Coup Chess

Play uses standard piece collection realized as flat tiles that can be turned face down (to hide their identity). Reverse of each tile should be free to mark (by the opposing player, if they wish).

Setup: each player privately arranges their pieces as they wish within the first two ranks, placing them face-down.

To move a piece: declare an identity for the piece and move it as if it is that piece. If a piece is captured, place it to the side of the board without revealing it.

Structure of a turn (turn 2 and onward):

• First, player may challenge the most recent move (or they may pass). Upon challenge, the previous player (moving player) reveals the moved piece.
  • If it matches the identity that moving player claimed, challenging player must sacrifice a piece of their choice, revealing it. The challenged piece remains revealed to the end of the game.
  • If the challenged piece does not match, it is removed. If a piece was captured by the move, the captured piece is returned to its location of capture.
• Next, after challenge/pass is resolved, any piece successfully captured on previous turn is revealed.
• Finally, the player moves a piece.

End of the game: when a King is revealed as a capture or as a challenge sacrifice, its owner loses.

Reducing White’s advantage: during their first turn, Black may challenge White’s first move at no risk (no sacrifice required if challenge succeeds).

Variations

• When moving-player passes a challenge, instead of leaving the revealed piece face up, it is turned down and (outside of view of the challenging player) swapped with another piece of the owner’s choice (in this variant, of course, pieces cannot be marked).
• More edge for Black: Black may issue their first challenge (on any turn) at no risk.
• During setup, front row may contain at most one non-pawn.

CamelUp Chess

Play uses standard piece collection and a large number of those pizza box strut things of appropriate height.

Main difference: a piece may move onto any square to which its identity allows it to move.

• A piece is allowed to “stack” with the pieces currently at target square.
• When a piece moves, it also moves all (zero or more) pieces stacked on it.
• When moving into a square containing opposing piece(s), the moving stack may capture one of the opposing pieces in the target stack. The entire moving stack is moved into the vertical region previously occupied by the captured piece.

Example: todo

Variations

• Pieces may only capture the bottom-most piece (or top-most).
• Beetle chess (cf Hive). New piece: the beetle. If a beetle is on top of a stack, that stack cannot move.

https://cutfree.net