| Author |
Message |
alan phillipson (Aphillipsonuk)
| | Posted on Friday, March 07, 2003 - 4:51 am: | |
Some time ago in the days of 32k home computers i read an article in a computer magazine about a variant of chess, and i'm trying to track down some rules.
I don't remember the name, but do remember that it was played on a standard chess board, and i think with the standard chess pieces. The pieces all behaved differently from regualr chess, and the one that i rmember was called a co-ordinateor i believe. Where the rank and files of these two pieces intersected, a piece was taken.
Anyone got any idea what this game was and where I might get hold of rules?
Thanx for your help
Alan |
David Eugene Whitcher (Dralius)
| | Posted on Friday, March 07, 2003 - 6:57 am: | |
Dear Alan
According to the chess variants pages the coordinator is a piece use in Ultima, a game that comes with Zillions of games. I do believe there have been many computer versions of ultima so i think your search has ended. See link below.
http://www.chessvariants.com/piececlopedia.dir/coordinator.html |
Patrick S. Duff (Pduff)
| | Posted on Friday, March 07, 2003 - 8:16 am: | |
The game is named Ultima, and here is my version of the rules:
[BEGIN RULES FILE]
ULTIMA
GOAL: The game is drawn when both players agree that a win is impossible, or when fifty consecutive moves have been made without a capture. The game is lost when a player's King is captured or a player is unable or unwilling to make a legal move (players may not "pass" on their move).
INITIAL SETUP: Same as for Chess, except the White King and White Queen exchange places, and the two King-side Rooks are marked (turned upside down, rubber-banded, or whatever) to distinguish them from the two Queen-side Rooks.
MOVEMENT: White moves first, then turns alternate. All pieces move in straight lines only, without changing directions during a single move. No piece may move past a friendly piece which is in the way, and only Long-Leapers may move past enemy pieces (when capturing them). In original Ultima, pieces which start their move in the row closest to their player may move one square in any direction. Pieces in the second row may move one or two squares in any direction. And so on, up to pieces in the eighth row, which are able to move up to eight squares in any direction (actually, up to seven squares, as pieces may not move off the board). In modern Ultima, pieces can move any number of squares in any direction, regardless of which row they start their move in. In both versions, Kings can only move one square in any direction, and Pawns can only move horizontally or vertically (both forwards and backwards).
KINGS capture by replacment, by landing on an enemy piece (just as in Chess). Kings only move one square.
WITHDRAWERS (Queens) capture by moving one or more squares directly away from an adjacent enemy piece. The enemy piece is captured.
CHAMELEONS (Bishops) capture enemy piece(s) by following the captured piece(s)' rule. Chamelons may not move diagonally when capturing Pawns (a Chamelon may move horizontally or vertically to a position where it captures an enemy pawn, but moving diagonally to the same position does not capture the pawn). Chamelons may not move more than one square when capturing the King. Chameleons capture enemy Chameleons by moving to one of the two squares which are exactly one quarter-turn from the enemy's location. A player can choose to mutate a Chameleon into any previously captured piece (except the King -- when the King is captured the game is over). The Chameleon is traded with the previously captured piece (the Chameleon becomes the piece captured by the enemy). Mutation uses up one turn (a Chameleon cannot move and mutate in a single turn). Mutation is permanent and irreversible. (Chameleons may capture several different enemy pieces in a single move.)
LONG-LEAPERS (Knights) capture enemy piece(s) by jumping past them. There must be no friendly pieces in the way, and there must be at least one empty space immediately beyond each enemy piece (and the Long-Leaper must be able to move far enough if using the original Ultima distance rule). Note: There may be zero or more empty squares from where the Long-Leaper starts to the first enemy piece, one or more empty squares between enemy pieces, and zero or more squares between the last enemy piece and the square where the Long-Leaper stops. (Long-Leapers may capture up to three enemy pieces in a single move.)
COORDINATORS (Unmarked Rooks) capture enemy piece(s) which are at the other two corners of the orthogonal rectangle whose opposite corners are occupied by the Coordinator and his King. If the Coordinator and his King are on the same row or column no capture occurs. (Coordinators may capture up to two enemy pieces in a single move.)
