Mike Hutton ((email removed contact us for address) rwood.co.uk)wrote the following description on `Stupid', a crossover between `usual'chess and Ultima. In an email to me, he wroteabout the game:
- It runs FINE in virtualization mode. All the time it is doing 'chess' it is running at full speed. If there is anything it is in the UI, and even that tends to run at full speed. There is almost no penalty for running a chess program under mac OS. Whatever penalty there is is dwarfed by the fact that you are running on a notebook.
- Yes, it looks very stupid, I know. But I never worked with vagrant, linux env etc. I never faced situation when a file exists but I can edit it only after running some text editor from command line. Pls, consider that I worked only on Windows. I have some editors here like notepad but have no idea how to use it in command line.
'Stupid' has got to be one of the toughest games I have everplayed. It is almost impossible to look more than 4 moves ahead, and anydecisive move is fraught with danger.
Since OS X 10.2 Apple has included a Chess game by default on your Mac. The current version allows you to play against the computer with varying difficultly levels, play against another person, and even play online. You can change the look of the 3D board, hear moves and even speak to make a move. You can also save and resume games. The 3.16 version of Chess for Mac is provided as a free download on our website. This Mac download was checked by our built-in antivirus and was rated as safe. The application lies within Games, more precisely Board. This program's bundle is identified as com.apple.Chess. Chess is suitable for Mac OS. Easy-to-use, suitable for beginners and masters alike. Chess King 4 for Mac is a new and versatile tool for chess players and is an ideal introduction for the beginner, a challenging opponent for the practiced amateur, and an invaluable coach for the aspiring master.
As was pointed out by Michael Keller, the initial position is differentfrom that of Ultima, and the functions of bishopsand knights are interchanged: in Ultima, bishops are chameleons, and knightsare long leapers.
Acknowledgements
Stupid was invented several years ago (1987ish) by, amongst others,Paul Monckton (paul_(email removed contact us for address) com) and Chris Shaw. Credit is given tothe inventors of the chess variant 'Ultima'.
Concept
Stupid is an amalgamation of chess and the chess variant 'Ultima'.The principle of the game is that a piece may EITHER move as a chess piece,OR move as an Ultima piece.
Terminology
Each piece is given a double barrelled name of its chess and Ultimanames. Thus we have:
Chess Mac Os X
8 Pincer-pawns (or Roller-pawns)
2 Leaper-bishops
2 Chameleon-knights (or Amoeba-knights)
1 Freezer-rook (or Immobilizer-rook)
1 Coordinator-rook
1 Retreater-queen
1 Emperor-king.
Variants
Yes! Stupid actually has two variants. The first ('Pure Stupid')does not allow a piece to amalgamate chess and Ultima moves. That is, apiece may not move as a chess piece and then take as an Ultimapiece in the same move (or vice versa). The second variant ('Total Stupid')allows this amalgamation. For example, a pincer-pawn taking another pieceby moving diagonally forward one square CANNOT take pieces adjacent toits new position as an pincer capture in 'Pure' Stupid, but CAN in 'Total'stupid.
I will outline the rules for 'Pure' Stupid (as these are somewhat simplerthan 'Total' Stupid) below. If you require rules for 'Total' Stupid thenI will try to oblige at a later point.
'Pure' Stupid
The object of the game is to TAKE the opponent's Emperor-king (checkmatingis an optional rule and is not advisable for newcomers to the game).
Setup
Set the pieces up on the chessboard as for chess, and turn the queen'srook (the Coordinator-rook) on its head. In addition, place the black kingopposite the white queen, and black queen opposite the white king, thus:
White:
Emperor-king e1; Retreater-Queen d1; Freezer-Rook h1; Coordinator-Rooka1; Chameleon-Knight b1, g1; Leaper-Bishop c1, f1; Pincer-Pawn a2, b2,c2, d2, e2, f2, g2. h2.
Black:
Emperor-king d8; Retreater-Queen e8; Freezer-Rook h8; Coordinator-Rooka8; Chameleon-Knight b8, g8; Leaper-Bishop c8, f8; Pincer-Pawn a7, b7,c7, d7, e7, f7, g7. h7.
The reason for swapping the black queen and king will become obviouslater.
General Principles
Only one piece may occupy a square at any one time. A piece may nevermove into a square occupied by a friendly piece.
The pieces
Emperor-King may move one space in any direction. If the spaceis occupied by an opponent's piece then it is taken. Mussel mac os.
