Chess on an Infinite Plane

Sort:

vickalan

Jan 13, 2017

Is there anyone who would like to play a game of "Chess on an Infinite Plane"?

First we might need to adjust some of the rules of regular chess to make sure the game works, but hopefuly not a lot of new rules, and few or no new pieces if that is possible.

I started the diagram below as a start. The blue lines represent the outside of ranks "n" and "n + 8" so we know where our pawns promote.

If anyone would like to help me make the rules and play a game let me know

(the image below is only some of the board, not all of it).

IvanKosintsev

Jan 13, 2017

I recommend to play on 10x10 board with Chinese rule for King (King moves only in own kingdom (3x3 or something similar)).

thou-shalt-not-take

Jan 13, 2017

But why is the board so big?

IvanKosintsev

Jan 14, 2017

It's a sense of freedom!

Tell me better where on Earth is a paradise where I can play such chess?

vickalan

Jan 14, 2017

IvanKosintsev wrote:

I recommend to play on 10x10 board with Chinese rule for King...

Those are good ideas but 10 x 10 is not an infinite plane!

yitzd

Jan 14, 2017

How about playing it on a torus? Not really an infinite board, but pretty close. When a piece goes off an edge, it reappears on the opposite side. For instance, a4 would be the same as "i4" and e1 would be the same as "e9".

evert823

Jan 14, 2017

As for notation I would suggest that the white rooks are on (1,1) and (8,1) and the black rooks are on (8,1) and (8,8).

Perhaps it is fun to have some armies of short-ranged pieces far away from the king in the starting position.

vickalan

Jan 14, 2017

Shwan2006 wrote:

But why is the board so big?

It is big, but the main point is not that the board is big, but rather all pieces can move anywhere they want (or at least not restricted by the sides). For example, if a player wants, he can have his rook go backwards and around to start a new type of attack, not seen normally in chess.

Normally I don't think there would be any point for any pieces to move really far away - they would lose their targets. But a strange ending would be if a king tried to just keep walking away forever, and some other pieces tried to catch up to him!

But I realized that without borders, it could be much harder to put the king in checkmate because there's no corners to trap him. So I think this game needs more pieces with unlimited "sliding" power, so they can trap the king, when that point comes.

So I've added two chancellors for each color. Also, the king might need some defense from his back so I added two guards to each side. To help ensure that this game doesn't have a high chance to lead to a draw, I added ten pawns in the back-side ranks for each side.

Lastly, the extra pawns have a "back-side" defender - a hawk to protect the pawns that are farthest back. And the hawks might be able to stop pieces from trying to run away too!

I know this sounds like a lot of pieces, but I believe the main exchanges will still be focused near the center. This middle area - the heart and soul of classical chess - I think will still be the sacred grounds of the main battle!

The updated starting position is below (as usual the entire board is not shown). Note that I added a small red bracket to help players identify the a1 square.

Any players?

evert823

Jan 15, 2017

I want to try a game on an infinite board.

bowlinggreen

Jan 15, 2017

#10

ill play

bowlinggreen

Jan 15, 2017

#11

seems fun

bowlinggreen

Jan 15, 2017

#12

vickalan

Jan 15, 2017

#13

brainking2016 wrote:

It's hard to play a game without borders because strategies are difficult to establish for both armies...

I think with 1 queen, 2 bishops, 2 rooks, and 2 chancellors, each army will need to create their own "borders" to trap pieces from the other army. But if that is not enough, then there are 14 pawns which can try to promote to other queens and chancellors. But if they get captured, then there are ten more pawns in the rearward ranks ready to move forward and try to become queens and chancellors. I hope that's enough.

But you are right - the strategy to win might be different. In a few weeks we might know a little more

vickalan

Jan 15, 2017

#14

evertVB wrote:

I want to try a game on an infinite board.

Great! I just have a little more work to do (finalize the rules and write them formally). Using the starting position (above), all the rules will be exactly the same as FIDE chess, except there will be no castling. This is because the mode of defense for the king is completely different.

Your notation for the board is a good idea. The a1 square is (1,1) rather than "a1".

