Baroque chess

Baroque chess starting setup. Immobilizers are repre- later, then one may readily see how similar they are to
sented by inverted rooks.
the castling maneuvers in chess. They have the practical function of multiplying the number of games that are
Baroque chess is a chess variant invented in 1962 by possible from the initial starting position.
Robert Abbott. In 1963, at the suggestion of his publisher, he changed the name to Ultima, by which name it
is also known. Abbott considers his invention awed, and
he has suggested amendments to the rules, but these suggestions have been substantially ignored by the gaming
community, which continues to play by the 1962 rules.
Since the rules for Baroque were rst laid down in 1962,
some regional variation has arisen, causing the game to
diverge from Ultima.

1.2 Moving
In Baroque, the king is the one piece alone that is limited
to moving exactly one square at a time; it moves and takes
just like the king in chess.

All of the remaining pieces on the rst rank may move

like the queen, in all directions. They have this power as
a matter of privilege, as they are all considered to be Noble pieces. This is a kind of privilege that attaches to them
at birth, that is, at the outset of the game, and is never di1 Description
minished; they retain this privilege no matter where they
go, except when they nd themselves next to an ImmobiBaroque chess is usually played on a standard 88
lizer (see below).
chessboard with the standard Staunton design of chess
The pawns, on the other hand, move just like the rook
pieces.
moves in chess, unable to move diagonally. Just as in
The rules that follow are widely found on the internet, but
chess, pawns are the peasants of this game. Unlike
other variants exist. A variant popular among students at
chess, pawns are never promoted to another kind of piece.
Cambridge University in 1974 is described on this web(There is no magic square to which pawns can be moved
page.
and then promoted.)
The initial setup of the pieces is the same as in standard
chess, except for two things that the players must rst decide on - center counter symmetry, and corner counter 1.3 Capturing
symmetry.
All the pieces except for the king capture dierently from
their counterparts in chess, and all but the King have dif1.1 Establishing the degree of symmetry
ferent names. The king is the only piece that captures, as
chess pieces do, by moving into a square that is occupied
Center counter symmetry allows either player to decide
by an enemy piece. All the other pieces capture enemy
whether to switch his king and Withdrawer (queen)
pieces in more complex ways. Friendly pieces are never
around, and then corner counter symmetry requires each
allowed to capture other friendly pieces.
player to decide which of his rooks will be turned upside down. (The one that remains upright is the Coordinator, and the one that is turned upside down is the
Immobilizer.) After these two kinds of symmetries are 2 Pieces
determined, White moves rst.
For purposes of recording the moves that are played in The names of the pieces and rules for movement are as
the game, it is sucient to employ an algebraic form of follows:
notation, as in chess, and write the names of the pieces
and the squares they are to be placed in. For instance, 1.
The king moves and captures like a standard chess
Kd1 & We1, Ke8 & Wd8 (center counter symmetry), and
king. The objective of the game is to capture the
2. Ia1 & Ch1, Ih8 & Ca8 (corner counter symmetry).
opposing king. Fast play with a chess clock usually
If the symmetry resolution phases that are usually found
makes declaration of checkmate a very rare thing to
at the start of the game could somehow be put o for
achieve in actual face to face play.
1

2
The pawns - or pincers or squeezers, as it were - move
like standard chess rooks. A pawn captures any opposing piece horizontally or vertically between the
square to which the pawn moved and a friendly piece
(i.e. there may be no gaps between any of the three
pieces). This is considered a custodial form of capture because it has been likened to two men coming
up on the sides of the person to be seized, and taking hold of his arms to carry him o. Pawns never
capture diagonally, only horizontally or vertically.

PIECES

2.1 King
The white king moves c4-d5 delivering checkmate. Normally it would not be possible for the two kings to be
adjacent, but here the black king is unable to move due
to the white immobilizer on f4, thus the d5 square is not
under attack by black, and the white king is not moving
into check.