IMMOBILIZERS (Marked Rooks) prevent all adjacent enemy pieces from moving until the Immobilizer moves away or is captured. Adjacent friendly pieces are unaffected. Enemy pieces which move next to an Immobilizer are immobilized. A player can choose suicide for one of their immobilized pieces, using up one turn (the dead piece is captured by the enemy). Note 1: To capture an Immobilizer, the attacking piece must start its move from an unimmobilized square, but may end its move on a square next to the captured Immobilizer. Note 2: An adjacent enemy Chameleon is immobilized, but it in turn immobilizes the Immobilizer. The enemy Chameleon does not immobilize other adjacent friendly pieces, and the Immobilizer still immobilizes any adjacent enemy pieces. Note 3: An immobilized King is vulnerable to any simple check, since it cannot move away or capture the Immobilizer. Note 4: Adjacent Immobilizers immobilize each other; they also continue to immobilize any other adjacent enemy pieces. (Immobilizers may immobilize up to eight enemy pieces at once.)
PAWNS capture any horizontally or vertically adjacent enemy piece which is between the attacking Pawn and another adjacent friendly piece. That is, the friendly piece, the captured piece, and the square the attacking Pawn moved to form a row or column of three adjacent squares. Pawns cannot capture diagonally adjacent enemy pieces. Pawns cannot move diagonally. Note 1: The other friendly piece does not have to be a Pawn. Note 2: The edge of the board does not count as a friendly piece. Note 3: An enemy piece may move to the square between a friendly piece and a Pawn without being captured immediately (but the Pawn could move away and then back again to capture it). (Pawns may capture up to three enemy pieces in a single move.)
CAPTURING: The piece which does the moving determines the capture rule used (except for the Chameleon, which must use the capture rule of each piece it is capturing). Players may choose to make any legal move; they are not required to make a capture move when one is available. When a capture move is made, the captured piece(s) must be removed from the board.
ILLEGAL MOVES: It is illegal to make a move which exactly repeats an earlier board position for the third time. It is illegal to move into check. There are no castling, en passant, or pawn promotion moves. Note: It is customary (but not required) to say "Check" when the enemy King is under attack, and "On Guard" when any enemy piece other than the King or a Pawn is under attack.
UNANNOUNCED ATTACKS (optional): If you do not say "Check" or "On Guard" before the other player makes their move, the capture is illegal on your next move. Notes: You do not have to say "Check" or "On Guard" more than once when there are multiple attacks. You do not have to point out which pieces are attacking or being attacked. After any move you may say "Check" or "On Guard" to make an earlier attack legal on your next move. Capture moves which become possible because of the other player's last move are always legal. (This rule is only active when both players agree to it before beginning play.)
NOTE: The game Ultima is described in the last chapter of \Abbott's New Card Games/ by Robert A. Abbott, published by Funk & Wagnalls, New York, (C) 1963. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys challenging card games. I have completely rewritten his Ultima rules in this document to make them easier to understand. In the process, I added the "ILLEGAL MOVES" and "UNANNOUNCED ATTACKS" rules, and added a way for Chameleons to capture Chameleons and to mutate into a captured piece (which Abbott did not allow).
Copyright (C) 1997 by Patrick S. Duff, All Rights Reserved.
[END RULES FILE]
Ultima is one of my all-time-favorite games. It typically has more move choices available during the mid-game than Chess does, which I like. And it hasn't been analyzed to death (yet).
--
regards, Patrick Duff (pduff@airmail.net) |
alan phillipson (Aphillipsonuk)
| | Posted on Friday, March 07, 2003 - 9:16 am: | |
Wow Thanx for the fast response guys - i guess i now have to buy the system!
Alan |
Patrick S. Duff (Pduff)
| | Posted on Monday, May 01, 2006 - 2:36 am: | |
I've rewritten and extended my personal version of the rules for Ultima, which I call "Modern Ultima", as opposed to "Classic Ultima". I've also included the rules for numerous variants. I'm posting it here for any Ultima fans. If anyone implements these new moves in a ZRF file, please let me know.
[BEGIN RULES FILE]
ABBOTT'S ULTIMA (CLASSIC ULTIMA)
Modern Ultima was inspired by Robert A. Abbott's game Ultima, which
is described in the bonus chapter at the end of \Abbott's New Card
Games/, published by Funk & Wagnalls, New York, (C) 1963. I highly
recommend this book to anyone who enjoys unusual card games. To play
Ultima by his original rules, drop castling, mirror capture, mutation,
promotion, and suicide (except by immobilized pieces). For more
information see "http://www.logicmazes.com/games/ultima.html".
