Ghost Chess
Ghost Chess is a chess variant developed by the Ghosts of the Antipode for use in their Legacy Universe stories and has been played for several years by members of several online communities. In Ghost Chess, a single black queen (the Ghost) is pitted in combat against an array of white pieces (the Paradigm), which include all pieces except the king and queen. The pieces are set up in the normal starting locations for chess.
All pieces move as normal with the exception of several special moves and Situations possible for each side. Only one special move May Be made per turn. These are described below.
Ghost's Special Moves
- Shadow / Haunt: If a Ghost piece captures a Paradigm piece on a black square, or if the Ghost is flanked either diagonally, horizontally, or vertically by both Knights and is on a black square, the Ghost may not be captured during the next turn. If the Knights are flanking diagonally and are thus on black squares--this situation is called a haunt--they may not be captured either.
- Rescue: If the Ghost captures a Knight, she can and must take that Knight under her control and place it on one of her black home row pieces. If she captures any non-pawn piece, she may exchange it for a Knight that has not been captured; the Paradigm player decides which Knight is rescued, if both are on the board. Note: once the Paradigm has lost both knights, their pawns may move vertically or horizontally in any direction (within the normal bounds of pawn movement.)
- Hide: The Ghost player may choose to pass a turn, in which case none of her pieces on black squares may be captured during the next Paradigm turn.
- Transcend: At the end of a turn, the Ghost may sacrifice herself to capture any Paradigm pieces she is touching diagonally, horizontally, or vertically. This also happens automatically should the Ghost be captured. If there are Knights on the board, they may each make up to one move. If after this is done there are no Paradigm pieces remaining, the Ghost side wins; if any Paradigm pieces remain, the Paradigm win.
Paradigm's Special Moves
- Full Nexus Mode: There are several forms of Nexus and several special moves that are possible based on these. The Paradigm player starts the game in Full Nexus Mode and remains in this mode as long as the non-pawn pieces and the pawns directly in front of them remain in their starting locations.
- Scouting: When the player is in Full Nexus, he may move the two pawns in the center as though they were Bishops. This is called Scouting.
- Assault: He may also, if moving his Bishops, move the entire block of six pieces as a single unit, passing through any intervening pieces if necessary. This is called an Assault. (This can, naturally, only be done once.) No pieces may capture on this move.
- Respawn: While the player is in Full Nexus or Half Nexus, any pawns that are captured may immediately be placed back on the board in one of the two squares between the Bishops, if these are unoccupied. This is called a Respawn.
- Half Nexus Mode: If the Paradigm player has the two Bishops in the starting position but any of the twelve main pieces have been moved during the game, the player is in Half Nexus Mode. The player may still Respawn pawns but may not use Scouting or Assault. A Half Nexus can be reestablished if broken.
- Shadow Nexus Mode: If the Paradigm player is in Full Nexus or Half Nexus and additionally has a piece on each of the Ghost home row squares directly across from the Bishops, he is in Shadow Nexus Mode. In this situation, the Ghost player will not be able to enter her home row except to capture a piece, and if the Ghost captures a piece, the Paradigm player may move any of his pieces in any non-capturing legal move that would leave that piece on a non-black square. That piece will not be able to move during the Paradigm player's subsequent normal move. Also while in this mode, the two pieces across from the Bishops may move as Bishops.
- Search: Any pawn reaching the Ghost home row may, immediately or in place of any future turn, be moved back to any non-black square in the same column. (Pawns do not change into other pieces upon reaching this row.)
Victory Conditions
Play proceeds until the Ghost or two black Knights are captured or until the white pieces are all captured.