Legan chess (or Legan's game) is a
chess variant
A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways.
"International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be co ...
invented by L. Legan in 1913. It differs from standard
chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
by the starting position as well as by
pawn
Pawn most often refers to:
* Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous chess piece in the game
* Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral
Pawn or The Pawn may also refer to:
Places
* Pa ...
movements.
Rules
The starting setup is illustrated. The game can be also played with the board rotated by 45° clockwise to make pawn movements easier to understand. There is no
castling
Castling is a move in chess. It consists of moving the king (chess), king two squares toward a rook (chess), rook on the same and then moving the rook to the square that the king passed over. Castling is permitted only if neither the king ...
and no ''
en passant
In chess, ''en passant'' (, "in passing") describes the capture by a Pawn (chess), pawn of an enemy pawn on the same and an adjacent that has just made an initial two-square advance. This is a special case in the rules of chess. The capturi ...
''. Otherwise, the
rules of chess
The rules of chess (also known as the laws of chess) govern the play of the game of chess. Chess is a two-player Abstract strategy game, abstract strategy board game. Each player controls sixteen chess piece, pieces of six types on a chessboar ...
apply.
Pawn movement
Pawns move one square diagonally forward: White from right to left; Black left to right. They capture orthogonally in direction of movements (see diagram). The white pawn on f3 can move to e4 and capture on e3 and f4. The black pawn on b6 can move to c5 and capture on b5 and c6.
Pawn promotion
Pawns
promote on squares occupied in the initial position by the opponent's
king
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
,
bishops
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
,
knights
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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.
The concept of a knighthood ...
, and
rooks. For example, white pawns promote on squares a5–a8–d8 (marked with white dots); black pawns on e1–h1–h4 (marked with black dots). Note that the pawns that start on d1, h5, a4 and e8 cannot promote without moving toward the center of the board via capturing.
References
Bibliography
*
*
{{Chess variants, state=collapsed
Chess variants
1913 in chess
Board games introduced in 1913