The Rook, Knight and Bishop all get significant upgrades. If you are familiar with Embassy Chess, Gothic Chess or Fairy Chess some of the upgrades will be familiar to you. The Queen, King and Pawns remain the same as traditional Chess.
The start position is the same as traditional chess. All the other rules of chess such as check, castling and en passant remain the same as traditional Chess. White starts the game just as in traditional Chess.
Let's learn the new characters!
The Dragon replaces the rook. The Dragon can move like a traditional rook but it can also move diagonally one square, like a king.
The dragon moves and captures like a normal chess piece - it cannot be put into check.The Dragon is a piece that appears in the Japanese game of Shogi. It is also known as the Dragon King or the Promoted rook.
The Wildebeest replaces the knight in traditional chess. The Wildebeest moves like a normal knight but can also move like an elongated knight.
So the wildebeest can jump two squares in a direction and one square to the left or right like a knight but it can also jump three squares in a direction and one square to the left or right.
The Wildebeest can jump over it’s own and it’s opponents pieces in both types of movement.
The Paladin replaces the bishop in traditional chess. The Paladin can move diagonally like a bishop and it can also jump like a knight, two squares in one direction and then one square left or right.
When jumping like a knight, the Paladin can jump over it’s own or it’s opponents’ pieces.
The really fantastic thing about SuperChess™ is you can play it on a normal chess board with normal chess pieces. Ok, you will get some funny looks from spectators and even onlookers explaining to you how chess pieces move. But you will be having a blast because SuperChess™ is super-charged chess at it's best. Try it for yourself and you will be hooked!
Each player has two Dragons, two Wildebeest, two Paladins, one Queen, one King and eight pawns.
The white queen goes on the white square. The black queen goes on the black square.
White always starts the game.
a1 / a8 - Dragon
b1 / b8 - Wildebeest
c1 / c8 - Paladin
d1 / d8 - Queen
e1 / e8 - King
f1 / f8 - Paladin
g1 / g8 - Wildebeest
h1 / h8 - Dragon
a2-h2 & a7-h7 - Pawns
Now let's look at an example game so we can see how SuperChess™ is played and how the pieces interact.
White and Black start the game by moving out their Wildebeests.
White moves her Wildebeest from g1 to f3.
And Black replies by moving his Wildebeest from b8 to c6.
1.Wf3 Wc6
And Black replies by moving out his Wildebeest from g8 to f6.
We have a classic opening in SuperChess. The Four Wildebeest Game. Thank goodness there are no lions around!
2.Wc3 Wf6
Black sees an opportunity for a double-attack! He replies by moving his wildebeest from f6 to g4 attacking both the Paladin on f1 and the Dragon on h1.
It seems White cannot do anything about this powerful double-attack. But we will see not everything is as it seems!
3.d4 Wg4
White seems to completely ignore Black's attack and calmly develops her Paladin from c1 to f4.
Can you see the trick? If Black uses his Wildebeest on g4 to take the Paladin on f1 or the Dragon on h1, White wins by moving her Wildebeest on c3 to d5 - checkmate!!
So instead Black plays safe for now and plays d6 giving an escape square for his king - smart. Those juicy morsels on f1 and h1 can wait one more move.
4.Pf4 d6
But Black doesn't move his Wildebeest! Instead he counter-attacks by attacking the Paladin on f4 with pawn from e7 to e5.
Suddenly the game has got interesting!
5.h3 e5
It makes sense right - Black broke the golden rules of chess by moving a piece twice. Yes, the golden rules apply in SuperChess just like they do in traditional chess.
White takes the Wildebeest on g4 with her pawn.
Black is happy and quickly snaps up the Paladin on f4. It is a Paladin after all.
6.hxg4 exf4
Can you see how White now launches her attack?
Black sees no choice but to move his king from e8 to d7. But he thinks, hey it is only a check, I am ok right?
7.Wd5+ Kd7
Can you see White's next move in the attack?
Again Black has no choice but to bring his king further into the open and moves his King from e7 to e6.
8.Wc4+ Ke6
Can you see White's next attacking move?
Black again has no choice and plays his only move King from e6 to f6.
9.Wxf4+ Kf6
Can you see how to force Black's king even further into the open?
Yep, you guessed it. Again Black absolutely has no choice but to accept the sacrifice and takes the pawn by moving from f6 to g5 with his king. Hmmm tasty, I might even get a free Wildebeest ;-)
10.g5+! Kxg5
Can you master SuperChess and find a mate in just two moves?
Yep, absolutely - Black snaps up the Wildebeest in a heart-beat. In any case, it wasn't like he had a choice.
11.Dh5+! Kxf4
Can see the one-move checkmate?
White finishes off her spectacular attack moving her Paladin from f1 to g3. Checkmate!
Unable to work out what just happened, black resigns the game. A truly amazing attack by White showing how SuperChess rewards creativity.
12.Pg3# 1 - 0
Here is the full game score...
1.Wf3 Wc6
2.Wc3 Wf6
3.d4 Wg4
4.Pf4 d6
5.h3 e5
6.hxg4 exf4
7.Wd5+ Kd7
8.Wc4+ Ke6
9.Wxf4+ Kf6
10.g5+! Kxg5
11. Dh5+! Kxf4
12. Pg3#
1 - 0
Give SuperChess™ a try. It is a lot of fun to play and you are guaranteed an exciting game. If you have any questions or you would like to send us one of your amazing games, email superchess@chesspower.co.nz.
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