Note that White could not play c4-d4, as that would place
his own king in check from the black withdrawer. Capturing the Withdrawer with c4-d3 would result in stalemate,
The remaining pieces all move like standard chess queens,
as black would then have no legal moves.
but have unique methods of capture.
The Pincers movement
The Withdrawer (or Retreater), represented by the
queen, captures by moving directly away from an
adjacent piece.
The long-leapers, represented by the knights, capture by jumping over an opposing piece in a straight
line. A long-leaper may make multiple captures in
the same line as long as each piece is jumped independently. Those variants of Baroque prohibiting
multiple leaps call this piece the Leaper, and restrict
it to capturing the rst enemy piece it encounters,
provided the next space is empty or open. It appears that the choice between a Long-Leaper and a
Single-Leaper tends to aect game play by encouraging hunkering down and overdefending pieces,
and allowing pieces to spread across the board more,
with less attention to bulky blockades.
The Coordinator, represented by the unmarked
rook, captures any opposing piece that is on either
of the two squares found at a) the intersection of its
own le and the kings rank, and b) the intersection
of the kings le and its own rank; these are found
after the Coordinator has moved.

2.2 Pawn/Pincer

The white pawn (or Pincer) moves g4-d4, capturing the

black Immobilizer and black pawn. The black withdrawer on e5 is not captured because pawns capture only
vertically and horizontally, not diagonally. The black Imitator (Chameleon) on d3 is not captured, because there
is no white piece on d2. Finally, the black Long-leaper
on g3 was safe because it moved between the two white
pawns, rather than a white pawn moving to complete the
custodial capture.
The Withdrawers movement

2.3 Withdrawer

The white Withdrawer moves g6-d3, capturing the

black pawn on h7. The pawn on g7 and the Imitator
(Chameleon) on h6 are unaected because the Withdrawer did not move in their respective lines, but the
The Immobilizer (or Freezer), represented by the inWithdrawer could have captured either by a move in the
verted rook, does not capture anything, but immog-le or sixth rank respectively. Note that the Withdrawer
bilizes all adjacent enemy pieces.
also gives check to the black king by threatening to move
The Imitators (or Chameleons), represented by the away on the d-le.
bishops, capture any piece by moving as a piece
The Long-Leapers movement
of the type captured would have moved to capture.
Also Imitators or Chameleons immobilize enemy
Immobilizers to which they are adjacent. Imitators
cannot capture Imitators. In order for an Imitator to 2.4 Long-Leaper
capture an enemy king, it must begin its turn adjacent to it, and step into its square. This is because The white Long-Leaper moves d2-d4-d6-d8, capturing
the king is the only piece on the board that steps one three black pieces. It might instead have captured the
square at a time, and captures by 'occupation' and black Withdrawer with either d2-g5 or d2-h6. On
'replacement' - stepping into the enemys square to the other hand, the black pawn on b2 and the black
capture it.
Chameleon on d1 are safe from the Long Leaper because
there is no square on the opposite side on which the Long
Diagrammed examples are indispensable to understand- Leaper could land. Also the black pawns on f2 and g2
ing the rules.
cannot be captured by d2-h2, because there is no space
The kings movement
in between the two pawns which would allow the Long
Leaper to make two separate jumps. A move of d2-b4

2.7

Chameleon/Imitator

would be illegal because long leapers may not jump over

friendly pieces. Some variations of Baroque forbid multileaping, if only because it is felt that the game is more
playable if the Leaper is less powerful. By requiring the
Leaper to stop its movement immediately after capturing
the rst piece, that objective is met.
The Coordinators movement

2.5

Coordinator

2.7 Chameleon/Imitator
On the diagram on the right, the white chameleon moves
g6-e6-c6, capturing all seven black pieces except the king
in one move and delivering check.
It captures the black withdrawer by moving away
from it.
It captures the black long-leapers by jumping over
them.
It captures three black pawns by surrounding them.
(A chameleon can only capture pawns on a horizontal move or vertical move, not on a diagonal move.)

The white Coordinator moves d4-f6, capturing blacks

Leaper on c6 and Immobilizer on f2. If White had played
d4-d6 instead, he would have captured blacks Leaper and
It captures the black coordinator by rank/le coorpawn. The Coordinator threatens only pieces on the same
dination with the white king.
rank or le as the friendly king. This kind of capture can
be visualized by imagining an invisible cross emanating
It delivers check by moving adjacent to the black
from the square the king is sitting on, and another invisiking.
ble cross emanating from the square the Coordinator arrives at. The points where these two crosses intersect are
In the Cambridge rules, this capture is not possible. The
the places where captures are possible.
move is legal, but it captures only the two leapers, because
The Immobilizers movement
the move is not a legal move for any of the other target
pieces. In the absence of the two black leapers, the same
move would capture the other ve pieces.

