Rollerball is a chess variant invented by Jean-Louis Cazaux in 1998. The game was inspired by the 1975 science-fiction movie '' Rollerball'', specifically the futuristic and violent sport (similar to Roller Derby) portrayed in the film. The board comprises 7×7 squares with the central 3×3 section missing. Pieces generally move clockwise around the board. Each player starts with one

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 ...

, one

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 ...

, two rooks, and two pawns. Both bishops are light-squared on the initial setup. Dark-squared bishops can only be obtained by pawn promotion.

Game rules

The initial setup is as shown.

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

moves first. Pieces move and capture the same as their

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

counterparts, except where explained differently below.

Objective

There are two ways to win in Rollerball: # Checkmating the enemy king. # Bringing one's own king to the starting square of the enemy king on the opposite side of the board (but only when having travelled to that side of the board in a clockwise direction). The same as in chess, stalemate and

threefold repetition In chess, the threefold repetition rule states that a player may claim a draw if the same position occurs three times during the game. The rule is also known as repetition of position and, in the USCF rules, as triple occurrence of position.Articl ...

of position are draws.

Piece moves

In general, forward movement means clockwise direction around the board; backward movement means counterclockwise direction. The squares comprising the board's inner and outer perimeters are called rings. The ring a rook or pawn currently stands on determines its orthogonal forward direction, and for a rook, its orthogonal backward direction. An orthogonal rook move in a direction immediately off its ring is called sideways movement. * The king moves the same as the king in

: one step in any direction. As in chess, a player may not place his king in

check Check or cheque, may refer to: Places * Check, Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Check'' (film), a 2021 Indian Telugu-language film * ''The Checks'' (episode), a 1996 TV episode of ''Seinfeld'' Games and sports * Check (chess), a thr ...

. There is no castling in Rollerball. * A rook moves any number of steps orthogonally in a straight line in a forward direction, or any number of steps orthogonally sideways. It can also move one step orthogonally backward on its ring. When moving along the outer ring, the rook may "rebound" off a corner square and continue its forward journey at 90 degrees. (Corner squares have 45 degree edges for rebounding.) Only one rebound is permitted for a given rook move. * The bishop moves any number of steps diagonally forward, or one step diagonally backward. The bishop may rebound off an outer or inner board edge and continue its forward diagonal journey at 90 degrees. Only one rebound is permitted for a given bishop move. * A pawn moves and captures one step orthogonally forward on the ring on which it currently stands, or one step diagonally forward to either ring. A pawn does not move backward or sideways, and there is no initial two-step option. A pawn promotes to rook or bishop when reaching either of the two starting squares of the opponent's pawns.

References

Bibliography *

External links

*
Rollerball
by Jean-Louis Cazaux, ''

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 Chess variants 1998 in chess Board games introduced in 1998