"Sovereign Chess's power comes from its simplicity..."

"[Sovereign Chess's] power comes from its simplicity ... The tide can turn quickly and it requires you to place different priorities on pieces based on what [those pieces] control."

- Great quotes and great mentions at Giant Fire Breathing Robot and Game Salute!  Our thanks goes out to them.  (http://bit.ly/PfJcio and http://bit.ly/PxrNUx)

Of traditional "fools mates" and fast SC end games...

This, by far, is the fastest Sovereign Chess checkmate we have seen, and maybe ever will.  We saw this over the Labor Day Strategicon convention.

What is particularly special about this game is that the traditional chess "Fool's Mate" is not possible on a Sovereign Chess board.  In a classic "Two-Move Checkmate," it requires the Queen to check and close all escape avenues along a diagonal line of attack.  See here:

However, due to the expanded board in Sovereign Chess, the angle that is needed to duplicate a similar position is now blocked off by the pieces that naturally lie on o9, p8 and o7 (see below).  Given this new configuration, it would appear that the quickest way to check an opponent requires controlling an army of color.

Below, is a diagram of the final check mate position, along with a moves list.

White	Black
l4	i13
l5	Ql12
Rl4	Qk11
Nxm2	Nxk2#

Post in the comments if you see an escape that all of us missed.

Gateway 2012

Sovereign Chess is travelling to Los Angeles for the Gateway 2012 Convention, to be held at the Los Angeles Sheraton. We are hoping to host our first tournament there!

More information about Gateway can be found at: www.strategicon.net

Many Thanks...

I have many people to thank for making Sovereign Chess, and this website, what it is...

First, my good friend Nate Conklin asked key questions about the rules, was the first playtester (and victor) of SC, and has helped greatly to make this website what it is.

Next, my wife, Colleen, and daughter Olivia have been extremely helpful and patient through this project.

Brad Elliott took the phenomenal pictures that help bring this site to life!

Hannah Elliott has worked hard on logo design, of which I am very excited!

Finally, thanks to all of the playtesters, including: Andy Saleh, Jason Groenink, Trevor Bates, Andy Bates, April Bates, Amanda Elliott, Lord Jacob Elliott of Glencoe, Scotland, Geordie Shafer, Paul Riemenschneider, Donald Briske, Evan Collins, Caleb Severson, Josiah Severson, and Elijah Raymond. All of these people have helped discover creative gameplay, expressed the joys (and frustrations) of the game, and helped to make it what it is today.

And thanks to you for visiting this site, and spreading the word of this new game!

I'm starting a website!

Welcome to the new Sovereign Chess website! At this time, I am providing a place for people to get information about the game, as well as comment and follow progress about production.

If you want to contact me about the game, you may call me at 805.259.8458, or email me at mark@sovereignchess.com