BULLTRICKER > Rules of the game - full version !

HOW TO GAME WORKS :

Every player haves 24 pieces : 1 king - 8 queens - 15 pawns .
The whites start and each player plays in turn, one piece at a time that is pawn, queen, or king .

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EXPLANATIONS ABOUT THE BOARD :

The board is made of 161 squares

- 49 big squares called "royal squares" on which only kings can move .
- 112 rectangular squares ( 56 are horizontal, 56 are vertical ), on which only pawns and queens can move .
- 64 smalles squared called "abutment" This square form the ROW and COLUMN,

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EXAMPLE :

1 row contains :
7 big squares and 8 rectangular squares

1 column contains :
7rectangular squares and 8 small squares

They is on the board : ( picture 1 )
7 horizontal rows, 7 vertical rows
8 horizontal columns, 8 vertival columns

This is a horizontal row :

...a horizontal column :

...a vertical row :

...a vertical column :

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THE BOARD :

How the different pieces are placed on the board at beginning of the game .

( picture 1 )

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EXPLANATIONS

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BONUS
of the PAWN

2) - MOVEMENTS :

KING - PAWN - QUEEN

The general rules :
1) the pieces of a same player cannot take themselves nor jump over one another .
2) The pieces on a same column cannot jump over one another .

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THE KING MOVEMENT : PAWN - QUEEN

The king cannot take another piece or jump over it and no pieces can jump over the king or take it . The king moves on the royal squares vertically or horizontally, one square at a time, forward, backward, on the right, on the left ( picture 2a ) .
There must always be at least one royal square between the 2 kings even if they are separated by some pawns or queens ( picture 2b ) .

picture 2a

picture 2b

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THE PAWN MOVEMENT : See the BONUS of the PAWN - KING - QUEEN

The pawn only moves forward and never goes backward . The pawn has 3 different ways to move on the board ( picture 3a, 3b ) and moves one square at a time except for the 7 pawns placed on the horizontal square at the very beginning of the game.
In fact, these pawns are able to move 2 square at a time only for their first move ( picture 3c )
On the picture the pawns are marked with a red spot and as the game goes they move accordingly to the general rule .
See the BONUS of the PAWN

picture 3a

picture 3b

picture 3c

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BONUS OF THE PAWN :

Any pawn reaching the first horizontal column of the opponent's side becomes a queens !

EXAMPLE :

- Any white pawn reaching any squares from the columns H1-V1 to H1-V8 becomes a white queen .
- Any black pawn reaching any squares from the columns H8-V1 to H8-V8 becomes a black queen .

Note : as there can be move than 8 queens for each player in the game, there are always 2 more queens pieces available for each player in the game .

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PAWN
movements

THE QUEEN MOVEMENT : KING - PAWN

The queen can move in 8 different ways and can move in any way in the 4 directions
( picture 4a, 4b ) .

picture 4a

picture 4b

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QUEEN
movements

3) - THE CAPTURE : PAWN - QUEEN

There are 2 differents capture :
- The first one is "in row" and is compulsory that is to say that the player is compelled to take the piece .
- The second one is "in column" and is optional . The player can take the piece but it is not compelled to do so and can chose another move .

Priority rules :

1) The pawn can take other pawns and other queens belonging to the opponent .
2) The queen can take other pawns and other queens belonging to the opponent.
3) If a player has the possibility to take with a compulsory capture (in row) or an optional capture (in column), the player will have to opt for the compulsory capture first .
4) With an optional capture (in column), a player can only take one piece at a time .

In the following pictures, the grey striped piece represents a black pawn or black queen .

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THE PAWN CAPTURE : Compulsory capture - Optional capture - QUEEN

A pawn can only take another piece by moving forward .
A pawn cannot take another piece on the left or on the right nor backward .

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PAWN Compulsory capture :

Simple capture

When a pawn is facing an opponent's piece which is one the same vertical row with only a royal square between them, the player must take this piece by jumping over it and by moving onto the free square right behind it ( picture 5a )

picture 5a

Multiple capture

The player can also take as many pieces as he wants as long as those pieces are separated by one free rectangular square .