MODERN ULTIMA
ULTIMA and CHESS: Ultima is played on a Chess board with Chess
pieces. In Chess, each piece has a different way of moving, but the
pieces capture the same way, by landing on (replacing) the enemy piece
being taken. In Ultima, each piece has a different way of capturing,
but the pieces move the same way, like a Chess Queen. In Chess you
learn how each piece moves, but in Ultima you learn how each piece
captures -- the two games are about equal in difficulty. People who
enjoy playing Chess usually enjoy playing Ultima. But Ultima is also
for people who have lost interest in Chess.
There are thousands of books about Chess openings and strategies, so
people who just want to play the game often feel that someone who has
memorized the openings or "studied" Chess has an unfair advantage.
Knowledge of standard Chess openings and strategies won't help in
Ultima. (For example, control of the center is a basic strategy in
Chess. But in Ultima, control of the edges is also important!)
Ultima hasn't been analyzed to death like Chess. How much each piece
is worth is well understood in Chess, but in Ultima it depends more on
what strategy you are using -- any piece may be used effectively for
offense or defense when combined with other pieces.
Some people find Chess boring, because it takes many moves to get your
pieces developed, or it's hard to find a good move, or games take too
long without much happening. Because the pieces can move farther,
games of Ultima get interesting more quickly.
Many people quit playing Chess when computer programs started to play
Chess well by just searching millions of possible moves. Playing
Ultima requires skills humans enjoy using, but computers don't do well
yet. During a game of Ultima there are more possible moves to
consider than in Chess, and the pieces interact with each other more.
So the "tree of moves" quickly gets too large for a computer to
handle, and evaluating each possible move is more difficult. On the
other hand, it's easy for a human to find Ultima moves which "look
good". And there are more opportunities to make dramatic moves from
one side of the board to the other or to set traps for your opponent.
INITIAL SETUP: Same as for Chess, except the White King and White
Queen exchange places, and the King-side Rooks (the Immobilizers) are
marked to distinguish them from the Queen-side Rooks (the
Coordinators). The following diagram has 8 columns (A to H) and 8
rows (1 to 8), showing Coordinators (C), Long-Leapers (L), Chameleons
(X), Withdrawers (W), Kings (K), Immobilizers (I), and Pawns (P) in
their starting positions.
8 c l x w k x l i (Black's 1st row)
7 p p p p p p p p (Black's 2nd row)
6 - - - - - - - -
5 - - - - - - - -
4 - - - - - - - -
3 - - - - - - - -
2 P P P P P P P P (White's 2nd row)
1 I L X K W X L C (White's 1st row)
A B C D E F G H (column names)
MARKING PIECES: Any form of marking agreeable to both players may be
used. Possibilities include turning a piece upside-down (some Rooks
are stable when turned upside-down), putting a rubber-band around the
piece, or setting it on top of a checker, poker chip, or large coin.
You could use distinctive pieces from a different chess set, or common
objects about the same size as the pieces, such as a salt shaker. [I
prefer using rubber-bands, so it looks like you're playing Chess when
some stranger wanders up and starts watching the game -- this can be
very amusing!]
MOVING: White moves first, then turns alternate. Players may not
pass. Except as noted below, all pieces move like a Chess Queen --
any number of squares in a straight line horizontally, vertically, or
diagonally, but not past a friendly or enemy piece which is in the
way.
CAPTURING: The piece which is moving determines the capture rules
used (except for the Chameleon, which uses the capture rules of each
piece it is capturing). Players may choose any legal move; they are
not required to make a capture move when one is available. If a
capture move is chosen, all captured enemy pieces should be removed
from the board. Unlike Chess, a single move in Ultima may capture
several pieces!
OVERLOOKED CAPTURES: A player may fail to notice that their move
captured a piece, or the next player may move before all of the
captured pieces have been removed. If either player notices this,
they should undo the next player's move and finish removing the
captured piece(s). Only one move may be undone -- if the capturing
player moves again without either player removing a captured piece,
that piece remains in play (even if it is still under attack) until a
subsequent move captures it.
SUICIDE: A player may choose suicide for any one of their pieces,
even if that piece is immobilized. The piece is given to the enemy
player as a captured piece. This counts as a move and ends the
player's turn.
ENDING THE GAME: In Chess the game is lost when a player's King is
"checkmated", and the game is drawn if a player is unable to move. In
Ultima the game is lost when a player's King is captured or a player
is unable or unwilling to make a legal move. Suiciding a friendly
piece counts as a legal move. The game is only drawn when both
players agree that a win is impossible, or when fifty consecutive
moves have been made without a capture, or when one player offers a
draw and the other player accepts it. It is illegal to make a move
which exactly repeats an earlier board position for the third time,
with the same player to move.
