2000 A.D. - chess variant

The Gorgon - a fearsome creature in Greek mythology and in Parton's 2000 A.D.

2000 A.D. is a chess variant created by V. R. Parton which employs fairy chess pieces on a 10x10 board. Parton describes his invention as "the game for Future Players in the Next Millennium", feeling that to be sufficiently challenging for later generations a variant should possess a larger board and increased possibilities.

The Gorgon, Chimaera, and Fury are all terrifying female monsters from Greek mythology. The Dragon is also referred to by Parton as female (Parton 1974:19). The Attendant stands next to the Empress at the beginning of the game and moves as a chess king, but is stripped of all normal royal powers.

The distinction between moving and capturing methods of most of the pieces is a feature characteristic of the game. Parton published the variant in his 1972 monograph My Game for 2000 A.D. and After.

Game rules

2000 A.D. starting position (pawns on e3, f3, e8, and f8 are optional)

Capturing the enemy Empress wins the game. There is no castling or checking in 2000 A.D. White moves first.

Pieces that move and capture the same way

The following pieces capture the same as they move :

Empress (E)

• Moves as a chess queen.

Attendant (A)

• Moves as a chess king.

Unicorn (U)

• Moves as a chess knight.

Pawn (P)

• Moves one step straight or diagonally forward;
• Can promote on entering opponent's half of the board to any piece previously lost.

Pieces that move as a queen but have other power

The following pieces move as a chess queen, but capture (or exercise other power) in their own special ways:

Capricorn (C)

• Captures by charging (moving to a vacant square orthogonally or diagonally adjacent to) an enemy piece.

Gorgon (G)

• Captures as a chess queen;
• Petrifies (immobilizes) any enemy piece it attacks;
• If petrified by an enemy Gorgon, does not lose its power to petrify other pieces.

Ximaera (Chimaera) (X)

• Cannot capture but is subject to capture;
• Swaps places with any enemy piece it attacks;
• If swapped with an enemy Ximaera, the player may reverse-swap them, but not on his next turn.

Dragon (D)

• Captures by leaping an enemy piece to any vacant square immediately beyond it;
• Can make multiple captures in a single turn in the same direction.

Mimotaur (M)

• The Mimotaur captures in the same manner as the piece being captured;
• Counter-petrifies an enemy Gorgon;
• Can swap places with an enemy Ximaera.

Alternate piece

The following is an alternate piece (if used, Furies replace Gorgons in the starting position):

Fury (F)

• Combines the powers of all the other pieces "[...] into one Supreme Terror" (Parton 1974:22).

Observations

• A Gorgon can be captured only by a Unicorn or a Capricorn.
• In a multiple capture, a Dragon is immobilized after one of the captures, if a Gorgon attacks it.
• A Capricorn can capture up to seven pieces in one turn, if they are all adjacent to the square the Capricorn charges to.
• A Mimotaur:
  • is incapable of attacking another Mimotaur;
  • must be adjacent to the Attendant to capture it;
  • must be in front of and adjacent to a pawn to capture it.

Read more:

• Ultima