Check out Atomic Chess, our featured variant for November, 2024.

This page is written by the game's inventor, Charles Gilman.

AltOrth with Hopping and Crooked pieces

This page continues the interpretation of the hex geometry introduced in AltOrth Hex Chess and continued with the addition of short-range pieces, Knighted- and Crowned-piece analogues, and forward-only pieces. This page adds Hopping and Crooked pieces. The Puppeteer terminology of my first AltOrth offshoot, Ringworld Chess, is much in evidence.

Setup

As the pieces are so unorthodox I have shunned the FFEN diagram in favour of Ascii Art. All variants suit two players. Variants also suiting three are shown for three, others for two. 
AltOrth Hex Thinktank___
________________ ___/ . \___ ________________
____________ ___/ . \___/ . \___ ____________
________ ___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___ ________
____ ___/Ms3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Hs2\___ ____
 ___/Fs3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Vs2\___
/Ge3\___/Hp3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Fp2\___/Ge2\
\___/Rk3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Rk2\___/
/Vs3\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/Fs2\
\___/Fp3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Hp2\___/
/Hs3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Ms2\
\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\___/
/Mg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg1\___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/Mg1\___/ . \___/Mg1\___/ . \___/
___ \___/Mg1\___/Hp1\___/Fp1\___/Mg1\___/ ___
________\___/Ms1\___/Rk1\___/Hs1\___/________
____________\___/Fs1\___/Vs1\___/____________
________________\___/Ge1\___/________________
____________________\___/____________________
This is an analogue to Frank Maus' Thinktank Chess, with one each of all the divergent pieces having the noncapturing move of one basic AltOrth piece and the capturing move of another. The same array minus the Rooks can be used for an AltOrth analogue to Christian Freeling's Loonybird, which has return from capture. 

AltOrth _ Liu _ Yang ___
________________ ___/Ge2\___ ________________
____________ ___/Hc2\___/Hc2\___ ____________
________ ___/Hr2\___/Vy2\___/Hr2\___ ________
____ ___/Fr2\___/Fc2\___/Fc2\___/Fr2\___ ____
 ___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/Vy2\___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___ 
/ . \___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg1\___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/ . \
\___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/Vy1\___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/
____\___/Fr1\___/Fc1\___/Fc1\___/Fr1\___/____
________\___/Hr1\___/Vy1\___/Hr1\___/________
____________\___/Hc1\___/Hc1\___/____________
________________\___/Ge1\___/________________
____________________\___/____________________

AltOrth Hex Eurasian ___
________________ ___/Vy2\___ ________________
____________ ___/Rk2\___/Ge2\___ ____________
________ ___/Hr2\___/Vy2\___/Hr2\___ ________
____ ___/Fr2\___/Hc2\___/Hc2\___/Fr2\___ ____
 ___/Mg2\___/Fc2\___/Vy2\___/Fc2\___/Mg2\___ 
/ . \___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/ . \
\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/ . \___/
/ . \___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/ . \
\___/Mg1\___/Fc1\___/Vy1\___/Fc1\___/Mg1\___/
____\___/Fr1\___/Hc1\___/Hc1\___/Fr1\___/____
________\___/Hr1\___/Vy1\___/Hr1\___/________
____________\___/Rk1\___/Ge1\___/____________
________________\___/Vy1\___/________________
____________________\___/____________________
These are analogues to Fergus Duniho's splendid variants Yang Qi and Eurasian Chess. The crooked line of Migrants is based on the line of Brokers in standard Liu Yang, a more conventional hex analogue to Yang Qi. 

AltOrth Liu Taijitu: ___
________________ ___/Ge2\___ ________________
____________ ___/Hc2\___/Hc2\___ ____________
________ ___/Hr2\___/Vy2\___/Hr2\___ ________
____ ___/Fr2\___/Fw2\___/Fw2\___/Fr2\___ ____
 ___/ . \___/Fc2\___/Vy2\___/Fc2\___/ . \___ 
/ . \___/Fd2\___/Hw2\___/Hw2\___/Fd2\___/ . \
\___/ . \___/Hd2\___/Vy2\___/Hd2\___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/Hd1\___/Vy1\___/Hd1\___/ . \___/
/ . \___/Fd1\___/Hw1\___/Hw1\___/Fd1\___/ . \
\___/ . \___/Fc1\___/Vy1\___/Fc1\___/ . \___/
____\___/Fr1\___/Fw1\___/Fw1\___/Fr1\___/____
________\___/Hr1\___/Vy1\___/Hr1\___/________
____________\___/Hc1\___/Hc1\___/____________
________________\___/Ge1\___/________________
____________________\___/____________________
Short-range to long-range with same prefix
This is an analogue to my Taijitu Qi. The intersection of each camp and the middle three files is a ten-cell Fortress with restrictions as to what can leave it. Note again that there is no S in Taijitu. 

