Ninth Man

Abstract

What is new in the art our invention pertains to is: A game similar enough to chess to attract chess players yet different enough from chess, in part due to The Ninth Man's larger playing field, that even experienced chess players must rethink old strategies because The Ninth Man is a totally distinct game on it's own.

Description

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The Title of this invention is The Ninth Man. The Ninth Man is a board game similar to chess but played on a board with eighty one squares, nine across and nine down, alternately dark & light like a checkerboard or chessboard, with thirty six game pieces, eighteen dark & eighteen light. The Ninth Man game is named after the most powerful game piece also named The Ninth Man.

[0002] There are no Related Applications to cross reference to this is our first application for a patent.

[0003] The Ninth Man has no connection to any type of federal sponsored research or development.

[0004] There is no reference to any sequence listing.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

[0005] I, Janie A Sheehan, US citizen, 18705 SE Lk Holm Rd, Auburn Wash. 98092, my brother-in-law, Steven L Hatt, US citizen, 12020 42nd Ave S, Seattle Wash. 98168, and my brother, Thomas P Garner, US citizen, 4545 Valley Dr, Kelseyville Calif. 95451, were playing chess together and I could not win against either of them as they've played for many years. To put us all on the same level of play, we decided to invent a new game similar to chess but different, with more game pieces, a bigger board (81 squares instead of 64) & different & additional moves. We invented The Ninth Man, named after the most powerful game piece.

[0006] The field of endeavor to which this invention pertains would be: Board Games.

SUMMARY OF THIS INVENTION IS

[0007] A board game played, by two opposing players, on a checkerboard-patterned board of 81 squares (9 across & 9 down). Each player has 18 game pieces: 9 pawns, 2 rooks, two bishops, two knights, a queen, a king, and a Ninth Man. The object of the game is the same as in chess: Get the opponent's king in checkmate.

DRAWINGS

[0008] 2 drawings are attached: #1 is The Ninth Man board & all 36 pieces set up for a game; #2 is a two dimensional drawing of The Ninth Man board set up for a game with the names of the pieces written on their respective squares.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] The Ninth Man is a board game for two players, played on a checkerboard-patterned board with 81 squares, 9 squares across by 9 squares down. Each player has 18 game pieces: 9 Pawns, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights, a Queen, a King, and a Ninth Man. One player has white or light-colored pieces and the other player has black or dark-colored pieces. The Ninth Man is the tallest piece, the Queen & King are 20% shorter than The Ninth Man, the Bishops, Knights, and Rooks are 30% shorter than The Ninth Man, the Pawns are 40% shorter than The Ninth Man. On the handmade board shown in drawing #1 the squares are each 2 inches by 2 inches, The Ninth Man is 5 inches tall, the King & Queen are 4 inches tall, the Bishops, Knights & Rooks are 3.5 inches tall and the Pawns are 3 inches tall. We also made a smaller set that folds up for traveling but the size-proportion remains the same. The object of the game is the same as in chess: Get your opponent's King in checkmate. The board is set up as shown in the attached drawings. This set-up is the same as in the standard game of chess except The Ninth Man is placed between the King & Queen and the Queen-side Bishop & Knight are reversed in order to place each Bishop on opposing colors. The Pawns move one square forward per turn except for the first move for each Pawn when they may choose to move either one or two squares forward. Pawns capture other pieces by moving forward diagonally one square landing on a square occupied by an opposing piece. If a player is able to get a Pawn completely across the board to the opposing player's outside, or King's, row of squares, that Pawn becomes any piece his player chooses except another King. This move is called Pawn Promotion. Logically the player would choose to make the Pawn a Ninth Man. Bishops move diagonally forward or backward as many squares as their player chooses, as long their path is not blocked by another piece. If the first piece in a Bishop's path belongs to the opposing side, the Bishop captures that piece by landing on it's square. The Rooks move in a straight line, forward or backward horizontally or vertically, as many squares as a player chooses until blocked by another piece unless that piece belongs to the opposing side in which case the Rook may capture the opposing piece by landing on it's square.

[0010] The Knights always move three squares at a time in an “L” pattern, one square forward or backward, two squares left or right; two squares forward or backward, one square left or right; one square left or right, two squares forward or backward; two squares left or right, one square forward or backward. Knights may pass over other pieces during this three square move but must land on an empty square or a square occupied by an opposing piece in which case the knight captures that piece. The Queen can move in any direction, forward, backward, left, right, or diagonally, as long as the move is in a straight line, as many squares as her player chooses until the Queen is blocked by another piece unless that piece belongs to the opposing side, in which case the queen may capture the opposing piece by landing on the same square. The King can move in any direction but only one square per move. The King can capture an opposing player's piece the same as any other piece does, by landing on a square occupied by an opposing player's piece, but at no time during the game may a player move any piece which leaves his or her King in check. The Ninth Man can maneuver both as a Queen and as a Knight but player must choose either Queen's move or Knight's move each time The Ninth Man is moved. Because The Ninth Man is such a powerful piece, a player must warn his opponent when a player's move puts his opponent's Ninth Man in danger. This warning is called Check Nine. If you fail to warn Check Nine, you lose the opportunity to capture your opponent's Ninth Man on your next move. Castling is a combination move involving a participating Rook & the King, allowed only when neither piece has previously been moved and there are no other pieces between the participating Rook & King blocking this move. Castling allows a player to move the participating Rook two spaces horizontally toward the center of the board and then place the King on the other side of the Rook. The player who captures the opposing player's King (gets the opposing player's King in checkmate) wins the game. Fine point rules, such as when a move is considered to have been completed, follow the professional rules of chess.

Claims

1. The Ninth Man game piece who can maneuver as both a Queen and a Knight maneuvers in a game of chess.

2. The Ninth Man game board with 81 squares alternately dark & light colored in the manner of a checkerboard or chessboard.

3. The Ninth Man game in it's entirety, because it is a totally separate and distinct game. (By inventing a game board with 81 squares and adding an additional Pawn and inventing The Ninth Man with his dual maneuverability the dynamics become different and are advanced to a higher, more intense level of play than those of chess, resulting in a new game that stands on it's own merits. An experienced chess player may find The Ninth Man such a challenging game that a game of traditional chess will seem mundane.)