Pincer-Pawn: May either:
Stupid Chess Mac Os 7
- Move one space forward into an unoccupied square, OR
- Move two spaces forward into an unoccupied square if the pincer-pawnhas not yet been moved, OR
- Move one space diagonally forward to take an opponent's piece, OR
- (Optional) take an opponent's pawn en passant (as in chess), OR
- Move as a rook. If at the end of the rook move the pincer-pawn is adjacentto an enemy piece which itself is adjacent to another piece the same colouras the pincer pawn, the enemy piece is captured (all three pieces mustlie in a straight line). When a pincer-pawn moves as a rook it may nevermove onto occupied squares.
Leaper-Bishop: May either:
- Move diagonally in any direction and take as a bishop, or
- Move as a chess queen, and leap horizontally, vertically, or diagonallyover an opposing piece if the square immediately beyond is empty. The leapermay then continue taking opposing pieces if there are further enemy pieces,in line with the Leaper-bishop move, with one space between each piece.
Retreater-Queen moves as a chess queen. This piece may only takeone piece at a time. It may either capture an adjacent enemy piece by movingdirectly away from it at the start of the Retreater-queen's move, or maytake an enemy piece by moving onto its space (as per a chess queen).
Freezer-Rook moves as a chess queen. It may only capture enemypieces as a chess rook (i.e. when it moves horizontally or vertically).In addition, any enemy pieces adjacent to the Freezer-rook may not be moved.
Coordinator-Rook moves as a chess queen. It may capture enemypieces as a chess rook (i.e. when it moves horizontally or vertically).If it does not capture a piece in this way, then if at then end of itsmove an enemy piece is on the same file as the Coordinator-Rook and thesame rank as the friendly Emperor-King (or same rank as Coordinator-Rookand same file as Emperor-King) then that piece is taken.
Chameleon-Knight: (deep breath in) This piece is a knightmare(apologies for the pun). That's why I've left it 'til last. This piecemay either:
- Move and take as a chess Knight (2 sq hor/vert + 1 sq vert/hor), OR
- Move as a chess queen and take any enemy piece as that piece wouldtake it in Ultima. I.e: It may take each opposingpiece as follows:
- Emperor-King: Moving onto square when 1 space away
- Pincer-Pawn: Sandwiching P-P between C-K and another friendly piece.
- Leaper-Bishop: Moving up to and Leaping over L-B into empty followingspace
- Retreater-Queen: Starting move by moving directly away from R-Q.
- Freezer-Rook: Cannot actually take F-R, but does immobilise it.
- Coordinator-Rook: Takes if opposing C-R is on same rank/file as C-K/ E-King @ end of move.
- Chameleon-Knight: Cannot take (except as an optional case where endof C-K move results in all 4 C-K being adjacent thus:
when all but the C-K just moved are taken).
Why swap over the black king/queen at the start of the game?
- Stupid is difficult enough without having to worry about having yourking coordinated. By switching the position of the black king & queen,it should be more obvious when someone intends to use their Coordinator-Rookto attack your Emperor-King.
Why use double barrelled names for all the pieces?
- OK, calling the King an Emperor-King may be a bit OTT, but the otherpieces are double barrelled just so you can remember the duality of theirmoves (it's quite easy to forget sometimes!). Besides, it adds more annoyancevalue to the game.
Why no checkmate (for beginners at least)?
- Try it and you'll see!
OK, I'm a real masochist and want to try Total Stupid. How do I knowwhich amalgamations are legal?
- Generally speaking, all of them are. You may (for instance) use yourRetreater-Queen to move directly away from an opposing piece (taking it,of course), and then take a second piece by moving onto its square as aqueen would. You may also take a piece with a Pincer-Pawn using a diagonalpawn-capture move, and then use pincer captures on enemy pieces now adjacentto that P-P. The only case I can think of which MAY be illegal is the followingLeaper-Bishop move:
Free Chess Mac
L-B ** ** C-R P-P ** R-Q ** Her lie i tried to believe - extended edition mac os.
L-B moves onto (and captures) C-R. It then leaps over P-P, and againover R-Q (capturing both). Name wip mac os. I THINK this is legal (but I may need to discussthis with Paul).
If you have any queries then please email me at huttm%(email removed contact us for address) prd.sherwood.co.uk,and I'll try to answer you a.s.a.p.
Stupid Chess Mac Os 7
Written by Mike Hutton.Last modified: February 7, 1997.