WITHDRAWERS (Queens) capture by moving one or more squares directly
away from an adjacent enemy piece. The enemy piece which the
Withdrawer started adjacent to, in the opposite direction as the
Withdrawer's move, is captured.
LONG-LEAPERS (Knights) capture by leaping over enemy pieces. More
than one enemy piece may be taken in a single Long-Leaper move, but
each captured piece must have an empty square immediately beyond it
(imagine the Long-Leaper landing on it briefly before leaping again in
the same direction). The Long-Leaper may leap over any extra empty
squares before, between, or after the captured pieces, but not over
any friendly pieces.
IMMOBILIZERS (King-side, Marked Rooks) prevent all adjacent enemy
pieces from moving until the Immobilizer moves away or is captured.
Adjacent friendly pieces are unaffected. Enemy pieces which start
their move on an unimmobilized square may move past an Immobilizer,
but if they end their move next to an Immobilizer (after any captured
pieces are removed) they are immobilized. A player may choose suicide
for one of their immobilized pieces, using up one turn (the dead piece
is captured by the enemy). Adjacent Immobilizers immobilize each
other; they also continue to immobilize any other adjacent enemy
pieces. When an enemy Chameleon is immobilized, it in turn
immobilizes the Immobilizer. The enemy Chameleon does not immobilize
other adjacent pieces, and the Immobilizer still immobilizes any
adjacent enemy pieces. Chameleons cannot mutate while they are
immobilized. An immobilized King is vulnerable to any simple attack,
since it cannot move away, castle, or capture the Immobilizer.
COORDINATORS (Queen-side, Unmarked Rooks) capture enemy piece(s) which
are at the other two corners of the rectangle (rows and columns) whose
opposite corners are occupied by the Coordinator and its King (even if
the King is immobilized). Other pieces along the invisible
coordination lines which form this rectangle do not block the
capture(s). If the Coordinator and its King are on the same row or
column no captures occur, but castling is still permitted (even if
other pieces are in-between). "Coordination" captures occur only when
the Coordinator is the moving piece, not when the King moves or
castles. (Example: With the King at D-3, the Coordinator moves from
B-6 to A-5, capturing any enemy pieces at A-3 and D-5.)
PAWNS capture any horizontally or vertically adjacent enemy piece
which is between the attacking Pawn and another adjacent friendly
piece. That is, the friendly piece, the captured piece, and the
square the attacking Pawn moved to form a row or column of three
adjacent squares. Pawns cannot capture diagonally adjacent enemy
pieces. Pawns cannot move diagonally. The other friendly piece does
not have to be a Pawn. The edge of the board does not count as a
friendly piece. An enemy piece may move to the square between a
friendly piece and a Pawn without being captured immediately (but the
Pawn could move away and then back again to capture it). There is no
"en passant" move.
KINGS capture by replacement, by landing on an enemy piece just as in
Chess. Kings only move one square, except when castling. When
castling, the King and the Coordinator exchange positions, using up
one turn. In Chess, the King and the Rook cannot castle if either has
been moved, if there are pieces in the way, or if any of the squares
are under attack. In Ultima, the only restriction is the Coordinator
must start in the "friendly" half of the board (rows 1, 2, 3, and 4
nearest the moving player). Castling may be done more than once
during the game. Castling is a move by the King, so if the King is
immobilized, castling cannot occur. But the King may exhange
positions with an immobilized Coordinator, freeing the Coordinator and
immobilizing the King! The King may be captured, so it is legal to
move into "check", but if you want to end the game it is better form
to suicide your King.
CHAMELEONS (Bishops) capture by following the captured pieces' rules
(withdrawing from a Withdrawer, long-leaping a Long-Leaper, etc.).
Chameleons may only capture the King when moving one square like a
King and may only capture a Pawn when moving orthogonally like a Pawn
(moving a Chameleon diagonally to a square next to a Pawn is legal,
but does not capture the Pawn). Chameleons may capture several enemy
pieces in a single move, each according to the captured piece's rules.
Chameleons use a sneaky "mirror" capture on enemy Chameleons. When a
Chameleon moves to the square which is exactly one half-turn (in
either direction) from an enemy Chameleon, the enemy Chameleon is
captured. This is the same as reflecting the board top/bottom and
then left/right. Quick check: the squares for the attacking and
captured Chameleons will be the same color. For example, an enemy
Chameleon at H-8 can be captured by moving your Chameleon to A-1. Or
one at D-4 can be captured at E-5. Chameleons are immune from mirror
capture on either of the two friendly Chameleon start squares, even if
they moved away and then back to either start square again. Having
two Chameleons stalking each other's capture square can be exciting!
