MODIFIED CHESS GAME

Abstract

A chess-like game having pieces and rules similar to conventional chess but which includes a new piece having powers and limitations not present in conventional chess pieces

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a Continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 12/446,325 filed on Apr. 20, 2009, now abandoned, which is the National Phase of Application No. PCT/US2007/081888, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 60/862,891 filed on Oct. 25, 2006, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a board game and more particularly to a modified chess game.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

State of the Art

Traditional chess is a game requiring strategy. It provides the pleasure of analytical thought and has been used by schools to help develop analytical thinking. However, some players, including the great champion Capablanca, have felt a need for some modification of the conventional game of chess.

There are numerous prior art patents that disclose variations of the traditional game.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,237 issued to Gary Weiss in 1976 discloses a chess game that can be played by more than two players.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,756 issued to Robert L. Linnekin in 1983 discloses a chess game that is played with a circular board.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,666 issued to Timothy Adams in 1992 discloses a modified chess game that is played by four players.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,753 issued to Tom Yuen et al. in 1992 discloses a game similar to chess but which includes a number of pieces not found in chess. The rules for the game are quite different than those of traditional chess.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,157 issued to Michael King in 1994 discloses a chess game in which military pieces are substituted for the traditional chess pieces.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,329 issued to Richard Nason in 1997 discloses a chess game utilizing a three-dimensional game board.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,690,344; 5,692,754; 5,901,957 and 6,095,523 each disclose modified chess games in which pieces with powers not provided to traditional pieces are included as part of the game.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,334 issued Nov. 25, 1997 discloses a chess variant denoted as Falcon chess. Falcon chest includes an extra game piece called a “falcon” which can be moved in straight and diagonal movements.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,602 issued in September 2000 discloses a four handed chess set with a number of additional pieces but with no piece equivalent to the beast of the present invention.

The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants by D. B. Pritchard Published by Games & Puzzles Publications, P.O. Box 20, Godalming, Surrey GU8 4YP, United Kingdom. This provides information concerning other variations of traditional chess.

While numerous modifications of traditional chess have been provided, none have included the modifications provided by the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The game of the present invention is related to traditional chess but has an additional type of piece with expanded powers different than the powers of traditional chess pieces. The additional piece is labeled a ‘beast’ for purposes of the present disclosure.

Unlike Falcon chess where the piece called a “falcon” can only move straight and diagonally the “beast” of the present Chess variant, called Tensor Chess, blocks opposing pieces and shields its own like-colored pieces while allowing its own players to pass through the piece. The beast also allows its own pieces to “bounce” i.e. Shift movement in new directions. The beast can be “propelled if one of its own pieces lands on a square occupied by a beast. The beast, on the same turn, can be sent off the square, moving in the manner of the piece that landed on the square.

The pieces disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,602 have enhanced powers but none have the powers provided to the beast of the present application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the game of the present invention can be had by referring to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating how a bishop can pass through the additional piece called the beast (if the same color) and attack an opposing piece; and

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating permitted diagonal moves of a beast of the modified chess game of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating permitted orthogonal moves of a beast and how the beast can capture opposing pieces in the modified chess game of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating how a bishop can use the beast to move to different squares; and

FIG. 5 is a diagram similar to FIG. 4 illustrating the permissible movements of a bishop using a beast in the modified chess game of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a diagram similar to FIG. 5 but illustrating additional permissible moves of a bishop when the bishop has the option of using either of two beasts in the modified chess game of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating permissible movements of a knight using a beast in the modified chess game of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a diagram similar to FIG. 7 but illustrating permissible moves of a knight using a beast and permissible moves of a knight that are also allowed in conventional chess; and

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating permissible movements of a rook using a beast in the modified chess game of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating permissible movements of a queen using a beast in the modified chess game of the present invention; and

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating permissible movements of a beast in conjunction with another beast; and

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the squares to which a beast could move when involved with a knight in a maneuver referred to as ‘propelling’; and

