Grant Acedrex is a medieval
chess variant dating back to the time of King
Alfonso X of Castile
Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Ger ...
. It appears in the ''
Libro de los Juegos
The ''Libro de los juegos'' (Spanish: "Book of games"), or ''Libro de axedrez, dados e tablas'' ("Book of chess, dice and tables", in Old Spanish), was a Spanish translation of Arabic texts on chess, dice and tables (backgammon forebears) games ...
'' of 1283.
Rules
The following rules are from the reconstruction given on the website of
Jean-Louis Cazaux, based on work by him and
Sonja Musser. The game is played on a 12×12 board.
King
The
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
moves as like modern king. Its
Betza notation is thus K.
Castling does not exist in ''Grant Acedrex'' However, on its first move, a king may make a diagonal or orthogonal leap of two squares (Betza notation AD) in addition to its normal moves.
Aanca
The aanca (a beautiful and fearsome bird, very similar to a
roc, sometimes translated incorrectly as
gryphon
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon ( Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and ...
) moves one square diagonally (like a
), before optionally continuing orthogonally outward any number of squares. Its Betza notation is t
R''.
Unicornio
The unicornio (the illustration on the medieval codex shows a rhinoceros's head) moves like a modern
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
, before continuing diagonally outward any number of squares. (In
H. J. R. Murray's translation, its first move is a non-capturing knight move, after which it acts as a bishop for the rest of the game.) Its Betza notation is t
B''.
Lion
*The lion moves like a
threeleaper
A fairy chess piece, variant chess piece, unorthodox chess piece, or heterodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess but incorporated into certain chess variants and some chess problems. Compared to conventional pieces, fair ...
or a
camel, and can jump (a combined (3,0)-
leaper and (3,1)-leaper). (In Murray's translation, it can only move as a threeleaper.) Its Betza notation is HL.
Giraffe
*The giraffe moves like a
zebra
Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...
, a (3,2)-leaper. (In Murray's translation, it is a (4,1)-leaper.) Its Betza notation is J.
Crocodile
*The crocodile moves like the modern
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
. Its Betza notation is B.
Rook
*
rook
Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to:
Games
*Rook (chess), a piece in chess
*Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game
Military
* Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft
* USS ...
moves like the modern rook. Its
Betza notation is R.
Pawn
*The
pawn
Pawn most often refers to:
* Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game
* Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral
Pawn may also refer to:
Places
* Pawn, Oregon, an his ...
moves like the modern pawn, but cannot make an initial double step or capture ''
en passant
''En passant'' (, "in passing") is a method of capturing in chess that occurs when a pawn captures a horizontally adjacent enemy pawn that has just made an initial two-square advance. The capturing pawn moves to the square that the enemy paw ...
''. Its Betza notation is mfWcfF. When it reaches the other end of the board (the twelfth rank for White, or the first rank for Black), it promotes to the piece that was originally there: the exception is that a pawn promoting on the g-file becomes an aanca. For example, a pawn promoting on the a-file would become a rook.
Game end
In Grant Acedrex, a player wins by either checkmating or stalemating the opponent. A player can also win by capturing all the opponent's pieces leaving him with a
bare king
In chess and chess variants, a bare king (or lone king) is a game position where one player has only the king remaining (i.e. all the player's other pieces have been ).
Effect on the game
Historical
In some old versions of chess, such as "baring ...
.
Using dice
The game could be sped up by using eight-sided dice to dictate which piece could move that turn, ranking them in the order: king (8), aanca (7), unicornio (6), rook (5), lion (4), crocodile (3), giraffe (2), and pawn (1).
Computer engines
The multi-variant
Chess engine
In computer chess, a chess engine is a computer program that analyzes chess or chess variant positions, and generates a move or list of moves that it regards as strongest.
A chess engine is usually a back end with a command-line interface wit ...
s
Fairy-Max
Fairy-Max is a free and open source chess engine which can play orthodox chess as well as chess variants. Among its features is the ability of users to define and use their own custom variant chess pieces for use in games.
Fairy-Max was derived ...
and Postduif can play Grant Acedrex under the
XBoard
XBoard is a graphical user interface chessboard for chess engines under the X Window System. It is developed and maintained as free software by the GNU project. WinBoard is a port of XBoard to run natively on Microsoft Windows.
Overview
Origin ...
or
WinBoard
XBoard is a graphical user interface chessboard for chess engines under the X Window System. It is developed and maintained as free software by the GNU project. WinBoard is a port of XBoard to run natively on Microsoft Windows.
Overview
Original ...
user interface.
References
*
*
*
*
''Los libros de acedrex dados e tablas'': Historical, artistic and metaphyisical dimensions of Alfonso X’s ''Book of Games''(PDF), Sonja Musser Golladay, PhD dissertation, University of Arizona, 2007
by Jean-Louis Cazaux
at ''
The Chess Variant Pages
''The Chess Variant Pages'' is a non-commercial website devoted to chess variants. It was created by Hans Bodlaender in 1995. The site is "run by hobbyists for hobbyists" and is "the most wide-ranging and authoritative web site on chess variants" ...
''
{{Chess variants, state=collapsed
Games related to chaturanga
Abstract strategy games
History of chess
Medieval chess
13th century in Castile