Board Game

Abstract

A board game comprises a grid-like game board having ten rows of nine squares and two sets of game pieces. Each of the set of game pieces includes nine pawns, two canons, two rooks, two elephants, two knights, two guards, and a king. Two players alternate moving one game piece from a corresponding one of the sets of game pieces until one of the players has force captured the opposing king.

1 . A board game to be played by a first and a second player comprising;
 a game board, the game board comprising a series of ninety squares arranged in a grid pattern having ten rows and nine columns and having two series of adjacent squares designated as a first and a second palace; and   a first and a second set of game pieces, each set corresponding to one of the two players and comprising nine pawns, two cannons, two rooks, two elephants, two knights, two guards and a king, each game piece being placed on one of the ninety squares of the game board;   wherein the game board and the first and second set of game pieces are useable by the first and the second player to alternately move one game piece from the first and the second set of game pieces, respectively, wherein:
 each pawn in the first set of game pieces may be moved to an adjacent square along a column in a direction away from the first palace if that adjacent square is unoccupied or may be moved to a diagonally adjacent square away from the first palace if the diagonally adjacent square is occupied by a game piece in the second set of game pieces; 
 each cannon in the first set of game pieces may be moved to any destination square within the same column or row as its present location if that destination square and all intervening squares are unoccupied or may move to the destination square if the destination square is occupied by a game piece in the second set of game pieces and one of the intervening squares is occupied by any other game piece; 
 each rook in the first set of game pieces may be moved to any square within the same column or row as its present location if all intervening squares are unoccupied or may move to a next occupied square within a column or row if the next occupied square is occupied by a game piece in the second set of game pieces; 
 each elephant in the first set of game pieces may be moved to a destination square that is located two squares diagonally or one square orthogonally from its current location if the destination square is unoccupied or may move to a destination square that is located two squares diagonally from its current location if that destination square is occupied by a game piece in the second set of game pieces; 
 each knight in the first set of game pieces may be moved to a destination square that is located two squares away in any orthogonal direction and one square perpendicular to that orthogonal direction if the destination square is unoccupied or is occupied by a game piece in the second set of game pieces; 
 each guard in the first set of game pieces may be moved to any adjacent square if that square is not occupied or is occupied by a game piece in the second set of game pieces; and 
 the king in the first set of game pieces may be moved to any adjacent square if that square is not occupied or is occupied by a game piece in the second set of game pieces. 
   
     
     
         2 . The board game of  claim 1 , wherein:
 each pawn in the second set of game pieces may be moved to an adjacent square along a column in a direction away from the second palace if that adjacent square is unoccupied or may be moved to a diagonally adjacent square away from the second palace if the diagonally adjacent square is occupied by a game piece in the first set of game pieces;   each cannon in the second set of game pieces may be moved to any destination square within the same column or row as its present location if that destination square and all intervening squares are unoccupied or may move to the destination square if the destination square is occupied by a game piece in the first set of game pieces and one of the intervening squares is occupied by any other game piece;   each rook in the first set of game pieces may be moved to any square within the same column or row as its present location if all intervening squares are unoccupied or may move to a next occupied square within a column or row if the next occupied square is occupied by a game piece in the first set of game pieces;   each elephant in the second set of game pieces may be moved to a destination square that is located two squares diagonally or one square orthogonally from its current location if the destination square is unoccupied or may move to a destination square that is located two squares diagonally from its current location if that destination square is occupied by a game piece in the first set of game pieces;   each knight in the second set of game pieces may be moved to a destination square that is located two squares away in any orthogonal direction and one square perpendicular to that orthogonal direction if the destination square is unoccupied or is occupied by a game piece in the first set of game pieces;   each guard in the first set of game pieces may be moved to any adjacent square if that square is not occupied or is occupied by a game piece from the first set of game pieces; and   the king from the second set of game pieces may be moved to any adjacent square if that square is not occupied or is occupied by a game piece from the first set of game pieces.   
     
     
         3 . The board game of  claim 2 , wherein each guard in the first set of game pieces and each guard in the second set of game pieces can only be moved to squares within the first and the second palace, respectively. 
     
     
         4 . The board game of  claim 2 , wherein the king in the first set of game pieces and the king in the second set of game pieces can only be moved to squares within the first and second palaces respectively. 
     
