KECHI

Copyright (c) 1999 Michael Marcus

This game is played on the following board with the following setup:

 

MOVE - On each turn, each player moves his stones a total of exactly six cells. This means that if he has exactly one stone left, it must move exactly six cells (the stones are able to jump the intermediate cells). The stone must finish its move on an available empty cell or a cell occupied by an enemy stone (which is captured and removed from the board). When a stone moves and leaves a cell, that cell cannot be used to finish any subsequent moves for either players (it should be marked somehow). GOAL - A player who is unable to make a valid move, looses.

 

	A move example This is a possible opening for White, one stone moved 5 cells, and the other moved one cell, for a total of 6. Both initial cells cannot be used to finish a move (but can be used to pass thru).
	Endgame White has exactly one stone left and so, must move exactly six cells. However, every cell exactly six cells away is blocked by a marker. Thus, White loses, and Black has won.

Some comments from the author:

Kechi is a game of pure strategy for two players. The game-board is a criss-cross of rows and columns of thirteen squares, and the game pieces consist of two sets of four pawns of different color (the example drawings included use "B" for black and "W" for white) and a set of eighty-eight markers of an off color (the example drawings represent those markers with an "X" across the squares they mark). Capture, as in chess, is by replacement. Victory is established, as in checkers, by being the last player capable of making a valid move. A unique factor of the game is that once a piece starts a move from a given space, that space cannot be occupied. [...]

Play testing has shown that neither player holds an advantage, and movement later in the game becomes a challenge as spaces become exhausted by movement and by captures. Losing two pieces also severely restricts freedom of movement. Several variants have been suggested:

• Other board shapes might also be used to change the complexion of play. Larger boards, rather than smaller ones, are suggested, since smaller boards tend to more heavily favor one player or the other. It is quite possible to design smaller boards that force a win by either player.
• On a larger board, it becomes possible to add more pieces to each side.
• Rather than having a fixed movement limit of six squares, the movement limit might instead be determined by die roll.
• Rather than leaving the board empty and drawing an "X" on the used squares, the board could start covered with tokens; movement must be to a square with either a token or an opponent's piece. Doing so, an alternate victory condition becomes possible: The one who has the most tokens and opponents' pieces by the game end wins.

To read more, check Marcus' Kechi webpage.