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QB Goes East 98 squares

Having created Quadruple Besiege Chess on twin FIDE boards for armies twice FIDE size, I naturally wondered whether I could do likewise with East Asian variants and their offshoots. I identified two approaches to this - using single sets on a pair of 7x7 boards, and using pairs of sets minus second Kings or Generals on a pair of Shogi boards. Here are the single-set ones, limited to variants with relatively few linepieces. This is why there is no QB98 based on plain or Southwark Bishogi, 4LP Fusion, or Electrum Chess. The double-set ones have their own page.

Setup

SHO QB98
XIANG QB98
WILDEBISHO QB98 (Shogi-style promotion/reintroduction) and GNU QB98 (XQ River)
ALIBABA QB98
TURN QB98
YANG QB98
COURIER QB98
As with 128- and 162-cell QB Chess, the diagrams show one of the four joins. The thing to remember is that left and right wrap round to each other, but the top-bottom wrap is skewed, so that the left half of the top continues to the right half of the bottom and vice versa. Note the arrangement so that only minor pieces are initially threatened by enemy Cannons and always protected by an ally.

Pieces

Pieces are the same as in the simple face-to-face variants, with a ban on null moves, except that Sho QB98 replaces the 2 Helms with a single symmetric Knight. Remaining forward-only pieces head for the nearest join on their own board and the nearest long diagonal (and no further) on the enemy one, except that in Turn QB98 Clockwazirs always go left and Anticlockwazirs right.

Rules

There is no initial double-step move, En Passant, or Castling. Yang QB98 inherits Yang Qi's King swap.

Sho and Wildebisho QB98 have the promotion zone on the enemy long diagonals, except corner cells. Promotion is compulsory for forward-only pieces and optional for others. Golds (array or promotee) and Silvers may leave long diagonals only by the symmetric element of their move, although Golds may also follow them away from their own King cell or toward (but not if already on) the enemy one. Players can reintroduce, unpromoted and not on a long diagonal, pieces that they capture from the enemy in place of a normal move.

In Xiang QB98 the joins serve as Rivers. The promotee's sideways move is parallel to the nearest join. Should this bring it to the enemy long diagonal it can subsequently leave this along any orthogonal not crossing back to its own board. Elephants cannot cross joins at all, confining each to 8 cells in a "picture of a cube" pattern of their own board. Generals and Ferzes are confined to a Fortress in the central 3x3 area of their own board, the latter to the Fortress' centre and corners as in Xiang Qi.

In Gnu QB98 the King, Queen, and Gnu cannot enter the enemy board. Pawns reaching it are promoted to full Wazirs and remain Wazirs even on returning to their own board.

Alibaba QB98 allows pieces to cross to the enemy board by orthogonal and Knight moves but not diagonal or Camel ones.

Turn QB98 gives Clockwazirs and Anticlockwazirs reaching the enemy board an extra move either way at right angles to their original one. On returning to their own board by any route they are promoted to full Wazirs.

The King or General (as applicable) must be kept out of Check. In Xiang and Yang QB98 they must also not face each other along any (possible) radial without an intervening piece.

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By Charles Gilman.
Web page created: 2006-05-25. Web page last updated: 2006-05-25