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Variant Chess

370 statements
68 feature instances
35 referencing feature instances

Variant Chess	type	FeatureClass
Variant Chess	label	Variant Chess
Variant Chess	page	VariantChess
Variant Chess	comment	It's the far-flung future, or an alien planet, or even a Wizarding School. The two characters are talking about the latest plot point over a game of Chess. No wait... It looks like chess (or checkers or what have you), but it isn't quite the chess we know. It could have multiple, circular, or other odd boards. It could be that the pieces are sentient. It could be something as simple as a different motif for the pieces, or a new unique piece or two. But in some way, the characters are playing a different board game. The characters may or may not still use terms like "Checkmate". Two of the most common variations are chess with humans for pieces, and layered boards. Outside of anime conventions and renaissance fairs, the "living pieces" version has understandably negative connotations, being a favored trope of villains. From a narrative and world-building standpoint, this strange, alien board game serves to establish the setting as different from our own in a simple way, while maintaining some verisimilitude by showing the characters do, in fact, play board games. This may be why layered boards are a common choice, as they are visually distinctive (or were, at some point). The game may not even be much like chess or any other game of ours, but as a visual trope the rules often won't come up anyway. "Fantastic Chess", "Wizard Chess", and "Future" or "Space Chess" are more specific terms based on setting. Human Chess is a subtrope (so see that page for those examples). Also see Smart People Play Chess. House Rules can act as a Justification depending on the circumstances. Very much present in Real Life — The Wikipedia article on Chess Variants puts the number at over 2000 (and that's only counting published ones), with the amount perhaps unlimited. Some of these even enjoy a fair following. Since WWI a subgroup, which includes unusual problems as well as non-standard pieces, known as "Fairy Chess" has been popular, engendering multiple international organizations of players and theorists. See also this page. Any of these deliberate variants could be mistaken as Artistic License â€“ Chess, wherein regular chess is depicted inaccurately (intentional or not).
Variant Chess	fetched	2024-03-19T13:01:06Z
Variant Chess	parsed	2024-03-19T13:01:06Z
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to BattleForDreamIslandThePowerOfTwo: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to BattleRoyaleGame: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to Chess2: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to DadaAd: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to DeckbuildingGame: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to Defictionalization: Not an Item - IGNORE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to EldritchLocation: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to EnergyWeapon: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to ExpandedUniverse: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to Futureworld: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to HumanChess: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to KingOfTheBridge: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to MadScientist: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to ProudScholarRace: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to SmartPeoplePlayChess: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to StarWars: Not an Item - CAT
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to ThePerfectionist: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to UnwinnableByDesign: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingComment	Dropped link to WraparoundBackground: Not an Item - FEATURE
Variant Chess	processingUnknown	Futureworld
Variant Chess	processingUnknown	Chess2
Variant Chess	processingUnknown	King of the Bridge (Video Game)
Variant Chess	processingUnknown	BattleForDreamIslandThePowerOfTwo
Variant Chess	isPartOf	DBTropes
Variant Chess / int_10861ce9	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_10861ce9	comment	The chess variant that the Game Master plays with various people, with the only consistent rule being "wizard takes all", in The Smurfs episode "The Grouchiest Game In Town".
Variant Chess / int_10861ce9	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_10861ce9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Smurfs	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_10861ce9
Variant Chess / int_135f4195	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_135f4195	comment	From Dune's Terminology of the Imperium: Apparently it has evolved into an actual variant of chess that is some people actually play.
Variant Chess / int_135f4195	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_135f4195	featureConfidence	1.0
Dune	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_135f4195
Variant Chess / int_16712475	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_16712475	comment	An episode of The Jetsons had a character promoting a game called "Chess-O-Matic." It was a variant that spanned three different levels of game board platforms.
Variant Chess / int_16712475	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_16712475	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jetsons	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_16712475
Variant Chess / int_1aa9d9f4	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_1aa9d9f4	comment	One of the things that gets interrupted by the Batphone in the old Batman (1966) TV series is a game of chess, played on four or five layered boards.
Variant Chess / int_1aa9d9f4	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_1aa9d9f4	featureConfidence	1.0
Batman (1966)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_1aa9d9f4
Variant Chess / int_1fcfc25	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_1fcfc25	comment	Since The Player of Games revolves around the protagonist's unsurpassed game-playing ability, it's unsurprising that a lot of the games that get mentioned are variants on the abstract strategy theme. Azad itself is somewhat chess-like, except for the room-sized board ... and the changing pieces ... and the multiple side games.