I just need about 1 more day to finalize minor details and then I hope we can start a game soon!

vickalan

Jan 15, 2017

#15

bowlinggreen wrote:

ill play...seems fun...

Thanks bowling green for your encouragement!

How about if you play the winner of (evertVB vs vickalan)?

Or, if I finish 1 or 2 of my other games I might have time to start a new game. (Another game of "Chess on an Infinite Plane" might be possible!)

In the meantime I think you still have a game (here) waiting for your next move.

vickalan

Jan 15, 2017

#16

OK, I believe I'm done with the rules. Except for the board and extra pieces, almost everything else is the same as in classical chess. The rules are here:

"Chess on an Infinite Plane"

The Pieces:
Black and White each have (quantity and name):
1-king
1-queen
2-chancellors
2-rooks
2-bishops
2-knights
2-guards
2-hawks
24-pawns

All pieces move as in classical chess, with the "extra" three pieces moving as follows:

Chancellor (C) - Moves and captures as rook + knight.

Hawk (H) - Leaps exactly 2 or 3 squares in any orthogonal or diagonal direction for both moving and capturing. The leaping move means it can jump over other pieces.

Guard (G) - Moves and captures the same as a king but is not affected by check. Other information on the guard can be found (here). (not particular to this game)

Pawns play the same and promote at the same rank as in classical chess.
White pawns promote at rank 8, and black pawns promote at rank 1. Pawns can promote to chancellor, hawk, or guard in addition to queen, rook, bishop, or knight. Pawns may capture and be captured en passant with the same rules as in classical chess.

Board Setup:

A red bracket indicates the a1 (1,1) square.

There is no castling.

The Chessboard:

1. Board for OTB Play:
A playing area should be setup with at least 24 ranks and 20 files. Ensure provisions are available to expand the board if play requires. If this becomes inconvenient due to far-away pieces, a display board is used to indicate the location of remote pieces. If there is interesting play in small but remote areas, other playing areas can be labeled and used separatelly from the main board.

2. Diagram for Online Play:
A chess diagram is used to indicate the position of pieces either after each move by white, or each move by black. The diagram should include 24 ranks and 20 files. If any pieces are moved outside of this area, the diagram is expanded or notes are shared to indicate the location of far-away pieces. If there is interesting play in small but remote areas, other diagrams can be used to show piece positions separatelly from the main diagram.

Move Notation:

Numeric coordinates are used to identify piece locations as (file#, rank#). The "a1" square is (1,1) and is marked on the chess diagram with a small red bracket. Increasing files are to the right, and increasing ranks are toward the back.

Parenthesis are used around each coordinate. Three examples of a move notation:

1) A rook moving from (8,4) to (1,4):

R(8,4)-(1,4) or R(1,4)

2) A rook moving from (1,4) and capturing a piece on (0,4):
R(1,4)x(0,4) or Rx(0,4)
3) A pawn advancing from (-1,7) to (-1,6):
(-1,7)-(-1,6) or (-1,6)

All other rules are the same as in classical chess.

Feel free to add to this thread if anyone has comments. I'll start a separate thread for the first game between evertVB and me.

If anyone else would like to play leave a comment or visit (this thread).

evert823

Jan 15, 2017

#17

let bowlinggreen play first, I have enough ongoing games

vickalan

Jan 16, 2017

#18

bowlinggreen, would you still like to play? I'm OK with move replies in 1-3 days. If we average 2 days per reply, and the game goes to 50 moves, it will be about 6½ months. That's fine with me.
With 2 days per move, I think we each can play more than one game at a time.

bowlinggreen

Jan 16, 2017

#19

im fine with playing

vickalan

Jan 16, 2017

#20

Yay!

You'll be a pioneer into the world of "Chess on an Infinite Plane"!

One more possible change is getting rid of the 50-move rule. I don't think we will run into that situation, but it would be sad if someone could over-run an escaping king, but ran out moves. Due to unexplored possible endings, I might get rid of that rule for this variant. Even in FIDE the rule has been debated.

You may play white. Please go (here) to begin our first game. I think it should be fun!