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HexChess (Kirby's).

THE BOARD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfpV2uyXj_Q

313 spaces, (144 squares, 42 pents, 127 Hexes). A central field of Hexes, 7 x 7 x 7, with half-chess boards attached to each of the six sides, the fourth rank of each trimmed to fit the hexes, and colored to match, forming a ring of irregular pentagons, with the Rooks fourth ranks shared by adjacent side boards. The unique feature of my board over other hexagonal chess boards is that the Sideboards, and the 'border crossing' pent ring provide a relatively safe home base, from which to launch play onto the Hex field. Permission is granted to reproduce this board for personal use. Have fun, and let me know how your games go.

NOTATION:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z55uYviaLu0

I chose a notation system that favors no side. Each player has his own wedge of space names.

You can name the six sideboards anything you want. Let's use the army colors this time.

From the bottom--

'B/', for Black,

'P/', for Pink,

'S/' for silver,

'W/' for White,

'R/' for Red,

'G/' for Gold.

----------------------------------------[C]----------(shared by all six sides)

--------------------------------[PB/10] [BG/10]

----------------------------[PB/9 ]-[B/qk9]-[BG/9]

------------------------[PB/8]--[B/Q8]-[B/K8]-[ BG/8]

-----------------[PB/7]---[B/bq7]-[B/qk7]-[B/kb7]-[ BG/7]

------------[PB/6]--[B/QB6]-[B/Q6]-[B/K6]-[B/KB6]-[BG/6 ]

------[-PB/5]--[B/nb5]--[B/bq5]-[B/qk5]-[B/kb5]-[B/bn5]-[BG/5]

-[ PB/4]-[B/QN4]-[B/QB4]-[B/Q4]-[B/K4]-[B/KB4]-[B/KN4]-[BG/4 ]

[B/QR3]-[B/QN3]-[B/QB3]-[B/Q3]-[B/K3]-[B/KB3]-[B/KN3]-[B/KR3]

[B/QR2]-[B/QN2]-[B/QB2]-[B/Q2]-[B/K2]-[B/KB2]-[B/KN2]-[B/KR2]

[B/QR1]-[B/QN1]-[B/QB1]-[B/Q1]-[B/K1]-[B/KB1]-[B/KN1]-[B/KR1]

See the description to the Vid for the notation.

The double color prefixes (PB/*)(BG/*) indicate that those spaces are shared by two adjacent colors.

(lower case piece initials are used in ranks 5, 7,and 9, to denote that the space straddles those piece's home squares 'B/bq5' means the Black wedge, the 5th rank, and directly above the Bishop/Queen side line. I read from the left, so'B/nb5' is the left Knight-Bishop pair, and 'B/bn5' is the right.

'/bq', '/qk', '/kb' aplies to Queen Left, setup

and

'/bk', '/kq', '/qb' aplies to Queen Right setup)

The notation is reproduceable around the board, with the color initial being changed -- P/ for the Pink army, G/ for the Gold army, and so on.

THE SETUP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxohkt9y_9g

My HexChess board was conceived by, and created by myself, in 1987, when the need arose for a board that would seat more than four chess players. I had previously designed and assembled a four player board, which I later discovered was already on the market. I designed my board before learning of Glinski's.

My board seats up to six players, each with his or her own full chess army. I chose six different colored armies from 'wholesalechess.com'. Since my HexChess game can be played as THREE, FOUR, or SIX PLAYER cut throat , FOUR-PLAYER-TWO-TEAM, SIX-PLAYER-THREE-TEAM, (I believe, the best) or SIX-PLAYER-TWO-TEAM, I chose color groupings of light/dark pairs for two player teams (Red/Pink, Black/White, and Gold/Silver). these can also be grouped for three player teams (Dark--Black/Red/Silver, White/Pink, Gold)

The setup is the same as in FIDE Chess on each sideboard, with the exception that the Queen is set up to the same side (right of the King, or left of the King) on all sideboards. The choice is up to the player who wins the draw for first play.

A note about the ring of Pents (fourth rank.) No piece, other than the Knight, can travel from the sideboard squares (ranks 1-3) to, or from, the Hexes (ranks 5 outward) without stoping on a Pent (fourth rank), and waiting for a later turn. Thus, unlike Glinski's, McCooey's, Shafran's, and other all-hexagon Chess boards, the Pent Ring forms a border stop that protects each Sideboard from cross-board swooping invasion. The fourth rank (Pents) are at the same time, square (to the side and back,) and Hexagonal (to the sides and outward.)

Team mates and Alliances:

Three, Four, and Six Player Cut Throat. Aliances exist, but not teams.

Four-Player-Two-Team: Teams are the crossboard players, (Red/Pink, Gold/Silver, or Black/white, with one of the pairings being removed. Alliances don't exist in this configuration.

Six-Player-Three-Team: Teams are crossboard, as in the above example. Aliances exist in this configuration.

Six_Player_Two_Team: Teams are Dark-(Black/Silver/Red), and Light-(White/Gold/Pink). Alliances don't exist in this configuration.

Team mates cannot capture or be a threat to each other.

Alliances mean that any combination of two or more teams armies' attacking pieces or pawns combine to threaten Check. ('Check' is called, even if it looks like 'Checkmate' if at least one other player has a move before the checked king is to respond. (things may change before the response.) More on this later

THE MOVES:

PAWNS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d1cgj2nZFM&feature=related

Within ranks 1-4, all Pawn moves conform to FIDE rules.

