Martian Chess
Encyclopedia
Martian Chess is an abstract strategy game
for two to six players invented by Andrew Looney
. It is played with Icehouse pieces
on a chessboard
or checkerboard
; to play with a number of players other than two or four, a small, Non-Euclidean
board is available which can be tiled to produce a board of the required size, allowing up to six players.
: three small, three medium, and three large. The color of the pieces is irrelevant; for reasons given below, a mix of colors should be used.
In a two-player game, only half the board is used; a folding checkerboard is useful. The pieces are placed in the corners of the board as shown:
The players decide who moves first by a random method or by agreement. Play passes to the left after each move.
The pieces may be moved as follows:
A piece is captured when an enemy piece lands on the square it occupies. The person who moved takes the piece and puts it aside for later scoring.
Since a piece is always owned according to the territory it is in, a player whose piece is captured immediately gains control of the capturing piece. It is easy to forget this if each player's starting pieces are all the same color, as if that determined whose it was, so it is better to start with a mix of colors instead (unless you have enough pieces that everyone can use the same color).
Pieces may not jump over other pieces, nor may they end a move on an occupied square except to capture.
The No Rejections rule: in the two-player game, you may not immediately reverse your opponent's last move.
territory becomes empty). Players then compute their scores by
adding up the pips on their captured pieces: 3 per queen, 2 per
drone, and 1 per pawn. The player or players with the highest
total win.
In a variation of the four-player game, the players form two teams who play for a combined score. Teammates sit at opposite corners. Aside from strategic differences, play is unaffected; it is legal (and sometimes good strategy) to capture your teammate's pieces.
More generally, any piece used to capture becomes the opponent's.
Moving a pawn or drone into enemy territory can be a good move for several reasons:
Edgar Rice Burroughs
describes an unrelated game of "Martian Chess" called Jetan
in The Chessmen of Mars
.
Strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
for two to six players invented by Andrew Looney
Andrew Looney
Andrew J. Looney , better known as Andy Looney, is an award-winning game designer and computer programmer.- Biography :...
. It is played with Icehouse pieces
Icehouse pieces
Icehouse pieces are pyramid-shaped gaming pieces invented by Andrew Looney and John Cooper in 1987, originally for use in the game of Icehouse.- Description :...
on a chessboard
Chessboard
A chessboard is the type of checkerboard used in the board game chess, and consists of 64 squares arranged in two alternating colors...
or checkerboard
Checkerboard
A checkerboard or chequerboard is a board of chequered pattern on which English draughts is played. It is an 8×8 board and the 64 squares are of alternating dark and light color, often red and black....
; to play with a number of players other than two or four, a small, Non-Euclidean
Non-Euclidean geometry
Non-Euclidean geometry is the term used to refer to two specific geometries which are, loosely speaking, obtained by negating the Euclidean parallel postulate, namely hyperbolic and elliptic geometry. This is one term which, for historical reasons, has a meaning in mathematics which is much...
board is available which can be tiled to produce a board of the required size, allowing up to six players.
Initial setup
Each player starts with nine piecesIcehouse pieces
Icehouse pieces are pyramid-shaped gaming pieces invented by Andrew Looney and John Cooper in 1987, originally for use in the game of Icehouse.- Description :...
: three small, three medium, and three large. The color of the pieces is irrelevant; for reasons given below, a mix of colors should be used.
In a two-player game, only half the board is used; a folding checkerboard is useful. The pieces are placed in the corners of the board as shown:
The players decide who moves first by a random method or by agreement. Play passes to the left after each move.
Movement and capturing
The red lines in the diagrams indicate notional canals that divide the board into territories. At any given time a player controls only those pieces that are in his or her territory.The pieces may be moved as follows:
- small pieces (pawns) move one space diagonally (unlike chess pawnsPawn (chess)The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...
, they may move backwards) - medium pieces (drones) move one or two spaces horizontally or vertically
- large pieces (queens) move any distance horizontally, vertically or diagonally, just like a chess queenQueen (chess)The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts...
A piece is captured when an enemy piece lands on the square it occupies. The person who moved takes the piece and puts it aside for later scoring.
Since a piece is always owned according to the territory it is in, a player whose piece is captured immediately gains control of the capturing piece. It is easy to forget this if each player's starting pieces are all the same color, as if that determined whose it was, so it is better to start with a mix of colors instead (unless you have enough pieces that everyone can use the same color).
Pieces may not jump over other pieces, nor may they end a move on an occupied square except to capture.
The No Rejections rule: in the two-player game, you may not immediately reverse your opponent's last move.
End of game and scoring
The game ends when one player runs out of pieces (i.e., theirterritory becomes empty). Players then compute their scores by
adding up the pips on their captured pieces: 3 per queen, 2 per
drone, and 1 per pawn. The player or players with the highest
total win.
In a variation of the four-player game, the players form two teams who play for a combined score. Teammates sit at opposite corners. Aside from strategic differences, play is unaffected; it is legal (and sometimes good strategy) to capture your teammate's pieces.
Strategy
Capturing with a queen often allows the opponent to immediately recapture, leading to a back-and-forth battle until one player runs out of pieces in the line(s) of capture. This is more common in two-player games, since other players may interfere in the four-player version. The net point difference is usually minor with two players, but can give the players involved a significant lead over the others in a four-player game.More generally, any piece used to capture becomes the opponent's.
Moving a pawn or drone into enemy territory can be a good move for several reasons:
- it can prevent an opponent from capturing the piece from you
- it can ensure that you capture that piece or another piece from an opponent
- it can block an attack from an opposing queen or drone
See also
- Icehouse piecesIcehouse piecesIcehouse pieces are pyramid-shaped gaming pieces invented by Andrew Looney and John Cooper in 1987, originally for use in the game of Icehouse.- Description :...
- Looney LabsLooney LabsLooney Labs is a small game company based in College Park, Maryland, USA. It is named after its founders, Andrew Looney and Kristin Looney.- Card games :...
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
describes an unrelated game of "Martian Chess" called Jetan
Jetan
Jetan, also known as Martian Chess, is a chess-based strategy game with unclear rules. It was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs as a game played on Barsoom, his fictional version of Mars. The game was introduced in The Chessmen of Mars, the fifth book in the Barsoom series...
in The Chessmen of Mars
The Chessmen of Mars
The Chessmen of Mars is an Edgar Rice Burroughs science fiction novel, the fifth of his famous Barsoom series. Burroughs began writing it in January, 1921, and the finished story was first published in Argosy All-Story Weekly as a six-part serial in the issues for February 18 and 25 and March 4,...
.
External links
- Rules of Martian Chess by Looney Labs