whats_new/rules/Courier.html

   1 <html>
   2 <header>
   3 <title>Courier Chess</title>
   4 <link rel=StyleSheet href="./moves.css" type="text/css">
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   6 </header>
   7 <body>
   8 <h1>Courier Chess (a medieval precursor of modern Chess)</h1>
   9 <table cellpadding="20"><tr><td>
  10 <img src="Courier.png">
  11 </td><td>
  12 <h3>Initial setup</h3>
  13 <p>
  14 f1, f8: King
  15 <br>
  16 a1, a8, l1, l8: Rook
  17 <br>
  18 d1, d8, i1, i8: Courier (Bishop)
  19 <br>
  20 b1, b8, k1, k8: Knight
  21 <br>
  22 e1, e8: Commonner
  23 <br>
  24 g1, g8: Ferz (General)
  25 <br>
  26 h1, h8: Wazir (Grand Visor)
  27 <br>
  28 c1, c8, j1, j8: Alfil (Elephant)
  29 <br>
  30 a2-l2, a7-l7: Pawns
  31 </p>
  32 </td></tr></table>
  33
  34 <h3>Moves at a Glance</h3>
  35
  36 <p>Click on a piece below to see its moves</p>
  37
  38 <table class="board"><tr><td class="n" id="0x9">
  39
  40      </td><td class="n" id="1x9">
  41
  42      </td><td class="n" id="2x9">
  43
  44      </td><td class="n" id="3x9">
  45
  46      </td><td class="n" id="4x9">
  47
  48      </td><td class="n" id="5x9">
  49
  50      </td><td class="n" id="6x9">
  51
  52      </td><td class="n" id="7x9">
  53
  54      </td><td class="n" id="8x9">
  55
  56      </td><td class="n" id="9x9">
  57
  58      </td><td class="h">
  59 <img src="sym/yellow.png">
  60      </td><td class="w" rowspan="2" valign="top">
  61 <p>Sliding capture or non-capture,<br>can be blocked on any square along the ray</p>
  62 </td></tr><tr><td class="n" id="0x8">
  63
  64      </td><td class="n" id="1x8">
  65
  66      </td><td class="n" id="2x8">
  67
  68      </td><td class="n" id="3x8">
  69
  70      </td><td class="n" id="4x8">
  71
  72      </td><td class="n" id="5x8">
  73
  74      </td><td class="n" id="6x8">
  75
  76      </td><td class="n" id="7x8">
  77
  78      </td><td class="n" id="8x8">
  79
  80      </td><td class="n" id="9x8">
  81
  82 </td></tr><tr><td class="n" id="0x7">
  83
  84      </td><td class="n" id="1x7">
  85
  86      </td><td class="n" id="2x7">
  87
  88      </td><td class="n" id="3x7">
  89
  90      </td><td class="n" id="4x7">
  91
  92      </td><td class="n" id="5x7">
  93
  94      </td><td class="n" id="6x7">
  95
  96      </td><td class="n" id="7x7">
  97
  98      </td><td class="n" id="8x7">
  99
 100      </td><td class="n" id="9x7">
 101
 102      </td><td class="h">
 103 <img src="sym/orange.png">
 104      </td><td class="w">
 105 Unblockable leap (capture or non-capture)
 106 </td></tr><tr><td class="n" id="0x6">
 107
 108      </td><td class="n" id="1x6">
 109
 110      </td><td class="n" id="2x6">
 111
 112      </td><td class="n" id="3x6">
 113
 114      </td><td class="n" id="4x6">
 115
 116      </td><td class="n" id="5x6">
 117
 118      </td><td class="n" id="6x6">
 119
 120      </td><td class="n" id="7x6" onmouseDown="down_click(7,-6)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 121 <img src="sym/WhiteCommoner.png">
 122      </td><td class="n" id="8x6">
 123
 124      </td><td class="n" id="9x6">
 125
 126      </td><td class="h">
 127 <img src="sym/green.png">
 128      </td><td class="w">
 129 Non-capture only
 130 </td></tr><tr><td class="n" id="0x5">
 131
 132      </td><td class="n" id="1x5">
 133
 134      </td><td class="n" id="2x5">
 135
 136      </td><td class="n" id="3x5" onmouseDown="down_click(3,5)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 137
 138      </td><td class="n" id="4x5" onmouseDown="down_click(4,5)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 139 <img src="sym/WhiteAdvisor.png">
