cgi-bin/fen2.php?s=50&t=Greenwade&w=F9F9F9&b=808080&p= graphicsType= whitePrefix=w blackPrefix=b lightShade=#cccc11 darkShade=#339933 rimColor=#111199 coordColor=#cccc11 holeColor=#111199 squareSize=50 firstRank=1 borders=1 useMarkers=1 promoChoice=NRQ maxPromote=2 royal=K pawn:P:ifmnDfmWfceF:pawn:a3,b3,c3,d3,e3,f3,g3,h3,i3,j3,,a8,b8,c8,d8,e8,f8,g8,h8,i8,j8 mongoose:M:sWsyafsW:mongoose:b2,d2,g2,i2 snake:S:vWvyafsW:snake:,,b9,d9,g9,i9 bishop:B:B:bishop:c1,h1,,c10,h10 knight:N:N:knight:b1,i1,a2,j2,,a9,j9,b10,i10 guard:G:K:guard:d1,g1,,d10,g10 rook:R:R:rook:a1,j1,,a10,j10 queen:Q:Q:queen:e1,,e10 king:K:KisO3:king:f1,,f10

Pieces

Most of the pieces of orthodox Chess are used, with the addition of these three pieces:

Guard: Moves one square in any direction.

Mongoose: (White only) Moves one square either left or right, then proceeds from there outward like a Bishop.

Snake: (Black only) Moves one square either forward or backward, then proceeds from there outward like a Bishop.

Rules

Aside from the inclusion of Snakes (for Black), Mongooses (for White), Guards (for both), and two extra Knights (for both), and the adjustment of the Setup to allow for them, all of the normal rules of Chess apply.

(And yes, the correct plural for "mongoose" is "mongooses," not "mongeese." I looked it up.)

Notes

The original take on this game had the Snake and Mongoose replacing the King; however, it was pointed out that this would prevent checkmate from ever happening, so they became the Bishops instead.

Then I saw that the Snakes could come out of their place easily, while the Mongooses were blocked by their neighbors. So I brought the Bishops back, expanded the board, and gave the Mongooses extra room for movement.

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 Bob Greenwade.

Last revised by Bob Greenwade.


Web page created: 2024-01-26. Web page last updated: 2023-11-24