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the squares to which a beast ‘propelled’ by a bishop could move; and

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the squares to which a beast propelled by a rook could move; and

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating the options involved when a queen could propel either of two beasts; and

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating various propelling options involving a pawn and beast; and

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating the various squares to which a king could move when castling; and

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating the ability of a king to castle king side where a beast nullifies the checking power of an opposing piece; and

FIG. 19 shows the initial alignment of the pieces in the preferred embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1-19, a method of playing a modified chess game in accordance with the rules of the present invention is illustrated. The game board in the first preferred embodiment is in the form of a conventional chessboard with an additional two files/columns and the pieces are conventional pieces except for an additional type of piece designated herein as a beast. A vertical column eight squares deep would make up a file. A rank or row would be comprised of ten squares running horizontal to the files. For the sake of description and better understanding, the files could be labeled A to J and the ranks 1 to 8. The square at the left hand corner of the player with the light colored pieces would be A1.

In the drawings the pieces are designated as follows:

• • W denotes the beast piece
  • Q denotes a queen
  • B denotes a bishop
  • P denotes a pawn
  • K denotes a king
  • R denotes a rook
  • N denotes a knight

While the board is shown in the drawings as having squares all of the same color, it is intended, at least in the preferred embodiment that is now being described, that a two-color chessboard be used. The board is being shown as not including colored squares to avoid confusion in describing the position and movement of the pieces of the modified chess game of the present invention.

In general the rules of traditional chess apply to the modified chess game of the present invention unless otherwise noted.

The conventional pieces are provided except that an additional type of piece, a beast W, is provided for each player, each player getting two such beast pieces. The conventional pieces, in addition to having all of the traditional powers of movement, capture and promotion, have augmented powers as will be apparent as the description proceeds.

The beast cannot capture or be captured by anything except an opposing beast. Other pieces, including another beast, are able to ‘pass through’ a beast of the same color, i.e., move along the piece's normal line of movement as if the beast were not there; but opposing pieces, other than a beast (or a knight), are unable to pass through or over a beast of another color. Thus a beast acts as a shield for pieces of its own color but allows pieces of the other color to be attacked. FIG. 1 illustrates this by showing a bishop B attacking an opposing queen Q through a beast W while the queen Q cannot move through the beast W to attack the bishop B since the bishop B is shielded by beast W. The bishop and the beast are the same color. The square on which the moving piece lands, however, must be a square to which the piece could have moved if the beast had not been in between. The power of a king or pawn to pass through a beast is more restricted than that of other pieces. The king may pass through only when castling. A pawn may pass through only on its first move. As in regular chess, a pawn may move to the fourth rank/row on its first move, and in this variant it may pass through a beast on the third rank to do so.

The beast is able to move one square in any direction to an unoccupied adjacent square. The beast is also able to move by hopping or leaping over its own adjacent or opposing adjacent pieces either diagonally as in checkers or orthogonally (along a rank or file), but not orthogonally and diagonally on the same turn. The beast is able to make multiple leaps in a given turn and by leaping could even move forward, backward, and sideways orthogonally on the same turn or diagonally forward and backward. The beast is able to capture an opposing beast by leaping over it and landing on the square beyond if that square is unoccupied. But capturing is not obligatory when making such a leap. FIG. 2 illustrates a beast W leaping diagonally and beast W as shown in FIG. 2 moves from one corner of the board to almost the opposite corner moving over the opposing pawns P, queen Q and king K and its own pieces bishop B and rook R. The moving beast and the other pieces of that player are shown as lighter than the opposing player's pieces. FIG. 3 illustrates the beast W leaping orthogonally to capture an opposing beast W at the end. As shown in FIG. 3 the beast W captures the opposing beast W with its final leap having first leaped over two of its own rooks R, and an opposing queen Q, bishop B, rook R and pawn P. Again, the moving beast and the other pieces of that player are shown as lighter than the opposing player's pieces.