A player may mutate a Chameleon into any previously captured piece
(including suicided pieces) except the King (when the King is captured
the game is over). Mutation uses up one turn (a Chameleon cannot move
and mutate in a single turn) and is permanent and irreversible. After
a Chameleon has mutated, enemy Chameleons must attack its new form
instead of using mirror capture.
PROMOTION: In Chess, a Pawn which crosses the center-line becomes a
promotion threat, and in three more moves it may reach the farthest
row and be promoted. In Ultima, any piece which reaches the farthest
row becomes a promotion threat, and in three more moves it may be
promoted. When a piece starts its move on any square in the farthest
row (the enemy's first row), the player may make a "promotion" move by
placing any small token (such as a penny) next to one promotable
piece. This ends the player's move. The player may make other moves
(including placing promotion tokens on other promotable pieces)
between promotion moves. If the piece is captured or moves away
before there are three tokens next to it, the tokens are picked up and
nothing else happens, otherwise the tokens are picked up and the piece
is marked (see MARKING PIECES) to show it has been promoted.
Promotion powers are in addition to a piece's normal powers.
Promoted Withdrawers gain the power to capture by "approaching" the
empty square just before an enemy piece. The enemy piece which the
Withdrawer ended adjacent to, in the same direction as the
Withdrawer's move, is captured. Promoted withdrawers may capture two
pieces in a single move, one by "withdrawing" and one by
"approaching".
Promoted Long-Leapers gain the power to leap friendly pieces (without
capturing them) if the next square is empty.
Promoted Immobilizers gain the ability to poison an immobilized piece.
The player may make a "poison" move by placing any small token (such
as a penny) next to one immobilized piece. This ends the player's
move. The player may make other moves (including placing poison
tokens on other immobilized pieces) between poison moves. Poisoning a
piece which has three tokens kills it (the piece is captured). If the
Immobilizer moves away or is captured, any poison tokens on the now
freed pieces are picked up. Kings and Immobilizers are immune to
poison!
Promoted Coordinators gain the power to coordinate with the enemy King
(two additional capture squares). Castling does not change. The
enemy player still decides when and where to move his King -- but you
may try to influence this by attacking!
Promoted Pawns gain the power to move and capture diagonally.
Promoted Kings gain the power to move any number of squares and to
castle with the Coordinator anywhere on the board. A promoted King
cannot use its promotion powers when it is under attack.
Promoted Chameleons gain the power to use a promoted piece's promotion
power against it -- unpromoted Chameleons can only use a piece's
ordinary power when capturing it (or when capturing unpromoted
pieces). When a promoted Chameleon mutates to a previously captured
piece, that piece starts out promoted, even it wasn't promoted when
originally captured.
UNANNOUNCED ATTACKS (optional): It is customary to say "Check" when
the enemy King is under attack, and "On Guard" when any enemy piece
other than the King or a Pawn is under attack. If both players agree
before beginning play, this may be made mandatory as follows. If you
do not say "Check" or "On Guard" before the other player makes their
move, the capture is illegal on your next move. You do not have to
say "Check" or "On Guard" more than once when there are multiple
attacks. You do not have to point out which pieces are attacking or
being attacked. After any move you may say "Check" or "On Guard" to
make an earlier attack legal on your next move. Capture moves which
become possible because of the other player's last move are always
legal.
VARIANT -- LIMITED RANGE ULTIMA
When Abbott's Ultima was republished in 1968, pieces could only move
as many squares as their row number. Pieces which start their move in
the row closest to their player may move one square in any direction.
Pieces in the second row may move one or two squares in any direction.
And so on, up to pieces in the eighth row, which are able to move up
to eight squares in any direction (seven actually, since pieces may
not move off the board). So any piece (except the King) may move
fewer squares when it is near its player, and more squares when it is
farther across the board. Abbott's Ultima is rarely played this way
today. Now in both Ultima and Modern Ultima, pieces may move any
number of squares in any direction, regardless of which row they start
their move in. Limited Range Ultima is more like Chess, in that
pieces need to be "developed". This is an interesting way to play --
don't be afraid to try this rule with any variant. It may also be
used to handicap a strong player playing against a beginner.
