Rule 1230.1/14
Swingers Play Around I - the board and the playing pieces
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
The game of Party Chess is an unownable entity.
1. The Party Board
There exists a checkered board, divided into 20 by 20 squares, which resides in Party Hall. It is called the Party Board. The Party Board is an unownable entity used for the sole purpose of playing a game called Party Chess. Each column has a letter assigned to it, from a-t beginning with the leftmost column. Each row has an integer assigned to it, from 1-20. When viewed on a screen, the lowest row is 1, the highest is 20, and consecutive rows are marked with consecutive integers.
Each square on the Party Board has coordinates made up of a letter, which corresponds to the column the square is part of, and an integer, which corresponds to the row the square is part of. The letter precedes the integer.
Food or drink may not be placed on the Party Board.
2. Party Chess Pieces
A. Each Swinger controls a set of Party Chess Pieces. The pieces are owned by the Office of Swinger, and controlled by the Swinger who holds that office. Whenever the rules refer to pieces as being owned by, or property of, a Swinger, the implied meaning is that they are owned by or property of the corresponding Office of the Swinger. Playing PartyChess is part of a Swinger's duty.
B. A Swinger may acquire a piece by capturing it from an opponent or creating a new piece, at a cost. Both these processes are described in greater detail below.
C. "On-board" pieces are pieces which are currently on the Party Board. "Off-board" pieces are pieces which are currently off the Party Board.
D. A player or Organization may create a new Party Chess Piece of any existing type for a Swinger. When this is done, the player or Organization pays the piece cost to the Treasury, and the new piece is created, off-board, in the possession of the specified Swinger. A new piece costs A$1, plus A$7 times the material value of the piece.
E. In this Rule Suite, the word 'piece' means Party Chess Piece.
3. PartyChessPieceDef rules
A. A rule is a PartyChessPieceDef rule if and only if it meets the following criteria:
(i) It defines exactly one type of piece that can be created and used in the game of Party Chess.
(ii) It is a member of the Party Chess Rule Suite.
(iii) It unambiguously defines the legal moves that the piece may make. That is, it defines to which empty squares on the board the piece may move.
(iv) It defines a material value for the piece.
(v) It defines a non-space ASCII character to represent the piece, and this character is different from those that represent all the other types of pieces. For the purpose of this rule, a lower case Latin letter is considered identical to its corresponding upper case Latin letter. If two or more different rules, each of which meets the other four criteria, all claim the same ASCII character, only the rule among them with the lowest number is a PartyChessPieceDef rule.
This rule takes precedence over all PartyChessPieceDef rules.
B. Unless otherwise stipulated by the relevant PartyChessPieceDef rule, the legal moves for each piece are defined relative to that piece's current position on the board, and may depend on the positions of other pieces on the board.
C. A PartyChessPieceDef rule may define conditions under which a piece is promoted. If no such conditions are defined for a given piece, that piece does not promote. When a piece is promoted, it changes itself into a piece of a different type.
D. A PartyChessPieceDef rule may define conditions under which a piece may skip over other pieces during its movement. If it does not, the piece cannot move in ways that would require it to skip over other pieces.
E. Should it ever be found that an on-board piece exists that is not defined by any PartyChessPieceDef rule, that piece is immediately moved off-board. It does not change ownership. [This can happen when a rule is repealed or amended in such a way that it becomes ambiguous.]
F. A PartyChessPieceDef rule may define conditions under which the position on the Party Board of a piece it defines enhances or restricts the moves or captures available to other pieces. PartyChessPieceDef rules defer to such enhancements or restrictions.
G. A PartyChessPieceDef rule may define an instance limit for that type of piece. If it does not, there is no instance limit for that piece. Instance limits are always enforced on a per Swinger basis. If such a limit is defined, a Swinger may not control more pieces than the limit; if it is ever found that e possesses pieces in excess of the specified limit, all excess pieces are destroyed until this situation is corrected, starting with off-board pieces. If random determination is required to perform this destruction, the Chess-Umpire shall handle it.