     
         5 . The board game of  claim 2 , wherein a first game piece is removed from the game board if a second game piece is moved onto a square occupied by the first game piece. 
     
     
         6 . The board game of  claim 2 , wherein no game piece may be moved in a manner that would place the king from the first set of game pieces and the king from the second set of game in the same column on the game board without another game piece from either the first or second sets of game pieces being placed between the kings. 
     
     
         7 . The board game of  claim 2 , wherein the first player and the second player alternate moving one game piece from the first set of game pieces and second set of game pieces, respectively, until either the first player or second player is unable to move a game piece without the second player or first player, respectively, being able to capture the king of the first or second set of game pieces respectively on the following turn. 
     
     
         8 . The board game of  claim 2 , wherein a pawn from the first set of game pieces that is moved into a square in an end row of the game board is promoted to a queen. 
     
     
         9 . The board game of  claim 8 , wherein the queen may be moved to a destination square located within the same column or row as the queen or located diagonally from the queen if any intervening squares are unoccupied and the destination square is either unoccupied or occupied by a game piece from the second set of game pieces. 
     
     
         10 . The board game of  claim 2 , wherein a pawn from the second set of game pieces that is moved into a square in an end row of the game board is promoted to a queen. 
     
     
         11 . The board game of  claim 10 , wherein the queen may be moved to a destination square located within the same column or row as the queen or located diagonally from the queen if any intervening squares are unoccupied and the destination square is either unoccupied or occupied by a game piece from the first set of game pieces. 
     
     
         12 . A method of playing a game comprising:
 arranging a first set of game pieces on a game board, the game board comprising a series of ninety squares arranged in a grid pattern having ten rows and nine columns and having two series of adjacent squares designates as a first and second palace, the first set of game pieces being associated with the first palace and comprising nine game pieces designated as pawns, two game pieces designated as cannons, two game pieces designated as rooks, two game pieces designated as elephants, two game pieces designated as knights, two game pieces designated as guards and a game piece designated as a king;   arranging a second set of game pieces on the game board, the second set of game pieces being associated with the second palace and comprising nine game pieces designated as pawns, two game pieces designated as cannons, two game pieces designated as rooks, two game pieces designated as elephants, two game pieces designated as knights, two game pieces designated as guards and a game piece designated as a king; and   alternating turns between a first player and a second player wherein the first player can move any game piece of the first set of game pieces and the second player can move any game piece of the second set of game pieces; wherein
 the game pieces designates as pawns can be moved to an adjacent square along a column in a direction away from the palace associated with that pawn if that adjacent square is unoccupied or may be moved to a diagonally adjacent square away from the palace associated with that pawn if the diagonally adjacent square is occupied by a game piece associated with the palace not associated with the pawn; 
 the game pieces designated as cannons may be moved to any destination square within the same column or row as its present location if that destination square and all intervening squares are unoccupied or may move to the destination square if the destination square is occupied by a game piece associated with the palace not associated with the cannon and one of the intervening squares is occupied by any other game piece; 
 the game pieces designated as rooks may be moved to any square within the same column or row as its present location if all intervening squares are unoccupied or may move to a next occupied square within a column or row if the next occupied square is occupied by a game piece associated with the palace not associated with the rook; 
 the game pieces designated as elephants may be moved to a destination square that is located two squares diagonally or one square orthogonally from its current location if the destination square is unoccupied or may move to a destination square that is located two squares diagonally from its current location if that destination square is occupied by a game piece associated with the palace not associated with the elephant; 
 the game pieces designated as knight may be moved to a destination square that is located two squares away in any orthogonal direction and one square perpendicular to that orthogonal direction if the destination square is unoccupied or is occupied by a game piece associated with the palace not associated with the knight; 
 the game pieces designated as guards may be moved to any adjacent square within the palace the guard is associated with if that square is not occupied or is occupied by a game piece that is not associated with that palace; and 
 the game pieces designated as kings may be moved to any adjacent square within the palace the king is associated with if that square is not occupied or is occupied by a game piece that is not associated with that palace. 
   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein alternating turns between a first player and a second player comprises alternating turns between a first player and a second player until either the first player is unable to make an allowable move without the second player being able to capture the king of the first set of game pieces on the next turn or the second player is unable to make an allowable move without the first player being able to capture the king of the second set of game pieces on the next turn. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 replacing a game piece designed as a pawn with a game piece designated as a queen and associated with the same palace as the game piece designated as a pawn when the game piece designated as a pawn is moved to an end row of the game board.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein alternating turns between a first and a second player comprises alternating turns between a first and a second player wherein a game piece designated as a queen can be moved to any destination square in the same row or column as the queen or located diagonally from the queen provided that any intervening squares are unoccupied and the destination squares is either unoccupied or occupied with a game piece that is associated with a palace not associated with the queen. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising
 tracking a first cumulative time between the end of each move made by the first player and the end of each move of the second player, and   tracking a second cumulative time between the end of each move made by the second player and the end of each move wherein the first player.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 declaring the first player a winner if the first cumulative time exceeds a first desired time limit; and   declaring the second player a winner if the second cumulative time exceeds a second desired time limit   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the first desired time limit and the second desired time limit are the same. 
     
