M Courier Chess

Introduction

This variant grew out of Double Courier Chess and uses an enhanced Marquess piece.

Set-Up

The board is 16x12

Each player has 42 pieces:

1 King, 1 Queen,
2 Elephants, 2 Warriors, 2 Couriers,
2 Guards, 2 Horseguards,
2 Viscounts, 2 Thanes, 2 Marquesses, 2 Dukes,
2 Bishops, 2 Knights, 2 Rooks,
16 Pawns

and the initial array is:

mcourierstart.png

Movement

marquessmove.png

The Marquess is a non-linear-2-step-Moo-rider, with a potential of reaching 32 squares as illustrated by the image on the right.

The basic movement is of 2 squares, either diagonal+orthogonal or orthogonal+diagonal, the second component being in the same general direction as the first. Using compass points to indicate direction the 16 possible moves are given by:

n+nw, n+ne, ne+n, ne+e, e+ne, e+se, se+e, se+s,
s+se, s+sw, sw+s, sw+w, w+sw, w+nw, nw+w, nw+n.


If the initial 2-square movement ends in an empty square, the Marquess may make a second move of 2-squares. This second, optional, rider step must follow the pattern of the first step and must be in the same general direction. Again using compass points to illustrate:

First step: n+ne - Possible second steps: n+ne, n+nw, e+ne, e+se


It should be noted that although the basic move imitates that of the Knight, the Marquess, unlike the Knight, may not leap over obstructing pieces.
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