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Chess Variants/Grasshopper Chess

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8 a8 black rook b8 black knight c8 black bishop d8 black queen e8 black king f8 black bishop g8 black knight h8 black rook 8
7 a7 black upside-down queen b7 black upside-down queen c7 black upside-down queen d7 black upside-down queen e7 black upside-down queen f7 black upside-down queen g7 black upside-down queen h7 black upside-down queen 7
6 a6 black pawn b6 black pawn c6 black pawn d6 black pawn e6 black pawn f6 black pawn g6 black pawn h6 black pawn 6
5 a5 black king b5 black king c5 black king d5 black king e5 black king f5 black king g5 black king h5 black king 5
4 a4 black king b4 black king c4 black king d4 black king e4 black king f4 black king g4 black king h4 black king 4
3 a3 white pawn b3 white pawn c3 white pawn d3 white pawn e3 white pawn f3 white pawn g3 white pawn h3 white pawn 3
2 a2 white upside-down queen b2 white upside-down queen c2 white upside-down queen d2 white upside-down queen e2 white upside-down queen f2 white upside-down queen g2 white upside-down queen h2 white upside-down queen 2
1 a1 white rook b1 white knight c1 white bishop d1 white queen e1 white king f1 white bishop g1 white knight h1 white rook 1
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Grasshopper chess starting position. The grasshoppers are represented by inverted queens.

Introduction

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Grasshopper Chess is a variant named after its titular piece, the grasshopper.

History

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Grasshopper chess was created in the 1950s by a Frenchman, J. Boyer. The grasshopper piece was created in 1912 and inspired by the cannon from xiangqi (Chinese Chess), which must jump another piece when capturing.

Rules

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Grasshopper chess is set up like the standard game, but the pawns are advanced one rank forward and grasshoppers are placed on the second and seventh ranks, eight per player.

The grasshopper moves like a queen, but it must jump over one piece (called the screen) during its move, and lands on the square immediately beyond that piece. The screen can be of either colour, but it must be there.

A grasshopper cannot move to a square if there is no screen for it to jump over, and it cannot jump two pieces in one turn.

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8 a8 black king b8 black king c8 black king d8 black king e8 black king f8 black king g8 black king h8 black king 8
7 a7 black king b7 black king c7 black circle d7 black king e7 black king f7 black rook g7 black king h7 black king 7
6 a6 black pawn b6 black pawn c6 black pawn d6 black pawn e6 black pawn f6 black king g6 black king h6 black king 6
5 a5 black king b5 black king c5 black king d5 black king e5 black king f5 black king g5 black king h5 black king 5
4 a4 black king b4 black king c4 white upside-down queen d4 black king e4 black king f4 black king g4 black circle h4 black king 4
3 a3 black king b3 white pawn c3 white pawn d3 white pawn e3 black king f3 black king g3 black king h3 black king 3
2 a2 black circle b2 black king c2 black circle d2 black king e2 white rook f2 black king g2 black king h2 black king 2
1 a1 black king b1 black king c1 black king d1 black king e1 black king f1 black king g1 black king h1 black king 1
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The grasshopper can move to any square marked with a dot, or it can capture the black rook on f7.


A pawn is allowed to promote to a grasshopper, if that player wishes.

Sub-variants

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This chess variant does not not have any notable sub-variants.