4. Capturing
This rule defers to PartyChessPieceDef rules on the matter of how pieces can capture opposing pieces. [Other rules may define other ways for pieces to capture, and may define that this variety of capture is not available to certain pieces.]
Party Chess Piece (1) can capture an opposing piece (2) if (2) occupies a square on the board to which (1) could otherwise legally move. When the Swinger that owns (1) performs a capture in this way, (1) is moved to the square occupied by (2), and (2) is removed from the board.
Whenever a Swinger uses one of his or her pieces to capture an opposing piece, the captured piece is added to the capturing Swinger's collection of off-board pieces.
It is forbidden for a piece to capture a friendly piece.
5. Piece movement
There are eight directions in which pieces may move.
A. Horizontal: A movement from one square to another one in the same row. There are two horizontal directions.
B. Vertical: A movement from one square to another in the same column. There are two vertical directions.
C. Diagonal: A movement from one square to another such that the number of rows moved is the same as the number of columns moved. There are four diagonal directions.
6. Definitions
A. In the context of a Party Chess piece, the capital letters R and C represent the row and column, respectively, of the square that that piece occupies.
B. The symbols DestR and DestC represent the the row and column of a destination square.
C. The symbol SQn, where n is a positive integer, specifies the square n squares distant from a piece's current square in a given direction. Which such symbols are meaningful depends on the piece's current position on the board.
D. The symbol dR represents the absolute value of DestR-R.
E. The symbol dC represents the absolute value of DestC-C, where the difference is computed as the difference of the ASCII codes corresponding to DestC and C.
F. The distance between two squares is defined as the distance between the two rows (abs(R2-R1)), or the distance between the two columns (abs(C2-C1)), whichever is greater.
G. The symbols /AND/, /OR/, /XOR/, and /NOT/, in this and all other rules governing Party Chess, represent the logical operators AND, OR, XOR, and NOT, respectively.
7. Party Chess Pieces are ownable entities.
Rule 1230.2/19
Swingers Like to Play Around II - Let's play
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
1. Office of the Chess-UmpireA. The optional functional office of Chess-Umpire exists. If, at any time, there is no player performing the duties of Chess-Umpire, the game of Party Chess is suspended (or not started), and all other players who would have duties with regard to Party Chess are absolved of those duties. This clause takes precedence over all rules dealing with Swingers and Party Chess.
B. Any active player is eligible for the office of Chess-Umpire.
C. The Chess-Umpire has the following Duties:
(i) Maintaining and updating the Party Board
(ii) Checking for the legality of the plays
(iii) To notify each Swinger by private e-mail whenever it becomes his turn to move.
(iv) To alert a Swinger by public e-mail whenever he is placed in check.
(v) Calculating and posting the Swingers' Weights after each play.
(vi) Maintaining a list of game history - all the plays made, Pieces purchased and owned
(vii) The Chess-Umpire will make this information publically available. If possible, the information will be maintained on a web-page as well.
(viii) Maintaining the Swinger Play List.
2. Managing the Game
A. At the beginning of the game of Party Chess there are no Party Chess Pieces on the Party Board.
B. Each Office of Swinger receives one King, and five playing pieces. Each Swinger may choose any five pieces which are defined by a PartyChessPieceDef rule, as long as their total material value does not exceed 30. These pieces are created in the possession of the appropriate Swingers, free of charge. Initially all pieces are off-board.
C. When a new Office of Swinger is created, it receives one King and five playing pieces, as described in 2.B.
D. Whenever an Office of Swinger is destroyed, all Party Chess Pieces owned by that office are destroyed. No re-imbursement is made for the destroyed items.
3. Determining the Playing Order
A. The Chess-Umpire maintains a list called the Swinger Play List. Initially the NAP Swinger is at the top of the list. The names of the other Swingers (including non-active players) follow in a random order determined at the begining of the PartyChess game by the Chess-Umpire.