As described in more detail below, a bishop, knight, rook or queen may ‘bounce’ or ricochet off one of its own beasts. This maneuver is also referred to as a ‘beast bounce’ although the other piece ricochets off a stationary beast. Kings and pawns cannot bounce. A beast may bounce off a beast of the same color if the first beast initially moves one square (no hop) to get to the square occupied by the second beast, bounces at a right angle to its prior line of movement, and ends adjacent to the second beast. There is a limit of one bounce to a turn no matter what type of piece bounces. Captures can be made at the end of a bounce except by a beast bouncing off another beast.

As best seen in FIG. 4, once during a player's turn, a bishop B can bounce off one of its own beasts W, so that the bishop B comes to the square occupied by the beast W and then moves off at a right angle. Note as illustrated in FIG. 4, the bishop B can bounce off the beast W in one of two possible directions. FIG. 5 illustrates the squares X to which a bishop B could move under conventional rules and the squares X to which it could move using a beast W. The Xs denoting squares accessible through a beast bounce are lighter in tone than those denoting those accessible through conventional movement.

FIG. 6 illustrates the options open to the bishop B using conventional movement or bouncing off of one of either of the two beasts each denoted with a W. The bishop B could move to squares denoted with darker toned Xs using the conventional rules and to squares denoted by lighter toned Xs by bouncing off either beast marked W. The Xs denoting squares accessible through a beast bounce are lighter in tone than those denoting those accessible through conventional movement.

As best seen in FIG. 7, a knight N can make a beast bounce by coming to a square occupied by one of the beasts W and then making a further knight move to any one of the squares X. A player can make only one beast bounce on a given turn. FIG. 8 illustrates the squares X to which a knight N could move by bouncing off of a beast W and the squares C to which it could move under conventional rules. The diagram illustrates the greatly increased range and power of the knight N under the game of the present invention.

As best seen in FIG. 9, a rook (R) can bounce by moving to a square occupied by one of its own beasts (W) and then moving at a right angle. The rook moves to a square occupied by one of its own beasts and then moves off that square at a right angle. Two possible trajectories are shown. Since, in this instance, the rook approaches the beast square along a file, when it comes to the beast square it can bounce and move in either direction along the rank on which the beast sits.

A queen can bounce by moving to a square occupied by a beast of the same color and then moving off at a right angle. If the queen moves to the beast along a diagonal, it can bounce only along a diagonal. If it moves to the beast square orthogonally, i.e., along a rank or file, it must bounce along a rank or file. For instance, if it came to the beast along a file, it could bounce by then turning at a right angle and moving along the rank on which the beast is situated. The queen cannot approach the beast square diagonally and then bounce orthogonally or vice versa. In understanding this restriction, it may help to remember that in orthodox chess a queen may move like a bishop or like a rook but not both ways on the same turn. FIG. 10 illustrates this distinction. In FIG. 10, when the queen (Q) approaches the square occupied by the beast marked W₁, it moves orthogonally, like a rook along a file and must move orthogonally like a rook along a rank in order to bounce. In contrast, the queen (Q) moves diagonally like a bishop to the square occupied by the beast marked W₂ and hence must move diagonally at a right angle to the original line of movement when it bounces.

A beast may make a bounce by moving one square to a square occupied by another beast of the same color and then moving off at a right angle. It cannot hop or capture on the same turn. FIG. 11 shows two examples of a beast bouncing off another beast of the same color. The beast marked W1 moves one square along a diagonal to the square occupied by the beast marked W2, bounces off W2, and moves one square at a right angle along another diagonal, ending up on either of the next nearest squares on that second diagonal. The beast labeled W3 moves one square along a file to the square occupied by the beast labeled W4, bounces off of W4, and moves one square at a right angle along the rank on which W4 is sitting, ending up on that rank on either of the two squares adjacent to the square of W4.

