Baroque chess

Baroque chess is a chess variant invented in 1962 by Robert Abbott. In 1963, at the suggestion of his publisher, he changed the name to Ultima, by which name it is also known. Abbott considers his invention flawed, and he has suggested amendments to the rules, but these suggestions have been substantially ignored by the gaming community, which continues to play by the 1962 rules. Since the rules for Baroque were first laid down in 1962, some regional variation has arisen, causing the game to diverge from Ultima.

Description

Baroque chess is usually played on a standard 8×8 chessboard with the standard Staunton design of chess pieces.

The rules that follow are widely found on the internet, but other variants exist. A variant popular among students at Cambridge University in 1974 is described on this webpage.

The initial setup of the pieces is the same as in standard chess, except for two things that the players must first decide on - center counter symmetry, and corner counter symmetry.