User:PiGuy216/sandbox



Sovereign Chess is a commercial chess variant designed by Mark Bates. The game is played on a 16 x 16 board and begins with 112 pieces—a normal complement of white and black pieces (16 each), and 80 other colored pieces (8 each of 10 different colors). The colored pieces are considered “neutral” at the beginning of the game, and can not initially be moved nor captured.

The center of the board contains an arrangement of 24 colored squares (2 each in every color, including white and black), which determine control of the neutral armies. In general, these armies are used to supplement a player’s original armies, and to eventually checkmate the opponent.

Board Configuration
The board contains 16 rows and 16 columns, for a total of 256 squares, and can also be described as consisting of 8 rings. The first ring consists of the squares on the outer edge of the board (ranks 1 and 16 and files a and p), with subsequent rings moving inward. The eighth ring consists of the center four squares at h8, h9, i8, and i9.

The board contains two squares of each color represented in the game:

Achromatic Colors: White, Ash, Slate, and Black

Chromatic Colors: Pink, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Navy, and Violet

All colored squares are located near the center of the board (between ranks 5 through 12 and files e through l), but only the achromatic colors are located within the middle 4 x 4 region (between ranks 7 through 10 and files g through j). The pattern of squares has 180 degree symmetry, so that each color is equally accessible to each player throughout the game.

At the start of the game, the board contains 112 pieces, filling the first and second rings of the board. There are a regular complement of white and black pieces between files e and l, with white on ranks 1 and 2 and black on ranks 15 and 16.

Each of the chromatic colors have an army of eight pieces, consisting of 1 queen, 1 rook, 1 bishop, 1 knight, and 4 pawns. Each army is divided into two four-piece pods, one with a queen, bishop, and two pawns, and the other with a rook, knight, and two pawns..

The ash and slate armies each have eight pieces, consisting of 2 queens, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, and 2 knights. Each pod has 1 queen, 1 rook, 1 bishop, and 1 knight, located in opposite corners of the board.

Rules
15 Rules

The rules of Sovereign Chess can be completely summarized into fifteen complete sentences, called the “15 Rules”. The rules are as follows:

1. Unless otherwise stated, all rules from traditional chess apply.

2. Players always control the pieces which match the color of their king.

3. After the first player moves a White piece, the second player may choose to play as White--taking the move--or play as Black.

4. No piece may move more than eight squares in a single turn.

5. No piece may move onto a square of its own color.

6. Pawns move orthogonally and capture diagonally, as long as the movement is closer to at least one of the brown lines (designating the center of the board).

7. Pawns on the first or second ring of the board may move two squares away from the closest edge.

8. En passant capture is not allowed.

9. When a pawn moves into the middle 4x4 square, it must promote to a higher piece of the same color (which may be a king).

10. If a pawn promotes to a king, the original king is immediately removed from the board.

11. While a player’s controlled piece is on a square of color, they control the pieces of that color, except for those which match the color of the opponent's king.

12. Players may only capture pieces controlled by the other player.

13. Only one square of each color may be occupied at a time.

14. A player may castle with applicable pieces that are controlled by the player, by moving the king to any open square directly between itself and a rook, and moving the rook to the adjacent square on the other side.

15. A player may replace their king with a king of a different color they control, which constitutes their move--unless this leaves a king on a square of its own color, in which case it must then make a move.

Regime Change
The king, as the protected piece of chess, also represents the leader of a player’s army. However, the leadership may change in one of three ways:

Coup d’Etat: When a player’s owned pawn reaches promotion, they may choose to replace it with  a king, instead of another type of piece. The initial king is then immediately removed from the board. The player’s owned pieces remain the same.

Overthrow: When a player’s controlled pawn reaches promotion, they may choose to replace it with a king of that color. The initial king is immediately removed from the board, and the pieces which match the color of the new king become owned by the player. The player’s original pieces are no longer owned, and may subsequently be controlled by either player through a square of color.

Defection: Instead of moving a pawn or piece, a player may choose to voluntarily change the color of their king to any other color under their control. As with an Overthrow, this has the effect of making the pieces of that color owned pieces for the player, while ceding ownership of the original pieces.

A defection constitutes a player’s move; the player may not move the king or any other pieces for that turn. An exception occurs if the player wants to defect to a color controlled by the king itself; the player may declare the defection, but then must immediately move the king off the matching square. If the king can not make a legal move off the square, then the defection may not occur.

There is no limit on the number of regime changes that may take place during the game. A regime change may be used to take an initial king out of check, but may not put the new king into check.

Escaping Check
There are seven ways to escape check in Sovereign Chess:

1. Move out of the line of check.

2. Move out of the range of the checking piece (beyond eight squares).

3. Move to a square of the same color as the checking piece.

4. Block by moving of your pieces into the path of the check.

5. Capture the checking piece.

6. Control the checking piece by making a capture which leads to its control.

7. Perform a Coup d’Etat or Overthrow of your king, creating a new king and causing your old king to disappear.