Crooked-line AltOrth ___
________________ ___/ . \___ ________________
____________ ___/ . \___/ . \___ ____________
________ ___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___ ________
____ ___/Fg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Fg2\___ ____
 ___/Lg3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Fh2\___ 
/Ge3\___/Hg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Hg2\___/Ge2\
\___/Sg3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Sg2\___/
/Fh3\___/Wz3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Wz2\___/Lg2\
\___/Hg3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Hg2\___/
/Fg3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Fg2\
\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\___/
/Mg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg1\___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/Mg1\___/Wz1\___/Mg1\___/ . \___/
____\___/Mg1\___/Hg1\___/Hg1\___/Mg1\___/____
________\___/Fg1\___/Sg1\___/Fg1\___/________
____________\___/Lg1\___/Fh1\___/____________
________________\___/Ge1\___/________________
____________________\___/____________________

Straight
and Crooked AltOrth: ___
________________ ___/Ge2\___ ________________
____________ ___/Rk2\___/Lg2\___ ____________
________ ___/Hr2\___/Vy2\___/Hr2\___ ________
____ ___/Fr2\___/Fh2\___/Sg2\___/Fr2\___ ____
 ___/Mg2\___/Fg2\___/Vy2\___/Fg2\___/Mg2\___ 
/ . \___/Mg2\___/Hg2\___/Hg2\___/Mg2\___/ . \
\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Vy2\___/Mg2\___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg1\___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/Mg1\___/Vy1\___/Mg1\___/ . \___/
/ . \___/Mg1\___/Hg1\___/Hg1\___/Mg1\___/ . \
\___/Mg1\___/Fg1\___/Vy1\___/Fg1\___/Mg1\___/
____\___/Fr1\___/Fh1\___/Sg1\___/Fr1\___/____
________\___/Hr1\___/Vy1\___/Hr1\___/________
____________\___/Rk1\___/Lg1\___/____________
________________\___/Ge1\___/________________
____________________\___/____________________
These are analogues to variants using the Girlscout, Boyscout, Doublescout, and two kinds of Rhino. 

Foreheavy _ AltOrth: ___
________________ ___/ . \___ ________________
____________ ___/ . \___/ . \___ ____________
________ ___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___ ________
____ ___/Fr3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Fr2\___ ____
 ___/Rw3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Rw2\___ 
/Ge3\___/Fg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Fg2\___/Ge2\
\___/Hv3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Hv2\___/
/Rw3\___/Hv3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Hv2\___/Rw2\
\___/Fg3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Fg2\___/
/Fr3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Fr2\
\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\___/
/Mg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg1\___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/Mg1\___/Hv1\___/Mg1\___/ . \___/
____\___/Mg1\___/Fg1\___/Fg1\___/Mg1\___/____
________\___/Fr1\___/Hv1\___/Fr1\___/________
____________\___/Rw1\___/Rw1\___/____________
________________\___/Ge1\___/________________
____________________\___/____________________

Hindheavy _ AltOrth: ___
________________ ___/ . \___ ________________
____________ ___/ . \___/ . \___ ____________
________ ___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___ ________
____ ___/Fv3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Fv2\___ ____
 ___/Wr3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Wr2\___ 
/Ge3\___/Hr3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Hr2\___/Ge2\
\___/Hg3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Hg2\___/
/Wr3\___/Hg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Hg2\___/Wr2\
\___/Hr3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Hr2\___/
/Fv3\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\___/Fv2\
\___/Mg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\___/
/Mg3\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg1\___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/Mg1\___/Hg1\___/Mg1\___/ . \___/
____\___/Mg1\___/Hr1\___/Hr1\___/Mg1\___/____
________\___/Fv1\___/Hg1\___/Fv1\___/________
____________\___/Wr1\___/Wr1\___/____________
________________\___/Ge1\___/________________
____________________\___/____________________
These are analogues to my Rookheavy Chess and Bishopheavy Chess. 

