Vector Chess

VECTOR CHESS is a war game that was developed from a combination of the term “vector”, which is a quantity used to represent magnitude and direction, and “chess”, one of the world’s oldest war games. Each piece in this game has a rank that determines the distance it may move, and a directional characteristic which indicates the direction that it may be moved. In this way, each piece represents a vector, having characteristics of both magnitude and direction.

PLAYING SURFACE: Vector Chess is played on a square playing area divided into either 49 or 64 smaller squares of equal size. The squares may be alternately light and dark colored, but it is not necessary. A game played on the board having 49 squares will usually make for a shorter game when compared to a game on the 64 square board.

THE PIECES: Depending upon the type of board used, enough pieces must be used to fill the first two rows of squares on each side of the board, with each piece set facing the opposite side of the board. Only two types of pieces are used in this game: the MAJOR pieces, and the MINOR pieces. The major pieces, which are line up along the first row of the board, have the highest rank and may be moved from one to four spaces along a straight line in the direction that they are pointing. The minor pieces are lined up on the second row of the board, and are identical to the major pieces except that they are shorter and may be moved only one or two spaces in the direction that they are pointing. Each piece in this game maneuvers like a soldier on a battlefield – it may turn and move to a new position, provided no other piece blocks its path, and it may attack any enemy piece that is directly in its path and within range. The range of movement is the number of spaces that the piece move can move as was previously described.

OBJECT OF THE GAME: The object of the game is to “check mate” the opposing player by maneuvering pieces into his first row squares until the defending pieces in that row are outnumbered. If the first row squares are empty, only one attacking pieces is required to put the opposing player “in check”. The defending player must break the check during his next turn as described below, or he will be considered “check mated”.

COMPONENTS: This game includes 32 round wooden playing pieces in 2 colors that are similar looking to a rook in chess but have a directional arrow in the top. For each player there are 8 'tall' pieces and 8 'short' pieces that otherwise look identical. The board included has a 7x7 grid on a rolled up vinyl board (although the game can also be played on an 8x8 grid - presumably a standard chess board would be suitable)