Valhalla Chess

Valhalla Chess is a new and interesting chess variant based on the Old Norse concept of the afterlife.

At the outset, Valhalla Chess is played as a normal game of chess. The board is set using the standard layout, and the common rules for piece movement and taking are followed. But once a piece is taken, the rules vary dramatically.

Pieces can go to either of two places after they are taken. If a piece had taken another before its own demise, then it is a "warrior" and goes to Valhalla, a cache of pieces off to one side of the board. Pieces that are captured before they can take another piece are "peaceful", and go to Hel, a cache of pieces off to the other side of the board. Other then this, the game is again played normally until checkmate.

After checkmate, all of the pieces in Hel are discarded from the game. However, all the warriors in Valhalla are placed on the board again, along with the kings, in their traditional positions. These pieces will all fight in the final battle of Ragnarok-- in effect, a second round is played, but only with the "warrior" pieces from the first round. Therefore, the player with more warriors immediately has an advantage over the other player during the Ragnarok round.

Strategically, this game would be a "kill-then-be-killed" affair, in which the players would have to try to take as many enemy pieces as possible before the end of the first round. You might hesitate at taking one of the more powerful pieces such as the Queen; if they survived to the end, they would not be able to participate in Ragnarok. Even if you are checkmated in the first round, you can win Ragnarok if you took more pieces during play. Thus, the only way to win Valhalla Chess is to win both the first and second rounds of chess. There may be a draw if each player wins one.