Chess with different armies

Chess with different armies (or Betza's Chess^[1] or Equal Armies^[2]) is a chess variant invented by Ralph Betza in 1979. Two sides use different sets of fairy pieces. There are several armies of equal strength to choose from, including the standard FIDE army. In all armies, kings and pawns are the same as in FIDE chess, but the four other pieces are different.

Rules and armies

Before the game players choose their armies in a certain way, predefined by tournament rules. This can be done either randomly or secretly by both players. Each player has a choice of 4 armies:^[3] the Fabulous FIDEs, which are the standard chess pieces, the Colorbound Clobberers, the Nutty Knights, and the Remarkable Rookies.

All armies are designed to be equal in strength but have significantly different properties. Kings and pawns move the same as in chess for all armies. Pawns can only promote to pieces of either army on the board at the start. Castling is done as in standard chess with the exception of the case when the rook replacement is colorbound, like in the Colorbound Clobberers army. In the latter case, the king, when castling long, moves to b1, and the rook replacement to c1. This is so that colorbound pieces do not change square color.

Ferz (notation F).

Alfil (notation A), can jump.

Wazir (notation W).

Dabbaba (notation D), can jump.

Many pieces in the following armies are combinations of standard chess pieces and 4 fairy pieces: ferz, alfil, wazir and dabbaba (see their movement diagrams above). The game can be played with standard chess pieces, and the following move diagrams use standard pieces as well (except queens).

Colorbound Clobberers

In this army, rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Bede (notation BD). Moves as bishop or dabbaba. Can jump for dabbaba moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Waffle (notation WA). Moves as wazir or alfil, hence the name. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

FAD (notation FAD). Moves as ferz, alfil or dabbaba, hence the name. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Cardinal (notation NB). Moves as bishop or knight. Can jump for knight moves.

As mentioned, when using this army and castling queenside, the king moves three squares (from e1 to b1) and the bede moves from a1 to c1.

Nutty Knights

This army includes a lot of leapers, but most of them have asymmetrical move patterns, with backward moves being restricted.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Charging rook, originally furlrurlbakking (notation frlRrlbK), moves forward and sideways as a rook, or backward as a king.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Fibnif (notation fbNF). Moves as ferz, or as a knight for its two vertically longest forward and backward moves. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Charging knight, originally forfnibakking (notation fhNrlbK). Moves as king backward and sideways or as a knight forward. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Colonel, originally forfnifurlrurking (notation fhNfrlRK). Moves as king, or as rook forward and sideways, or as knight forward. Can jump for knight moves.

Remarkable Rookies

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Short rook (notation W4). Moves as rook, but not more than 4 spaces.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Woody rook (notation WD). Moves as dabbaba or as wazir. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Half duck (notation HFD). Moves as threeleaper or kirin. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Chancellor (notation RN). Moves as rook or knight. Can jump for knight moves.

Unofficial armies

The four armies described above were playtested by Ralph Betza and selected as the most balanced ones. There are other armies, invented by Betza and other people, some of which are presented here.

In the initial version of the game, there were 8 armies^[1] and, in these armies, the king moved differently from the king in the standard chess. Instead of normal pawns, fairy pawns could be selected – for example, Berolina pawns. However, later Betza abandoned the idea of using fairy pieces for king and pawns^[4] and reduced the number of armies to four.

All-Around Allstars (Ralph Betza)

This army is made of one piece from each of the main armies. Out of the 12 eligible combinations, as the FAD from the Colorbound Clobberers is considered too strong for a Bishop equivalent and the Cardinal from the same army too weak for a Queen equivalent, Ralph Betza considers the following to be the "official" all-star team. The rooks, knights, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[5]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Charging rook (notation frlRrlbK), from the Nutty Knights army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Waffle (notation WA), from the Colorbound Clobberers army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Bishop (notation B), from the Fabulous FIDEs army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Chancellor (notation RN), from the Remarkable Rookies army.

Amazon Army (Ralph Betza)

In this army, rooks and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[6]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Short rook (notation W4). Moves as rook, but not more than 4 spaces. This piece is also in the Remarkable Rookies army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Amazon (notation WWFFN). Moves as queen or knight.

