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The 36 Gifts

Well, this is a challenge for me, but you can try another similar one!

If you visit Hans web-pages, you already have noticed the Hans37, Hans38 and Hans39 contests! Each year, like everybody, Hans have an one year increase to his age. We, to celebrate his great work, invent some new games where the board must have the number of squares exactly equal to his age at that moment. My point here, is that we only started at 37, and his past? Nobody remembers his past? I did! Or at least I'm trying! :-)

Well, not all are chess games, but almost all are playable and I try to use nothing more than the usual equipment.Some games can turn out to be fun for kids that are giving their 1st steps with games and puzzles, some others can be challenging to many of us.

Another thing:

There are thousands of games out there. I wanted to be as original as possible, but that does not mean that every game is a new one. Sometimes I took ideas from other games, like Tetris or Set. Possibly, there are very close variations about already existing games. If that happens, I’m sorry, that was not my intention.

On the other side, I would enjoy very much if someone pick one or more of these games, twist them and create better games using the original concept. Feel free to do that!

Introductory Notes:
 

Piece : King(K), Queen(Q), Rook(R), Bishop(B) or Knight(N)
Unit  : Piece or Pawn(P)
All games are for only two players: white (W) and black (B)!
By default, all units behave like in FIDE chess.
In board diagrams, I use ‘O’ to represent white pawns.

Hans-1 : Putting the piece!

Board

   +---+
   |   |
   +---+

Rules
 

  1. Each player chooses one piece. Then they stand at 50m from the board and start running. The player that 1st put his piece on the board wins! :-)

Sample Game

White: Joao Neto  (with knight)
Black: Carl Lewis (with queen)

0-1

Remarks
 

Try to win a Hans-1 game against carl lewis with an horse on your back!

Hans-2 : Hey, that square is mine!

Board

+---+---+
|   |   |
+---+---+
  a   b

Rules
 

Each player have a set of 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops and 2 Knights.
Piece values: K=8, Q=7, R=5, B=4, N=3. 
  1. In each turn, each player secretly picks (e.g., write on paper) one of the remaining pieces of his set and chooses a square to put the chosen piece on; and choose an action for the pieces it have already on the board (see 4).
  2. If two piece conflict for the same square, then the piece with greater value wins and capture the other piece. If the pieces are equal, then both disappear from the game.
  3. If a piece is going to an occupied square, then it only wins if:
    1. its value is greater;
    2. its value plus the support move of the other’s square piece is greater.
  4. A piece that stands on a square can do one of three actions:
    1. support the other square;
    2. support itself (in this case the piece value increases by 2);
    3. jump to the other square (in this case it is like if the piece was dropped for the 1st time).
  5. For each piece in a square for one turn, the player earns one point (not valid for a jump!). The captured pieces are transformed in points.
  6. At the end, the winner is the one with more points.

Notation  

  x?y  = pick piece x and try to put it on square y
  x!y  = piece at square x supports piece at square y
  x^y  = piece x jumps to square y

Sample Game

   Moves (W vs B)    Result so far:

1.  N?a      B?a     0-3  (the W knight is taken, now there is
                           a B bishop at square a)
2.  B^b      Q?a     0-3  (the bishop escaped by an inch!)
3.  B!a,R?a  Q!a     0-3  (there is a tie! Q!a values 9 points,
                          B+R = 4+5 = 9. So all disappear)
4.  B?b      N?a     0-3
5.  B!b,R?a  N!a,R?b 0-10 (at square a, the self-supported
                           knight values 5 against the rook=5,
                           so both disappear. The self-supported
                           bishop values 6 against the W rook=5,
                           so the W rook is taken, 5 points for B
                           plus one more point because the bishop
                           stand on the same square)
...

Remarks  

This game can be easily transformed to work in a board of n squares.

Hans-3 : Meeting in Battle Field a2

Board

+---+---+
|   |   |  2
+---+---+
|   |      1
+---+
  a   b

Rules
 

Each player have a set of 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops and 2 Knights.
Piece values: K=8, Q=7, R=5, B=4, N=3.

 

  1. In the beginning, each player defines a sequence for the entrance of its pieces on the board. White piece enter in a1 and black pieces enter at b2.
  2. In each turn, the a1 and b2 pieces meets at a2, and the next sequence piece enters on the board. If the sum of both white pieces are greater the black pieces, then, white captures black piece at a2, otherwise, black captures white a2 piece. The surviving a2 piece is discarded. If there is a tie, both a2 pieces are discarded.
  3. The winner is the one with more captured points.

Sample Game  (^ - means piece taken)
 

White:  Q  B  N  B  R  R  N  K
           ^  ^        ^
Black:  B  B  R  R  N  N  Q  K
        ^        ^  ^     ^
Result: 12-18

Remarks
 

I know that I just need one square for this game, but I prefer the actual Hans-1 as an introduction!  ;-)

Hans-4 : Don’t clean the Board!