0:01 From rank 4 outward, Pawns (the black Pawn in this example) move forward left,(P-B/K4-B/qk5) or forward right (P-B/K4-B/kb5), (see Quarters in video) across the Hex edges, and capture forward left P-B/K4-B/bq5X), forward (P-B/K4-B/K6X), or forward right (P-B/K4-B/bn5X) (see pennies in video) across Hex corners.

0:10 Pawns promote when they are half way across the middle from their starting Sideboard. (the row of Hexes parallel to the players first rank, and containing the 'C' Hex)

In the video, notice the gold Pawns and the silver Pawns have reached the middle rank from their home squares. The pink Pawns and red Pawns have also made it to the middle rank from their home squares, though the middle rank is on another angle. Likewise for the white Pawns and black Pawns.

Pawns can only promote to reclaim a lost piece, or, if promoted while no First rank piece of that army is missing, the Pawn can promote to an Amazon Queen (Combined Queen-Knight.)

KNIGHTS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81YDxG2QIvY&feature=related

Knights moving within the first four ranks follow the same rules as do those in FIDE Chess.

Hexagonal Moves:

0:01 Knights move either one and two, or two and one, with the bend being 60 degrees, rather than 90 degrees. The red Pawns represent two, then one right, the black Pawns represent two, then one left.

0:05 The silver Knight ilustrates the forward moves from the 2nd rank. The silver Pawns show the possible forward moves to rank 3, and rank 4. The white Pawns show the possible moves across the Pent Ring to rank 5.

0:16 Here we have a red Knight moving from rank 6 into rank 4 and (across the Pent Ring) to rank 3. (white Pawns.)

0:22 The silver Knight is moving from rank 5 into rank 4, and (across the Pent Ring) rank 2. (gold Pawns).

Knights are the only pieces that can cross the Pents in one move.

BISHOPS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFv__pIaOOQ&feature=related

Within ranks 1-4, all Bishop moves are identical with those in FIDE Chess.

From rank 4 outward, Bishops move across Hex corners (see quarters) Notice in some directions, the Bishop shown cannot reach rank 4 (towards the Black or White SideBoard), but only Rank 5. Notice also, that with three colors in the Hex Field, and only two Bishops per army, it is not possible for one army to cover all three colors at any one time. It is possible, however, to move the red Bishop shown to , say, gold Queen's Bishop 4, then to gold Queen 3, and out again to gold King 4 (blue Pent), thus changing the color, or from gold Queen's Bishop 4 to gold Queen's Knight 3, and then out to gold Queen's Rook 4 (white Pent) changing that Bishop to the white Hexes.

Bishops within ranks 1-3 cannot move further out than rank 4, before awaiting another turn, and Bishops on the Hex Field (rank 5 and out) cannot move further in than Rank 4 before waiting another turn.

ROOKS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYRFo3DJOAg&feature=related

Within the first four ranks, the moves are identical to those in FIDE Chess.

From rank 4 outward, Rooks move across Hex sides (see quarters). Rooks cannot pass from ranks 1 through 3 to ranks 5 and higher, or from ranks 5 and higher to ranks 1 through 3, without stoping on rank 4, and waiting at least until that player's next turn.

QUEENS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv03StHpGoA

Queens follow FIDE rules within ranks 1-4.

On the Hex field, (rank 4 outward) Queens combine Rook moves (see quarters) with Bishop moves (see Pawns--I ran out of quarters).

KINGS: Moves, Checkmate, and Stalemate Rules

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7H3i2CivcM&feature=related

Within ranks 1-4, Kings move as in FIDE Chess.

On the Hex field (ranks 4 outward) Kings move as the Bishop moves , one space (see black Pawns), or as the Rook moves, one space (see gold Pawns).

You may notice it is half as many Bishop style single space moves from one side of the Hex Field to the other, as it is in Rook style single space moves.

For this reason, a King flushed out of his Sideboard, might be in better shape than one stuck in the first four ranks.

Check and Checkmate: Kings may be checked by one army's pieces, or by a combination of pieces from several hostile armies.

When a King is placed in Check, 'Check' is called.

When a King is placed in what appears to be Checkmate, 'Check ' is called, until it is that King's turn to attempt escape, and if the Checkmate still exists, then 'Checkmate' can be called.

When a King is indeed in 'Checkmate', on his turn, the player removes the King, and leaves the other pieces and Pawns on the board as dead bodies, where they have all the properties of live pieces, (except they have no moves, and can't be a threat ) and can be hidden behind, or taken, by the remaining players.

The Checkmate of one teammate's King does not knock the other teammate(s) out of the game.

Stalemate Resolution:

When a Stalemate is found, or caused, the player with the stalemated King may lift him out of Stalemate, move him to any space, and reclaim a lost piece which is placed in the original position of the King when he was in Stalemate.

Play continues.

If that player still had all his Bishops, Rooks, Knights, and Queen in play at the time of the Stalemate, he may move the King as before, and replace him with an Amazon Queen.

Play continues.

The last team with a King on the board wins.

AMAZON QUEENS:

Amazon Queens can move as a Queen, or as a Knight.

One Amazon Queen may be obtained upon the reaching of the Pawn Promotion line by a Pawn of an army which has, at the time of promotion, all of it's Rooks, Bishops Knights, and it's Queen still on the board.

Pawns reaching the promotion line with an Amazon Queen, and all of it's Bishops, Rooks, Knights, and Queen still in play, continues as a Pawn until that player looses a power piece, whereupon the lost piece replaces the waiting Pawn.