Taking on the Classic with my Own Rendition of Chess

Remixing it up, chess-style

I heard it said that every game designer should come up with their own spin on chess. I don’t remember who said that or why, but I thought it would be fun to take up the task. A few years back, I came up with my take on chess called “Shifty Chess.”

Enjoy!

Components:

• 1 chess board
• 1 set of black chess pieces
• 1 set of white chess pieces
• 32 white tiles (2 Warp, 2 Move Back, 4 Switch, 4 Right, 4 Left, 4 Undo, 12 Blank)
• 32 black tiles (2 Warp, 2 Move Back, 4 Switch, 4 Right, 4 Left, 4 Undo, 12 Blank)

Separate the black tiles from the white tiles. Shuffle each stack of tiles face-down. Arrange tiles in an 8×8 grid like a standard chess board so that no black tile touches another black tile. All tiles should be placed in the same direction (fully-legible to the same player). Place chess pieces on the board as one would normally.

Shifty Chess plays with a rules set similar to the base version of chess with a new twist. Namely, the board changes shape and pieces move around depending on how they are activated.

During a player’s turn, he or she may check one unoccupied tile on the board, making sure to place the tile in the same position face-down. After a player has moved and once per turn, if he or she is on an unturned tile, that player may turn over that tile. Depending on the icon on the tile, the tile or pieces may move around.

A player wins by capturing the other player’s king, as normal.

Tile Descriptions:

Move all tiles in this row to the right. Place the tile that would be pushed off the side of the board in the empty position on the opposite end of the board.

Move all tiles in this row to the left. Place the tile that would be pushed off the side of the board in the empty position on the opposite end of the board.

The activating piece goes back to where this piece started its move this turn.

Switch activating piece with an adjacent piece (if possible). If there are many choices, the player moving the piece chooses which piece to move.

Move all of the pieces in this column in front of and including the activating piece so that there are no spaces between each piece.

Move activating piece immediately to any revealed warp (including opponent’s warps). If moving a piece would cause that player to appear on an opponent’s piece, that piece is captured. If moving a piece would cause that player to appear on his or her own piece, that piece is moved to the previous warp space.

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