Picture 5b shows the capture of two opponent's pieces . Indeed, it is possible to capture as many as three pieces in a row with a pawn which will end up being a queen !

picture 5b

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PAWN
(capture)

PAWN Optional capture :

When a pawn faces an opponent's piece on the same vertical column with a small square between them, then the player can take this piece and take its place,
( picture 5c ) . The player can take the piece but it is not compelled to do so and can chose move another piece .

picture 5c

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PAWN
(capture)

THE QUEEN CAPTURE : Compulsory capture - Optional capture - Fourchette - PAWN

When placed on a vertical row, the queen can take any pieces either backward or forward whatever the space left between the two pieces is .
When placed on an horizontal row, the queen can take a piece either on the left or on the right .

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QUEEN Compulsory capture :

Simple capture

When a queen is placed on the same vertical or horizontal row as the opponent's piece, then the queen must take the piece by jumping over it whatever the distance is between the two so as to stop on whatever rectangular free square placed after this opponent's piece
( picture 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d ) .

picture 6a

picture 6b

picture 6c

picture 6d

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Multiple capture

The queen must take as many pieces as she can as long as those pieces are separated by at least one free rectangular square ( picture 6e, 6f, 6g, 6h ) .

picture 6e

picture 6f

picture 6g

picture 6h

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QUEEN Optional capture :

When a queen is only one small square between the queen and the opponent's piece and that they are both on a same vertical or horizontal column, the queen can still take this opponent's piece by taking its place ( picture 6i, 6j, 6k, 6l ) .

picture 6i

picture 6j

picture 6k

picture 6l

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THE FOURCHETTE : Compulsory capture - Optional capture

When a queen is placed between two opponent's pieces and those two pieces are placed on a same row so that it is possible to take either one or the other pieces, this situation is called a "fourchette". The queen can take one of those two directions at a time .
EXAMPLE : The white queen take in 1 or in 2 ( picture 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e, 7f, 7g, 7h ) .

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FOURCHETTE Compulsory capture :

picture 7a

or

picture 7b
or

picture 7c
or

picture 7d

or

...between 2 pawns spaced :

picture 7e

picture 7f
or

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FOURCHETTE Optional capture :

picture 7g

or

picture 7h
or

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4) - END OF THE GAME :

MATE- TRICK - STALEMATE

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MATE :

When the king is enclosed by 4 pieces out of which one at least is the opponent's, it is a MATE .

The first player who succeeds in enclosed the king of his opponent is the winner .
The following examples show that the black king is mate and that the player with the white pieces won the game ( picture 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d ) .

picture 8a

picture 8b

picture 8c

picture 8d

Note : When a player has his king enclosed by 4 of his own pieces, it isn't a MATE,
and the game is not finished .

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TRICK :

It is the move which reveals all the subtility of the game BULLTRICKER . The aim of this move is to force the opponent to enclose his own king so that the move becomes MATE .
The losing player is forced to take one of his opponent's pieces and thus to enclose his own king . This move is called TRICK .

EXAMPLE : The white win, the black play in last and lose ! ( picture 9a, 9b ) .

picture 9a

picture 9b

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STALEMATE :

STALEMATE is when the game ends in a draw there isn't a winner . There are 3 different kinds of stalemate due to :

    1) - Immobilization
    2) - Lack of pieces
    3) - The move is repeated several times

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1) - IMMOBIZATION : (return STALEMATE)

It happens when the player has nothing else to play with apart from his king and the latter is blocked or immobilized by certain pieces though the king is not enclosed like in
the MATE case .

EXAMPLE : The player with the black pieces has to play but he can only use the king . The player cannot move his king because there should be at least one royal square between the two kings . The situation is called "STALEMATE" ( picture 10a, 10b ) .

picture 10a

picture 10b

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There is also STALEMATE, when a player has only his king to play with and the latter is close to the edge of the board and immobilized by 3 pieces, or 2 if the king is stuck in a corner ( picture 10c, 10d ) .

picture 10c

picture 10d

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2) - THE LACK OF PIECES : (return STALEMATE)

There is also STALEMATE when there are less than 4 pawns and/or queens left on the board for each player .

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3) - THE MOVE IS REPEADTED SEVERAL TIMES : (return STALEMATE)

When the same situation occurs seven times with the same player then the opponent can declare the game is a draw by saying "STALEMATE" .

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