Chess variant with opposing armies of different composition
Chess with different armies (or Betza's Chess[1] or Equal Armies[2]) is a chess variant invented by Ralph Betza in 1979. Two sides use different sets of fairy pieces. There are several armies of equal strength to choose from, including the standard FIDE army. In all armies, kings and pawns are the same as in FIDE chess, but the four other pieces are different.
Rules and armies[edit]
Before the game players choose their armies in a certain way, predefined by tournament rules. This can be done either randomly or secretly by both players. Each player has a choice of 4 armies:[3] the Fabulous FIDEs, which are the standard chess pieces, the Colorbound Clobberers, the Nutty Knights, and the Remarkable Rookies.
All armies are designed to be equal in strength but have significantly different properties. Kings and pawns move the same as in chess for all armies. Pawns can only promote to pieces of either army on the board at the start. Castling is done as in standard chess with the exception of the case when the rook replacement is colorbound, like in the Colorbound Clobberers army. In the latter case, the king, when castling long, moves to b1, and the rook replacement to c1. This is so that colorbound pieces do not change square color.
| Alfil (notation A), can jump. | | |
Many pieces in the following armies are combinations of standard chess pieces and 4 fairy pieces: ferz, alfil, wazir and dabbaba (see their movement diagrams above). The game can be played with standard chess pieces, and the following move diagrams use standard pieces as well (except queens).
Colorbound Clobberers[edit]
In this army, rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Bede (notation BD). Moves as bishop or dabbaba. Can jump for dabbaba moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Waffle (notation WA). Moves as wazir or alfil, hence the name. Can jump for all moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
FAD (notation FAD). Moves as ferz, alfil or dabbaba, hence the name. Can jump for all moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
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As mentioned, when using this army and castling queenside, the king moves three squares (from e1 to b1) and the bede moves from a1 to c1.
Nutty Knights[edit]
This army includes a lot of leapers, but most of them have asymmetrical move patterns, with backward moves being restricted.
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Charging rook, originally furlrurlbakking (notation frlRrlbK), moves forward and sideways as a rook, or backward as a king. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Fibnif (notation fbNF). Moves as ferz, or as a knight for its two vertically longest forward and backward moves. Can jump for knight moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Charging knight, originally forfnibakking (notation fhNrlbK). Moves as king backward and sideways or as a knight forward. Can jump for all moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Colonel, originally forfnifurlrurking (notation fhNfrlRK). Moves as king, or as rook forward and sideways, or as knight forward. Can jump for knight moves. |
The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Short rook (notation W4). Moves as rook, but not more than 4 spaces. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Woody rook (notation WD). Moves as dabbaba or as wazir. Can jump for all moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Half duck (notation HFD). Moves as threeleaper or kirin. Can jump for all moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Chancellor (notation RN). Moves as rook or knight. Can jump for knight moves. |
Unofficial armies[edit]
The four armies described above were playtested by Ralph Betza and selected as the most balanced ones. There are other armies, invented by Betza and other people, some of which are presented here.
In the initial version of the game, there were 8 armies[1] and, in these armies, the king moved differently from the king in the standard chess. Instead of normal pawns, fairy pawns could be selected – for example, Berolina pawns. However, later Betza abandoned the idea of using fairy pieces for king and pawns[4] and reduced the number of armies to four.
All-Around Allstars (Ralph Betza)[edit]
This army is made of one piece from each of the main armies. Out of the 12 eligible combinations, as the FAD from the Colorbound Clobberers is considered too strong for a Bishop equivalent and the Cardinal from the same army too weak for a Queen equivalent, Ralph Betza considers the following to be the "official" all-star team. The rooks, knights, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:[5]
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Charging rook (notation frlRrlbK), from the Nutty Knights army. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Waffle (notation WA), from the Colorbound Clobberers army. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Bishop (notation B), from the Fabulous FIDEs army. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Chancellor (notation RN), from the Remarkable Rookies army. |
Amazon Army (Ralph Betza)[edit]
In this army, rooks and queen are replaced by the following pieces:[6]
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Short rook (notation W4). Moves as rook, but not more than 4 spaces. This piece is also in the Remarkable Rookies army. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Amazon (notation WWFFN). Moves as queen or knight. |
Cylindrical Cinders (Ralph Betza)[edit]
The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:[7]
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Cylindrical Waffle (notation oWoA). Moves as wazir or alfil on a cylinder. Can jump for all moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Cylindrical Knight (notation oN). Moves as knight on a cylinder. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Cylindrical Bishop (notation oFF). Moves as bishop on a cylinder. The position with an x can be reached in 2 different ways. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Cylindrical Chancellor (notation oWWoN). Moves as rook or knight on a cylinder. Can jump for knight moves. The horizontal line can be reached from both directions. |
Fighting Fizzies (Peter Aronson)[edit]
In this army, the left rook, the right rook, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:[8]
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Left Single-Step Rhino (notation WF(mW-flF)(mF-flW)), on the left. Steps one square in any direction, then, if the first square is empty, may turn 45 degrees to the left, and move one more square. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Right Single-Step Rhino (notation WF(mW-frF)(mF-frW)), on the right. Turns 45 degrees to the right instead. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Gnohmon (notation vNvWnH). Moves as knight for its longest moves, as wazir vertically or slides 3 squares in orthogonal directions. Can jump for knight moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Crabinal (notation fNbsNhhB). Moves as knight for the longest forward and shortest backward moves, or as bishop for half the distance to the edge of the board. Can jump for knight moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Eagle-Scout (notation WzFF). Moves as wazir or as crooked bishop. Positions with an x can each be reached in 2 different ways. |
Avian Airforce (Ralph Betza)[edit]
In this army, the rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:[9]
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Wader (notation WDD). Moves as wazir, or makes consecutive dabbaba moves (Dabbaba rider moves). Can jump between dabbaba moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Darter (notation fNWbAA). Moves as wazir, as knight for its 2 most forward moves and can make consecutive alfil moves backwards. Can jump between alfil moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Faalcon (notation FAA). Moves as ferz, or makes consecutive alfil moves. Can jump between alfil moves. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Flying Kingfisher (notation WFAADD). Combines the moves of the Wader and the Faalcon. |
Spacious Cannoneers (Ralph Betza)[edit]
In this army, the rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:[10]
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Mortar, on the left. Moves and captures as wazir or a rook that must stop one space before any piece. Can leap over the first piece in an orthogonal line and capture the next piece on that line (here the black rook can be captured). | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Howitzer, on the right. Moves and captures as wazir or a rook that must stop one space before any piece. Can leap over the first piece in an orthogonal line and land on any free space after it but before a second piece. | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | | 8 | | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
Napoleon (notation vNW). Moves as wazir or as knight for its longest moves. Can jump for all moves. | |