2.6

Immobilizer

3 Variants

The white Immobilizer moves f3-d5, immobilizing ve

black pieces. The black Leaper on g4, which had been 3.1 UofA
immobilized, is now free to move again.
An Immobilizer can never be captured by an Immo- This is a variant that was very popular in the early 1980s
bilizer, or Imitator (Chameleon). An Immobilizer can at the University of Alberta and mastered by the Physics
never be captured by a king or Withdrawer unless the students there. It encompasses rules from many of the
variation popular in Cambridge is being played, in which variants. Here is a brief breakdown of the pieces:
case the Immobilizer itself must rst be immobilized. The object of the game is to get any two of your own
When an Immobilizer comes into contact with an Enemy pieces into the o board squares behind the opponents
Chameleon or Immobilizer, the two pieces freeze each bomb and immobilizer starting positions. Pieces are iniother, after which neither can move unless the other is tially placed is the traditional chess starting positions,
captured. In the version played at Cambridge, the power with the exception that the queens castle is inverted.
of an enemy Immobilizer to arrest a friendly pieces
movement is defeated when another friendly Immobilizer Pawn Tweek. Can move one square in any direction or
can jump any piece once. Any opponent piece jumped is
or Chameleon is brought up to it, eectively cancelling
removed.
out each others power to arrest movement.
Some versions of Baroque allow an immobilized piece to Bishop Super Tweek. Moves and captures the same
commit suicide, i.e. be removed from the board, in lieu way as a tweek, except that it can keep jumping as many
of the regular move of that player. There may be strate- times as possible.
gic reasons to open a line. For example, after the above
diagrammed move, the black Leaper on c5 may wish to
commit suicide, so that the other Leaper can capture the
white Immobilizer by jumping over it on the fth rank.
White cannot hinder this plan, because the Immobilizer
is itself immobilized by the black Chameleon.
The Chameleons movement

King Immobilizer. Arguably the most powerful piece

in the game, and the hardest to destroy. Can move one
square in any direction. It immobilizes any opponents
pieces that it is next to. It cannot be jumped because any
time a tweek gets near it, they are immobilized.
Knight Coordinator. Can move one square in any direction or can jump any piece once. Any opponent piece
jumped is NOT removed. The Coordinators work in

3 VARIANTS

pairs and destroy pieces at a distance. You form a rectangle with the coordinators at the opposing corners of the
rectangle. The pieces at the other corners are removed.
Note that all pieces are removed, both opponents as well
as your own. If the coordinators are on the same line,
then no pieces are removed.
Castle Tank (pusher). Can move one square in any
direction even if the square is currently occupied. If it
moves into an occupied square it pushes against the other
piece and forces it into the next square in the line. If
there is more than one piece in a line, then the whole line
of pieces is moved. If a piece is moved o the board
it is destroyed. If a piece is moved into a coordinated
eld, it is destroyed. If a tank pushes against an immobilized eld, then all immobilized pieces are moved including the immobilizer (remember that only opponent pieces
are immobilized).

3.4 Renaissance
As shogi is to chess, Renaissance to BaroquePieces
may be revived and reborn. Renaissance is played on a
99 board with a Swapper (or Resurrector or Ankh)
that moves like a queen for all ordinary purposes, but for
swapping actions must move like a king, trading places
with any adjacent piece (both friend or foe), never capturing it. Consistent with the concept of the Swapper' (or
Resurrector) being a piece wholly incapable of killing, it
can also step into any adjacent empty square, and leave
behind a previously captured piece resurrected by placing it in the square just vacated. Although, seen in that
light, though the Swapper is like a piece of life, it can
be transformed into a 1 square Bomb when captured and
readmitted to the board - but capable only of death. Instead of moving, a Bomb need merely explode to eect
the destruction of both friendly pieces and enemy pieces
adjacent to itself, and suiciding in the process. The destruction of pieces in this way causes all aected to be
unrevivable.

