Cypher chess is a strategy game organized according to a meta-tiered, multi-sectored framework. As in the classical variant, some pieces have more power than others. However, in cypher chess, the power profile of a piece is based not just on the traits assigned to the it, but those assigned to geography or context. Since some contextual features are not triggered until a certain amount and kind of play has occurred, one could say the sectors have not only a geographical component but a temporal one as well.
The 110-square, 11 row x 10 column board, is divided into three areas. The Court forms the perimeter; the Border, squares a5-h5, spans the center; and the Field includes the remaining squares on either side. Each area bestows a certain degree of protection from capture, called “sanctuary,” on its member pieces. At the start of the game, only one piece from each side stands on a Court square: the Spy, which is the only novel piece in the variant.
The Spy moves like the Queen and exists in a state of near total sanctuary. It’s movement from Court tiggers the option for a major piece (though not the King and not a pawn) of its own color to move into Court, where it too will be protected from attack by all other pieces except the enemy Spy. While in the Field, the Spy moves in the shadows. It cannot capture pieces and while it occupies the square it stands on and can serve to block the movement of other pieces, it’s transparent to check aimed at the King by other pieces. In the Field it also cannot check the King, though from either a Court or Border square, it can.
One if the key sets of features of cypher chess consists in the relationship between the Spy and the King. They avoid and seek one another out for conquest from a distance. For example, it is illegal for the Spy to stand next to a King as well as the other Spy. In Court, the Spy can win the game if it manages to “flip” the Court King. It can do this from any court square, even from across the board, as long as it has clear line of sight of the Court King and the latter is at least two squares away. When the King is outside of Court the flipping dynamics are inverted: the Court King flips the Field and Border Spy by landing on the square next to it. The Field and Border King can do the same to the Field, Border and Court King.
The King is the only major piece that can enter Court of its own volition. Once there, it has sanctuary from attack by other pieces except the Spy. Along with other major pieces, while at Court and on the Border, the King can capture major pieces in the Field and check the other King. But while on the Border, the King is also susceptible to check by all pieces, including the Spy.
At the start of the game, major pieces in the Field have limited sanctuary from attack. They cannot be captured by other major pieces in the Field, but they are susceptible as targets of major pieces that land on Border or Court squares. They can also be captured by pawns, even while on the Border. But, when major pieces on Border or Court squares attack major pieces in the Field, the latter might gain recompense via the “Re-take Rule,” which allows, in the space of the move just after the attack, a major field piece to capture another major Field piece.
For a pawn, sanctuary is a gift delayed, till it reaches a square two rows beyond the Border, row 7 for white and row 5 for black. If it can manage to arrive here safely, it cannot be captured by any other piece. Once it advances to the penultimate row, row 9 for white, row 1 for black, it becomes embedded, a monolith forever attached to the local geography. It cannot be captured by, and it cannot capture, other pieces, though a King on either of the two Court squares at its diagonal would be in check. Therefore, if on becoming embedded, the opposing King is present on either of those two squares, it must leave. If, on the pawn becoming embedded, the King stands on the square in front of the pawn, a stalemate ensues.
All words, images--
©D. Figahs, 2021-2026
For information on other chess variants, go to
All words, images-- All words, i ©D. Figahs, 2021-2026
For information on other chess variants, go to