Cylindrical Cinders (Ralph Betza)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[7]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Cylindrical Waffle (notation oWoA). Moves as wazir or alfil on a cylinder. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Cylindrical Knight (notation oN). Moves as knight on a cylinder.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Cylindrical Bishop (notation oFF). Moves as bishop on a cylinder. The position with an x can be reached in 2 different ways.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Cylindrical Chancellor (notation oWWoN). Moves as rook or knight on a cylinder. Can jump for knight moves. The horizontal line can be reached from both directions.

Fighting Fizzies (Peter Aronson)

In this army, the left rook, the right rook, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[8]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Left Single-Step Rhino (notation WF(mW-flF)(mF-flW)), on the left. Steps one square in any direction, then, if the first square is empty, may turn 45 degrees to the left, and move one more square.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Right Single-Step Rhino (notation WF(mW-frF)(mF-frW)), on the right. Turns 45 degrees to the right instead.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Gnohmon (notation vNvWnH). Moves as knight for its longest moves, as wazir vertically or slides 3 squares in orthogonal directions. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Crabinal (notation fNbsNhhB). Moves as knight for the longest forward and shortest backward moves, or as bishop for half the distance to the edge of the board. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Eagle-Scout (notation WzFF). Moves as wazir or as crooked bishop. Positions with an x can each be reached in 2 different ways.

Avian Airforce (Ralph Betza)

In this army, the rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[9]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Wader (notation WDD). Moves as wazir, or makes consecutive dabbaba moves (Dabbaba rider moves). Can jump between dabbaba moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Darter (notation fNWbAA). Moves as wazir, as knight for its 2 most forward moves and can make consecutive alfil moves backwards. Can jump between alfil moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Faalcon (notation FAA). Moves as ferz, or makes consecutive alfil moves. Can jump between alfil moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Flying Kingfisher (notation WFAADD). Combines the moves of the Wader and the Faalcon.

Spacious Cannoneers (Ralph Betza)

In this army, the rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[10]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Mortar, on the left. Moves and captures as wazir or a rook that must stop one space before any piece. Can leap over the first piece in an orthogonal line and capture the next piece on that line (here the black rook can be captured).

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Howitzer, on the right. Moves and captures as wazir or a rook that must stop one space before any piece. Can leap over the first piece in an orthogonal line and land on any free space after it but before a second piece.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Napoleon (notation vNW). Moves as wazir or as knight for its longest moves. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Carronade. Moves as bishop but must stop one space before any piece. Can leap over the first piece in a diagonal line and then continue as a normal bishop.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Big Bertha. Combines the moves of the Howitzer and the Carronade.

Forward FIDEs (Ralph Betza)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[11]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Charging rook (notation fsWWbFW). Moves forward and sideways as a rook, or backward as a king. This piece is also in the Nutty Knights army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Knishop (notation fhNbFF). Moves forwards as knight or backwards as bishop. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Bishight (notation fFFbhN). Moves forwards as bishop or backwards as knight. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Forequeen (notation fsWWfFFbhNWF). Moves forwards or sideways as queen, or backwards as a king or knight. Can jump for knight moves.

Pizza Kings (John Lawson)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[12]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Pepperoni (notation sDfAvWF). Moves as ferz, horizontally as dabbaba, vertically as wazir or forward as alfil. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Mushroom (notation vNfsCbF). Moves forwards as knight for its longest moves, backwards as ferz or as camel for its shortest forward moves. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Sausage (notation sWFvNvH). Moves as ferz, horizontally as wazir, as knight for its longest moves or jumps 3 squares vertically. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Meatball (notation FWADfN.). Moves as king, alfil, dabbaba or as knight for its 2 longest forward moves. Can jump for all moves.

Meticulous Mashers (Ralph Betza)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[13]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Forfer (notation FR4). Moves as ferz, or up to 4 spaces as rook.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Fibnif (notation fbNF). Moves as ferz, or as a knight for its two longest forward and backward moves. This piece is also in the Nutty Knights army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

B4nD (notation B4nD). Moves up to 4 spaces as bishop, or exactly 2 spaces as rook.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

N2R4 (notation N2R4.). Moves up to 4 spaces as rook, or makes up to 2 consecutive knight moves in the same direction. Can jump for knight moves, but the first must end on an empty space to be able to make a second one.

