Embassy chess

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h	i	j
8											8
7											7
6											6
5											5
4											4
3											3
2											2
1											1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h	i	j

Embassy chess, starting position

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h	i	j
8											8
7											7
6											6
5											5
4											4
3											3
2											2
1											1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h	i	j

Castling in Embassy chess. White castled king-side, black queen-side.

Embassy chess is a chess variant created in 2005 by Kevin Hill. It borrows the opening setup from Grand chess by Christian Freeling and adapts it to the 8x10 board.

Embassy chess is a free, non-commercial Capablanca random chess variant that is played on a 8x10 board with two additional pawns per side and two fairy chess pieces: the marshall and the cardinal.

• The marshall moves as both a rook and a knight.
• The cardinal moves as both a bishop and a knight.

The castling in this chess variant is done by king moving 3 spaces in rook direction, see diagram at right. All other rules, like en passant are the same as in chess.

Initial position properties

Embassy Chess possesses all of the following criteria:

• All 10 pawns are defended at least once.
• All 3 pawns vertical to the composite pieces (i.e., the queen, chancellor, archbishop) are defended at least twice.
• Both pawns diagonal to the king are defended at least twice.
• The pawn vertical to the king is defended at least thrice.
• The queen and archbishop are on opposite-colored spaces.
• The chancellor and archbishop are on opposite-colored spaces.
• The pieces that come in pairs (i.e., rooks, bishops, knights) are symmetrically arranged.
• A maximum distance of castling to both sides is assured. This is defined as at least 4 files from the king to each rook.
• The pieces on the four westernmost files and the three easternmost files are identical to Chess.

Computer implementations

Embassy chess is supported by at least three multi-variant programs available in the chess variant world. It was selected as one out of seven 8x10 board games featured in SMIRF (developed by Reinhard Scharnagl). It was selected as one out of eleven 8x10 board games featured in ChessV (developed by Gregory Strong). In both programs, its opening setup can conveniently, automatically be loaded for play against a computer opponent.

It is also possible to play Embassy chess in Zillions of Games using a third-party rules file, such as this one.

See also

• Capablanca Random Chess
• Capablanca Chess
• SMIRF
• Reinhard Scharnagl
• ChessV
• Grand Chess
• Gothic Chess

External links

• Game Courier | Embassy Chess
• ChessV
• BrainKing - a server where you can play Embassy Chess.
• CRC | material values of pieces
• select CRC analysis tool