♟️ TEAM CHESS

TEAM CHESS

Variant rules for team chess with sacrifical pawn actions and fatigue rules.

1.

Team Structure & Tag-Out System

  • 1.1
    Team Sport: The game is played between two opposing teams composed of multiple players ("commanders"). Only one commander per team is active at the board at any given time.
    Note on Team Size & Balance: A typical team is comprised of two commanders. If teams are unbalanced, the team with more commanders may have one commander abstain, or the team with fewer commanders may allow one teammate a second command; alternatively, both teams may engage with the understanding that the smaller team is at a strategic disadvantage. Note that a typical game rarely extends past two commands, so a team of two is typically safe. Playing with one commander on each team is possible with no change in rules (but it is a little less fun).
  • 1.2 Voluntary & Forced Tag-Outs: At the beginning of their turn, an active commander may voluntarily tag out and replace themselves with another commander from their team commander que (this is usually a bad idea).
  • 1.3 Personal Losses and Wins: Tagging out for any reason (whether voluntarily, forced by fatigue, or triggered by an enemy Agent pawn action) immediately records a Personal Loss for the outgoing commander and a Personal Win for the active opposition commander.
  • 1.4 Team Communication: Communication between an active commander and an inactive commander is permitted in an advisory state only if the inactive commander has not yet suffered a personal loss. In unbalanced teams where a commander is granted two commands, that commander may not advise the active commander once their first command has ended in a personal loss.
  • 1.5
    Victory & Elimination:
    • Team Victory: A team wins if an active commander achieves a checkmate (honoralbe win), has besiged the opponent (no possable legal moves(dishonorable win)) or when the oppositon has lost all its commanders to personal fatigue losses.
    • Team Elimination: A team suffers a Team Loss when it is besieged (no possable legal moves), or when it is checkmated, or when all commanders any one team have individually accumulated a personal loss, or when the game ends with all teams loosing because neither team has moved a pawn or taken a piece from the bord in 4 turns.
      • Note on Team Loss by Fatigue: When a team is unbalanced and the commanders agree to allow the smaller team to play one of their commanders twice to gain balance, that commanders second term surves like a new commander for the purposes of exausting commanders for a win. However, if that commander accrues a second loss, both losses go on that commanders win/loss ratio record.
2.

Stalemate Override & Siege Wins

  • 2.1 Siege Win Condition: Creating a board state where the opponent has no legal moves (traditionally a stalemate) the player must pass and his opponent can either take a Siege Win (dishonorable win) or choose to make one more move to attempt to create a Check Mate (honorable win). If that additional turn creates a check mate, the win is upgraded to an honorable win. If the attackers upgradef win attempt fails to gain a check mate, and opens up a legal move for the defender, the attacking commander suffers an immidiate personal fatigue loss and the defending commander can take his legal move.
3.

8th-Rank Pawn Sacrifices

  • 3
    Pawn Sacrifice: Any pawn move reaching the 8th rank is considered a Sacrificial Move. The pawn performs a final sacrifice immediately as part of the same move. The pawn is consumed after completing its duty in one of the following roles:
    3.1 Royal Guard
    Retrieves and places your team's captured Queen onto that 8th-rank square. Mandatory if your Queen was captured; impossible if your Queen is still active.
    3.2 Assassin
    Instantly captures any single opposing piece currently on the board, except the opposing King.
    3.3 Saboteur
    Forces the opponent's following move in a legal manner (cannot force a move into check or force any peice in a move not consistant with its abilities).
    3.4 Political Agent
    Causes a political revolution. Opposing commander suffers a personal loss. New commander takes over with no loss of turn.
4.

Stagnation & Fatigue

  • 4.1 Round Definition: A single Round is complete only after both active commanders have completed their turns.
  • 4.2 Commander Fatigue: 4 consecutive rounds without advancing a pawn or capturing a piece forces a Personal Fatigue Loss and tag-out.
  • 4.3 Mutual Loss: If both sides reach 4 rounds of stagnation, a Mutual Loss is recorded for both teams and a Personal Loss for both active commanders, and the game ends.
5.

Win Categorization

  • Honorable Checkmate delivered without performing an 8th-rank Pawn Sacrifice.
  • Dishonorable Victory via Siege or checkmate following an 8th-rank Pawn Sacrifice.
  • Fatigue Opposing team loses all commanders to personal/fatigue losses.
6.

Scoring & Ratios

  • 6.1 Individual Rankings: The best player is determined first by their Team Wins, and of the winning team the individual commanders are ranked by their Personal Win/Loss Ratio.
  • 6.2 Win/Loss Tracking: Personal wins occur whenever the opposing commander loses while you are active. Personal losses occur on any tag-out.
7.

Officiating & Honor

  • 7.1 Referee: Tracks fatigue rounds and calls illegal moves.
  • 7.2 Challenges: Active or sitting commanders may challenge referee rulings by reviewing records or by popular vote of all commanders when records are not kept.
  • 7.3 Honor System: In the absence of a referee, commanders self-officiate under honor rules.