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.
Cypher Chess: An Introduction to the Game's Major Dimensions
Cypher chess is a strategy game organized according to a meta-tiered, multi-sectored framework. As in the classical and other variants, some pieces have more power than others. However, in cypher chess, the power of a piece is based not just on the traits assigned to it, but those assigned to the sector in which it sits on any given move. Since some piece traits are not activated until a certain amount and kind of play has occurred, one could say the sectors are oriented both topographically and temporally.
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. Its 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. 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, though from either a Court or Border square, it can.
One of 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. 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 adjacent squares.
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.
The spatial and temporal character of cypher chess is determined by Spy-King interaction and the sectors that grant varying degrees of sanctuary to pieces. As pieces move in an out of the Court, Border and Field, the landscape, literal and strategic, is altered. As in many chess variants, including classical chess, the “clock” of cypher chess resides in the pawn. The direction of potential movement of the piece is temporally fixed, since it cannot move backwards. To possess such fixity in one’s posture is a characteristic of intensity and this is reflected in both how the pawn gains sanctuary and the inevitable impact this has on the opening sequence of moves.
In cypher chess, the pawn gains complete sanctuary, thus becoming a permanent part of the board landscape, if it lands on a square two rows beyond the Border— row 7 for white and row 3 for black. Furthermore, 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 when the pawn becomes embedded, the opposing King is present on either of those two squares, it must leave; if the King stands on the square in front of the pawn, a stalemate results.
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. This means that allowing your opponent to elevate any of their pawns markedly reduces your strategic options. The threat an elevated pawn poses, along with the fact that major pieces that remove pawns cannot be re-taken by other major pieces, will tend to make players push their pawns out of their vulnerable opening positions, to places 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. Awareness of how the pawn serves as the underlying time-keeper of the game determines how each player perceives the tempo of any given match.