VARIANT -- HEITHOFF'S ULTIMA
Abbott's original Ultima tends to favor defensive tactics over
offensive tactics when beginners are playing, and the opposite for
experienced players. Castling, promotion and limited range moves are
ways to "fix" this. In 2002 J. D. Heithoff suggested weakening the
offense by having Coordinators only move horizontally or vertically
(not diagonally), and having Long-Leapers only capture a piece they
are adjacent to (they may land any number of empty squares on the
other side of the captured piece). This is another way to handicap a
strong player.
VARIANT -- POWER ULTIMA
All first-row pieces start the game already promoted! Variant: Super
Power Ultima -- all first-row pieces and all Pawns start the game
already promoted! Variant: Selected Power Ultima -- start the game
with any combination of promoted and unpromoted pieces agreed to by
both players. This is another way to handicap a strong player.
VARIANT -- MATCH START ULTIMA
The board starts with just the Pawns in their usual starting
positions. White then chooses any white piece and places it anywhere
in White's first row. Black copies this by placing the matching Black
piece in the same column in Black's first row. Then it is Black's
turn to choose any black piece and place it in Black's first row, with
White copying this. Players continue taking turns choosing, placing
and matching pieces until all pieces are on the board. Play then
begins normally.
VARIANT -- CHOICE START ULTIMA
Same as Match Start Ultima, except players take turns choosing and
placing their pieces without having to match each other.
VARIANT -- RANDOM START ULTIMA
Same as Choice Start Ultima, except the pieces are placed on the board
from left to right in the order they are drawn randomly from a bag.
VARIANT -- DOUBLE ULTIMA
Played on a 16 x 8 board (two borderless 8 x 8 boards pushed together)
using a double set of pieces with the following initial setup:
c l x w k x l i c l x w k x l i (Black's 1st row)
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p (Black's 2nd row)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P (White's 2nd row)
I L X K W X L C I L X K W X L C (White's 1st row)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P (column names)
All pieces may move freely from side-to-side between the two boards --
for play purposes, it is one connected board. The game is lost when
both Kings have been captured. Kings may castle with either
Coordinator (player's choice). Coordinators capture by coordinating
with both Kings. Because pieces have greater mobility from side to
side, this variant is more interesting than it first appears -- be
sure to try it! You can also try two boards arranged top to bottom to
make an 8 x 16 board (using a single set of pieces), or four boards to
make a 16 x 16 board (using a double set of pieces).
VARIANT -- CYLINDRICAL ULTIMA
The sides of the board are connected to form a cylinder (column A
adjacent to column H). May be used with Modern Ultima or any variant.
VARIANT -- CHAMELEON JEOPARDY ULTIMA
The "mirror" capture rule for Chameleons gives just one square on
which a Chameleon may be captured. You may prefer one of the
following rules, where there are two squares on which a Chameleon can
be captured. Try "half-mirror" captures, where you reflect the board
either top/bottom or left/right, but not both, to find the capture
squares. Or try "rotation" captures, where a capture occurs when your
Chameleon moves to the square which is exactly one half-turn (in
either direction) from an enemy Chameleon. (Note that these two rules
are not the same, so pick one or the other.) Quick check: the
squares for the attacking and captured Chameleons will be the opposite
color. Watch your Chameleons carefully until you get used to this!
May be used with Modern Ultima or any variant.
VARIANT -- CHESS ULTIMA
Chess and Ultima may be combined. For instance, you could have the
pieces move like in Chess and capture like in Ultima. Or you could
have the pieces capture like in Chess and move like in Ultima. You
could have one player play Ultima with the White pieces and the other
play Chess with the Black pieces. You could switch back and forth
after each move, after five moves, or when a timer runs out, or switch
to Chess rules whenever someone is watching.
OTHER VARIANTS
There are many other ways of playing Chess, and most of them may be
adapted to playing Ultima. These include Knightmare Chess, Tile
Chess, Dice Chess, Proteus, Bosworth, multi-player variants, 3-D
variants, and many others. More information about these may be found
by searching the Internet and at "http://www.chessvariants.com". Use
your imagination and have fun, but realize you're in unknown territory
and the game may be a bit strange!
Copyright (C) 1997, 2003 by Patrick S. Duff, All Rights Reserved.
[END RULES FILE]
--
regards, Patrick Duff (pduff@airmail.net) |
Kanajlo (Kanajlo)
| | Posted on Monday, December 04, 2006 - 10:51 pm: | |
Robert Abbott said that his original Ultima was not a very playable game. I agree. It punishes any aggressive development. But it is fascinating philosophically. Would someone tell me his favorite variant so I can test it for myself? |
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