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This page is written by the game's inventor, John Smith.

Calorie Chess

Pieces

Same as FIDE Chess, except you may need checkers/draughtsmen, Poker chips, a notepad, or something of the like for keeping track of energies.

Rules

Rule Zero except:

Calories

All pieces start with 7 Cal (1 Cal = 4.184 kJ), except the Kings, which have unlimited energy. Each time a piece moves, it expends 1 Cal. A piece with 0 Cal cannot move.

Captures

Each time a piece is captured, the captor gains the piece's current Calories, plus Calories equal to the captured piece's traditional value. That is, +1 Cal for Pawns, +3 Cal for Bishops and Knight, +5 Cal for Rooks, and +9 Cal for Queens. Think of it like the pieces eating each other, with meatier, i.e. more powerful, pieces having greater energies to be gained.

Promotion

When a Pawn promotes, its energy is reset to 7 Cal, ignoring whatever its previous energy was. The energy to be gained from a promoted piece's capture is the same as the piece it moves as. Essentially, a promoted Pawn is replaced by a piece from the start of the game (though the piece needn't have been captured).

Stalemate

Being unable to move results in a skipped turn. If both sides are stalemated, the game is a draw.

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By John Smith.
Web page created: 2008-11-09. Web page last updated: 2010-12-19