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Chess Variants/Ultima

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a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black upside-down rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black pawnf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black kingf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 black kingf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 white pawnf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white upside-down rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white kinge1 white queenf1 white bishopg1 white knighth1 white rook1
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One of the possible starting positions of Ultima. The immobilisers are represented by upside-down rooks.

Introduction

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Ultima, also known as Baroque chess, is an eclectic variant where the pieces differ in the powers of capture, rather than their powers of movement.

History

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Ultima was created by veteran game designer Robert Abbott in 1962. The rules were initially published in the August 1962 issue of the Recreational Mathematics magazine, and the variant was given the name "Baroque chess" via a contest, but the variant would receive its current name the following year.

In 1968 Abbott made a slight alteration to the rules, adding a new rule that stated a piece on the Nth rank could move no further than N squares. The chess variant community has mostly rejected this change and continues to play Ultima by the 1962 rules, of which the page will detail the most common variation.

Rules

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Ultima is played using the same board and pieces as standard chess. However the pieces have different names and movement powers, and most notably all of them capture in a unique way. The pieces are as follows:

Piece name Represented by Letter in notation
King king K
Withdrawer queen W
Coordinator rook C
Immobiliser upside-down rook I
Long leaper knight L
Chameleon bishop X
Pincer pawn pawn P

Before play begins, the players are allowed to decide which one of their rooks will be the immobiliser (that rook is turned upside down), and if they want to switch the positions of their king and withdrawer. After these two factors have been settled, White moves first like in standard chess.

Due to the unique nature of captures in this variant, the end goal is no longer checkmate - the king must actually be captured before the game ends.

How pieces move and capture

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The king

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The king moves just like his orthodox chess counterpart - one square at a time in any direction. He captures by the traditional method of displacement used in orthodox chess - the king moves into the square of the enemy piece and takes its place.

The pincer pawn

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Represented by the pawn, the pincer pawn moves like an orthodox rook. It captures using a technique known as custodial capture – if a pincer pawn makes a move that sandwiches an enemy piece between the pincer pawn and a friendly piece, the enemy piece is captured. There may be no gaps in the formation, and custodial captures can only happen vertically or horizontally – not diagonally. If an enemy piece moves into the formation on its own accord, the capture does not happen.

The long leaper

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Represented by the knight, the long leaper moves like an orthodox queen. It captures by means of leaping – as it moves, if the long leaper encounters an enemy piece with an empty square beyond it in the its direction of movement, it may jump over that piece and land on the square beyond, capturing the piece. Multiple pieces may be captured in this manner if there are gaps available to land on.

The withdrawer

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Represented by the queen, the withdrawer moves like an orthodox queen. It captures by withdrawing – if it starts the turn adjacent to an enemy piece and moves directly away from it, that piece is captured.

The coordinator

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Represented by the rook, the coordinator moves like an orthodox queen. It captures by coordination – after the coordinator has moved an invisible orthogonal cross of squares is drawn from the coordinator’s position, and another such cross is drawn from the position of the friendly king. Any enemy pieces on the two squares where these crosses intersect are captured.

The immobiliser

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Represented by an upside-down rook, the immobiliser moves like an orthodox queen. It cannot capture enemy pieces, but instead it can immobilise them. Any enemy piece that is directly adjacent to the immobiliser is immobilised – it will be completely unable to move until the immobiliser moves away.

If a player wishes to, then instead of moving a piece they may have an immobilised piece commit suicide, removing it from the board.

The chameleon

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Represented by the bishop, the chameleon (also known as the imitator) moves like an orthodox queen. It captures enemy pieces by using their own powers of capture against them – so it would capture enemy long leapers by jumping over them, for instance. Note that chameleons cannot capture enemy chameleons.

Also, if a chameleon moves adjacent to an enemy immobiliser, the two pieces will freeze each other, leaving both unable to move.

Pieces in detail

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These pieces may be confusing, so what follows is a series of diagrams to help you understand.

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8 a8 black king b8 black king c8 black king d8 black king e8 black king f8 black king g8 black king h8 black king 8
7 a7 black king b7 black king c7 black king d7 black king e7 black king f7 black king g7 black king h7 black king 7
6 a6 black king b6 black king c6 black king d6 black king e6 black king f6 black king g6 black king h6 black king 6
5 a5 black king b5 black king c5 black king d5 cross e5 black king f5 black king g5 black king h5 black king 5
4 a4 black king b4 black king c4 white king d4 black king e4 black king f4 white upside-down rook g4 black king h4 black king 4
3 a3 black king b3 black king c3 black king d3 black queen e3 black king f3 black king g3 black king h3 black king 3
2 a2 black king b2 black king c2 black king d2 black king e2 black king f2 black king g2 black king h2 black king 2
1 a1 black king b1 black king c1 black king d1 black king e1 black king f1 black king g1 black king h1 black king 1
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The king's movement

The white king, currently in check from the black withdrawer on d3 moves from c4 to d5, delivering chackmate. Under normal circumstances this would be an illegal move, however the black king is currently being immobilised by the white immobiliser on f4, and so it is not attacking d5.

