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Rules of Omega Chess
Omega Chess is a chess variant played on a 10x10 board with four extra corner squares for Wizards. It includes standard chess pieces plus two new pieces: the Champion and the Wizard.
- Board Setup: The main board is 10x10, with wizard squares in the corners (a0, j0, a11, j11 in extended notation). White's pieces start on rows 9-10, Black on 1-2.
- Standard Pieces: Move as in classical chess (Pawn, Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King).
- Pawn Movement: Pawns can move 1, 2, or 3 squares forward on their first move. En passant is possible after double or triple steps on either passed square for triple moves.
- Promotion: Pawns promote to any piece except King upon reaching the 10th rank (opponent's back rank). In this implementation, auto-promotes to Queen.
- Castling: Done with the Rook (on b and i files). King moves two squares towards the Rook; Rook moves to the square the King passed through. Conditions: neither moved, no pieces between, King not in/through check.
- Winning: Checkmate or stalemate as in chess.
Champion Moves
The Champion is a leaping piece in Omega Chess, combining elements of a wazir (one-step orthogonal mover) and limited dabbaba/alfil jumps. It can:
- Slide one square orthogonally: Move to any adjacent square horizontally or vertically (up, down, left, right), like a non-royal king but only orthogonally. It cannot move one square diagonally.
- Jump two squares orthogonally: Leap directly two squares horizontally or vertically, jumping over any intervening pieces.
- Jump two squares diagonally: Leap two squares in any diagonal direction, again jumping over pieces.
Key characteristics:
- It is a leaper, so it can jump over friendly or enemy pieces without issue.
- From a central position on an empty board (e.g., e5 on a 10x10 board), it can control up to 12 squares: 4 one-step orthogonal, 4 two-step orthogonal, and 4 two-step diagonal.
- It is not color-bound, meaning it can reach any square on the board over multiple moves.
- Value: Approximately equivalent to a rook in strength (around 5 pawns), due to its versatility in controlling both close and mid-range positions.
- In the opening, from its starting corner position (e.g., White's Champion on a1), it can immediately jump to a2, b2, or c2, allowing quick development.
Textual diagram example (Champion on e5, marked as C; possible moves marked as * for slides/jumps):
a b c d e f g h i j
8 . . . . * . . . . .
7 . . . * . * . . . .
6 . . * . * . * . . .
5 . . . . C . . . . .
4 . . * . * . * . . .
3 . . . * . * . . . .
2 . . . . * . . . . .
1 . . . . . . . . . .
- Orthogonal one-step: d5, e4, e6, f5.
- Orthogonal two-step: c5, e3, e7, g5.
- Diagonal two-step: c3, c7, g3, g7.
The Champion excels in crowded middlegames for forking pieces or controlling key squares, but its short range makes it less effective in open endgames compared to sliders like rooks or bishops.
Wizard Moves
The Wizard is a color-bound leaper in Omega Chess, blending ferz (one-step diagonal) moves with camel-like jumps. It can:
- Slide one square diagonally: Move to any adjacent square diagonally (like a bishop but only one step), in any of the four diagonal directions.
- Jump (1,3) or (3,1): Leap three squares in one orthogonal direction and then one square perpendicular (or vice versa), in any combination of directions. This is similar to a camel in other variants but limited to these specific leaps.
Key characteristics:
- It is a leaper, allowing it to jump over any pieces.
- It is color-bound: A Wizard starting on a light square can only ever be on light squares, and vice versa. (In Omega Chess, the two Wizards per side start on opposite colors for balance.)
- From a central position on an empty board (e.g., e5), it can control up to 12 squares: 4 one-step diagonal and 8 leap positions.
- Value: Slightly stronger than a bishop (around 3.5 pawns), due to its leaping ability and longer reach in some directions.
- In the opening, from its starting "wizard square" (e.g., White's Wizard on w1, outside the main 10x10 board), it can jump to a2 or j2, entering the game quickly.
Textual diagram example (Wizard on e5, marked as W; possible moves marked as * for slides/jumps):
a b c d e f g h i j
8 . . . . . . . . . .
7 . . . * . * . . . .
6 . . * . . . * . . .
5 . . . d W d . . . .
4 . . * . . . * . . .
3 . . . * . * . . . .
2 . * . . . . . * . .
1 . . . . . . . . . .
- Diagonal one-step: d4, d6, f4, f6 (marked as d for diagonal).
- (1,3)/(3,1) jumps: From e5: b4, b6, h4, h6, d2, d8, f2, f8.
The Wizard is powerful for long-range attacks and pinning, especially in coordination with bishops, but its color-binding limits it to half the board. It's particularly lethal in the early game for surprise attacks.
Technical Features of the AI
The AI uses a minimax algorithm with alpha-beta pruning and quiescence search for decision-making.
- Difficulty Levels: Easy (depth 1), Medium (depth 2), Hard (depth 3).
- Evaluation: Based on piece values (Pawn:100, Knight:320, Bishop:330, Wizard:350, Champion:450, Rook:500, Queen:900, King:20000) plus a center control bonus.
- Move Generation: Generates all legal moves, filters out those leading to check. Improved move ordering by capture value.
- Performance: Recursive search with quiescence for captures; may be slow on hard difficulty but improved.