Board

+---+---+
|   |   |  2
+---+---+
|   |   |  1
+---+---+
  a   b

Rules
 

There is a set of 2 Kings, 2 Queens, 4 Rooks and 4 Bishops. 
  1. Alternately, a player puts any available piece (B or W) on the board.
  2. A piece disappear if it is attacked by exactly 2 pieces.
  3. If a player cleans the board, it looses! If that doesn’t happen when there is no more available pieces, then wins the one with more pieces of its color. If a player cannot move it wins.

Notation
 

  {w,b}xy  - drop white/black piece x at square y
  (xy#) - piece x at square y disappear

Sample Game

1. wRa2                  bQb1
2. wKb2 (Ra2#,Kb2#)      wQa2
3. bBb2 (Bb2#)           bBa1 (Ba1#)
4. wBb2 (Bb2#)           wBa1 (Ba1#)
5. wRa1 (Ra1#,Qa2#,Qb1#)

0-1

Remarks  

The rules of this game makes my brain wonder about Conway’s "Game of Life", the most popular cellular automata on the world. Check Hans-8 and Hans-XXX!

Hans-5 : !

Board

+---+
|   |  5
+---+
|   |  4
+---+
|   |  3
+---+
|   |  2
+---+

+---+
|   |  1
+---+
  a

Rules

Sample Game

Hans-6 : The Promotion Line

Board

+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |  2
+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |  1
+---+---+---+
  a   b   c

Rules
 

Each player starts with 3 pawns: white at a1, b1 and c1, black at a2, b2 and c2. Each player also have a stock of 2 Queens, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops and 2 Knights (values: Q=7, R=5, B=4, N=3)

 

  1. Alternately, each player move one of his units.
  2. A pawn promotes only to an available piece of the initial set.
  3. After a move, if one of the a1,b1,c1 squares is free, then a white pawn is dropped in that square. The same happens to black at a2,b2,c2.
  4. The game ends when there is no more pieces available on *both* sets. The winner is the one with more points captured (captured pawns do not count). If a player cannot move, it looses!

Sample Game

Initial Position   p p p
                   O O O

1. a:b2=Q c:b1=R  2. Q:a1 b:c1=Q

                   Q p p
                   O r r

3. a:b2=B R:b2  4. Q:b2 c:b1=Q  5. Q:b1 R:b1  6. a:b2=B R:c1
7. B:c1 c:c1=N  8. b:c2=R a:b2  9. R:b2 1-0 (black cannot move)

Final Position     p R p
                   O b n

Hans-7 : The 7 Kings of Sevenland

Board

+---+---+
| 1 | 2 |
+---+---+
    | 3 |
+---+---+
| 4 | 5 |
+---+---+
    | 6 |
    +---+
    | 7 |
    +---+

Rules
 

Once upon a time, there were 7 Kings and each ruled over a nutshell (also called a square). Observing them at a distance, you couldn’t realise who ruled what. They could only be identified by a secret label that said the name of the nutshell they rule.

 

  1. Each player picks 3 kings at random. The labels must only be known by the player. (there is always one left, so no one never knows for sure who gets what).
  2. Alternately, each player drops a king on a square.
  3. After the 6 drops, each player can (if possible) move one king (using the FIDE rules).
  4. The right kings on the right nutshells, give 7 points to player that pick it at the start, plus 10 times the number of that nutshell.
  5. The procedure is repeated until someone reaches 7^3=343 points.

Remarks
 

7 pawns will do the job and you can put seven little labels below each pawn.

Hans-8 : Clean the Board!

Board

+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   |  2
+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   |  1
+---+---+---+---+
  a   b   c   d

Rules
 

  1. The same as Hans-4, with the following differences:
  2. The set of available pieces include 4 Knights.
  3. A piece disappear if it is attacked by exactly 3 pieces.
  4. The player that cleans the board wins. If a player cannot move it looses. If that doesn’t happen, then wins the one with *less* pieces of its color, otherwise it is a draw.

Sample Game (see hans-4 notation)

1. bNd1                       wBb2
2. wKb1                       bQc1 (Bb2#)
3. wRd2                       bBa2
4. bBc2 (Nd1#,Bc2#,Kb2#)      bNb1

   b . . R
   . n q .

5. wBb2                       bKc2 (Rd2#,Nb2#)
6. wQd1 (Qc1#,Qd1#,Kc2#,Rd2#) wNc1
7. bRc2                       wNb1
8. bRd2

   b B r r
   . N N .

1/2-1/2

Hans-9 : The 9th Protocol

Board

+---+---+---+
| 8 | 3 | 4 |
+---+---+---+
| 1 | 5 | 9 |
+---+---+---+
| 6 | 7 | 2 |
+---+---+---+

Rules
 

  1. White has only one Cardinal (Knight + Rook) starting at 8, and black has only one Queen, starting at 2.
  2. During 18 turns (1 Turn = 1 White move + 1 Black move), both players move their respective piece subject to the following restriction: Each move sequence of a piece must have in the next 2 moves a number that must sum with it into a multiple of 9 (except number 9)
  3. If a player cannot move, it looses.
  4. At the end of the 18 turns, the winner is the player who have the less repetitions of one digit on its sequence, such as:

   E.g.,
         S1 = 123123123123445566
              1, 2 or 3 are repeated 4 times

         S2 = 111112345623456234
              1 are repeated 5 times

         S1 wins S2

    In case of a tie, the player with more digits repeated more times looses.

