Wildrider Chess

Wildrider Chess is a large chess variant which hopefully is easy to get into. It was created as a revision of my previous game Kjempe Chess.

Setup

satellite=wildriderChessMain files=12 ranks=12 promoZone=1 maxPromote=1 promoChoice=HNTABWSCRQ graphicsDir=/cgi-bin/fen2.php?s=50&t=Greenwade&w=f9f9f9&b=5984bd&p= squareSize=50 graphicsType= borders=0 firstRank=1 useMarkers=1 rimColor=#80aaa8 darkShade=#a8a8a8 lightShade=#cccccc coordColor=#000000 royal=K quickpawn:P:nfmW2fceF:pawn:a4,b4,c4,d4,e4,f4,g4,h4,i4,j4,k4,l4,,a9,b9,c9,d9,e9,f9,g9,h9,i9,j9,k9,l9 shield:H:mQ:shield:f3,g3,,f10,g10 knight:N:N:knight:b2,k2,,b11,k11 threeshop:T:B3:shortbishop:c2,j2,,c11,j11 avian:A:GAF:eagle:f1,g1,,f12,g12 bishop:B::bishop:d2,i2,,d11,i11 wildrider:W:NfR:bowman:b1,k1,,b12,k12 skirmisher:S:mQK:berserker:b3,k3,,b10,k10 custodian:C:WDHfWX:cat:e2,h2,,e11,h11 rook:R::rook:a2,l2,,a11,l11 queen:Q::queen:f2,,f11 king:K:KisO2isO3isO4:king:g2,,g11

Pieces

Right-click on a piece in the interactive diagram to see its movement diagram.

Wildrider

Has all the moves of a knight, but can also ride like a rook in direction forwards.

Skirmisher

Moves like a queen when not capturing. Captures like a king. (Also known as Prince Consort, Duke, Queen takes as King, or Sparrow.)

Threeshop

Rides like a bishop, but max 3 squares distance.

Avian

Leaps 1, 2, or 3 squares diagonally.

Custodian

Leaps 1, 2, or 3 squares orthogonally, or leaps to the 4th orthogonal square in the forward direction.

Shield

Rides along the lines of a queen, but does not capture any pieces.

Quickpawn

Moves like a normal FIDE Chess pawn, but may always ride 2 squares forward non-capturing (and may then be captured en passant by an opponent's quickpawn).

Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King

Like in standard chess.

Rules

When castling, the king rides 2, 3, or 4 squares towards the rook, and then the rook lands besides the king on the other side. (Like in standard Chess, all the squares between the rook and the king must be empty, and the king may not castle out of check, or pass or land on a checked square. And the king or rook may not have been moved previously.)
Quickpawns promote when reaching the 12th rank, to any piece of the game, except quickpawn or king.
All other rules as in standard chess.

Notes

Attempt at piece values (based on the diagram's evaluation)

	quickpawn	1
	shield	1
	knight	3
	threeshop	3+
	avian	4
	bishop	4
	wildrider	4.5
	skirmisher	5
	custodian	5.5
	rook	5.5
	queen	10+

Supposed design goals

Easy to get into.
Similarity in general feeling to standard chess.
No giant increase in gameplay complexity compared to standard chess, despite the large board.
Pieces can threaten each other assymmetrically.
Balance between orthogonal, diagonal, and knight-y elements.
Pieces sort into piece value classes (more opportunities for assymmetrical exchanges).
Swift piece development in the opening, armies soon come in contact.
But not all too sharp in the opening (enough time to develop all pieces).
Often possible to move forward without leaving gaps in the defense.
Enough attack power to be able to make interesting plans, and get an attack going.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Daniel Zacharias for helping out with playtesting of this game's predecessor Kjempe Chess, and thanks to A. M. DeWitt for helpful inspiration for the move of the Wildrider.

This 'user submitted' page is a collaboration between the posting user and the Chess Variant Pages. Registered contributors to the Chess Variant Pages have the ability to post their own works, subject to review and editing by the Chess Variant Pages Editorial Staff.

By Martin Nilsson.

Last revised by Martin Nilsson.

Web page created: 2025-05-16. Web page last updated: 2025-05-16

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Comments

Wildrider Chess. Large variant hoped to be easy to get into. Revision of Kjempe Chess. (12x12, Cells: 144)

🔔Notification on Fri, May 16 04:57 PM EDT:

The editor Fergus Duniho has published this page.

🔔Notification on Fri, May 16 04:53 PM EDT:

The editor Fergus Duniho has revised this page.

💡📝Martin Nilsson wrote on Fri, May 16 03:48 PM EDT:

This is only a slight revision of Kjempe Chess, but I choose to post it as a separate entry, as this new variant is less playtested at the moment, and the changes are enough to alter the character of the game.

The changes from Kjempe Chess are as follows:

The Kjempe, FfRsbR2, becomes a Skirmisher, mQcK. The Skirmisher should still be able to fill a defensive role on the flank, but can also move forward past the pawn rank and attack in a flexible way, or switch flanks more easily than the Kjempe could. Which according to my thinking here should be a good thing, since large areas of the big board tend to become less relevant after castling in this game.

The Woodlander, NbR, becomes a Wildrider, NfR. A. M. DeWitt had suggested NvR for the Woodlander, which is very similar to what I did here. The Wildrider should be able to go to attack easily, and can control files in front of it.

Please let me know what you think! I will post a Game Courier implementation soon.

💡📝Martin Nilsson wrote on Fri, May 16 03:46 PM EDT:

This page of mine is ready for publication for the following reasons:

The rules are clear, unambiguous, and easy-to-understand.
The rules are comprehensive.
There is a locally-hosted setup image, or the setup is the same as Chess.
Locally-hosted images are being used for pieces, or only Chess pieces are being used.
The piece names are linked to Piececlopedia articles when there are any.
No code on the page is broken, or it has no code.