| Publishers | Chessplus Team |
|---|---|
| Years active | c. 21st century to present |
| Genres | Board game Abstract strategy game Mind sport Chess variant |
| Players | 2 |
| Playing time | Similar to that of chess |
| Chance | None |
| Skills | Strategy, tactics |
Chessplus is a chess variant developed by the Australia-based family business Chessplus Team.[1]
Chessplus, as a physical variant, can come in 1 of 3 packages.
As for the pieces themself, they are designed specifically for merging.[2]
Chessplus gameplay is similar to that of regular chess, but pieces can merge. The only piece that can't be merged with is the king.[3] Pieces can only merge with other pieces of their own color. Only 2 pieces can be merged at a time. Pieces may split, in which they use their original move to remove themself.
| First Piece | Second Piece | Combination Name |
|---|---|---|
| Queen | Bishop | Quishop |
| Queen | Knight | Quight |
| Queen | Rook | Quook |
| Queen | Pawn | Quawn |
| Bishop | Knight | Bight |
| Bishop | Rook | Biook |
| Bishop | Pawn | Biawn |
| Knight | Rook | Knook |
| Knight | Pawn | Knawn |
Combining a piece with itself turns it into a DPawn, DKnight, DBishop, DRook, or DQueen, for pawns, knights, bishops, rooks, and queens respectively.[4]
Castling may be done with a combined rook. Just like in regular chess, the rook must not have previously moved. In other words, if a knight moved to combine with a rook, castling is possible, but if that rook moved to combine with the knight, then castling is no longer allowed for that rook.
Similar to the castling rules, en passant can only be used on a combination of 2 pawns. If the combination is, say, a rook and a pawn, en passant is not allowed.
It was inspired by the leader's daughter, who, at age 8, during a chess match with her father, merged a rook with a pawn, then promoted the piece to a queen.[5]