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.
C-Chess: An Introduction to the Game's Major Dimensions
C-chess is a strategy game organized according to a meta-tiered, multi-sectored framework. In the c-chess variant, a piece's movement is controlled both by preassigned traits, the so-called "boilerplate," and the sector in which it finds itself. Temporal and topographical features thus trigger and are triggered by the dynamic board state. And pieces vie for influence by using sectors as either protective shields or the means for mounting an attack.
The 110-square, 11x10 board is divided into three areas. The "Court" forms the perimeter; the "Border" (squares a5-h5), spans the center; and the "Field" holds 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, or Cypher--hence the name "c-chess"-- moves like the Queen and exists in a state of near total sanctuary. Its movement from Court tiggers the option for a major piece (though not the King or 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. The Spy moves in the shadows and enters the fray from the margins, often along oblique paths: In the Field, it cannot capture pieces and it cannot check the King; from a Court square, however, it can capture major pieces in Court and from either a Court or Border square, it can check the Border or Field King.
A key structural aspect of the game is 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. Flipping, as a gesture, is equivalent to checking. The Spy 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 Spy.
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. Note that in the Field and in Court, it is legal for two Kings to stand on squares adjacent to each other.
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.
As in many chess variants, including classical chess, the “clock” of c-chess resides in the pawn. The piece's direction of potential movement is temporally fixed, since it cannot move backwards. But despite the limited options the pawn has at the start of the game, if it manages to move two rows beyond the Border—row 7 for white and row 3 for black--it gains permanent sanctuary, meaning, no piece on the board has the power to remove it. Furthermore, once it advances to the penultimate Field 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 diagonals would be in check. Interestingly, in the event the Court King found itself in front of the embedded pawn and also could not land on the Field squares next to the pawn, a stalemate would result.
Though sanctuary for the pawn is a gift delayed, the potent nature of this sanctuary makes them 1.) a serious threat to the major pieces that might stand near their home positions, and 2.) the only piece other than the Spy that can cripple the movements of the Court King, even without actually stepping on a Court square.
Allowing one's opponent to elevate a pawn markedly reduces one's strategic options. This fact combined with the limited ability major Field pieces have to protect pawns means players will push their pawns out of their vulnerable opening positions, to squares within possible reach of sanctuary. I refer to this first stage of pawn development as “default state 1,” to a pawn first gaining sanctuary as “default state 2” and to a pawn embedding itself in front of Court as “default state 3." Each state marks the passing and arrival of an irreversible set of spatial and temporal conditions, at a tempo arising out of the player's response to the variant's novel framework of options.