Variant Chess / int_1fcfc25	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_1fcfc25	featureConfidence	1.0
The Player of Games	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_1fcfc25
Variant Chess / int_2372359	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_2372359	comment	David Eddings' The Belgariad occasionally refers to a chess-like game being played by superhuman forces, and the books each have a chess-related title (the protagonist is the titular Pawn of Prophecy). Despite this, neither chess nor any other board game appear in the actual story.
Variant Chess / int_2372359	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_2372359	featureConfidence	1.0
The Belgariad	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_2372359
Variant Chess / int_303eced	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_303eced	comment	The game of choice in most circumstances is "stones", which appears to be Go or a game very much like it. It's stated to be a simplified form of a more complex game called "Sha'rah", whose strategy centers around the capture and/or manipulation of a powerful piece called the Fisher, perhaps similar to the real-world game Tablut.
Variant Chess / int_303eced	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_303eced	featureConfidence	1.0
Go (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_303eced
Variant Chess / int_387f39f6	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_387f39f6	comment	In Yokoka's Quest, when Fahrin is first introduced she is playing a solo game of what appears to be chess with unorthodox pieces.
Variant Chess / int_387f39f6	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_387f39f6	featureConfidence	1.0
Yokoka's Quest (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_387f39f6
Variant Chess / int_3b34143f	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_3b34143f	comment	Wizard Chess in Harry Potter, where the pieces are semi-sentient and respond to verbal commands. Harry isn't very good at Wizard Chess; his pieces actually argue with him over bad decisions. Ron, on the other hand, is excellent; his pieces have come to trust him and obey his orders without question. In the climax of the first book, this becomes a Chekhov's Skill when the trio become pieces in a game of Human Chess.
Variant Chess / int_3b34143f	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_3b34143f	featureConfidence	1.0
Harry Potter	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_3b34143f
Variant Chess / int_3efd684e	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_3efd684e	comment	Game of the Generals: In a drawn-out endgame, the focus of gameplay can shift so heavily to clever maneuvering that it almost resembles a game of chess, especially when the flag is on the move.
Variant Chess / int_3efd684e	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_3efd684e	featureConfidence	1.0
Game of the Generals (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_3efd684e
Variant Chess / int_45556eaa	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_45556eaa	comment	5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel is technically 4D (2 spatial dimension and 2 temporal), but it's basically normal chess with the ability to move pieces and attack back into the past, which generates an alternate timeline when it's done so. Winning is usual by getting a checkmate, but that can also be done through time and alternate timelines in addition to on the normal board.
Variant Chess / int_45556eaa	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_45556eaa	featureConfidence	1.0
5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel (Video Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_45556eaa
Variant Chess / int_468bebb0	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_468bebb0	comment	Discworld: The book has stealth chess. Thud! is apparently a Variant Hnefatafl.
Variant Chess / int_468bebb0	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_468bebb0	featureConfidence	1.0
Discworld	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_468bebb0
Variant Chess / int_48b94b04	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_48b94b04	comment	The Green Rider series has Intrigue. The game is described as having messengers, generals, knights, spies, and a queen and king. It can be played between two people or with a third member, called the Triad. The Triad can choose to ally with either player but can also choose to be neutral. He or she can also break that alliance at any time. It's intended as a teaching tool for noble youths in the arts of treachery, tactics, and strategy, and is often used as a motif in the stories for the same.
Variant Chess / int_48b94b04	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_48b94b04	featureConfidence	1.0
Green Rider	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_48b94b04
Variant Chess / int_4e45b093	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_4e45b093	comment	Sheldon and Leonard play 3D chess in one episode of The Big Bang Theory. After Leonard loses several times in a row, Sheldon suggests that "perhaps three-dimensional Candy Land is more your speed." In "The Wildebeest Implementation", Sheldon devises a simple, innovative way to play three person chess, although it is still two dimensional. However, Sheldon being Sheldon, he keeps expanding and tweaking it until the whole thing becomes an indecipherable mess with many absurd new pieces and complicated moves, such as the Serpent, Old Woman, and Pope, as well as fractional positions ("Knight to Old Woman six and a third").
