Maharaja & Sepoys

One Queen+Knight super-piece (the Maharaja) vs a full standard army. The ultimate asymmetric challenge.

Maharaja & Sepoys — starting position

Setup

Board: Standard 8×8.

Setup:

FEN: rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/8/4M3 w kq - 0 1

Black (Sepoys): Full standard chess army on ranks 7–8. Pawns on rank 7.
White (Maharaja): A single piece — the Maharaja — placed on any square of rank 1. No other pieces.

The Maharaja:

Moves like a Queen AND a Knight combined (can slide any distance orthogonally/diagonally, or jump in an L-shape).
It is the only piece White has. It is royal — if captured or checkmated, White loses.

Rules

Standard chess rules apply to Black’s army (including castling and pawn promotion).
White has only the Maharaja — every turn, White moves it.
The Maharaja cannot castle.
If the Maharaja is checkmated (surrounded with no legal escape), Black wins.

Win Condition

Black wins: Checkmate or capture the Maharaja.
White wins: Checkmate Black’s King using the Maharaja alone.

Strategy

The Maharaja is incredibly powerful but alone. Black must coordinate pieces to trap it in a net. White must pick off Black’s pieces one by one while avoiding getting cornered. In practice, a well-played Black army wins — but careless play lets the Maharaja dominate.

Attribution

Traditional Indian variant (“Maharaja and the Sepoys”), 19th century. Public domain.