B. The Swinger whose name is at the top of the list is the Swinger whose turn it is to play. When the turn is over, the top name is moved to the bottom of the list.
C. When a single Swinger is checked, eir name is immediately moved to the top of the list.
D. When two or more Swingers are checked simultaneously, their names are moved up in the list in such a way that each checked Swinger's name appears above all the non-checked Swingers' names, but the order of the checked Swingers's names relative to one another is unchanged. (That is, if Swinger A appears above Swinger B in the list, and then A and B are checked, then Swinger A and Swinger B will both move up toward the top of the list, but Swinger A will still appear above Swinger B.)
E. When a Swinger's Office is destroyed, its name, and the name of the last Swinger to occupy it, are removed from the Swinger Play List.
F. When an Office of Swinger is created, its name, and the name of the Swinger who holds that office, are placed at the bottom of the list.
4. Turns
A turn will last until a play is made, either by the Swinger announcing the play publicly, or by default when the time limit expires, or automatically. The time limit for a given turn expires three days after the Chess-Umpire announces the current state of the game, with the exceptions outlined below.
When the time limit expires on a Swinger's turn, that Swinger makes a default play. If it would have been legal for the Swinger to Pass, e Passes. Otherwise, e Surrenders.
A. The Chess-Umpire has the Privelege of being able to extend the time limit, up to a maximum of seven days after the announcement of the game state.
B. Warmth
(i) If a Swinger's Office is Warm, and the Swinger is not checked, then that Swinger automatically Passes when his or her turn begins. If a Swinger's Office is Warm for two whole Rounds, then he is considered to have Surrendered.
(ii) If a Swinger is checked while that Swinger Seat is Warm, then that Swinger's turn is not played automatically. If that Swinger's Office corresponds to a Political Party, the Chess-Umpire has the Duty of notifying all player members of that Party of the check situation, including members who are on Vacation.
(iii) When there are 7 or more Swingers with on-board pieces, the turn of any Swinger who has no on-board pieces is skipped entirely.
(iv) It is permissible for a Party or a Swinger with a Warm Office to notify the Chess-Umpire of a Surrender at any time by sending a public message to that effect. The Surrender takes effect immediately. This section of this rule takes precedence over all other sections of this rule.
C. A Round of play is defined as a time period in which each Swinger played at least once, and at least one Swinger played only once.
Each time a Round of play is over, RoundCount is incremented by 1. When ever a new game of Party Chess is started, RoundCount is set to 0.
5. Definitions
A piece (1) is an opposing piece or opponent's piece with respect to piece (2) if it is controlled by a different Swinger than (2) is, regardless of any agreements, contracts, or treaties made between the various Swingers.
A piece (1) is friendly with respect to piece (2) if pieces (1) and (2) are controlled by the same Swinger.
A piece (1) is attacking opposing piece (2) if and only if they are located on the board such that if it were (1)'s Swinger's turn to move, he could capture piece (2) with piece (1).
A piece (1) is defending friendly piece (2) if and only if they are located on the board such that (1) would be attacking (2) if (2) were an opposing piece.
6. Playing the game
On eir turn Swinger may make one of the following plays. The play is made as a public action.
A. Move - The Swinger moves an on-board piece e controls from the square it is on to an unoccupied square according to the applicable rules.
B. Capture - The Swinger uses one of his pieces to perform a capture according to the applicable rules.
C. Placement - The Swinger places one of eir off-board pieces on an unoccupied square on the board. The Swinger may not place the piece in such a position that it attacks one or more opposing pieces.
D. Pass - The Swinger does nothing. [This is the default play in most cases; see above.]
E. Surrender - All of the Swinger's pieces are removed from the board, and become off-board pieces.
7. Check
A Swinger is in Check when his King is attacked by one or more opposing pieces. No Swinger may make a play that would cause him or her to be in Check at the end of his or her turn. It is possible that the only move that will satisfy this condition is a Surrender. [It is the responsibility of the Chess-Umpire to identify states of Check and alert the Swingers that such a state exists, and let the Swingers know whose King is being attacked.]