The king would not be allowed to move to d4 since there it would still be in check from the withdrawer. If the king captured the withdrawer by moving to d3, the result would be stalemate since Black would no longer have any available moves.

Pincer Pawn

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a b c d e f g h
8 a8 black king b8 black king c8 black king d8 black king e8 black king f8 black king g8 black king h8 black king 8
7 a7 black king b7 black king c7 black king d7 black king e7 black king f7 black king g7 black king h7 black king 7
6 a6 black king b6 black king c6 black king d6 white pawn e6 black king f6 white rook g6 black king h6 black king 6
5 a5 black king b5 black king c5 black king d5 black pawn e5 black queen f5 black king g5 black king h5 black king 5
4 a4 black king b4 white king c4 black upside-down rook d4 cross e4 black king f4 black king g4 white pawn h4 black king 4
3 a3 black king b3 black king c3 black king d3 black bishop e3 black king f3 black king g3 black knight h3 black king 3
2 a2 black king b2 black king c2 black king d2 black king e2 black king f2 black king g2 white pawn h2 black king 2
1 a1 black king b1 black king c1 black king d1 white queen e1 black king f1 black king g1 black king h1 black king 1
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The pincer pawn's movement

The white pincer pawn on g4 moves to d4, capturing the black pincer pawn on d5 and the black immobiliser. The black withdrawer is safe from capture since custodial captures only happen horizontally or vertically, not diagonally. The black chameleon is safe since d2 is not occupied by a white piece. Finally the black long leaper on g3 is safe because it moved into the formation on its own accord, rather than a pawn moving to complete the custodial capture.

Withdrawer

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a b c d e f g h
8 a8 black king b8 black king c8 black king d8 black king e8 black king f8 black king g8 black king h8 black king 8
7 a7 black king b7 black king c7 black king d7 black king e7 black king f7 black king g7 black pawn h7 black pawn 7
6 a6 black king b6 black king c6 black king d6 black king e6 black king f6 black king g6 white queen h6 black bishop 6
5 a5 black king b5 black king c5 black king d5 black king e5 black king f5 black king g5 black king h5 black king 5
4 a4 black king b4 black king c4 black king d4 black king e4 black king f4 black king g4 black king h4 black king 4
3 a3 black king b3 black king c3 black king d3 cross e3 black king f3 black king g3 black king h3 black king 3
2 a2 black king b2 black king c2 black king d2 black king e2 white knight f2 white king g2 black king h2 black king 2
1 a1 black king b1 black king c1 black king d1 black king e1 black king f1 black king g1 black king h1 black king 1
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The Withdrawer's movement

The white withdrawer on g6 moves to d3, capturing the black pincer pawn on h7. The pincer pawn on g7 and the chameleon are safe because the withdrawer did not move directly away from them. Note how the withdrawer also delivers check to the king by threatening to move away on the d-file.

Long Leaper

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a b c d e f g h
8 a8 black king b8 black king c8 black king d8 cross e8 black king f8 black king g8 black king h8 black king 8
7 a7 black king b7 black king c7 black king d7 black rook e7 black king f7 black king g7 black king h7 black king 7
6 a6 black king b6 black king c6 black king d6 cross e6 black king f6 black king g6 black king h6 black king 6
5 a5 black king b5 black king c5 black king d5 black knight e5 black king f5 black king g5 black king h5 black king 5
4 a4 black king b4 black king c4 black king d4 cross e4 black king f4 black queen g4 black king h4 black king 4
3 a3 black king b3 black king c3 white pawn d3 black pawn e3 black king f3 black king g3 black king h3 black king 3
2 a2 white upside-down rook b2 black pawn c2 black king d2 white knight e2 black king f2 black pawn g2 black pawn h2 black king 2
1 a1 black king b1 black king c1 black king d1 black bishop e1 black king f1 black king g1 black king h1 black king 1
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The Long-Leaper's movement

The white long leaper on d2 jumps to d4, then d6, then d8, capturing three black pieces in the process - namely the pincer pawn on d3, the long leaper on d5 and the coordinator on d7. It could have instead captured the withdrawer with a jump to g5. On the other hand the pincer pawns on b2, f2 and g2 and the chameleon are safe since the long leaper cannot land immediately beyong them.