     
         19 . A method of playing a board game comprising:
 arranging a first set of game pieces on a game board on a first end of the game board adjacent a first palace of the game board;   arranging a second set of game pieces on the game board on a second end of the game board adjacent a second palace of the game board;   a first player selecting a move from a group of legal moves consisting of: moving a pawn of the first set of game pieces, moving a cannon of the first set of game pieces, moving a rook of the first set of game pieces, moving an elephant of the first set of game pieces, moving a knight of the first set of game pieces, moving a guard of the first set of game pieces, moving a king of the first set of game pieces, and moving a queen of the first set of game pieces;   a second player selecting a move from a group of legal moves consisting of moving a pawn of the second set of game pieces, moving a cannon of the second set of game pieces, moving a rook of the second set of game pieces, moving an elephant of the second set of game pieces, moving a knight of the second set of game pieces, moving a guard of the second set of game pieces, moving a king of the second set of game pieces, and moving a queen of the first set of game pieces; and   repeating the selection by the first player and the second player until either the first player or the second player have no legal moves to select from, wherein
 moving a pawn comprises moving the pawn to an adjacent square along a column in a direction away from the end the pawn was initially placed on if that adjacent square is unoccupied or moving the pawn to a diagonally adjacent square away from the end the pawn was initially placed on if the diagonally adjacent square is occupied by a game piece that is not a part of the same set of game pieces as the pawn; 
 moving a cannon moving the cannon to any destination square within the same column or row as the cannon if that destination square and all intervening squares are unoccupied or moving the cannon to the destination square if the destination square is occupied by a game piece that is not a part of the same set of game pieces as the cannon and one of the intervening squares is occupied by any other game piece; 
 moving a rook comprises moving the rook to any square within the same column or row as the rook if all intervening squares are unoccupied or moving the rook to a next occupied square within the same column or row as the rook if the next occupied square is occupied by a game piece that is not a part of the same set of game pieces as the rook; 
 moving an elephant comprises moving the elephant to a destination square that is located two squares diagonally or one square orthogonally from the elephant's current location if the destination square is unoccupied or moving the elephant to a destination square that is located two squares diagonally from the elephant's current location if that destination square is occupied by a game piece that is not part of the same set of game pieces as the elephant; 
 moving a knight comprises moving the knight to a destination square that is located two squares away in any orthogonal direction and one square perpendicular to that orthogonal direction if the destination square is unoccupied or is occupied by a game piece that is not a part of the same set of game pieces as the knight; 
 moving a guard comprises moving the guard to any adjacent square if that square is not occupied or is occupied by a game piece that is not a part of the same set of game pieces as the guard; 
 moving a king comprises moving the king to any adjacent square if that square is not occupied or is occupied by a game piece that is not a part of the same set of game pieces as the king; 
 moving a queen comprises moving the queen to any destination square in the same row or column as the queen or located diagonally from the queen provided that any intervening squares are unoccupied and the destination squares is either unoccupied or occupied with a game piece that is not a part of the same set of game pieces as the queen; 
 no game piece can be moved if a resulting configuration of game pieces places the king of the first set of game pieces and the king of the second set of game pieces in the same column without a game piece located at any intervening squares between the king of the first set of game pieces and the king of the second set of game pieces.