Rule 1230.3/6
Swingers Like to Play Around III - mostly odds
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
[After each play, the Chess-Umpire calculates the Swingers' Weights and posts that information.]Mobility for a piece is defined as follow:
If the minimum distance a piece can move is greater than one, and the difference between the minimum distance that piece can move and the maximum distance that piece can move is equal to or smaller than two, then that piece's Mobility is equal to half the number of legal moves currently available to it without making a capture.For all other pieces Mobility is equal to the greatest distance a piece can move without making a Capture.
Each Swinger's Weight is calculated in the following manner:
For a Swinger whose King is on-board
Weight = (Total material value of the on-board pieces) + for each piece (Mobility of that piece) for each piece (add 5 if the piece attacks at least one opponent piece) for each piece (add 4 if the piece defends at least one friendly piece)For a Swinger whose King is off-board
Weight=0
Rule 1230.4/4
Creation of a PartyChessPiece King
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
A. There is an instance limit of one King per Swinger.
B. The King may move exactly one square in any direction.
C. This definition is analogous to section B. :
The king may move to a square (DestR,DestC) which belong to the set of all squares such that dC=1 /OR/ dR=1
D. The material value of the King is zero.
E. For the purpose of the game of Party Chess, 'King' is a genderless word.
F. The ASCII character representing the King is K
Rule 1230.5/4
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Rook
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
1. A Rook is represented by the ASCII character R.
2.A rook can move either vertically, or horizontally, up to a maximum distance of 10, provided all the squares between the current square and the destination square are unoccupied.
3. A Rook's material value is 9
Rule 1230.6/4
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Camel
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
1. A Camel is represented by the ASCII character C.
2. A Camel may move either : (a)3 squares vertically and 1 square horizontally, or (b)3 squares horizontally, and 1 square vertically.
3. A Camel can skip over any pieces that occupy any squares between the current square and the destination square.
4. A Camel's material value is 5
Rule 1230.7/4
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Bishop
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
1.A Bishop is represented by the ASCII character B
2. A Bishop can move in a diagonal direction in a single straight line, up to a maximum distance of 10 , provided all the squares between the current square and the destination square are unoccupied.
3. A Bishop's material value is 6
Rule 1230.8/8
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Pawn
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
1. A pawn is represented by the ASCII character p .2. Any pawn can move exactly one square horizontally or vertically. A pawn that is currently defending a friendly piece can, alternatively, move two squares horizontally or vertically.
3. A pawn can capture only by moving diagonally a distance of one square, into a square occupied by an opponent's piece.
4. A pawn is a promotable piece. When a pawn reaches one the following squares: j10,j11,k10,k11, it is immediately promoted. It can be promoted to any legal PartyChessPiece the chosen by the Swinger.
5. A Pawn can only be Placed on one of the columns a,b,s,t, or on one of the rows 1,2,19,20.
6. A pawn's material value is 1.
Rule 1230.9/5
Creation of a PartyChessPiece CopyCat
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
1. A CopyCat is represented by the ASCII character O
2. A CopyCat can move either 3 or 5 squares in any given direction, provided that all the squares between the current square and the destination square are unoccupied.
3. A CopyCat captures a piece only according to the rules by which the captured piece can capture.
A CopyCat can Capture another CopyCat only by using the move described in section 2 of this rule
for example - a CopyCat can capture a Rook using a Rook's move, it can capture a Knight using a Knight's move. etc.. et."
4. A CopyCat's material value is 7
Rule 1230.10/5
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Echo
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
1. An Echo is represented by ASCII character E.2. The legal move for an Echo depends on the most recent play made by the Swinger controlling the Echo.
a. If the Swinger's most recent play was either Pass or Placement, then there is no legal move for an Echo.
b. If the Swinger's most recent play was either Move or Capture, then the legal move of an Echo is identical to the legal move of the friendly piece that either Moved or Captured on that play.