Variant Chess / int_4e45b093	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_4e45b093	featureConfidence	1.0
The Big Bang Theory	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_4e45b093
Variant Chess / int_50bcf7a6	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_50bcf7a6	comment	In Homestuck, every prototyping changes the Variant Chess world known as Skaia and as each player enters it grows more complex 0 Prototypings: A constant stalemate between two kings stuck on a 3 x 3 board 1 Prototyping: Normal chess 2 Prototypings: It becomes a giant CUBE with normal chess rules Vriska and Doc Scratch seem to enjoy playing this Variant Chess 3 Prototypings: Skaia becomes a planet and the pieces have achieved sentience so it's more like a real time strategy war 4 Prototypings: A giant mass of roots encase Skaia 12 Prototypings: In the troll universe their Skaia looks like a giant ocean planet with with a giant frog named Bilious Slick, the human universe that the trolls created at the center and it's covered in lily pads. It looks like this (spoilers ahead). 12+ Prototypings: They are supposedly too eldritch to understand beyond this point
Variant Chess / int_50bcf7a6	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_50bcf7a6	featureConfidence	1.0
Homestuck (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_50bcf7a6
Variant Chess / int_535ac0ac	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_535ac0ac	comment	Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World features a game called chess, with different but overlapping pieces compared to the basic version.
Variant Chess / int_535ac0ac	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_535ac0ac	featureConfidence	1.0
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_535ac0ac
Variant Chess / int_5c897f4a	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_5c897f4a	comment	Schlock Mercenary in this strip shows a cthulhu piece next to a bishop and a knight. "The game has changed a bit over time." "No, I'm not telling you how the Cthulhu piece moves."
Variant Chess / int_5c897f4a	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_5c897f4a	featureConfidence	1.0
Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_5c897f4a
Variant Chess / int_5fc3fc4d	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_5fc3fc4d	comment	A particularly irksome moment in the Storm comics has the protagonist teaching a whole city to abandon their bloody gladiatorial games because chess is so much more fun.
Variant Chess / int_5fc3fc4d	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_5fc3fc4d	featureConfidence	1.0
Storm	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_5fc3fc4d
Variant Chess / int_604085ed	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_604085ed	comment	Chess Evolved Online is an ambitious online chess variant that adds over 300 pieces to the game, with players choosing fifteen pieces and a king using a Point Buy system. New pieces range from relative mundane upgrades to existing pieces (Bishop+ can move one square orthogonality, as long as this doesn't capture an enemy piece) to completely original pieces that change the game completely (Liches can Cast from Hit Points to summon skeletons, Wind Mages can push both allied and enemy pieces around.)
Variant Chess / int_604085ed	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_604085ed	featureConfidence	1.0
Chess Evolved Online (Video Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_604085ed
Variant Chess / int_6059ad6b	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_6059ad6b	comment	xkcd introduces Dimensional Chess, which takes n-dimensional chess a stage further by adding more dimensions to each row. So rows 1 and 8 are 2D, rows 2 and 7 are 3D, rows 3 and 6 are 4D and rows 4 and 5 are 5D.
Variant Chess / int_6059ad6b	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_6059ad6b	featureConfidence	1.0
xkcd (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_6059ad6b
Variant Chess / int_60e46926	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_60e46926	comment	In 1963, MAD decided, since old-fashioned chess reflected an obsolete kind of warfare, that the pieces and rules of chess needed to be redesigned to reflect modern military innovation. This "Modern Chess" would be, in other words, Global Thermonuclear War, with bishops, rooks and knights replaced by ICBMs, air raid sirens and fallout shelters, and so on:
Variant Chess / int_60e46926	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_60e46926	featureConfidence	1.0
MAD (Magazine)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_60e46926
Variant Chess / int_630755ab	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_630755ab	comment	Codex Alera has Ludus. In addition to the various pieces being renamed (First Lord, Citizen, Freeholder, etc...), there is an additional board that represents the sky above the battlefield. This makes sense given that some Alerans are capable of flight and aerial battles and tactics are an important part of Aleran warfare.
Variant Chess / int_630755ab	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_630755ab	featureConfidence	1.0
Codex Alera	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_630755ab
Variant Chess / int_657433d5	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_657433d5	comment	Castles in The Ember Blade is played like chess in the sense the player has to capture their opponent's king. Pieces include giants and assassins, and the board contains a number of castles for the players to capture (although this means nothing if the king is captured). Aren plays this game at the start of the novel against one of his mentors, and wins via Confusion Fu. Mara plays at the end of the novel because Smart People Play Castles and they need to steal the key to the room where the titular sword is kept.
Variant Chess / int_657433d5	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_657433d5	featureConfidence	1.0
The Ember Blade	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_657433d5
Variant Chess / int_699dbb95	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_699dbb95	comment	Door Monster uses this in a sketch about mini games called "Elaborate Fantasy Checkers". Two of the pieces appear to be a Remortgaged Fortress and a Suspiciously Unholy Infant.
