Jurassic Chess

Jurassic Chess is a chess variant invented by Andrew Wong in the 2000s. The exact date and rules have been lost, and the creator has created a reconstruction of it in 2023. This variant introduces bridge spaces and the river from Xiangqi, affecting various pieces differently.

Setup

The setup is as follows:

The game is played on a 9 by 9 board, whose 5th rank consist of river spaces except on B5, E5, and H5, which are bridge spaces.

On both players' side, from left to right on their back rank: A, St, Tc, V, T, Sp, Tc, St, P

On both players' 3rd rank sit 5 Gallimimuses, each 1 space apart

Pieces

The pieces are categorized into Heavy/Light, and Swimming/Land, or Flying. Heavy pieces may not land on or cross over bridge spaces, and Land pieces may not land on or cross over river spaces. The Flying piece may land on or cross over any space.

T: T-rex
Heavy, Land
The T-rex is the royal piece of the game. If it cannot escape checkmate, that side loses. The T-rex moves 2 spaces vertically or 1 space diagonally. This piece's movement area is limited to its side of the board.

Sp: Spinosaurus
Heavy, Swimming
The Spinosaurus moves up to 4 spaces vertically or 1 space diagonally

V: Velociraptor
Light, Land
The Raptor moves without capturing like a Chess Rook. It may capture a piece in a Rook's line of sight or one that's diagonally adjacent. To capture, it must jump over the piece it's capturing and land one space beyond. As such, when capturing a diagonally adjacent piece, it moves 2 spaces diagonally.

Tc: Triceratops
Heavy, Land
The Triceratops moves to any of its front 3 spaces (vertical and diagonal) or 1 space vertically backwards. This piece's movement area is limited to its side of the board.

St: Stegosaurus
Heavy, Swimming
The Stegosaurus moves 1 space vertically forward, or to any of its rear 3 spaces. It has reversed movement from the Triceratops.

A: Ankylosaurus
Light, Land
The Ankylosaurus is an iron piece and cannot be captured. It moves 1 space orthogonally or back-diagonally.

P: Pteranodon
Flying
The Pteranodon moves like a Chess Queen.

G: Gallimimus
Light, Land
The Gallimimus moves 1 space orthogonally.

Rules

The rules are the same as in orthodox Chess except for the movement restriction outlined above and for Stalement. In Jurassic Chess, the side with no legal moves loses.

Last revised by Andrew Wong.