3. An Echo's material value is 7
Rule 1230.11/3
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Jester
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
1.A Jester is represented by the ASCII character J
2. A Jester can move exactly two squares in any given direction. It may skip any piece that occupies the intervening square, between the Jester's current square and the Jester's destination square.
3. A Jester's material value is 3
Rule 1230.12/4
Creation of a PartyChessPiece il-Nabi
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
1. il-Nabi is represented by the ASCII character M2. il-Nabi may move in any of the following ways:
3. il-Nabi can legally capture according to 2.(a). It cannot capture using the moves in 2(b), 2(c)
- (a)3 squares diagonally and one square either horizontally or vertically, provided all the squares it passes through are unoccupied. The move must be made in that order.
- (b) If, in any given direction, SQ1 is occupied, then il-Nabi may skip over that piece to SQ2.
- (c) if, in any given direction, SQ3 is occupied, and SQ2 is unoccupied, then il-Nabi may skip to SQ4. For this move to be legal, it does not matter whether or not SQ1 is occupied.
4. il-Nabi's material value is 6
5. The proper pronunciation of il-Nabi, is with an emphasis of the 'Na', which is pronounced the same as in 'nun', minus the last '-n'.
6. il-Nabi is Arabic for 'the Prophet', and is named in honor of Mohammed, who made a large contribution to the game of Party Chess
Rule 1230.13/2
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Qball
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
1. A Qball is represented by the ASCII character Q.
2. A Qball's material value is 7.
3. A Qball's move consists of two parts.a) The Qball moves in a diagonal direction in a single straight line until it reaches the edge of the board (any of the squares associated with either of the integers 1 or 20 or either of the letters a or t). If it rests on such a square before moving, it must legally move to another such square to make this part of its move. The Qball may not capture or jump over any piece in making this part of its move.
b) The Qball moves in a diagonal direction at a right angle to the path of its travel in part a) in a single straight line, for at least one but no more than 10 squares, provided all the squares between its current square and the destination square are unoccupied. It may capture a non-friendly piece on the destination square.
The Qball must be able to make both parts of its move in order to make any move at all, except as described by c, below:
c) If the Qball, after making the move described a, above, is on a corner square (any of the squares a1, t20, a20, and t1), it "scratches," and the Qball is removed the board and joins its owner's collection of off-board pieces. A scratch does not change the ownership of the Qball.
Rule 1230.14/1
Creation of a PartyChessPiece HarfyBlob
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
1. A HarfyBlob is represented by the ASCII character H.
2. A HarfyBlob can move either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, up to a maximum distance of Hn, where Hn is defined below, provided all the squares between the current square and the destination square are unoccupied.
3. A HarfyBlob's material value is 7.Each extant HarfyBlob has its own value of Hn. It is a duty of the Chess-Umpire to track the value of Hn for each extant HarfyBlob.
When a HarfyBlob is first created, its Hn value is 1.
Each time a HarfyBlob captures an enemy piece, its Hn value is increased by 1, unless the captured piece is also a HarfyBlob, in which case its Hn is increased by the Hn of the captured HarfyBlob.
Should a HarfyBlob's Hn ever exceed the maximum number of squares on the Party Board in any direction, its Hn is reduced to that maximum less 1.
Rule 1230.15/1
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Archer
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
1. An Archer is represented by the ASCII Character "A".
2. The Archers move is made up of two parts:
In the first part the Archer moves either vertically or horizontally a distance of d1 squares, where d1 is either 1,2,3 or 4. In the second part the Archer moves a distance of 4-d1 in a direction perpendicular to the direction he moved in the first part (in the second part the distance can be 0).
3. An Archer capture from a distance. An Archer can capture any opposing piece that occupies a square at a maximum distance of 4, either vertically or horizontally, or a at a maximum distance of 3 diagonally, provided that all the squares between the Archer and the captured piece are unoccupied.