Variant Chess / int_699dbb95	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_699dbb95	featureConfidence	1.0
Door Monster (Web Video)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_699dbb95
Variant Chess / int_6ac55ec7	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_6ac55ec7	comment	Dungeons & Dragons has dragonchess, a variant played on three different boards at once, representing the sky, land, and Underdark. It also uses (mostly) its own pieces based on traditional D&D races, classes, and monsters, each with its own unique rules. Eberron characters are likely to play Conqueror instead, which is described as "chesslike" in the Five Nations sourcebook that introduced it.
Variant Chess / int_6ac55ec7	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_6ac55ec7	featureConfidence	1.0
Dungeons & Dragons (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_6ac55ec7
Variant Chess / int_6bef8832	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_6bef8832	comment	Baldur's Gate III shows characters playing lanceboard, which in the tabletop version of Forgotten Realms is implied to be just standard chess, but which here is played on a three-dimensional field which seems to rise up at one end like a mountain.
Variant Chess / int_6bef8832	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_6bef8832	featureConfidence	1.0
Baldur's Gate III (Video Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_6bef8832
Variant Chess / int_72262aee	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_72262aee	comment	Pai-sho from Avatar: The Last Airbender seems to be a cross between Chess and Go, with maybe a little bit of Mahjong thrown in for good measure.
Variant Chess / int_72262aee	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_72262aee	featureConfidence	1.0
Avatar: The Last Airbender	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_72262aee
Variant Chess / int_7369fa6	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_7369fa6	comment	War of the Spider Queen describes a game called "sava", which allows each player to roll dice once per game for a chance to make one of the opponent's pieces capture another. The board is also web-shaped.
Variant Chess / int_7369fa6	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_7369fa6	featureConfidence	1.0
War of the Spider Queen	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_7369fa6
Variant Chess / int_73d7930f	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_73d7930f	comment	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine brings an example with kotra, a Cardassian variant. Not much is known about how to play, except that Garak thinks that Nog's conservative playstyle is all but guaranteed to lose.
Variant Chess / int_73d7930f	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_73d7930f	featureConfidence	1.0
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_73d7930f
Variant Chess / int_78b0fc5e	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_78b0fc5e	comment	Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate is Exactly What It Says on the Tin. You play as the Black King, have no other pieces, and can't capture normally... but the Black King has a shotgun which they can use to aim and shoot at the White pieces to damage and kill them, while also being able to move and shoot each round. He can also take the souls of non-pawn, non-king pieces he kills, which can be spent to move like them for a turn. Killing White's King ends the round, while it's Game Over if the Black King is captured. White starts out with few pieces, but every round they gain more. At the end of a successful round, the player selects a pair of cards that gives an advantage to the Black King and an advantage to White's pieces, changing up the gameplay strategy — such as one that gives the Black King the ability to respawn once if checkmated, but also replaces White's Pawns diagonal attack range with a 2-square forward attack range.
Variant Chess / int_78b0fc5e	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_78b0fc5e	featureConfidence	1.0
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate (Video Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_78b0fc5e
Variant Chess / int_80979f9d	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_80979f9d	comment	Double the Fist had Steve Foxx travel back in time to make the world better by killing Captain Cook, but Cook's crew had force fields and rayguns and fought Steve's allies to a standstill (don't ask) so Steve accepted an offer to settle things peacefully over a game of chess. Holographic 3D chess where moves and captures were declared by announcing Cluedo-style murders.
Variant Chess / int_80979f9d	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_80979f9d	featureConfidence	1.0
Double the Fist	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_80979f9d
Variant Chess / int_81692f99	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_81692f99	comment	Star Trek: 3D chess was used often in Star Trek. Spock was obviously a master. As the rules were concocted after the board was designed just to 'look' futuristic, there are several sets: one involves being able to move several small four-square 'attack boards' with pieces on them to different clipped-on positions on the the three main boards in lieu of a move. Features as a plot point in the TOS first season episode "Court Martial," where Spock beating the computer at chess is a clue that the computer has been tampered with. In the 3rd Season episode "Whom Gods Destroy", the sign-countersign Kirk is supposed to use to get beamed back up to the Enterprise — to make sure it was really him and not an impostor — was "Queen to Queen's Level Three". (The countersign was "Queen to King's Level One.") The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Peak Performance" introduces Strategema, which appears to be similar to Go played on a holographic board, in real time and at high speed. Data is unable to defeat a visiting third-level grand master, but is later able to force a draw and cause the Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy to leave in a huff after a game that lasted for only a few seconds but apparently included over 33,000 moves between them. This was some eight years before a similar match in Real Life in which the IBM computer Deep Blue was able to beat (human) champion Gary Kasparov at chess two games to one (with three draws) in a battle of attrition. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine brings an example with kotra, a Cardassian variant. Not much is known about how to play, except that Garak thinks that Nog's conservative playstyle is all but guaranteed to lose. An episode of Star Trek: Voyager briefly features a game called "derada." Not much is known about it other than that B'Elanna always falls for Tom's "Novakovich Gambit." Another such game featured on Voyager is kadis-kot. Naomi, Neelix, and Seven are fond of playing it, though it's less of a chess equivalent and more of a kid's game like checkers, or Connect Four. Voyager also gives us kal-toh, a Vulcan strategy game where the players use strategy and logic to build a balanced harmonious structure from a jumbled pile of sticks. Jenga chess, if you will. Naturally, Tuvok gets in some Cultural Posturing about it:
Variant Chess / int_81692f99	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_81692f99	featureConfidence	1.0
Star Trek (Franchise)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_81692f99
Variant Chess / int_83e5838d	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_83e5838d	comment	The Adventures of Tom Rynosseros: fire chess is Serious Business in future Australia. The details of the game are intentionally left vague, but all the pieces are alit during play.
