RJT Chess

RJT Chess is a relatively new variant of chinese chess (yes really, it only started this year). It is an immensely tactical and mindboggling puzzle suited for the mentally prepared, and is definitely not a game for people who do not like to think.


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"d/th" -- bet you can't solve the riddle


First of all, the rules of RJT Chess. In RJT Chess, pieces move as in Chinese Chess. It is not difficult to find out the rules of Chinese Chess on your own, and as such I save words. However, there is one key variation (and 1 more sneaky unimportant looking tweak to the rule) that changes the gameplay totally: the fact that captures are not allowed.

The aim of the game remains: to checkmate the opposing general. No collateral damage. No mass murder of civilians and troops alike. No bloodshed. Only a forced dignified resignation when one general realises that the end of the road is inevitable.

Hence, the game is all about strategic blocking of pieces.

First, let us ignore the second changed rule and proceed straight into the game, for the seemingly mysterious rule will be clearly explained by the nature of the game.

The idea is to stick a piece into the opponent general's face, no matter how poorly it is defended and how well it is attacked, for it cannot be captured anyway. For example, two chariots will nearly always kill the king should it get sufficiently close.

Hence, much of the resulting strategy revolves blocking the enemy pieces from swarming your king and even from crossing the river (just because it can be done). What does this naturally lead to? A disastrous blockade by the river which neither side can bypass. This naturally leads to a position where no checks can be made (since no pieces are sufficiently close to the king to even threaten to give check), and hence the game ends up in a draw. This is clearly not fun, and leads us into the rationale for the second rule.

Rule 2 (Check Existence Rule): From any given position (not halfway through a move, naturally), if side A cannot give check assuming side A is given an infinite number of moves in a row (ie. without side B moving), then side A wins. This rule prevents people from setting blockades around their kings, whether direct, or by barricading the river with buckywalls.

Naturally, what results is a NEARLY blocked up position, through which flies can barely pass through, and a very very tedious game (although it is easy to blunder into the Check Existence Rule, especially when the opponent moves into a position where he suddenly cannot make any more checks (eg. moving his knight into an enclosure of 4 "hostile" pieces).

Furthermore, there are no draws in this game so far except by agreement, and by having extremely convoluted positions unlikely to happen in-game. This is unnatural; drawing is a peaceful resolution, a compromise, a sign of civility and education and moral standards.

Hence, a new set of variant rules were added to firstly speed up the game (which took 40 minutes in a match of 2 relatively careful people -- and they were moving relatively quickly, at least at the start), and to implement forced draws, which are otherwise hard to prove due to the large number of variations with all 16 pieces on the board.

There are 3 important rules in the variant:

1) Perpetual check is a draw (a little desperate here =P)
P.S. Stalemate is not a draw -- coming to that later
2) In the unlikely event that the Check Existence Rule is flouted by both players at once, it is a happy peaceful draw.
3) Bings, the main barricading resource, now has a new move. When 2 bings meet head on, any player may command his bing to displace the "hostile" (still like that word) bing, and the two bings swap positions.

This blog will focus mainly on the variant, which has more spice and more fun stuff to write on. Don't read on...