Chieftain Chess (2006)

Chieftain Chess is a structured multi-move game for 2 teams of 1-4 players/side. It is scalable, with larger and smaller versions available. A chess-wargame fusion that uses 5 different types of simple short-range chess-like pieces, it mimics various aspects of an ancient battle on a 12x16 rectangular field. Four chiefs [the strongest but not the fastest pieces] per side lead their 32 piece armies in a set-piece battle that begins just after the 2 armies start to close with each other.

Victory is achieved by killing all 4 enemy chiefs before your 4 get killed. Players move as many pieces per turn as they have friendly chiefs on the board. The moving pieces must be within "command control range" of the chiefs, generally 3 squares, to be able to move that turn. This forces the royal pieces to be active participants in the heat of the battle, rather than trying to hide in the corners like the kings of chess.

Most games, regardless of size, are determined in 30-40 turns. The game is designed so the pace increases from beginning to end. The players start with 1 chief for every 8 pieces, so they move about 12% of their armies each turn in the beginning. By midgame, 20-25% of the army moves each turn, and by the endgame, roughly 50% of the remaining pieces move each turn.

The game trades space for time compared to western chess. Where attacks in chess are sequenced deeply in time but concentrated in space, in Chieftain multiple attacks are spread out across space, but can't be accurately calculated more than 2 or 3 turns deep in time. It has a deliberate, almost defining theme, yet it is a pure abstract game, with perfect information, and in its specific "combat" pieces and their movement rules, there is no semblance of reality. What it allows is a game played on 2 levels, the tactical level being a pure, simple chess variant, and the strategic level being a simulation of a wargame.

The game may be played online at chessvariants.org, or a Chieftain Chess set can be made from 2 complete sets of chesspieces and 3 same-sized chess boards, one cut in half, for face to face play.

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