 140      </td><td class="n" id="5x5" onmouseDown="down_click(5,5)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 141 <img src="sym/WhiteElephant.png">
 142      </td><td class="n" id="6x5" onmouseDown="down_click(6,5)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 143 <img src="sym/WhiteGold.png">
 144      </td><td class="n" id="7x5">
 145
 146      </td><td class="n" id="8x5">
 147
 148      </td><td class="n" id="9x5">
 149
 150      </td><td class="h">
 151 <img src="sym/red.png">
 152      </td><td class="w">
 153 Capture only
 154 </td></tr><tr><td class="n" id="0x4">
 155
 156      </td><td class="n" id="1x4">
 157
 158      </td><td class="n" id="2x4">
 159
 160      </td><td class="n" id="3x4" onmouseDown="down_click(3,0)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 161
 162      </td><td class="n" id="4x4" onmouseDown="down_click(4,0)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 163
 164      </td><td class="n" id="5x4" onmouseDown="down_click(5,4)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 165
 166      </td><td class="n" id="6x4" onmouseDown="down_click(6,0)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 167
 168      </td><td class="n" id="7x4">
 169
 170      </td><td class="n" id="8x4">
 171
 172      </td><td class="n" id="9x4">
 173
 174 </td></tr><tr><td class="n" id="0x3">
 175
 176      </td><td class="n" id="1x3">
 177
 178      </td><td class="n" id="2x3" onmouseDown="down_click(2,3)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 179 <img src="sym/WhitePawn.png">
 180      </td><td class="n" id="3x3" onmouseDown="down_click(3,3)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 181 <img src="sym/WhiteRook.png">
 182      </td><td class="n" id="4x3" onmouseDown="down_click(4,3)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 183 <img src="sym/WhiteKnight.png">
 184      </td><td class="n" id="5x3" onmouseDown="down_click(5,0)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 185
 186      </td><td class="n" id="6x3" onmouseDown="down_click(6,3)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 187 <img src="sym/WhiteBishop.png">
 188      </td><td class="n" id="7x3" onmouseDown="down_click(7,3)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 189 <img src="sym/WhiteKing.png">
 190      </td><td class="n" id="8x3">
 191
 192      </td><td class="n" id="9x3">
 193
 194 </td></tr><tr><td class="n" id="0x2">
 195
 196      </td><td class="n" id="1x2">
 197
 198      </td><td class="n" id="2x2">
 199
 200      </td><td class="n" id="3x2">
 201
 202      </td><td class="n" id="4x2">
 203
 204      </td><td class="n" id="5x2">
 205
 206      </td><td class="n" id="6x2">
 207
 208      </td><td class="n" id="7x2">
 209
 210      </td><td class="n" id="8x2">
 211
 212      </td><td class="n" id="9x2">
 213
 214 </td></tr><tr><td class="n" id="0x1">
 215
 216      </td><td class="n" id="1x1">
 217
 218      </td><td class="n" id="2x1" onmouseDown="down_click(-2,1)" onmouseUp="up_click()">
 219
 220      </td><td class="n" id="3x1">
 221
 222      </td><td class="n" id="4x1">
 223
 224      </td><td class="n" id="5x1">
 225
 226      </td><td class="n" id="6x1">
 227
 228      </td><td class="n" id="7x1">
 229
 230      </td><td class="n" id="8x1">
 231
 232      </td><td class="n" id="9x1">
 233
 234 </td></tr><tr><td class="n" id="0x0">
 235
 236      </td><td class="n" id="1x0">
 237
 238      </td><td class="n" id="2x0">
 239
 240      </td><td class="n" id="3x0">
 241
 242      </td><td class="n" id="4x0">
