Starchess

How to Play Starchess

Starchess was invented by Hungarian chess teacher László Polgár around 2004. The board is a horizontally oriented hexagram of 37 numbered cells. Games are typically shorter than standard chess due to the compact board.

Setup

Each player has five pawns and five pieces: a King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, and Knight. Pawns start at fixed positions: White on cells 5, 12, 18, 23, 29 and Black on cells 9, 15, 20, 26, 33.

Before the game, players alternate placing their remaining five pieces on their back rank — White on cells 4, 11, 17, 22, 28 and Black on cells 10, 16, 21, 27, 34. There are 14,400 possible setups (5! × 5!). In random mode the layout is chosen automatically and mirrored so both sides have the same arrangement.

The Board

The six directions on the hexagonal board are: N, S, NW, NE, SW, SE. "Vertical" means N–S; "diagonal" means NW/NE/SW/SE. Each cell number is printed on the board.

Wing cells 1 and 37 are called mummies. Cells 2, 3, 35, 36 are dead pawn cells. A pawn on those cells has lost all mobility.

Piece Moves

♟ Pawn

Advances one step north (vertically forward). Captures one step diagonally forward (NW or NE for White; SW or SE for Black). On its first move, a pawn may advance two steps north. There is no en passant.

White promotes on Black's back rank (cells 10, 16, 21, 27, 34); Black promotes on White's back rank (cells 4, 11, 17, 22, 28). A pawn that made a capture loses its double-step option and is called a limping pawn.

♚ King

Moves one step in any of the six orthogonal directions (N, S, NW, NE, SW, SE). There is no castling.

♞ Knight

Jumps: two steps in any direction, then one step in a different direction — the same jump as in Gliński's Hexagonal Chess. The knight leaps over any intervening pieces.

♜ Rook

Slides any number of steps vertically only (N or S — along the same column). Cannot move diagonally.

♝ Bishop

Slides any number of steps diagonally only (NW, NE, SW, or SE). Cannot move vertically.

♛ Queen

Combines the Rook and Bishop — slides any number of steps in any of the six directions. This is equivalent to Gliński's rook.

Winning

Checkmate the opponent's King. Stalemate is a draw.