Coordinator

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a b c d e f g h
8 a8 black king b8 black king c8 black king d8 black king e8 black king f8 black king g8 black king h8 black king 8
7 a7 black king b7 black king c7 black king d7 black king e7 black king f7 black king g7 black king h7 black king 7
6 a6 black king b6 black king c6 black knight d6 black king e6 black bishop f6 cross g6 black king h6 black king 6
5 a5 black king b5 black king c5 black king d5 black king e5 black king f5 black king g5 black king h5 black king 5
4 a4 black king b4 black king c4 black king d4 white rook e4 black king f4 black king g4 black king h4 black king 4
3 a3 black king b3 black king c3 black king d3 black king e3 black king f3 white pawn g3 black king h3 black king 3
2 a2 black king b2 black king c2 white king d2 black pawn e2 black king f2 black upside-down rook g2 black king h2 black king 2
1 a1 black king b1 black king c1 black king d1 black king e1 black king f1 black king g1 black king h1 black king 1
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The Coordinator's movement

The white coordinator on d4 moves to f6, and by coordinating with its king on c2 it captures the black long leaper on c6 and the black immobiliser on f2. It could have instaed captured the leaper and the pincer pawn on d2 by playing to d6.

Immobiliser

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a b c d e f g h
8 a8 black king b8 black king c8 black king d8 black king e8 black king f8 black king g8 black king h8 black king 8
7 a7 black king b7 black king c7 black king d7 black king e7 black king f7 black king g7 black king h7 black king 7
6 a6 black king b6 black king c6 black bishop d6 black rook e6 black queen f6 black king g6 black king h6 black king 6
5 a5 black king b5 black king c5 black knight d5 cross e5 black king f5 black king g5 black king h5 black king 5
4 a4 black king b4 black king c4 white king d4 black pawn e4 black king f4 black king g4 black knight h4 black king 4
3 a3 black king b3 black king c3 black king d3 black king e3 black king f3 white upside-down rook g3 black king h3 black king 3
2 a2 black king b2 black king c2 black king d2 black king e2 black king f2 black king g2 black king h2 black king 2
1 a1 black king b1 black king c1 black king d1 black king e1 black king f1 black king g1 black king h1 black king 1
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The Immobilizer's movement

The white immobiliser on f3 moves to d5, immobilising five black pieces. The previously immobilised black long leaper on g4 is now free to move again. In the process the immobiliser is itself immobilised by the black chameleon on c6. Any of the immobilised black pieces may commit suicide on Black's next turn if they so want to.

Chameleon

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a b c d e f g h
8 a8 black king b8 black king c8 white rook d8 black king e8 black king f8 black king g8 black king h8 black king 8
7 a7 black king b7 black king c7 black pawn d7 black king e7 black king f7 black king g7 black king h7 black king 7
6 a6 white pawn b6 black pawn c6 cross d6 black knight e6 cross f6 black knight g6 white bishop h6 black queen 6
5 a5 black king b5 black king c5 black pawn d5 black king e5 black king f5 black king g5 black king h5 black king 5
4 a4 black king b4 black king c4 white knight d4 black king e4 black king f4 black king g4 black king h4 black king 4
3 a3 black king b3 black king c3 black king d3 black king e3 black king f3 black king g3 black king h3 black king 3
2 a2 black king b2 black king c2 black king d2 black king e2 black king f2 black king g2 black king h2 black king 2
1 a1 white king b1 black king c1 black rook d1 black king e1 black king f1 black king g1 black king h1 black king 1
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The Chameleon's movement

The white chameleon on g6 jumps to e6 and then c6, capturing all of Black's non-king pieces in one turn and delivering check. It captures:

  • The withdrawer by moving away from it.
  • The long leapers by jumping over them.
  • The pincer pawns by sandwiching them against friendly pieces.
  • The coordinator by rank/file coordination with the friendly king.

It also delivers check by threatening to step into the king's square.

Sub-variants

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  • Maxima, created in 2003, is a larger version of Ultima on an 8x9 board with two extra pieces.
  • Optima is similar to Maxima, with additional pieces and rules.
  • Renaissance uses new pieces and allows captured pieces to be revived by a special technique.
  • Rococco is played on a 10x10 board with an extra piece.