Transmitter Chess
© November 2005 by Gary K. Gifford
To my knowledge, Transmitter Chess is a unique variant in which Drone pieces have no movement until being activated by one of three friendly Transmitters (a Bishop Transmitter, Knight Transmitter, and Rook Transmitter. When a Transmitter is captured that functionality is lost to that player. For example, if you lost all 3 Transmitters you’d be left with the Wazir King and some useless Drones. You could of course, still have Engineers and Pawns. These aspects of the game will all become clear shortly.
Object of the Game: Capture your opponent’s Wazir King or accept his (or her) resignation.
Setup
The initial setup is as indicated in the first figure. Each player begins the game with 9 Pawns, 6 Drones, 3 Transmitters, 4 Engineers, and 1 Wazir King.
Pieces
Rules
Note: There is no castling, no pawn en passant. Pawns promote on the last rank only. If a Transmitter is captured, pieces that most recently received a transmission from it return to the initial Drone state. Thus if you had 3 Bishops and the Bishop Transmitter was captured, those 3 Bishops would convert to initial Drone state. If you lost a Rook Transmitter and a Bishop Transmitter, you could only have Drone Knights or Drones in initial Drone State; but certainly no more Bishops or Rooks. On each turn a player can: (a)Move any one of his Transmitters. (This option may be passed). (b)Transmit from any one of his Transmitters. Transmission can be to a Drone in its initial state, or to a Drone in a Bishop, Knight, or Rook state. (This option may be passed). (c)Move the Wazir King, Pawn, Engineer, or a Drone (which is in a piece state as a Bishop, Knight, or Rook). Drones in their initial state cannot be moved. However, they can be captured. A Drone that just became a piece this turn (i.e. was transmitted to) can be the piece selected for movement. Unlike the optional "a" and "b" actions; action "c" is required as a part of each turn. ****************** IMPORTANT ******************************** {1} Actions (a) (b) and (c) can be performed in any order. {2} Although performing "a" and/or "b" is optional; action "c" is required for each turn. ************************************************************** An example of possible play follows, for 6 moves. “T†refers to Transmitter. “@†indicates a transmission was made. Thus, on move 1 white moved his Bishop Transmitter (on a1) to b1. He then transmitted to the drone on c2, making it a Bishop. He then moved his Engineer on g1 to g2.
The following diagram shows the position we have reached at this point, with black still having 2 possible actions to complete.
Black has just played 6. E h8-g7 and has 2 possible actions left.
From what has been presented thus far, you should have enough information to play the game.
Notes
Question: What happens if I checkmate my opponent with a Rook, but then he claims he can capture my Rook Transmitter, thus getting out of the checkmate? Answer: There are no checkmates in Transmitter Chess. You must capture your opponent’s Wazir King to win. A case in point follows:
I have created a (non-rule enforcing)pre-set at:
http://play.chessvariants.org/pbm/play.php?game%3DTransmitter+Chess%26settings%3DTransmitter
A special thanks to Christine Bagley-Jones for correctly pointed out the need to state where pawns promote. They are to promote in the last rank.
A special thanks to J Andrew Lipscomb for pointing out that Wazir King movement was left out of the action list. It is now a part of action "C," as was my original intent.
A special thanks to Carlos Carlos for emphasizing the importance of action "c" being required, for which reason I added the "IMPORTANT" note on 1-27-06. The rule has not changed, but has been emphasized.
A special thanks to ChessVariants and the creators of Alfaerie fonts.
Transmitter Chess, © November 2005 by Gary K. Gifford
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By Gary K. Gifford.
Web page created: 2005-11-27. Web page last updated: 2005-11-27