The Archer does not replace the captured piece, but remains on the same square it occupied when the turn started. An Archer cannot capture using the move described in section 2 of this rule.
4. An Archer has a material value of 7.
Rule 1230.16/1
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Kamikaze
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
1. A Kamikaze is represented by the ASCII character Z.
2. Its material value is 6.
3. A Kamikaze's move consists of two parts:
First, the Kamikaze moves from 1 to 6 squares in any horizontal or vertical direction. Second, it moves from 1 to 6 squares, at a right angle to its direction of motion in the first half of its move. It must make both halves of its move in order to move at all. It may not jump over any pieces in its path.
4. If a Kamikaze captures a piece, the capturing Kamikaze is destroyed immediately after it makes the capture.
Rule 1230.17/1
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Bouncy!Ball
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)
1. A Bouncy!Ball is represented by the ASCII character !
2. A Bouncy!Ball may move any number of squares in any single direction, and it may and must jump over exactly one other piece in doing so. This piece must occupy SQn its direction of motion, where the destination square is SQ(2n) in its direction of motion.
3. A Bouncy!Ball's material value is 5.
4. The physical appearance of a Bouncy!Ball is that of a large rubber sphere, colored primarily in the color associated with its controlling Swinger, but featuring several swirls of bright fluorescent shades.
Rule 1230.18/0
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Demon
Niccolo Flychuck (Uri Bruck)
1. A Demon is represented by the ASCII Character D
2. When the square the Demon currently occupies (R,C) is in the range 5<R<15, e<C<o (that is between columns e and o, exclusive) it can move a distance of exactly 1 in any given direction, when the square the Demon is on is not included in the above range, the Demon can move a distance of exactly 2 squares in any given direction.
3. A Demon is promotable. A Demon can be promoted only if and only if there exist two friendly pieces of the same type (as each other, not necessarily the Demon), X and Y such that (xR<R<yR /AND/ xC<C<yC) /OR/ (xR<R<yR /AND/ xC>C>yC) /AND/ the distance between those two pieces is equal too or smaller than 10. A Demon can only be Promoted if the Swinger controling the Demon has just Moved or Captured. It cannot be Promoted following a Placement or a Pass.4. A Demon's material value is 2
Rule 1230.19/1
Creation of a PartyChessPiece Tornado
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
1. A Tornado is represented by the ASCII character T.
2. A Tornado's material value is 11.
3. There is an instance limit of one Tornado per Swinger.
4. A Tornado's move consists of N+1 segments, where N is the number of pieces captured by the Tornado in its current move sequence:a) In the first segment of its move sequence, the Tornado can move up to 2 squares in any direction, provided all the squares between the current square and the destination square are unoccupied.
b) If a Tornado fails to capture an enemy piece on the current segment of its move sequence, its move sequence ends when the current segment is completed (its movement ends).
c) If a Tornado captures an enemy piece on its current move segment, it may start a new move segment as follows: the Tornado can move up to M squares, in any direction except for the direction it moved on its previous move segment, provided all the squares between the current square and the destination square are unoccupied. For the purposes of this section, M is the material value of the most recent piece captured by the Tornado, unless that piece was a HarfyBlob, in which case M is the Hn of that HarfyBlob.
Rule 1230.20/0
Party Chess Piece Cantor
Mohammed (Jason Orendorff)
A Cantor is a piece with a material worth of 5, represented by the character % .A Cantor may move one or two squares in any diagonal direction. It may move over pieces in its path. A piece that has a distance of 1 from a Cantor may move or capture by moving up to 4 squares in any diagonal direction, moving over pieces in its path.
Rule 1230.21/0
Party Chess Piece Zombie
Mohammed (Jason Orendorff)
A Zombie is a piece with a material value of 4, represented by the character Z.A Zombie can move up to three spaces horizontally or vertically. At the end of a turn in which a Zombie Captures, it promotes to the type of the piece it captured, if the Swinger specifies this when announcing the Capture.