 243
 244      </td><td class="n" id="5x0">
 245
 246      </td><td class="n" id="6x0">
 247
 248      </td><td class="n" id="7x0">
 249
 250      </td><td class="n" id="8x0">
 251
 252      </td><td class="n" id="9x0">
 253
 254 </td></tr></table>
 255
 256 <p id="piece" height="20">:<br>:<br>:<br>:</p>
 257
 258 <table cellpadding="5" border="1"><tr><td>
 259 Piece
 260      </td><td>
 261 ID
 262      </td><td>
 263 value
 264      </td><td>
 265 Moves (<a href="Betza.html">Betza notation</a>)
 266      </td><td>
 267 Remarks
 268 </td></tr><tr><td>
 269 King
 270      </td><td>
 271 K
 272      </td><td>
 273 -
 274      </td><td>
 275 K
 276      </td><td>
 277 No castling of any kind
 278 </td></tr><tr><td>
 279 Rook
 280      </td><td>
 281 R
 282      </td><td>
 283 8
 284      </td><td>
 285 R
 286      </td><td>
 287
 288 </td></tr><tr><td>
 289 Courier
 290      </td><td>
 291 B
 292      </td><td>
 293 5
 294      </td><td>
 295 B
 296      </td><td>
 297 Color bound
 298 </td></tr><tr><td>
 299 Elephant
 300      </td><td>
 301 E
 302      </td><td>
 303 1
 304      </td><td>
 305 A
 306      </td><td>
 307 Bound to 8 squares!
 308 </td></tr><tr><td>
 309 Knight
 310      </td><td>
 311 N
 312      </td><td>
 313 4
 314      </td><td>
 315 N
 316      </td><td>
 317
 318 </td></tr><tr><td>
 319 Commoner
 320      </td><td>
 321 M
 322      </td><td>
 323 4
 324      </td><td>
 325 K
 326      </td><td>
 327
 328 </td></tr><tr><td>
 329 Ferz
 330      </td><td>
 331 F
 332      </td><td>
 333 2
 334      </td><td>
 335 F
 336      </td><td>
 337 Color bound
 338 </td></tr><tr><td>
 339 Wazir
 340      </td><td>
 341 W
 342      </td><td>
 343 1.5
 344      </td><td>
 345 W
 346      </td><td>
 347
 348 </td></tr><tr><td>
 349 Pawn
 350      </td><td>
 351 P
 352      </td><td>
 353 1
 354      </td><td>
 355 mfWcfF
 356      </td><td>
 357 Promotes to Ferz on reaching last rank
 358 </td></tr></table>
 359 <h3>Pawn peculiarities</h3>
 360 <ul>
 361 <li>Pawns capture differently from how they move (straight move, diagonal capture).</li>
 362 <li>There is no initial double-push, and thus no en-passant capture.</li>
 363 <li>Pawns promote to Ferz when they reach last rank; there is no choice.</li>
 364 </ul>
 365 <h3>General rules</h3>
 366 <ul>
 367 <li>It is not allowed to expose your King to check.</li>
 368 <li>The game is won by checkmating the opponent's King.</li>
 369 <li>Stalemate (no legal moves, but not in check) also counts as a loss.</li>
 370 </ul>
 371 <h3>Differences with FIDE</h3>
 372 <p>
 373 The Commoner (Man) replaces the Queen.
 374 The Ferz and Alfil (Elephant) from Shatranj are added, and the board width expanded to accomodate them.
 375 The Pawns have no double move.
 376 There is no castling.
 377 </p>
 378 <h3>Strategy issues</h3>
 379 <p>
 380 It is not possible to force checkmate on a bare King with just a single Bishop or Knight, Ferz or Wazir (in addition to your own King).
 381 Two Knights, Ferzes or two Wazirs also cannot do this, and F + W only in rare situations.
 382 The Commoner can force checkmate against a bare King.
 383 </p>
 384 <p>
 385 Alfils are not only color bound, but also skip over half the files and ranks.
 386 So they can only reach 8 squares, making them next to worthless.
 387 </p>
 388 <p>
 389 Bishops are confined to squares of a single color.
 390 Having Bishops on both colors compensates this weakness, and is worth an extra 0.5 on top of their added value.
 391 </p>
 392 <p>
 393 </p>
 394 <p>
 395 </p>
 396 <p>
 397 </p>
 398 <p>
 399 </p>
 400 </body>
 401 </html>