US3908999A

US3908999A - Modified chess game apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3908999A
Application number: US523674A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald E Brown
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1974-11-14
Filing date: 1974-11-14
Publication date: 1975-09-30
Anticipated expiration: 1992-09-30

Abstract

There is disclosed a modified chess game having a board of alternating squares of different colors laid out in the pattern of a chessboard and having two sets of playing pieces. Each set of playing pieces includes one unique piece designated as a chessman king and at least seven identical pieces, each of which has at least five faces and each of which has at least one of each chessman other than the king designated on at least one of its faces.

Description

United States Patent 1 Brown [451 Sept. 30, 1975 MODIFIED CHESS GAME APPARATUS [21] Appl. No.: 523,674

[52] US. Cl 273/131 KC; 273/137 R; 273/146 {51] Int. Cl. A63F 3/02 [58] Field of Search 273/131, 137, 134

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,588,114 6/1971 Vogel 273/131 K 3,642,286 2/1972 Moore.... 273/134 AD 3,761,093 9/1973 Migliore..... 273/131 AB 3,794,326 2/1974 Bialek 273/131 KC FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 112,018 10/1925 Switzerland 131 KC 1,034,030 6/1966 United Kingdom 273/137 R Primary Examiner-Delbert B. Lowe Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Glen R. Grunewald 7 1 ABSTRACT 6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures P .rii

1 MODIFIED CHESS GAME APRARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Some drawbacks to the game of chess-are that it progresses very slowly and that different degrees of skill between opponents result in a game in which it is too difficult for an inferior opponent to play a superior opponent, whereby interest in the gase is greatly diminished.

THE INVENTION This invention is a modified chess game which introduces an element of luck and which increases the possible-plays to the extent that all possible plays cannot be readily anticipated, and accordingly it speeds up the tempo of the game and provides opportunities for inferior players to make a better contest against superior players. I

The game of this invention is based on chess in that a game board laid out in the chessboard pattern and chessmen which'movexin the usual manner are employed. The general rules of chess are also employed except forthe departures that are possible which are noted or suggested below. The game of this invention includes a chessboard having a plurality of alternating squares arranged in the pattern of the chessboard and having two sets of playing pieces that are distinguishable from each other by color. Each set of playing pieces includesa number of pieces of the same color. Each set of pieces has a unique piece marked to designate it as a chessman king. This piece may be a conventional chessman king, or it may be a conventional drawing of a king that is made on one or more faces of a piece, or it may simply be marked K or king. Each set of chessmen also includes at least seven identical pieces. Each of the identical pieces is a polyhedron having at least five faces, and at least one face of each piece is marked to designate each of the conventional chessmen other than a king.

With the special elements of the game as set forth above, the primary variation of the usual chess game is that each piece other than the piece designated a king can change rank during the course of the game. By way of example, one set of rules could be as follows. The

king is placed on the square of the chessboard that is usually occupied by the king and the other pieces are shaken and rolled as dice. The rank of each of the pieces other than the king is the rank of the up-face of the piece as it is randomly rolled or shaken. Thus it is very unlikely that players will start with equal armies. The pieces other than the king are then placed on the playing board for example, in the first two rows wherever the player chooses to place them and regardless of their rank. Typically, the players would alternate in placing their pieces, one at a time. Thus each player may arrange his army in a unique manner of his own choosing. When all the pieces are on the board, the game is begun with each piece making its usual move. However, if a piece is moved and captures an opposing piece, the rank of the capturing piece increases by one degree. Specifically, if a pawn captures another piece, it becomes a knight; a knight becomes a bishop; a bishop becomes a castle; and a castle becomes a queen. A queen may stay the same if it captures another piece, or it may be demoted to a pawn in order to avoid having too many queens. If a piece moves without capturing an opposing piece, it is demoted one rank for example, a knight becomes a pawn. A pawn would remain the samera nk if it moves without capturing another piece. Thus, the, strategy would dictate capturing other pieces so that the pieces of a player do not all become of low rank. It could also be beneficial from the strategy standpoint to demote a piece for example, by moving a bishop without capturing another piece into a position where it becomes a knight which is in a position where a knights move would be suitable for attacking the opponents king. A

The foregoing rules are by way of example only.

Many other variations of the game could be made within the scope of changing the rank of a chessman in the course of the game depending upon its moves. For example, the game could include that a capturing piece takes the rank of the captured piece, and it could be played with fewer pieces than in a conventional chess game. The game could also be played starting with the conventional number of pieces in their conventional positions and with their conventional ranks. The chessboard is desirably a conventional chessboard, although it could be varied to have fewer than sixty-four squares. The game is played with each player having a set of chessmen. As setforth above, the king may be a conventional king, or it may be a polyhedron marked only with king designations on one or more of its faces. It is preferred that the king be a'cube marked with a king on one or more of its faces. Since the king is unique, it could also be a blank cube with all of its faces having no markings, thereby identifying it as the unique piece. Under any circumstances, it is essential that the king in each set be a unique piece.

