Dragonchess

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How to play

Goal: Checkmate the enemy King. The King is never captured.

Turns: Gold moves first; play alternates. Each turn is one move or one special remote capture (Dragon).

Check: your King is attacked. Checkmate: attacked with no legal reply. Stalemate: not attacked but no legal move — a draw (house policy).

Coordinates: notation is level + file + rank, e.g. 3c4 = level 3, file c, rank 4. Files run a–l (12), ranks 1–8.

Three realms: Level 3 Sky, Level 2 Ground, Level 1 Underworld.

Selected piece

Click a piece to see its rules.

Move highlight legend

Piece guide

Special rules

Dragon remote capture: a Dragon on level 3 may, instead of moving, remove one enemy on level 2 at/next to its file-rank. It stays put; remote targets count as attacks for check.

Basilisk freeze: an enemy on level 2 directly above a Basilisk is frozen and cannot move/capture until the Basilisk moves away or is captured.

Warrior promotion: a Warrior reaching the far rank becomes a Hero automatically.

No castling, no two-square pawn move, no en passant.

Interpretation notes

Cleric vertical moves may capture.
Paladin inter-level moves may capture.
Mage one-square orthogonal moves on levels 1 and 3 may capture.
King return moves from level 1 or 3 to level 2 may capture.
Mage two-level vertical movement does not jump; the level-2 square must be empty.
Elemental two-square orthogonal movement does not jump.
Elemental movement from level 1 to level 2 is capture-only.
Elemental movement from level 2 back to level 1 may move or capture, subject to the empty intermediate square.
Stalemate is a draw.

These follow the conservative chess convention that captures are allowed unless expressly forbidden and non-leaping multi-square paths are blocked unless expressly defined as jumps.

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