Alibaba Chess
This game is played on a 9x9 board and includes four alibabas per side which can together reach all squares of the board. Also a Squirrel, which is a compound of Alibaba and Knight.
Setup
The board has 9 x 9 squares. 9 white pawns are initially set up on row 3, 9 black pawns on row 7.
The other white pieces:
- rook: c2, g2
- knight: c1, i1
- alibaba: a1, a2, h1, h2
- bishop: b1, g1
- squirrel: d1
- king: e1
- queen: f1
The black pieces are set up symmetrically, mirrored at the 5th row.
Pieces
Besides the pieces of the orthodox army, there are:
- Alibaba: leaps orthogonally or diagonally a distance of two; compound of Dabbabah and Alfil
- Squirrel: compound of Alibaba and Knight
Rules
All other pieces move like in orthodox chess, but the pawns can't make a double move and there is no en-passant capture. If a pawn reaches the last row, it is promoted to queen or squirrel.
There is no castling.
The goal is to checkmate or stalemate the opponent.
Notes
The four Alibabas of a side are not all of the same value. The white one initially on h2 and the black on h8 can reach 16 squares, none of them on the border. The white Alibaba on a1 and the black on a9 can reach 25 squares, among them all corner squares. The remaining on h1, h9, a2 and a8 can reach 20 squares each.
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By Thomas .
Web page created: 2023-02-17. Web page last updated: 2023-04-22