Seeping Switchers (Jörg Knappen)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[14]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Panda or Slip Rook (notation (W-DD)). Moves as rook, but only to squares of color opposite to that on which it stands. Can jump over squares it cannot move to.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Marquis (notation NW). Moves as knight or wazir. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Unicorn (notation N(mW-FF)). Moves as knight, then may continue as bishop. Can jump for the knight moves, but longer moves require the corresponding wazir square to be empty. In this case, the unicorn may jump to g3 and g5, but is blocked from moving to h2 or h6 by the black pawn, which it cannot capture.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Erl Queen or Erlkönigin or Slip Queen (notation (W-DD)(F-AA)). Moves as queen, but jumps over every other space along its way.

Daring Dragons (H. G. Muller)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[15]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Dragon Horse (notation WB). Moves as bishop or wazir.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Dragonfly (notation sNvR). Moves vertically as rook or sideways as knight. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Dragoon (notation KivmN). Moves as king or, on its initial move, vertically and without capturing as a knight. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Wyvern (notation vNsjRB). Moves as bishop, vertically as knight, or at least 2 steps horizontally as a rook. Can jump for knight moves and jumps over the first square for rook moves.

Bent Bozos (H. G. Muller)

The left and right rooks, left and right knights, left and right bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces: ^[16]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Left Griffon (notation FaflR). Moves as ferz and then, optionally, rotates 45 degrees left and then moves as a rook.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Right Griffon (notation FafrR). Rotates 45 degrees right instead.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Left Aanca (notation WaflB). Moves as wazir and then, optionally, rotates 45 degrees left and moves as bishop.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Right Aanca (notation WafrB). Rotates 45 degrees right instead.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Left Sastik (notation DfflNdllNddrNfrrN)). Moves as dabbaba or a knight one to the left of the dababba move

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Right Sastik (notation DffrNdrrNddlNfllN)). Moves as dabbaba or a knight one to the right of the dababba move

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Griffon (notation FafR). Moves as ferz and then optionally continues outwards as a rook.

References

1 2 Pritchard, D. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.
↑ Pritchard, D. B. (2007). "Equal Armies". In Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. pp. 186–87. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.
↑ Chess with different armies by Ralph Betza.
↑ Different Kings and Pawns? by Ralph Betza
↑ The All-Around Allstars by Ralph Betza.
↑ The Amazon Army by Ralph Betza.
↑ The Cylindrical Cinders by Ralph Betza.
↑ The Fighting Fizzies by Peter Aronson
↑ Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 3): The Rider Problem by Ralph Betza
↑ Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 5): Modified Jumpers by Ralph Betza
↑ The Forward FIDEs by Ralph Betza.
↑ The Pizza Kings by John Lawson.
↑ The Meticulous Mashers by Ralph Betza.
↑ The Seeping Switchers by Jörg Knappen.
↑ "chessvariants.com -- Comment Listing". www.chessvariants.com. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
↑ "chessvariants.com -- Comment Listing". www.chessvariants.com. Retrieved 2023-02-17.

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[Pritchard-1] 1 2 Pritchard, D. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.

[2] Pritchard, D. B. (2007). "Equal Armies". In Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. pp. 186–87. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.

[3] Chess with different armies by Ralph Betza.

[4] Different Kings and Pawns? by Ralph Betza

[5] The All-Around Allstars by Ralph Betza.

[6] The Amazon Army by Ralph Betza.

[7] The Cylindrical Cinders by Ralph Betza.

[8] The Fighting Fizzies by Peter Aronson

[9] Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 3): The Rider Problem by Ralph Betza

[10] Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 5): Modified Jumpers by Ralph Betza

[11] The Forward FIDEs by Ralph Betza.

[12] The Pizza Kings by John Lawson.

[13] The Meticulous Mashers by Ralph Betza.

[14] The Seeping Switchers by Jörg Knappen.

[15] "chessvariants.com -- Comment Listing". www.chessvariants.com. Retrieved 2023-02-16.

[16] "chessvariants.com -- Comment Listing". www.chessvariants.com. Retrieved 2023-02-17.

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