A knight, bishop, rook or queen can ‘propel’ a beast of the same color. This could be considered a two part turn. First the piece moves unto the square of the beast, and then the beast moves as though it were that piece. However, a propelled beast is not allowed to capture on that turn. A propelled beast could move forward, backward, or sideways. It may, for instance, follow in reverse the trajectory of the propelling piece and land on the square originally occupied by that piece or further back.

FIG. 12 shows the squares, marked X, to which a beast (W) could move if propelled by a knight (N). Note this includes the square on which the knight was previously situated.

FIG. 13 shows the squares, marked X, to which a beast (W) propelled by a bishop (B) could move. Note that this includes the square the bishop occupied at the beginning of the turn.

FIG. 14 shows the squares, marked X, to which a beast (W) propelled by a rook (R) could move. Note that this includes the square the rook occupied at the beginning of the turn.

A beast propelled by a queen would move diagonally like a bishop if the queen had come to the beast square along a diagonal like a bishop and like a rook if the queen had come along a rank or file. FIG. 15 shows the queen (Q) having the option of propelling either of two beasts, W₁ and W₂. If propelled, W₁ could move to the square previously occupied by the queen or any of the squares labeled X1. On the other hand, if the queen moves to the square occupied by W₂, W₂ could move to the square occupied previously by the queen or to any of the squares marked X₂.

A king cannot propel a beast.

A beast cannot propel another beast per se, but a beast passing through or bouncing off another beast could have a similar effect.

A pawn may propel a beast but only on the pawn's first move and only one or two squares vertically forward along the same file. The propelled beast would end up on the square just in front of the pawn. For example, if a pawn is at square A2 and a beast of the same color at square A3, the pawn could move to A3 and propel the beast to A4, or move to A4 and propel the beast to A5. If a pawn is at square A2 and a beast at A4, the pawn may move to A4 and propel the beast to A5. Neither the pawn nor the beast could move through or capture other pieces that turn. FIG. 16 shows various propelling options involving a pawn and a beast. In the first file (column), the pawn is initially on the second rank and the beast on the third rank. The pawn moves up one square to the third rank and propels the beast to the fourth rank. In the second file, the pawn is initially on the second rank and the beast on the third rank. The pawn moves up two squares to the fourth rank and propels the beast to the fifth rank. In the third file, the pawn is initially on the second rank and the beast on the fourth rank. The pawn moves up two squares and propels the beast to the fifth rank.

A piece that can propel as described above, may come to the beast square by means of a bounce and then propel the beast. A bounce may proceed a propelling on the same turn. Likewise, a propelled beast may bounce in the same manner the propelling piece would bounce. But there may not be more than one bounce or one propelling on a given turn.

The capture of an enemy piece, including a pawn, ends the player's turn.

A player shall have the right to castle as in conventional chess with a castling rook ending up adjacent to the castled king, but the player has the option to place the king one, two or three squares from the side edge of the board with the rook adjacent if castling queen side and one or two squares from the side edge with the rook adjacent if castling king side. To castle, the king moves at least two squares and cannot move into a corner. The rook moves to a square adjacent to the king but closer to the center of the rank. As in conventional chess, neither the king nor the rook involved can have moved prior to castling. FIG. 17 illustrates the squares, marked X, to which the king (K) could move when castling.

Castling may be done through a beast of the same color, but this is the only time a king can pass through a beast and the beast may not move on that turn. The position of the beast may limit castling options. For instance, if the beast is at I1, the king may castle king side but only with the king ending at H1 and the rook at G1 since the beast occupies I1.

As in conventional chess, a player may not castle when the king is in check or when the king would have to pass through a square where it would be in check. But a king may pass through a square to castle if a beast of the same color occupies that square even if an opposing piece would otherwise check the king on that square. The beast occupying the square nullifies the check. FIG. 18 shows the ability of the king (K) to move through one of its own beasts (W) when castling. It also shows that the king can move through the square protected by the beast that occupies it. The beast nullifies the attack by the opposing bishop (B). If the beast were not there, the king could not castle since it would be passing through check. But the beast rather than the bishop controls that square.