Shearwater AltOrth : ___
________________ ___/Vy2\___ ________________
____________ ___/Rk2\___/Ge2\___ ____________
________ ___/Hr2\___/Vy2\___/Hr2\___ ________
____ ___/Fr2\___/Sw2\___/Sw2\___/Fr2\___ ____
 ___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/Vy2\___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___ 
/ . \___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/Mg2\___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg2\___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \___/ . \
\___/ . \___/ . \___/Mg1\___/ . \___/ . \___/
/ . \___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/ . \
\___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/Vy1\___/Mg1\___/Mg1\___/
____\___/Fr1\___/Sw1\___/Sw1\___/Fr1\___/____
________\___/Hr1\___/Vy1\___/Hr1\___/________
____________\___/Rk1\___/Ge1\___/____________
________________\___/Vy1\___/________________
____________________\___/____________________
This is an analogue to George Duke's Falcon Chess.

Pieces

Wellisch pieces:
The GENERAL (Ge) moves one step along any orthogonal, like a Wazir, but unlike the latter piece and like the FIDE and Shogi King - of which it is the Wellisch analogue - it must be kept out of check.
The VICEREINE (Ve) is the compound of the next two. It is this page's Ace/Amazon analogue.
The ROOK (Rk) moves any distance through empty intermediate cells along any orthogonal. It is this page's Queen analogue.
The VICEROY (Vy) moves one step along any of the 6 hex (or on a cubic board, 8 3d) diagonals. It is this page's Knight analogue, but is colourbound rather than colourswitching.

Pieces introduced in AltOrth:
The FOREROOK (Fr) moves like the Rook but only in the straight forward and both half backward directions. It is this page's analogue to the square-board Rook.
The HINDROOK (Hr) moves like the Rook but only in the straight backward and both half forward directions. It is this page's Bishop analogue, but is not colourbound.
The MIGRANT (Mg) moves one step at a time. It moves along the straight forward orthogonal except when capturing, which it does along the two half-forward orthogonals. See also my piece article Man and Beast 16: Diverging Further. It is an even better analogue for a Pawn in a variant using alternate orthogonals than it is in McGlinwell, a variant combining the Wellisch analogy with elements of the other variants.

Short-range pieces:
The WAZIR (Wz) moves like the General but is capturable. It is this page's Prince analogue.
The FOREWAZIR (Fw) moves like the General but only in the straight forward and both half backward directions. It is this page's analogue to the square-board Wazir.
The HINDWAZIR (Hw) moves like the General but only in the straight backward and both half forward directions. It is this page's Ferz analogue, but is not colourbound.
The FOREDABBABA (Fd) moves like the Forewazir but twice as far. The version used in AltOrth Hex Taijitu is blocked by an intervening piece. It is this page's analogue to the Stepping form of the square-board Dabbaba.
The HINDDABBABA (Hd) moves like the Hindwazir but twice as far. The version used in AltOrth Hex Taijitu is blocked by an intervening piece. It is this page's Elephant analogue, but like the Dabbaba and Foredabbaba is bound to one in just 4, rather than 8, cells.
* These four have a "Switching cycle" of 3. That is to say, from each Viceroy binding they always move to a specific other Viceroy binding, their next move takes them to the remaining Viceroy binding, and the third move takes them back to the original binding. This means that they can return to a given cell only in a multiple of 3 moves.

Knighted- and Crowned-piece analogues, additional to the Vicereine:
The FOREVICEREINE (Fv) is the compound of the Forerook and Viceroy. It is this page's Marshal analogue.
The HINDVICEREINE (Hv) is the compound of the Hindrook and Viceroy. It is this page's Cardinal analogue.
The ROOK-WAZIR PUPPETEER (Rw) is the compound of the Forerook and Hindwazir. It is this page's Chatelaine analogue.
The WAZIR-ROOK PUPPETEER (Wr) is the compound of the Hindrook and Forewazir. It is this page's Primate analogue.