Queen Bomb. Can move one square in any direction

or It can explode destroying all adjacent pieces as well
as itself (9 squares of destruction). It can do both in the
same move. If a bomb is coordinated, it explodes. If a
bomb is pushed o the board, the move is completed, and There are also two more pieces that, like the Coordinait then explodes based on its nal o board position. An tor, are not capable of unassisted capture: the Pusher
and the Puller. They can move like queens for ordinary
immobilized bomb can still explode.
purposes, but for the purpose of exercising their special
Inverted Castle Imitator. Initially placed on the bomb powers, they must be adjacent to the aected piece at
side of the board. The most complicated piece in the the start of the turn. If they begin adjacent to a piece
game. When moved, it imitates the identity of the op- (regardless if friendly or foe), they can push or pull it by
ponents last move, for the duration of one move only. It 1 square. For a Pusher, the empty square on the other
MUST be moved to imitate. It can imitate any opponent side must be open (except for the unusual circumstance
piece and move accordingly. If imitating a coordinator, of driving a king into an enemy piece, or an Imitator into
it coordinates o BOTH other coordinators, creating an a king.) Although the Pushers and Pullers are not capable
additional 4 coordination spots. If moved as an immo- of capture, their pushing and pulling maneuvers can result
bilizer, it only immobilizes opponent pieces for the next in other pieces being forced to make captures, regardless
move only. If imitating a bomb, it can explode without of the captured one being a friendly or enemy piece.
moving or rst move and then explode. An immobilized
imitator can still act as a bomb and explode.

3.5 Rococo
3.2

Maxima

Baroque played on a somewhat larger board that is mostly

rectangular but for a couple extra squares that are outside
the board, located at D0 and E0 just behind the king and
queens squares. A matching pair of squares are also on
the other side of the board, just beyond the black king
and queen (d9 and e9). Although one objective of the
game is to capture the king, an alternative objective allows
depositing a piece in the pair of squares on the other side
of the board. Unlike Baroque, the king in Maxima moves
like the knight in chess, making for a game with much
more uid movement of pieces.

3.3

Optima

Baroque that is similar to Maxima with additional pieces

and rules.

Rococo is a species of Baroque that is played on a 1010

board for the purposes of captures, but on the inner 88
square just inside it for the purpose of movement. To put
it another way, the outer perimeter of squares can only be
entered as a result of a capturing maneuver. In addition to
the traditional Baroque pieces, Rococo has an Advancer
piece that moves like a queen, but captures the enemy
piece it has run up next to, stopping just short of the piece
taken. As is usual for most pieces of the Baroque family,
the Advancer will not enter into the space vacated by the
captured piece, it merely runs up to it, and stops short
by 1 square. Unlike the game of Renaissance described
above, Rococo has a similarly named Swapper piece that
moves like a queen, but trades places with the enemy it
runs up to, a full queens move away. The Rococo Swapper has the unusual property of self-destructing at will, in
lieu of moving, provided it is not at the same time immobilized, with the eect of taking one enemy piece alongside it. What sets Rococo apart from Baroque the most

5
is the way the pawns work; they are called cannonball
pawns and move like a king, stepping 1 square in all directions, or leap over any adjacent piece (friend or foe).
The only way that they can eect capture is by leaping,
and landing on the enemy piece. They cannot capture
like a king does. Cannonball pawns can be promoted into
other pieces when they reach the other side of the board.
The pawn formations unique to the parent game,
Baroque, already signicantly dierent from traditional
chess, are not seen in Rococo. Instead, Rococos cannonball pawns seem to hang away from enemy pieces by
two or three squares, rarely coming into contact with each
other without advance preparation. In both chess and
Baroque, however, ne nuances in maneuvering are made
possible by locking positions together, made concrete by
the establishment of well-dened pawn structures. This
sort of thing is lacking in Rococo.

See also
Penultima

References
Pritchard, D. B. (1994). Ultima. The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. pp. 32930. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.
Pritchard, D. B. (2000). "18 Ultima. Popular
Chess Variants. B.T. Batsford Ltd. pp. 10407.
ISBN 0-7134-8578-7.
Pritchard, D. B. (2007). "17.9 Multiple forms of
capture. In Beasley, John. The Classied Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. pp. 15556.
ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.

External links
Ocial website
Ultima by Hans Bodlaender, The Chess Variant
Pages
Rococo by Peter Aronson and David Howe, The
Chess Variant Pages
An Illustrated Guide to Ultima Pieces animated
GIFs illustrate captures
Play.Chessvariants.org the Ultima PBM Game
Courier
Ultima at BoardGameGeek

7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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Baroque chess Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_chess?oldid=704326445 Contributors: Arvindn, Fritzlein, PierreAbbat,

Ellmist, Ericd, Darkwind, Wtanaka, Tualha, Shoesfullofdust, Fduniho, Gwalla, Smjg, Andris, ArthurDenture, Klemen Kocjancic, Andreas
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