Variant Chess / int_83e5838d	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_83e5838d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Adventures of Tom Rynosseros	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_83e5838d
Variant Chess / int_8b7b9cd5	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_8b7b9cd5	comment	The scene in A New Hope, where R2-D2 and Chewie are playing some (holographic?claymation) version of chess, and Han advising R2-D2 to lose...
Variant Chess / int_8b7b9cd5	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_8b7b9cd5	featureConfidence	1.0
A New Hope	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_8b7b9cd5
Variant Chess / int_8d8157e0	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_8d8157e0	comment	Lexx had a live-piece chess game in one of the trippy later-season episodes.
Variant Chess / int_8d8157e0	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_8d8157e0	featureConfidence	1.0
Lexx	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_8d8157e0
Variant Chess / int_8e2aba6a	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_8e2aba6a	comment	Triplicate Girl from the Legion of Super Heroes (2006) sometimes splits in three and plays against herself in a game of chess. The chess board is, of course, in two of her colors (orange and purple), and the pieces float above the board. One wonders, though, how she tells the difference between the identical, triangular pieces.
Variant Chess / int_8e2aba6a	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_8e2aba6a	featureConfidence	1.0
Legion of Super Heroes (2006)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_8e2aba6a
Variant Chess / int_90f42a9b	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_90f42a9b	comment	The Wheel of Time The game of choice in most circumstances is "stones", which appears to be Go or a game very much like it. It's stated to be a simplified form of a more complex game called "Sha'rah", whose strategy centers around the capture and/or manipulation of a powerful piece called the Fisher, perhaps similar to the real-world game Tablut. The game Snakes and Foxes seems to be related to real-world fox games, but even more unbalanced: by giving the "fox" side both superior movement options and numbers, the game is almost impossible to win, and as such is only played by small children until they become old enough to realize how unfair it is.
Variant Chess / int_90f42a9b	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_90f42a9b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Wheel of Time	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_90f42a9b
Variant Chess / int_97abe183	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_97abe183	comment	When Jimmy Neutron used his super science to make Sheen super-smart, the teaching montage they went through had Sheen win at a game of three-tiered chess, and then a normal game of chess.
Variant Chess / int_97abe183	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_97abe183	featureConfidence	1.0
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_97abe183
Variant Chess / int_9a7088bc	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_9a7088bc	comment	Features as a plot point in the TOS first season episode "Court Martial," where Spock beating the computer at chess is a clue that the computer has been tampered with.
Variant Chess / int_9a7088bc	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_9a7088bc	featureConfidence	1.0
Star Trek: The Original Series	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_9a7088bc
Variant Chess / int_9d47a2a2	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_9d47a2a2	comment	A Song of Ice and Fire has cyvasse, a chess-variant with pieces like dragon, elephant, crossbow, trebuchet and mountain. The players align their pieces in a custom starting alignment before the beginning of the game, with a Battleships-style screen dividing the board so your opponent doesn't know your deployment until the game begins. Smart People Play Cyvasse is in full effect.
Variant Chess / int_9d47a2a2	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_9d47a2a2	featureConfidence	1.0
A Song of Ice and Fire	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_9d47a2a2
Variant Chess / int_a183d57f	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_a183d57f	comment	Used a few times in Futurama, one with a holographic chess set and another with multi-tiered Scrabble-ish game.
Variant Chess / int_a183d57f	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_a183d57f	featureConfidence	1.0
Futurama	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_a183d57f
Variant Chess / int_a50ae25d	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_a50ae25d	comment	In The Final Reflection, by John M. Ford, the protagonist's father studies other races through their chess-equivalents. Of the several mentioned in the novel, klin zha, the Klingon game, is of particular and recurring significance, and has itself several variants.
