BitChess



BitChess IS pretty chess-alike, as one notices in the rules. There are, however, a few subtleties. First, the board is a hexagon, with three sets of pieces. As one might expect, it is a three-player game. :-)

Despite these changes, knowing the noble game of chess will help one on the quest of becoming The Master of BitChess.

Rules

These are the rules one has to obey :

All pieces, except for the knight, run on flat-side diagonals. This means that the pawn moves in two directions (up left and up right) and the king, tower and queen moves inn six directions. The king only moves one step at a time, as in ordinary chess, and the tower and knight moves as many steps as necessary in straight lines with no obstacles.

The three players start on their own side of the board. White on the bottom side, green at the upper left side and blue at the upper right side. The pawns move towards the middle of the board. This can be pictured as three players gathered around a table, moving the pawns relatively to the players position. Sounds strange at first, but one gets used to it. The knights jump two fields in the six directions. This means that all knights will only be able to move at black fields.

The queen has one major advantage over the tower. The queen is able to change direction on the center field in the middle of the move. If the queen is able to reach the center, coloured field, she is also able to reach every field that is reachable from the center field. This makes the center field strategically important, forcing the players to an offensive tactic.

One player is killed by killing his king. His pieces are instantly removed, and the game continues till only one player is left.

The psychological aspects of BitChess are yet to be discovered. The inventors expect unions to rise and fall, and friendship between players to matter a lot. We have therefore included the rule that nobody are allowed to speak while playing, though "silent agreements" are allowed, as nobody are able to prove their existence.

Enjoy the fabulous world of BitChess!

Last modified: Sat Feb 11 18:02:22 1995
Back to my homepage