Terraprint

Tamerlane Chess

Pieces & Movesets

An "O" indicates a square that the piece can move to. An "X" indicates a square that a piece must move over, but does not jump over. This means that if another piece is occupying an "X" square then moves along that path will not be available. In the case of the Scout and Giraffe their moves extend to the edge of the board. The Horse, Rook, Pawn, and King move and attack as in modern chess. Except the pawn may not double jump on its first move nor can it capture en passant. Additional pieces that are found in Tamerlane Chess move as follows:

A Tamerlane Chess camel piece that moves as a 3,1 leaper.

Camel

A Tamerlane Dabbaba that moves as a 2,0 leaper.

Dabbaba (Siege Engine/Cannon)

A Tamerlane Chess Elephant that moves as a 2,2 leaper.

Elephant

A Tamerlane Chess Scout that moves similar to a modern chess bishop but must move at least 2 squares diagonally and can be blocked by a piece one square away diagonally.

Scout

A Tamerlane Chess Vizier that moves one square orthogonally per turn.

Vizier (right of king)

A Tamerlane Chess Ferz which moves one square diagonally per turn.

Ferz (left of king)

A Tamerlane Chess Giraffe that moves 1 square diagonally then at least 3 squares orthogonally. It can be blocked if there is a piece in the way of its mandatory travel squares.

Giraffe

Starting Arrays

There are 3 known starting arrays for Tamerlane Chess. They mostly involve changing the position of the Giraffe, Dabbaba (Cannon), and Scout. The pawns do not change file in any starting array, though the King's pawn is moved back one rank in the feminine and third arrays. Note that the citadels are not displayed but they would be located to the right of the 2nd rank and to the left of the 9th rank for white and black respectively.

I am limited by the tool that I used to create these so I represent the pawns with a 45 degree rotation of their associated pieces.

A Tamerlane Chess set in the 'masculine' array.

Masculine Starting Array

A Tamerlane Chess set in the 'feminine' array.

Feminine Starting Array

A Tamerlane Chess set in the 'third' array.

Third Starting Array

Pawn Promotion

Each pawn depicts the piece that it will promote to upon reaching the opposite rank. Use the included pawn promotion pedestals to indicate promotion. The pawn of pawns has a special promotion rule: Upon reaching the final rank the pawn of pawns cannot be captured and is rendered immobile until on a subsequent turn the player may move the pawn to a square where it threatens an enemy piece and that piece cannot escape, or to a square from which the pawn is forking two opposing pieces. If such a square is already occupied by a friendly or opposing piece then that piece is removed from the board. If the pawn of pawns again reaches the final rank then it is immediately moved to the starting position of the pawn of kings. If that square is occupied then I assume that the displaced piece is removed from the board as before (if that displaced were to be the king then I am not sure what happens, the recovered rules don't say). If the pawn of pawns reaches the final rank a thrid time it is finally promoted to the adventitious king and has the same moveset as the king but cannot be placed in check and may be captured normally.

Special King Escape

Once per game each player, if their king is in check, checkmate, or stalemate, may elect to switch the position of their king with any other friendly piece on the board.

Citadels

The citadels are located on the 2nd and 9th ranks to each player's right side. Only the king can occupy the opponent's citadel and it may not occupy the friendly citadel. A player who succeeds in occupying the enemy citadel may declare a draw. Alternatively, that player can elect to switch the position of their king with a promoted pawn of kings (aka Prince) or a promoted pawn of pawns (aka Adventitious King) if they exist on the board. The promoted pawn of pawns may occupy the friendly citadel so as to prevent the enemy king from doing so.

Stalemate

Stalemate is considered a victory for the player who is not in stalemate. A draw can only be forced by use of the citadels as described above.

Full Tamerlane Chess Variant

Additional Pieces and Movesets

The historical movesets for the additional pieces in this variant are not known. However, in their book A World of Chess, authors Jean-Louis Cazaux and Rick Knowlton offer the below movesets. They reason that these fill out a 7x7 square of moves that complement the movesets from standard Tamerlane Chess pieces.

A Full Tamerlane Chess Bull that moves as a 3,3 leaper.

Bull

A Full Tamerlane Chess Lion that moves as a 3,0 leaper.

Lion

A Full Tamerlane Chess Explorer (also known as a Revealer) that jumps 3 squares diagonally.

Explorer (aka Revealer)

A Full Tamerlane Chess Sea Monster that starts from the same position and has the same moveset as the Vizier

Sea Monster (replaces Vizier)

Starting Array

Note that the pawns of the revealer, bull, and elephant are not flipped as the others, but are directly across from each other in the 3 leading pawn positions. Also the left hand Camel of each player has been replaced by a third Horse/Knight.

A Full Tamerlane Chess set in the starting array.

Full Tamerlane Starting Array

Additional Rules

There are no known additional rules in this variant. So with the new starting array and extra pieces Full Tamerlane Chess is played with the same rules regarding pawn promotion, citadels, checkmate, stalemate, etc as standard Tamerlane Chess.

See Also

Diagrams Created With Musketeer Chess Board Painter