The other pieces of each set must be shaped as polyhedrons having at least five faces. Each chessman other than the king is designated on at least one face of these pieces. It is preferred that the other chesspieces be cubes so that they are stable and can be shaken as dice. If the other pieces are cubes, it is preferred that two of the six faces be designated pawns and that one each of the remaining four is a knight, bishop, castle, and queen. If the game is then started with random shaking and rolling of the pieces, on the average-one third of the pieces will be pawns and one sixth will be each of the other chessmen so that the starting distribution of chessmen will be closer to the conventional starting distribution.

The pieces may be irregular polyhedrons such as heptahedrons with five rectangular faces and two pentagonal faces. It is preferred that the chessmen designated on the faces of the game pieces be arranged so that rotation of a piece in a specific direction will cause chessmen of consecutive rank to be face up.

To facilitate understanding of the invention, the accompanying drawings are presented.

FIG. 1 is a layout of a tetrahedron suitably marked to be used in the game of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a tetrahedron formed from the layout illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a layout of a suitable heptahedron for use in the game of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the heptahedron formed from the layout illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a unique piece suitable for a king.

FIG. 6 is a conventional chessboard.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the layout in FIG. 1 illustrates the six faces of the cube of FIG. 2. As can be seen,

faces

1, 2, 3 and 4 are marked'as the queen, castle, bishop and knight. These are in descending rank so that changing the piece one rank can be accomplished simply by turning the next consecutive face up. Faces 5 and 6 are each pawns. Thus, the die illustrated in FIG. 2 has one face for each of the queen, castle, bishop and knight and two faces for the pawn. These faces are illustrated with only an initial to designate the chessman that is represented. However, it is obvious that conventional two-dimensional chessmen designations such as those used in printed material may be employed to identify which face is showing and to distinguish it from the other chessmen.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment where an irregular heptahedron is employed as the piece employed in the game. In this piece, too, faces 7, 8, 9, l and 11 are provided sothat each designates a different chessman in 'order of rank. Faces l2 and 13 are in the shape of pentagons and are different from the rectangular faces 7 through 11 inclusive. These faces are shown blank although they could be designated as pawns or any other chessman.

FIG. 4 illustrates in perspective how the assembled layout of HG. 3 would appear. It illustrates only faces 7 and 8 since those are the only ones that would be visible in this view.

FIG. illustrates a king piece. As stated hereinabove, the king is unique and may have any shape including the conventional king shape. However, it is preferred that it have the shape of the other game pieces, and it is illustrated as a cube with king markings on each face, some of them simply the letter K to designate king and others in the conventional designation of a king.

FlG. 6 is simply an illustration of a chessboard and needs no further description.

What is claimed is: l. A game comprising A. a board having a plurality of alternating colored squares arranged in the pattern of a chessboard, B. two sets of playing pieces distinguishable from each other by color, each set comprising a plurality of pieces of the same color, C. each set of pieces having a unique piece marked to designate it as a chessman king, and D. each set having at least seven identical pieces, each of said identical pieces having at least five faces, each face of said piece being marked to designate a chessman, and each piece including at least one face designated with each chessman other than a chessman king. 2. The game of claim I wherein said board has eight squares on each side.

3. A set of playing pieces for use in a board game comprising at least seven identical pieces, each having at least five faces, each face marked to designate a chessman other than a king chessman, and each piece having at least one face marked to designate each of the chessmen other than the king chessman, and a unique piece designated as a king chessman.

4. The playing pieces of claim 3 wherein each of said identical pieces is a cube having two of its six faces marked to designate pawn chessmen.

5. The playing pieces of claim 3 wherein said king chessman is a cube having only faces marked to designate a king chessman.

6. The playing pieces of claim 3 wherein said king chessman is a conventional king chessman.

Claims

1. A game comprising A. a board having a plurality of alternating colored squares arranged in the pattern of a chessboard, B. two sets of playing pieces distinguishable from each other by color, each set comprising a plurality of pieces of the same color, C. each set of pieces having a unique piece marked to designate it as a chessman king, and D. each set having at least seven identical pieces, each of said identical pieces having at least five faces, each face of said piece being marked to designate a chessman, and each piece including at least one face designated with each chessman other than a chessman king.

2. The game of claim 1 wherein said board has eight squares on each side.