A pawn can promote to a beast when it reaches the other side of the board.

In the preferred embodiment, the board is a rectangle eight squares deep by ten squares wide. The size of the board could be varied however without departing from the invention. For instance, the board could be ten squares wide but nine or ten squares deep.

As shown in FIG. 19, the initial alignment of the pieces in the preferred embodiment is the same as in conventional chess except that beasts shall be placed between the rooks and knights and additional pawns shall be placed in front of the beasts. The alignment could be varied, however, without departing from the invention. In FIG. 19, P denotes a pawn, R denotes a rook, W denotes a beast, N denotes a knight, B denotes a bishop, Q denotes a queen, and K denotes a king.

While the additional piece W of the present application has been labeled as a “beast” it should be understood that other names such as “wizard” could be used to name the piece W without departing from the scope of the present invention. Any name could be used for the piece. What is important is that it has the powers of the piece W. The use of the term “beast” in the following claims is not intended to limit of the claims to a piece having this name.

Although several variations and modifications of the present invention have been described, it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that other modifications could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A method of playing an expanded chess-like game for use by a first player against a second player, comprising the steps of:

A) providing a game board with alternate light-colored and dark-colored squares, arranged in adjacent vertical and horizontal rows, each of said rows including said alternate light-colored and dark-colored squares, each square offset with respect to the similarly-colored square of the adjacent row, with 80 squares arranged in checkerboard fashion, resembling a conventional chess board or checkerboard but with an additional two columns;

B) providing a plurality of playing pieces, including one set of light-colored pieces for one player and one set of dark-colored pieces for the other player, each set of pieces comprising ten pawns, one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and two of a new separate game piece, which is visually distinguishable from the others;

C) initially positioning said set of light-colored pieces, at the start of a game, in the first row of ten squares at one end of said game board from left to right in the sequence, rook, one of said separate game pieces, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight another of said separate game pieces, and rook, and with the light-colored pawns being initially positioned in the adjacent row of ten squares at said end of said game board;

D) initially positioning said set of dark-colored pieces in the row of ten squares at the opposing end of said game board from left to right in the sequence rook, knight, bishop, one of said separate game pieces, said king, said queen, another of said separate game pieces, bishop, knight, and rook, with the corresponding pieces of the two sets being initially located in the same vertical row at its opposite ends of said game board, with the dark-colored pawns being positioned in the adjacent row of ten squares at said opposing end of said game board;

E) formatting predetermined rules of movement for play wherein each of said queens, said bishops, said knights, and said pawns have the same rule of movement as the corresponding piece in orthodox chess;

F) further formatting said predetermined rules of movement for play wherein said separate game piece: i) blocks opposing pieces and shields its own like-colored pieces while allowing its own players to pass through the piece, ii) allows its own pieces to bounce off the separate piece and move in a different direction,

G) further formatting said predetermined rules of movement for play wherein said set of light-colored pieces and said set of dark-colored pieces operate in said expanded chess-like game according to the rules of orthodox chess governing capture, pawn promotion, check, and checkmate.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said new separate game piece is called a beast.

3. The method of claim 2 including the step of further formatting said predetermined rules of movement wherein the beast;

A) can be propelled if one of its own pieces lands on a square occupied by a beast;

B) can, on the same turn, be sent off the square, moving in the manner of the piece that landed on the square;

C) cannot capture or be captured by anything except an opposing beast, with such capturing of an opposing beast being done by leaping over rather than displacement;

D) can move one square in any direction to an unoccupied contiguous square;

E) can leap over its own or opposing pieces, landing on the square beyond if that square is unoccupied, so that by such leaping: i) the beast can move either diagonally or orthogonally, but not both on the same turn, ii) the beast can make successive or multiple leaps on a given turn if able to land on the next unoccupied square with each leap, iii) the beast can move forward, backward, and sideways orthogonally on the same turn or diagonally forward and backward using multiple leaps, iv) the beast can, but is not required to, capture an opposing beast,

