Using Gray Matter to Clear Up Gray Areas About Gray Pieces

From the time I created Sovereign Chess, I wanted to keep the game as simple--that is, as close to traditional chess--as possible. Of course, like any chess variant, something had to be fundamentally different, and for me it was the idea of color. With pieces of different colors came squares of similar colors to control them, and those rules evolved into the chief mechanic of the game.

As I decided how to arrange the colors around the board artistically, I quickly decided that the pieces in the corners would be gray. First, they contrasted with the more colorful pieces on the sides, but second, they were much further away from the center of the board, and thus harder to develop.

One way to offset this handicap was to give the gray armies (Light-gray, or "ASH", and Dark-gray, or "SLATE") two queens each, instead of the one queen given to all other colors. This was easy to accomplish, since each gray occupied two corners, and having queens on all four corners would give the board a sense of symmetry.

After that, I placed a pawn on the square diagonal to each corner, thus creating a ring of pawns on the “second ring” of the board. While this lent its own visual appeal, it created two issues: 

First, without a special rule, it would be impossible to move a gray pawn, thus freeing the pieces behind it, unless the game had progressed so far that other colors around it had vacated neighboring squares. So, I devised a rule that a gray pawn could move diagonally one or two squares as its first move, and then orthogonally after that. Although most players saw that was a “patch” to make the grays easier to play, they accepted it, and moved on.

Second, of the two remaining squares in each corner, my desire was to represent each of the three remaining major pieces (rook, bishop and knight). My choice was to have the ASH pieces own two rooks and two bishops, while the SLATE pieces owned two rooks and two knights. This seemed to be the best way to have all of the major pieces be represented in at least one of the gray armies, but the decision led to an asymmetry in the board and, potentially, an imbalance in the gameplay.

Additionally, I created the rule of “Conversion”, where a gray piece could change color to one of the player’s pieces, depending on its movement to one of the center black or white squares. While this rule was designed to give extra incentive to bring the gray pieces out to the center, it was hard to explain, harder to actualize, and rarely ever used.

While these rules were in force for many years, the clunkiness of unusual rules and asymmetry were always gnawing at my brain (coincidentally, my “gray matter”). But recently, at a Los Angeles game convention (OrcCon 2013), an expert player and good friend made a simple suggestion that cleared up many issues.

“Lose the gray pawns,” he said. “Put knights on those squares instead. Surround each queen with a rook and bishop. That way, you can get rid of the ‘special rule’ for gray pawns, and make the game more symmetric.”

The sadness for me was breaking up the “ring of pawns” that had made up the inner loop of the board, but the benefits were worth it. I was able to lose the special rule about gray pawns. If a player controlled either gray army, she could move the knight and free up a queen in the same fashion as all of the other colors. Also, each of the gray armies now had two of each major piece.

While I was at it, I eliminated “Conversion”, without much loss (and much less rule confusion).

The result was a setup that was more natural, more symmetric, and which made the game even simpler to someone who loves traditional chess, without losing any of the key gameplay elements which make it difficult to dominate.

We have changed the rules on our website, and other sites which host information about the game (BoardGameGeek, ChessVariants, and others). We have yet to change our videos, so look for new ones in the upcoming months. 

Most of all, try the new setup and let us know what you think! We love to hear stories of how players use the gray pieces to checkmate their opponents!

Remember, show your TRUE COLORS!