Check out Balbo's Chess, our featured variant for October, 2024.

This page is written by the game's inventor, M Winther.

External Link: Culverin Chess

If players have elected to include external pieces (Culverins), they may either move a piece or pawn, or drop the extra piece from the reserve. The Culverins may only be dropped on the first rank, on an empty square behind a friendly pawn. The friendly pawn is immediately relocated one square ahead, to a position which must be empty. If these conditions aren't satisfied then the Culverin cannot be dropped. This is a new and good way of introducing an extra piece.

The Culverin is a type of cannon that can step in any direction like a king. It can capture only by leaping over any piece. If the nearest piece after the leap is an enemy piece, then it can be captured. Enemy pawns, however, can restrict its movement. The Culverin can only reach the square immediately behind the enemy pawn, regardless of leaping direction. By example, if the black king is checked on the g-file, it can defend itself by moving the pawn forward. While its tactical capacity is truncated the Culverin can harmonize with the positional qualities of the game. Positioned two or more steps behind a friendly pawn, it can threaten an enemy Culverin, which cannot threaten back. This is an important positional aspect. Its value is 3.

You can download a Zillions implementation here.


External Link: http://www.two-paths.com/bg/culverinchess.htm

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 M Winther.
Web page created: 2008-10-16. Web page last updated: 2008-10-16