F) can impart enhanced powers and mobility to other pieces of the same color by a technique referred to as pass through whereby the other piece is able to move along the piece's normal line of movement through the beast as if the beast were not there, with the restrictions that: i) a king can pass through a beast only when castling, ii) a pawn can pass through a beast only on the pawn's first move, iii) a knight, when moving over a beast, is only making the sort of move it could in standard chess,

G) can also impart enhanced power and mobility to certain other pieces of the same color by a technique known as bouncing, whereby the piece comes to the square occupied by its own beast and on that turn makes a further move, so that: i) a bishop can bounce by coming to the square occupied by one of its beasts and then moving off at a right angle along another diagonal, ii) a knight can bounce by coming to a square occupied by one of its own beasts and then making a further knight move, but not back to the square from where it started, iii) a rook can bounce by coming to a square occupied by one of its own beasts and moving off at a right angle along a rank or file, iv) a queen can bounce by coming to the square occupied by one of its own beasts and then moving off at a right angle (it will be noted that even in bouncing, the queen can move like a bishop or like a rook, but not both ways on the same turn), v) a beast can bounce by moving one square to the square occupied by another beast of the same color and then moving off at a right angle one square, vi) neither pawns nor the king can bounce, vii) a player is able to make only one bounce on a given turn;

4. A two-handed chess-type apparatus which comprises:

A) a game board comprising 80 squares arranged in a checkerboard fashion, resembling a conventional chess or checkerboard, but with an additional two columns;

B) 40 total pieces divided into two individual and contrasting sets of 20 playing pieces, each set containing two unique pieces, referred to as beasts, and other pieces named as in standard chess with powers as in standard chess, but with additional options with regard to castling and also enhanced powers when interacting with the beast; each set thus including: i) ten pawns, ii) two knights, iii) two bishops, iv) two rooks, v) one queen, vi) one king, vii) two beasts, and viii) a set of rules which provides that a beast a) cannot capture or be captured by anything except an opposing beast, b) can move one square in any direction to an unoccupied square, c) can leap over its own or opposing pieces, landing on the square beyond if that square is unoccupied, d) can by leaping over an opposing beast capture that beast, e) can impart enhanced powers and mobility to other pieces of the same color by a technique referred to as pass through whereby the other piece is able to move along the piece's normal line of movement through the beast as if the beast were not there, f) can also impart enhanced power and mobility to certain other pieces of the same color by a technique known as bouncing, whereby the piece comes to the square occupied by its own beast and on that turn makes a further move.

