Remote Sensing

Initial Setup for the Original 9 x 9 Variant Remote Sensing, (c) July 2006 by Gary K. Gifford. I got the idea for this game from my awareness of Remote Sensing and Remote Viewing and a discussion with Jeremy Good regarding problemist David L. Brown's orphans, mimic, and mime style pieces. Brown created these in the 1970's. The Remote Sensor pieces are closely related to Brown's Hero piece, but can only mimic pieces that are on squares of their resting square's current color. I have added a little more about Remote Sensing in the notes. To my knowledge, Remote Sensor pieces exist in no other game at this point in time.

Setup

As in the above diagram. d1 and d9 are starting squares for Remote Sensor Friendly (RSF). The feather in the piece to represent - friendly. f1 and f9 are starting squares for Remote Sensors Enemy (RSE). The dagger in the piece to represent - enemy. Note: If you would like to play Remote Sensing on an 8 x 8 board, the setup is as in the following diagram. Also, please refer to the 8 x 8 note in the Notes section which includes instructions for castling in the 8x8 variant.

Initial Setup for the 8 x 8 Variant

Pieces

Rooks, Knights, Bishops, Kings, and Pawns as in Fide Chess. There are no Queens and pawns cannot promote to Queens. Each side has two additional pieces: REMOTE SENSOR F (RSF) - Can move like any friendly piece, including Pawn and King, but only if that piece is on the same color square as the RSF. SENSORS CANNOT SENSE OTHER SENSORS. The second type of sensor in this game is the REMOTE SENSOR E (RSE) - It can move like any enemy piece, including Pawn and King, but only if that piece is on the same color square as the sensor. I have also thought of the REMOTE SENSOR M (RSM) which is a Remote Sensor Mega. The Mega can move like friend or enemy, but only if that piece is on the same color square as the RSM. RSM are not used in this game.

SENSOR TEST - Can you answer these questions? Answers are in the notes. 1. In the above diagram, what can Remote Sensor Friendly (RMF) move like for White? 2. What can Black's RMF move like? 3. What can Remote Sensor Enemy (RME) move like for White? 4. What can Black's RME move like? 5. BONUS: From the above diagram, can you tell who just moved? Can you tell what that was and why? Remember, Remote Sensors only sense the color squares they reside on.

Rules

As in chess, but with the added moves of Remote Sensors.  Pawns can promote to R, N, B, RMF, RME.  They cannot promote to Queen.  In the 9 x 9 game pawns promote on the 7th rank.  In the 8 x 8 game they promote on the 8th rank.


There is pawn en passant and the initial 2-step pawn move option.


CASTLING:  9 x 9 Version: As in chess except you move King two or three spaces toward either edge of board (your choice of side and of moving 2 or 3 spaces) then set the associated Rook just inboard of the King. 
8 x 8 Version: As in chess.  But if castling on Remote Sensing Side, be sure the Remote Sensor can move as a rook.

Notes

Remote Viewing is a technique reportedly developed by parapsychologists at the Stanford Research Institute. Remote Viewing supposedly allows users to perform acts of clairvoyance. Theoretically, the phenomenon involves projecting consciousness to remote locations. There are reports of government and military experiments in this area. Remote Sensing is the science of obtaining information about something without being in contact with it. It pertains to the detection and measurement of, for example, light, thermal energy, and radio waves using appropriate electro-magnetic detection equipment. In the Remote Sensing game, the Remote Sensors are detecting pieces on squares that are reflecting light in the same light spectrum that the sensors currently reside on. The sensors can then mimic the movement of what they are detecting.

Current Link to Pre-set: Remote Sensing

Link to Remote Sensing 8 x 8 Pre-Set: Remote Sensing 8 x 8

Answers to Remote Sensing questions: (1) White RSF: B, R, or P (2) Black's RSF: K or R (3) White's RSE: P, N, or B (4) Black's RSE: B, R, or P (5) Answer to the bonus question: (a) In my mind I had pictured that White had just moved his RSF like a Rook from e5 to c5 to put the Black King in Check. RMF is sensing the friendly rook on the dark square c3. (b) As Jianying Ji pointed out, the answer could also be that the white rook just moved from a light square to a dark square, say from d3 to c3.*** So both answers are correct. As Jianying Ji states, "The result would be the same, the checking of the black king." Idea for a variation: Using a board with more than two colors would weaken the Sensors and allow other pieces to more easily avoid mimicry. For larger variants, some may welcome the addition of the Remote Sensor Mega Piece. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 x 8 NOTE: ------------------- To play Remote Sensing on an 8 x 8 board I suggest the following: Setup a standard chessboard. Replace each Queen with an RSF. Replace each Queen's Rook with an RSE. In regard to Queenside Castling... if you can move the RSE as a rook and the other castling conditions are met, you can complete the 0-0-0 move. =================================================================== *** Update: 26 July 2006 - I updated the 9 x 9 board colors to HTML FFFFFI and 669999 (in place of yellow green) so they would more closely resemble the 8x8 variant. I also reversed the light and dark squares such that the White RSF would be on a light square in both variants, and the White RSE on a dark square in both variants. Answer 5 was edited accordingly to correct for the light and dark square reversals.

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By Gary K. Gifford.
Web page created: 2006-07-23. Web page last updated: 2006-07-23

Comments

Remote Sensing. 2 remote sensor pieces per side can mimic pieces on their current square color. (9x9, Cells: 81)

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Wed, Jul 26, 2006 05:35 PM EDT:

I could not resist. I made a 'Remote Sensing 8 x 8' pre-set. The link is in the rules.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Wed, Jul 26, 2006 12:51 PM EDT:

A Shogi board* (9x9) can be used by players who desire to play Remote Sensing with a real 3D chess set. Just use standard chess pieces, add a pawn per side, remove the Queens and add two other pieces for your Remote Sensor pieces (per side). However, since many do not own Shogi boards I have just included a setup for standard 8 x 8 chess boards in the Notes section of the rules. The 8 x 8 setup would allow you to easily play against someone in person, on a real board. Also, I can make a Remote Sensing 8 x 8 game-courier pre-set should there be any interest in playing that version via CV. If so, the existing rules can still be used. Best regards, Gary. *A traditional Shogi board will be a little difficult regarding sensing because the squares are all the same in color. 'Shogi-The Game with a Twist' has a 9x9 board with squares of light and dark gray, and plastic pieces with vector images and letters. It is this type of 'dual-colored' Shogi board that would be ideal for Remote Sensing.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Tue, Jul 25, 2006 04:27 PM EDT:

Jianying Ji, thanks for pointing out the other possibility.  You are 100%
correct. I have updated answer 5 and have acredited you, accordingly.
Thanks again, it is much appreciated. - Gary

Jianying Ji wrote on Tue, Jul 25, 2006 05:14 AM EDT:Excellent ★★★★★

For question 5, couldn't the answer be that the white rook just moved from a dark square to a light square, say from d3 to c3? The result would be the same, the checking of the black king.

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