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From: richard@sequent.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.chess
Subject: Monster Chess
Message-ID: <455@sequent.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 17-Apr-84 06:05:57 EST
Article-I.D.: sequent.455
Posted: Tue Apr 17 06:05:57 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 19-Apr-84 04:03:22 EST
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Portland
Lines: 40

I learned this one a few years ago, anyone recognize it?

Monster chess is a bizarre mutation of chess that strongly illustrates
the principles of Guerrilla warfare, namely, speed and sacrifice.

One player receives the full complement of pieces, and plays by the
normal rules.  The other player (the Monster) receives only a King
and four pawns.  The four are ordinarily placed in the center four
positions of the Monster's second rank.  The Monster's pieces move
in the same manner, but twice as fast.  For every move the ordinary
player gets, the Monster moves twice.  The only other exception is
the Monster's king is allowed to move into check on the first of
his moves, but must be out of check after the second.  One last
thing - checkmate in Monster chess is the same as normal chess:
The ordinary king must be in unavoidable jeopardy, while the Monster
king is not.

For a new "monster" the games seems quite clumsy, and it takes a
while to learn the proper use of the new abilities.

But to play against an experienced monster is quite a challenge -
it takes *a lot* of effort to survive your first dozen of so moves.

This games does show some of the basic concepts of guerrilla warfare,
but a better version could be played if somehow the Monster's
pieces were invisible until they were next to (or on top of) the
ordinary pieces.  The ability of guerrillas to move undetected
around a battlefield and to rapidly disappear after striking is
one of the primary advantages of that style of warfare.

Try it with an friend, then with some unsuspecting enemies.

Oh, yes: This game plays best when timed: the pressure on the 
players to react quickly makes it much more dramatic.
___________________________________________________________________________
The preceding should not to be construed as the statement or opinion of the
employers or associates of the author.    It is solely the belief...

			from the confused and bleeding fingertips of
				...!sequent!richard