Beyond Plunder Chess, a Review

Plunder Chess was brought to our attention on Beyond Chess Chat. We checked it out and here's what we found.

In a nutshell, Plunder Chess allows players to strengthen their chessmen as the game is played out by "stealing" move capabilities from enemy pieces they capture. As an example, if a knight captures a queen, he can acquire a special "vest" that fits on the cleverly designed chess piece, and on a future move, that knight can move as a queen for one turn.

Plunder Chess by itself is a clever and addictive chess variation, but play it on a Beyond Chess board, and it takes both variations to a whole new and exciting level.

We tried it out and found some interesting situations that were, well, just very cool. One shone in the photo right, was when white's queen plundered the move capability of a knight by capturing it. She was then setup to attack either black rook, one by way of moving as a queen and the other by way of moving as a knight. The rooks were both boxed in by the position of the board and were unable to either escape or defend each other. She ended up picking them both off of course!

Another dynamic we came across not possible in the two variations separately was the ability for a piece other than a pawn to Geret. Gareting is a move in Beyond Chess that allows the pawn to move forward, left or right along with the square it occupies. The pawn is the only piece that can move with a square together. However, according to Plunder Chess rules, if a bishop captures a pawn, it can then move as a pawn for one move, which includes...you guessed it... Gereting! In other words, if that bishop captures a pawn, later, he can use that pawn move to Geret himself if the need arises and in one of the games we played, it did...and yes, it was very cool!

We found Plunder Chess to be both wonderfully clever and a great companion to Beyond Chess. Both variations work seamlessly together to create a rich and beautifully dynamic chess experience that would be enjoyable for any level player, which is why we're giving "Beyond Plunder Chess" 8 out of 8 pawns!

It also brings to mind combining many variations together to create an ultimate chess game. You could, say, play BugHouse chess on two Beyond Chess boards setup as 9x9 each (using two queens) using Bobby Fischer Random Chess setup and Plunder Chessmen! But what would you call it? Anyone up for a round of Beyond Bobby Fischer Random Plunder Bughouse Chess?!

The possibilities are endless...go Beyond Chess!

Click on image to enlarge.

Beyond Plunder Chess is a combination of Plunder Chess and Beyond Chess. Beyond Chess works great with other variations and Plunder Chess is a fun twist that melds nicely for an unbelievably dynamic and often amazing game that will leave you craving more.

Click on image to enlarge.

The plundering feature of Plunder Chess allows a piece to "steal" the movement capability of a piece it's captured and use it on a future move. Combining this with the dynamic of Beyond Chess' moving board, and you end up with a situation like here, where a queen is forking two trapped rooks, and can either attack one as a queen or attack the other as a knight. Because of the configuration of the board, the rooks can neither escape or defend each other from the attack. By Plunder Chess rules, the queen can acquire the knight's movement by capturing him, then use the movement capability on a later move.

For more information on Plunder Chess, visit their website at www.PlunderChess.com.

To learn more about other chess variations, visit www.chessvariants.org.

Beyond Chess, Trademark 2006, Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. Patent pending.