Variant Chess / int_a50ae25d	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_a50ae25d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Final Reflection	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_a50ae25d
Variant Chess / int_a8150af4	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_a8150af4	comment	In the pilot of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, two villagers from Tirharad are seen playing an unnamed fantasy variant of chess. "Caraes" seems to be In-Universe word for "checkmate".
Variant Chess / int_a8150af4	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_a8150af4	featureConfidence	1.0
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_a8150af4
Variant Chess / int_ae54c340	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_ae54c340	comment	Reign of the Seven Spellblades: "Magic Chess", which is apparently the bastard offspring of normal chess (which also exists in the setting) and tabletop wargaming: according to Oliver it's up to 28 editions and there are rules updates every month that completely upend the metagame. The current edition, Dynamic, features among other things trap effects and one of Nanao's pieces defending itself against Oliver's move by turning into a werewolf. Oliver's father was terrible at it, while his mother routinely kicked both their butts.
Variant Chess / int_ae54c340	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_ae54c340	featureConfidence	1.0
Reign of the Seven Spellblades	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_ae54c340
Variant Chess / int_afeeacf6	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_afeeacf6	comment	Dejarik appears again in The Force Awakens, when Finn accidentally activates the board while leaning on it.
Variant Chess / int_afeeacf6	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_afeeacf6	featureConfidence	1.0
The Force Awakens	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_afeeacf6
Variant Chess / int_b0aced43	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_b0aced43	comment	The Dark Side of the Sun briefly features a chess-like game with living pieces.
Variant Chess / int_b0aced43	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_b0aced43	featureConfidence	1.0
The Dark Side of the Sun	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_b0aced43
Variant Chess / int_b683f90f	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_b683f90f	comment	Perry Rhodan gives us "Martha-Martha", which is highly popular among the reptilian Tarts (sic) in the Duchy of Krandhor. That the game eventually turns out to be derived from classic Earth chess (introduced by human castaways) even becomes a plot point.
Variant Chess / int_b683f90f	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_b683f90f	featureConfidence	1.0
Perry Rhodan	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_b683f90f
Variant Chess / int_bb444181	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_bb444181	comment	Tales of the Questor has a four-player variant with the same social role as poker.
Variant Chess / int_bb444181	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_bb444181	featureConfidence	1.0
Tales of the Questor (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_bb444181
Variant Chess / int_c2b07688	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_c2b07688	comment	Archon and featured a chess-like setup but it had different (but equivalent) pieces on each side with various abilities. Capturing pieces was performed via an arcade sequence where the two pieces fought it out and either one could win. Its sequel was much less chess-like at first glance (being on an irregularly-shaped board where you have to summon most of your pieces to the field).
Variant Chess / int_c2b07688	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_c2b07688	featureConfidence	1.0
Archon (Video Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_c2b07688
Variant Chess / int_c43df4d8	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_c43df4d8	comment	In the Doctor Who episode "The Wedding Of River Song", The Doctor and an agent of the Silence play Live Chess in a gladiator-style pit, with crowds of cheering/screaming spectators. The Doctor used a chess puzzle to defeat Fenric in "The Curse of Fenric." The first time he set up the challenge, he carved the pieces from bones in the sand, and posed his Unwinnable by Design puzzle. The solution? The black pawns join forces with the white ones. Of course, the Doctor never said Fenric couldn't do this! When The Third Doctor is imprisoned in the Lunar Penal Colony in "Frontier In Space," the inmates play a Variant Chess game involving translucent pieces of peculiar cylindrical shapes, four irregular tiers and an either eccentric or repetitive set-up procedure. The terms "Check" and "Mate" are both employed, but no other rules are observable.
Variant Chess / int_c43df4d8	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_c43df4d8	featureConfidence	1.0
Doctor Who	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_c43df4d8
Variant Chess / int_c58d3ee5	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_c58d3ee5	comment	The Liavek books have "cylindrical shah". "Regular" shah seems to be chess with a different name and different names for all the pieces; cylindrical shah is a variant in which the players pretend that the board is a cylinder with the two sides touching- meaning that the player can move a piece "off" one side and "onto" the other. There's a complicated incident where some characters get stuck as the pieces in a game of Human Chess between gods, and realize partway through that they're playing cylindrical shah, not the usual version.
