Kukulkan Chess

2023-06-06

Welcome to my Kukulkan Chess Presentation. I'm going to present you a new special piece for the chess game.

You can either watch it on youtube, read it below in text format, or download the PowerPoint presentation (link: Kukulkan-Chess.pptx).
Thank you for your attention and enjoy this new chess game!

Origin and Meaning

Where does this idea for introducing a new chess piece come from? It comes originally from my personal relationship with the being Kukulkan. Kukulkan means in the Yucatan-Maya language "Plumed Serpent". Gukumatz means the same in Kiche-Maya language and Quetzalcoatl comes from the Aztec language. The plumed serpent is descending from the Mayan pyramid "El Castillo" during equinox, which means when the duration of daytime equals the duration of nighttime. This occurs two times per year. One time in March, another time in September. It reveals the hybrid nature of Kukulkan: half good, half evil. So how does a hybrid piece fit into a game like chess? Let's start with the rules.

Starting point

White decides where to put Kukulkan on one of the squares of the lines 4 or 5 (see green rectangle). White can set the orientation of Kukulkan as well (4 possibilities on each green square).

Who can steer Kukulkan?

After White has set Kukulkan, Black can make the next move. Kukulkan can't be beaten. The party, who has the most attacks on Kukulkan, can steer him. Kukulkan can't move if nobody is attacking him, or if the attack counters are equal.

How to move and beat?

Black can steer Kukulkan. He can move and beat as far as possible in direction of the green arrows. He can only move (but not beat) as far as possible in direction of the yellow arrows. In one move he can also be rotated (3 possibilities).

Illegal moves

In this situation it's Black's turn. The attack counters on Kukulkan are 2:2, which means that nobody can steer Kukulkan. Black can't move the pawn on c5 and neither can the black knight on c6, because it would cause Check! They are pinned.

Variations

For variations you could add more than one Kukulkan to the game. Or you could add a rule which allows Kukulkan to beat or sacrifice the own chess pieces.

Thank you for your attention and enjoy Kukulkan chess!