         S1 = 123123123123445566
              1, 2 or 3 are repeated 4 times

         S2 = 111123456234562345
              1 are repeated 4 times

         S2 wins S1, since in S2 only 1 is repeated 4 times,
                     while in S1 there are 3 digits (1,2 and 3)
 

note: S1 and S2 are not valid sequences. I use them just to show how the winner is found.

Sample Game

  White: 8 1 2 4 7  0-1 (cannot move to 5)
  Black: 2 9 7 1 5
         ^ ^
         | |
1st turn-+ |
           |
2nd turn---+

Remarks  

Squares 6 and 3 are dangerous for white, (and 4 and 5 for black) since starting in one of them they cannot reach the other in just one move.

Hans-10 : The Board of Patterns

Board

    +---+
    |   |      4
+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |  3
+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |  2
+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |  1
+---+---+---+
  a   b   c

Rules  

Each player have 2 Bishops, 2 Knights and 2 Rooks.

 

  1. Alternately each player drops 4 pieces on the board, after that, each player move one of his pieces into an empty square, or pass if he cannot move.
  2. If a player can build one line (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) of one of the special patterns, it gains one point. That may happen in the drop or in the move phase.
  3. The special patterns are:
    1. 3 pieces of the same type;
    2. 3 pieces of the same color;
    3. 3 different types of pieces.
  4. The first to reach 20 points wins.

   note: more than one pattern may appear in one move, so it’s one point for each different pattern achieved.

Sample Game (symbol '+' means one point)
 
  Drop Phase:

  1. Na1 Rb3  2. Rc1 Bb1+  3. Nb2+ Nc3+  4. Ba3++ Ra2+
 
      .
    B r n
    r N .
    N b R

  Move Phase: (so far 3-3)

  5. Bb4+ Ra3+  6. Nc2 Na2+  7. Bc3++ Nb4  8. Na1++ Bc2
  9. Rb1  Ra2+ 10. Rc1 Ra3  11. resigns (white was caught
     in a loop, black can reach 20 easily)

  8-20

Remarks 

This game is inspired on the idea of a very good game called "Set".

Hans-11 : Hans 1-D Chess

Board

+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |  1
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
  a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h   i   j   k

Rules
 

  1. Start Position for white: Rook at a1, Knight at a2, King at a3 and pawn at a4. Symmetric position for black.
  2. Movements: King moves 1 square forward/backward. Pawn moves one square forward. Knight jumps 1 square f/b. Rooks attack all forward squares (they don’t retreat). Any two pieces may switch places (even of different colors) if they occupy neighbour squares, if there is no check and if it does not undo the last switch (a kind of KO rule).
  3. Wins who mates the opposite King or moves his pawn to the promotion square (i1 for white, c1 for black).

Notation  

xy/z = piece x on square y switches with piece on square z

Sample Game

  R N K O . . . p k n r

  1. e1 g1  2. Nd1 Nh1  3. O-O Nh1/g1  4. f1 Ne1+
  5. Kb1 Ne1/d1+  6. Kc1 N:f1  7. Kb1/a1

  K R . . N n . p k . r

  7... O-O  8. Ne1/f1 g1  9. Nd1 f1  10. resigns

  0-1

Remarks  

Yet another 1-D chess variant in the world. But this one has a slightly different taste from most of them.

Hans-12 : The 4 Knights of the Apok-Calypso

Board

+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |  4
+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |  3
+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |  2
+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |  1
+---+---+---+
  a   b   c

Rules  

Each player have 1 King, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights and 2 Rooks. 
  1. White starts with 2 knights at a1 and c1. Black starts with 2 knights at a4 and c4.
  2. For each move of a knight, the player can drop one available piece into the start square of the knight move.
  3. The first to take the two opponent knights wins the game.

Notation  

Ny(x) = knight goes to square y and drops piece x

Sample Game

  1. Na2(R) Nb2(B)  2. R:c4 N:c4(K)  3. Nb4(R) K:a1
  4. R:a4 Kb2  5. resigns

  0-1

Remarks  

Herein, the King is a very powerful piece. Perhaps the game would be more balanced only with the bishops and rooks.

Hans-13 : The bad luck intersection

Board

            +---+
            |   |              7
            +---+
            |   |              6
            +---+
            |   |              5
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |  4
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
  a   b   c |   | e   f   g    3
            +---+
            |   |              2
            +---+
            |   |              1
            +---+
              d

Rules

Sample Game

Remarks

Hans-14 : Mancala Chess

Board

    +---+---+---+---+---+---+
    |   |   |   |   |   |   |      3
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX|   |  2
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    |   |   |   |   |   |   |      1
    +---+---+---+---+---+---+
      a   b   c   d   e   f

Rules

Sample Game

Remarks


 

... plus a long way until the end!

jpn note: *** Verify XXX ***  

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