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David Paulowich wrote on Wed, Jun 6, 2007 03:57 PM EDT:

Grande Acedrex 3D - Part 1

A century ago Ferdinand Maack invented the 5x5x5 chess variant Raumschach. This new 6x6x6 game uses the currently fashionable square arrays of Pawns, while keeping the number of pieces reasonably small. Rooks, Bishops and Knights move the same way as before, making a 'two-dimensional move' in one particular 6x6 plane. The King is limited to 12 Ferz moves and 6 Wazir moves. The Queen combines the moves of the Rook and Bishop, giving it limitless movement in 18 directions. I have combined the sliding move of Maack's Unicorn with the 12 moves of a Ferz, resulting in a new Unicorn that can visit all 216 cells. Note that this is the only piece can change all three coordinates with one move. Minimum-Maximum number of possibles moves is: K 6-18, N 6-24, U 8-29, B 15-27, R 15-15, Q 30-42.

White Pawns start on level 2. They move a single step to the next higher level, either as a Wazir (noncapturing) or as a Ferz (capturing). Black Pawns start on level 5 and always move to a lower level. Yes, it is legal to have more than 30 Queens on the board. Checkmate is a win and stalemate is a draw. Here is a checkmate position: White King (1c3) and Knight (2c3) and Unicorn (2b2), Black King (1a1). The first coordinate indicates the level and the other two coordinates give the location on that level. Question: What is the longest forced mate with King and Knight and Unicorn versus King?

ALTERNATE SETUP: If 3 Queens result in too much excitement, try keeping a pair of Queens in each army 'on their own color' and replacing the third Queen with a Guard, a nonroyal piece moving like a King.

  [level 1]    [level 2] - - - [level 5]    [level 6]

 . . . . . .  . . . . . .  6  . . . . . .  . . . . . .
 . B Q Q B .  . P P P P .  5  . p p p p .  . n k q n .
 . U . . U .  . P P P P .  4  . p p p p .  . r . . r .
 . R . . R .  . P P P P .  3  . p p p p .  . u . . u .
 . N Q K N .  . P P P P .  2  . p p p p .  . b q q b .
 . . . . . .  . . . . . .  1  . . . . . .  . . . . . .

 a b c d e f  a b c d e f     a b c d e f  a b c d e f

   __      All original content         __  
  / o\--                             --/o \ 
  \ \/      copyright (c) 2007         \/ / 
  /  \                                 /  \ 
 [====]     by David Paulowich        [====]


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