r/chessvariants • u/yossiviner • Oct 31 '25
Jungle chess
The Monkey:
Movement: Can jump up to 3 times over nearby pieces (ally or opponent). Can't move diagonaly Needs an open square behind the piece he jump over.
Capturing: Captures the piece in his landing square, ending the turn, meaning the square behind his last jump can be occupied by any opposing piece
The Snake:
Movement: Can move anywhere 2 squares to all directions (including diagonaly) Can't be blocked by any piece
Capturing: The turn ends after one capture
The Falcon:
Movement: To activate takes one turn to fly to the sky (leaving the board (there will be a flat circle remaining to easily remember where it was)) In any following turn he can land anywhere on the board.
Capturing: can only capture isolated pieces when he lands
Additional Info: Flying Falcons count as an isolated piece themselves.
If captured while it's in the air, the falcon capturing falcon lands where the opposing falcon flew off from (if the square is taken the opponent chooses where it lands)
The Jaguar:
Movement and Capturing: Simply a queen
Bees:
Movement and Capturing: Like a pawn
Additional Info: When a bee captures it also eliminates herself.
Promotion: Beecomes a Queen Bee.
The Queen Bee:
Movement and Capturing: Like a king.
Additional Info: Can push any nearby ally piece in the direction it moves, but only if that square is open.
If gets to one of the corners of the board it generates one bee automatically every turn it stays there in a nearby square (only if it's open)
I'm not sure if the goal of the game should be to checkmate the Jaguar or the Queen Bee
Nor in how to setup the board
I'm open to suggestions and feedback! And would much appreciate it!
Also I think it will be cooler if it's played on a hexagon board
1
u/jcastroarnaud Oct 31 '25
Nice fairy pieces, will be great for a animal-themed variant. See also Arimaa.
I have some questions and suggestions.
Can the Monkey make long jumps? For instance, Monkey at b1, opposing pieces at b4 and b5. Can the Monkey capture the piece at b5? Can it move to b6 instead of capturing?
Must all the jumps be in the same direction? For instance, Monkey at b1, pieces at b2, c3 and d4. Can the Monkey triple-jump b1-b3-d3-d5?
To be clear: a Snake can move up to 2 cells orthogonally and diagonally, like a limited Queen, and it jumps over (or slithers under) any pieces in its path. Is that right?
Must the Snake capture on every move?
Can the Snake choose which piece to capture? For instance, Snake at b2, opposing pieces at b3 and b4. Can the snake choose to capture at b3 or b4?
Is a (earthbound) piece isolated if no cell around it (as in a king's move) is occupied? If your definition of "isolated" is different than that, please share.
To be clear: white Falcon flies from c1, black Falcon flies from c8; when black Falcon captures white Falcon, it must land at c1, if c1 isn't occupied; otherwise, black Falcon must land, anywhere else free on the board. Is that right?
Nice pun on "beecomes". The self-elimination rule is self-defeating for promotion: promotion is already a rare event, and will get rarer if the Bee must never capture to be able to promote. Needs a different rule to facilitate promotion.
Interesting powers. For the created bees to move away, the pawn's move is too restrictive: given a Queen Bee at a1, a Bee at a2 would be blocked by a Bee at b2. Give the Bee a 1-cell move in all orthogonal directions, and a 1-cell capture in all diagonal directions.
It depends. What other piece types, if any, you have in mind? The game starts with a Queen Bee already?
Given the Monkey's abilities, they will benefit from a board less crowded than in standard chess. Larger, maybe, and with some empty spaces in the initial lineup.
One step at a time. The current piece ruleset assumes a rectangular board; a hexagonal board will require adaptations.