Crazy 38's

Crazy 38’s

Crazy 38’s is a chess variant by Ben Good, invented as an entry for Hans Bodlaender’s 38 Squares Contest (submission deadline January 31, 1998). It plays on a 38-square board with a built-in loop connection and uses Shogi-style drops.

The Board

A 38-square checkered board. Notation uses letters a–h for rows (running down one side) and numbers 1–8 for columns (running up the other side); not every letter–number combination corresponds to an existing square. The board has a loop-effect: one edge of the board connects to another, enabling pieces (especially the Rook) to travel continuously around the loop.

Home Square: The square a King occupies at the start of the game is that player’s Home Square. Home Squares are permanent reference points for pawn promotion and the alternative win condition.

Starting Position

Each player begins with the following pieces:

Piece Movements

King — moves to any adjacent square (orthogonal or diagonal).

Rook — slides any number of squares orthogonally as long as the path is unblocked. Can exploit the board’s loop connection to travel around the board.

Bishop — slides any number of squares diagonally as long as the path is unblocked. Additionally, may step one square orthogonally, provided: (a) the Bishop is adjacent to a friendly piece, and (b) the orthogonal step would not capture an enemy piece.

Knight — moves to any square reached by first stepping one square diagonally, then one square orthogonally outward from the starting square. The move is unblockable (leaps over intervening pieces).

Silver General — moves to any adjacent square except the squares diagonally ahead (forward diagonals) and diagonally behind (backward diagonals). Effectively moves to the four orthogonal squares plus the two lateral diagonal squares.

Gold General — moves to any adjacent square except the squares diagonally to either side. Note: Gold and Silver Generals have movements distinct from their Shogi counterparts.

Pawn — moves exactly one square in any orthogonal direction away from the player’s own side of the board (forward and/or lateral, but not backward toward the player’s own starting edge). A Pawn promotes to Queen only when it moves to the opponent’s Home Square specifically. The Queen has the combined movement of Rook and Bishop. A Queen that is captured is demoted back to a Pawn before being added to the capturing player’s hand for future drops.

Drops

Crazy 38’s uses Shogi-style drops: instead of making a normal move, a player may drop any piece from their hand onto any vacant square, with the following restrictions:

• A Pawn may not be dropped onto the opponent’s Home Square.
• A Pawn may not be dropped in a position that immediately checkmates the opponent’s King.

Win Condition

A player wins by either:

1. Checkmating the opponent’s King, or
2. Moving their own King onto the opponent’s Home Square.

Attribution

Crazy 38’s was designed by Ben Good. Entry submitted to the 38 Squares Contest, January 1998. Source: chessvariants.com/38.dir/crazy/crazy38s.html