Variant Chess / int_c58d3ee5	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_c58d3ee5	featureConfidence	1.0
Liavek	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_c58d3ee5
Variant Chess / int_c6f7e804	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_c6f7e804	comment	Blake's 7 In "Gambit", Vila (with covert help from Orac) plays speed chess in a casino, with a rather alarming twist; the loser is fatally electrocuted. Yes, Blake's Seven does take place in a Crapsack World. In "Orbit", two Mad Scientists are playing a game with pieces that look like identical plastic cylinders. Avon wants to know how they tell the king from the queen. Often however the crew of the Liberator are shown playing an intergalactic version of monopoly. Presumably this is because while Smart People Play Chess is often played straight in the series, the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits includes a few criminals who are equally obsessed with gaining wealth.
Variant Chess / int_c6f7e804	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_c6f7e804	featureConfidence	1.0
Blake's 7	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_c6f7e804
Variant Chess / int_c75986ad	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_c75986ad	comment	GÃ¶del, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid proposes a game in which (certain parameters of) the rules are represented as pieces on a second chessboard, so that on your turn you can move a piece or change the rules. Or there could be only one board, so that on your turn you are moving a piece and changing the rules. Unsurprisingly, some aficionados have actually tried this out.
Variant Chess / int_c75986ad	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_c75986ad	featureConfidence	1.0
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_c75986ad
Variant Chess / int_ca58417a	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_ca58417a	comment	Arimaa: Pieces push and pull each other into pits in an effort to get their weakest pieces across the board. Designed to be difficult for computers, but still simple and fun for humans.
Variant Chess / int_ca58417a	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_ca58417a	featureConfidence	1.0
Arimaa (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_ca58417a
Variant Chess / int_cbad9b62	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_cbad9b62	comment	Legend of the Galactic Heroes: There is a variant of chess called Three-Dimensional Chess, which consists on standard chess but with two extra boards above and below the main board, and there are rules for moving the classic chess pieces from one board to the other. Actually makes awesome sense if you analyze it, since, with the advent of space battling, the third dimension has become an important component of military strategy, and this future's version of chess reflects it.
Variant Chess / int_cbad9b62	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_cbad9b62	featureConfidence	1.0
Legend of the Galactic Heroes	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_cbad9b62
Variant Chess / int_cd1550c5	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_cd1550c5	comment	The Dark Tower series features fleeting mentions of a chess variant called Castles with differently-named pieces, and evidently some sort of "hillock" square(s) in the middle of the board which restrict a player's view of the opposing pieces.
Variant Chess / int_cd1550c5	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_cd1550c5	featureConfidence	1.0
The Dark Tower (Franchise)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_cd1550c5
Variant Chess / int_d6423831	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_d6423831	comment	The John Carter of Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs feature a Martian Chess, called Jetan. In the book The Chessmen of Mars, they play it with live pieces. In S. M. Stirling's novel In the Courts of the Crimson Kings it reappears as "atanj". Obvious?
Variant Chess / int_d6423831	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_d6423831	featureConfidence	1.0
John Carter of Mars	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_d6423831
Variant Chess / int_de8f1f24	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_de8f1f24	comment	Kingdom Hearts III: The Framing Device involves a vaguely chess-like game between Xehanort and Eraqus during their youth. Unbeknownst to them, their moves just happen to correspond to the battle between Sora's allies and Xehanort's various incarnations. In the epilogue, Eraqus starts up a new game, resembling the coming conflict between Sora and the Foretellers.
Variant Chess / int_de8f1f24	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_de8f1f24	featureConfidence	1.0
Kingdom Hearts III (Video Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_de8f1f24
Variant Chess / int_e2fa7287	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_e2fa7287	comment	In-universe in Touhou, Momiji Inubashiri of the Youkai Mountain Patrol is a fan of shogi. She and the other patrolmen came up with an extremely complex variant, Dai Tengu Shogi. She was quite annoyed to find out the outside world had also developed different pieces and alternate rules.
Variant Chess / int_e2fa7287	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_e2fa7287	featureConfidence	1.0
Touhou	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_e2fa7287
Variant Chess / int_e5964cdb	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_e5964cdb	comment	Chess itself: Modern chess was only standardized in the 19th century, following at least 600 years of chess play in Europe. An observer from the 1500s might chuckle knowingly at the absence of couriers and sages from the square board. "Future Chess," indeed.
Variant Chess / int_e5964cdb	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_e5964cdb	featureConfidence	1.0
Chess (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_e5964cdb
Variant Chess / int_e677e8f7	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_e677e8f7	comment	Games like Shōgi (Japanese chess) and Xiangqi (Chinese chess) are related and similar to international chess; both Western/international chess and these games themselves started as variants of the Indian game chaturanga. Some of these games, like Makruk (Thai chess) can be played on an international chess board with the same pieces.