5. Method of playing a chess-type game whereas:

A) 40 total pieces are divided into two individual and contrasting sets of 20 playing pieces, each set containing two unique pieces, referred to as beasts, and other pieces named as in standard chess with powers as in standard chess, but with additional options with regard to castling and also enhanced powers when interacting with the beast; each set thus including: i) ten pawns, ii) two knights, iii) two bishops, iv) two rooks, v) one queen, vi) one king, vii) two beasts, viii) providing a set of rules which: a) prevents a beast from being captured by anything except an opposing beast, with such capturing of an opposing beast being done by leaping over rather than displacement, b) permits the beast to move one square in any direction to an unoccupied contiguous square, c) permits the beast to leap over its own or opposing pieces, landing on the square beyond if that square is unoccupied, so that by such leaping 1) the beast can move either diagonally or orthogonally, but not both on the same turn, 2) the beast can make successive or multiple leaps on a given turn if able to land on the next unoccupied square with each leap, 3) the beast can move forward, backward, and sideways orthogonally on the same turn or diagonally forward and backward using multiple leaps, d) permits the beast to, but is not required to, capture an opposing beast, e) permits the beast to impart enhanced powers and mobility to other pieces of the same color by a technique referred to as pass through whereby the other piece is able to move along the piece's normal line of movement through the beast as if the beast were not there, with the restrictions that: 1) a king can pass through a beast only when castling, 2) a pawn can pass through a beast only on the pawn's first move, 3) a knight, when moving over a beast, is really only making the sort of move it could in standard chess, f) permits the beast to also impart enhanced power and mobility to certain other pieces of the same color by a technique known as bouncing, whereby the piece comes to the square occupied by its own beast and on that turn makes a further move, so that: 1) a bishop can bounce by coming to the square occupied by one of its beasts and then moving off at a right angle along another diagonal, 2) a knight can bounce by coming to a square occupied by one of its own beasts and then making a further knight move, but not back to the square from where it started, 3) a rook can bounce by coming to a square occupied by one of its own beasts and moving off at a right angle along a rank or file, 4) a queen can bounce by coming to the square occupied by one of its own beasts and then moving off at a right angle (it will be noted that even in bouncing, the queen can move like a bishop or like a rook, but not both ways on the same turn), 5) a beast can bounce by moving one square to the square occupied by another beast of the same color and then moving off at a right angle one square, 6) neither pawns nor the king can bounce, 7) a player is able to make only one bounce on a given turn;

B) said pieces being placed on a rectangular game board comprising of 80 squares of alternating color, resembling a conventional chess or checkerboard, but with an additional two files/columns, with the starting position of the playing pieces being the same as in conventional chess except that beasts are placed between the rooks and knights, so that for white, starting from the left, and for black, starting from the right, the sequence is rook, beast, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, beast, rook and additional pawns placed in front of the beasts;

C) capturing a piece ends a player's turn;

D) said set of rules further providing as in standard chess, a player can castle, but with regard to castling, a player has additional options so that: i) if castling queenside, a player can place the king one, two, or three squares from the side of the board with the rook adjacent, and if castling kingside, can place the king one or two squares from the side of the board with the rook adjacent, ii) castling can be done through a beast of the same color, but this is the only time a king can ‘pass through’ a beast and the beast cannot move on that turn, iii) the position of the beast can limit castling options as neither the king nor the rook can occupy the same square as the beast and the rook and king involved in castling must be adjacent at the end of the castling maneuver, iv) a king can pass through a square to castle if a beast of the same color occupies that square even if an opposing piece would otherwise check the king on that square, as the beast occupying the square nullifies the check, v) unless otherwise stated, the said rules providing that the rules of standard chess apply.

6. A chess-like set comprised of:

A) playing pieces including pawns, a king, a queen, rooks, bishops and knights and opposing playing pieces including pawns, a king, a queen, rooks, bishops and knights that are similar to those in traditional chess;

B) an additional type of piece, referred to as a beast;

C) a playing board in the form of a conventional chess board but with an additional two files or columns so that the board is ten squares wide and eight squares deep; and

D) an initial alignment of the pieces as in conventional chess except that beasts shall be placed between the rooks and knights and additional pawns shall be placed in front of the beasts.

7. A chess-like game comprising:

A) a playing board in the form of a conventional chess board and having two additional vertical rows so that the board is ten squares wide and eight squares deep;

B) two conventional sets of pieces, the sets differing from each other by color, each set comprising a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns;

C) two additional pieces called beasts and two pawns for each of the sets;

D) an initial setting of the pieces corresponding to that in conventional chess, each of the beasts being set between the rook and knight of its color, each of the additional pawns being set in front of the beast of its color;

E) a set of rules providing: i) that the beast being able neither to capture, nor to be captured by, any piece other than the beast of the opposing color; ii) the pieces being able to move through the beast of their color; iii) the pieces other than the beast and knight not being able to move through the beast of the opposing color; iv) the bishop, rook, and queen being able to bounce off of the beast of their color coming to the square occupied by the beast and then further moving at a right angle; and v) the knight being able to bounce off of the beast of its color coming to the square occupied by the beast and then making an additional move.