Divergent long-range pieces, analogous to Thinktank/Loonybird pieces:
The MINIONESS (Ms) has the Forerook's noncapturing move and the Hindrook's capturing move. It is this page's Stewardess analogue.
The VAGABONDESS (Vs) has the Hindrook's noncapturing move and the Forerook's capturing move. It is this page's Contrastewardess analogue.
The FOREWAITEPACIFIER (Fp) has the Forerook's noncapturing move and the Viceroy's capturing move.
The FORECONTRAWAITESNATCHER (Fs) has the Viceroy's noncapturing move and the Forerook's capturing move.
The HINDWAITEPACIFIER (Hp) has the Hindrook's noncapturing move and the Viceroy's capturing move.
The HINDCONTRAWAITESNATCHER (Hs) has the Viceroy's noncapturing move and the Hindrook's capturing move.
* As the last four are the pacifiers and snatchers most natural to the AltOrth analogy, -waitepacifier can be abbreviated to -pacifier and -contrawaitesnather to -snatcher in this context.

Hopping and Crooked pieces:
The FORECANNON (Fc) differs from the Forerook in requiring exactly one intervening piece when capturing. It is this page's analogue to the square-board Cannon.
The HINDCANNON (Hc) differs from the Hindrook in requiring exactly one intervening piece when capturing. It is this page's Arrow analogue, but is not colourbound.
The LONGGIRLHEXER (Lg) and FINCH (Fh) differ from the Rook in that at each intermediate cell they turn 60°, thereby alternating between Forerook and Hindrook directions. The Longgirlhexer also alternates between left and right turns, making it Crooked, but the Finch never mixes the two in one move, making it Curved. They are this page's analogues to two kinds of Double Rhino, respectively the Crooked one invented by Peter Aronson and the Curved one used in John Savard's Leaping Bat Chess.
The SHORTGIRLHEXER (Sg), FOREGIRLHEXER (Fg), and HINDGIRLHEXER (Hg) differ from the Rook, Forerook, and Hindrook in that at each intermediate cell they turn 120°, alternating between left and right turns within a move. They are this page's Doublescout, Girlscout, and Boyscout analogues, but the last is not colourbound.
The SHEARWATER (Sw) moves to the same destinations as the Sennight, but cannot leap. It makes three steps in a mixture of one Forerook and one Hindrook direction, making either one or two 60° turns but no turn of any other angle. It has three alternative routes to each destination, but is blocked from reaching that destination if every route has an intervening piece, of either army or a mixture. It is this page's Falcon analogue.

Rules

In the 2-player subvariants play alternates between the two players. In the 3-player one it progresses anticlockwise.

A Migrant on any Migrant starting cell of its camp may make a double-step noncapturing move, regardless of whether it has already made one or more moves to get there. It may however be immediately captured En Passant by an enemy Migrant poised to capture it had it moved only a single step.

Migrants reaching the far edges can be promoted to pieces captured by the enemy if any have been. Promotion on the far corner is compulsory.

There is no Castling. AltOrth Liu Yang and AltOrth Taijitu have a General Swap to allow complete coverage by colourbound pieces. This means that in place of a normal move, the General may swap places with any adjacent long-range piece or Viceroy of the same army, if neither piece is threatened. This can help return it to the Fortress if required.

AltOrth Taijitu has the following additional regulations:

Board restrictions:Fore-/Hind-dabbabas must remaion nearer thair own player's edge of the board than the far edge unpromoted;
Fore-/Hind-wazirs cannot leave the Fortress unpromoted;
The General is unrestricted while the player has an unpromoted Fore-/Hind-wazir but, once all these are captured or promoted, must return to the Fortress within two moves and remain in it thereafter.
Promotion:A player moving a long-range piece into the enemy Fortress may, as a part of that move, promote a short-range piece of their own to a long-range piece captured by the enemy;
If the moving piece is Fore-, the short-range piece and its promotee must be Hind-, and vice versa;
a player may not promote if it leaves their own Fortress empty of one-step pieces;
a player may not have more than two orthogonal pieces of any one type.

In 2-player subvariants Check, Checkmate, and Stalemate are as usual. In 3-player ones a player is Checkmated when their General is threatened by the player about to move. That player's pieces are removed from the game and the remaining players then alternate moves starting with the Checkmating one. The last player not Checkmated wins. A player can also win by getting a Migrant to the far corner while having a full complement of non-Migrants, in all subvariants and even if both 3-player enemies are uncheckmated.

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 Charles Gilman.
Web page created: 2011-09-24. Web page last updated: 2011-12-22