Variant Chess / int_e677e8f7	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_e677e8f7	featureConfidence	1.0
Shōgi (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_e677e8f7
Variant Chess / int_e694aadb	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_e694aadb	comment	The Ciaphas Cain novels by Sandy Mitchell mentioned a game called "Regicide", of which Cain himself was a pretty good player of—a variant of chess (Warhammer 40,000-style) that could be played with a variety of alternate rules, such as each piece having special abilities, putting obstacles on the board/"field" which forced the players to adjust their strategies to go around them or a "blind" version which put a cover over the board and forced the players to play... well, blind. Now (partially) undergoing Defictionalization with the upcoming Regicide video game.
Variant Chess / int_e694aadb	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_e694aadb	featureConfidence	1.0
Ciaphas Cain	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_e694aadb
Variant Chess / int_eb5d7301	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_eb5d7301	comment	The game Flipwart from Amphibia is one of these.
Variant Chess / int_eb5d7301	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_eb5d7301	featureConfidence	1.0
Amphibia	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_eb5d7301
Variant Chess / int_ef076a36	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_ef076a36	comment	An episode of Star Trek: Voyager briefly features a game called "derada." Not much is known about it other than that B'Elanna always falls for Tom's "Novakovich Gambit."
Variant Chess / int_ef076a36	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_ef076a36	featureConfidence	1.0
Star Trek: Voyager	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_ef076a36
Variant Chess / int_f01be35d	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_f01be35d	comment	Gor has its own chess variant, Kaissa. Although it features quite often, the rules are never explained in detail. It serves as a vehicle for sermonising (Tarnsman of Gor), a game played for the hero's life (Assassin of Gor), a means to fraternise with the locals (Marauders of Gor) and others besides.
Variant Chess / int_f01be35d	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_f01be35d	featureConfidence	1.0
Gor	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_f01be35d
Variant Chess / int_f4be4bdc	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_f4be4bdc	comment	Starman Jones has 3D chess, and the game pieces are different types of spaceships instead of medieval figures.
Variant Chess / int_f4be4bdc	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_f4be4bdc	featureConfidence	1.0
Starman Jones	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_f4be4bdc
Variant Chess / int_f6222924	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_f6222924	comment	Invisible Sun features the Spider's Game, a version of chess routinely played by members of the magical Order of Weavers to keep their magic weaving skills sharp. It involves anywhere from four to nine boards and a complex array of pieces and moves that anyone outside the Weavers are likely to find incomprehensible.
Variant Chess / int_f6222924	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_f6222924	featureConfidence	1.0
Invisible Sun (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_f6222924
Variant Chess / int_ff9ab17f	type	Variant Chess
Variant Chess / int_ff9ab17f	comment	The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Peak Performance" introduces Strategema, which appears to be similar to Go played on a holographic board, in real time and at high speed. Data is unable to defeat a visiting third-level grand master, but is later able to force a draw and cause the Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy to leave in a huff after a game that lasted for only a few seconds but apparently included over 33,000 moves between them. This was some eight years before a similar match in Real Life in which the IBM computer Deep Blue was able to beat (human) champion Gary Kasparov at chess two games to one (with three draws) in a battle of attrition.
Variant Chess / int_ff9ab17f	featureApplicability	1.0
Variant Chess / int_ff9ab17f	featureConfidence	1.0
Star Trek: The Next Generation	hasFeature	Variant Chess / int_ff9ab17f

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Variant Chess	processingCategory2	Game Tropes
RPG Metanoia (Animation) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Ulysses 31 / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
FoxTrot (Comic Strip) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Zero Requiem / Fan Fic / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
A New Hope / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
An American Hippie in Israel / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
The Three Musketeers (1973) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Dune (Franchise) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
KonoSuba / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Brave New World / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Dune / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Dune Encyclopedia / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Green Rider / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
KonoSuba / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
On the Edge of Eureka / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Reign of the Seven Spellblades / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Starman Jones / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
The Lords of Creation / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
The Riftwar Cycle / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Blake's 7 / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Arimaa (Tabletop Game) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Chess (Tabletop Game) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Diplomacy (Tabletop Game) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Game of the Generals (Tabletop Game) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Invisible Sun (Tabletop Game) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Stratego (Tabletop Game) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Twilight Struggle (Tabletop Game) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel (Video Game) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Kingdom Hearts III (Video Game) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate (Video Game) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Door Monster (Web Video) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Tales of the Questor (Webcomic) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Yokoka's Quest (Webcomic) / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess
Empire from the Ashes / int_e42d93e0	type	Variant Chess

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