Hour Glass Chess has the same rules as "regular" chess, but each piece's shape is defined by a tiny hour glass that must be inverted every time it is moved. Each of the hour glasses, along with the fine grained sand, represents two different head-to-head chess pieces, except for the pawns, and the king.

For all pieces this results in grave implications, because when the sand runs through completely, the piece will find itself being supplanted by that of a lesser being - ie knights and bishops will become pawns; rooks will become knights or bishops; pawns will simply become dead skull shapes and have to be taken off the board. The queen becomes a mere rook. Only the king is immune. Of course moving them again reverses the process, which begins again.

This means that both time and motion become a component in the strategy of the game, as it may in some cases be expedient to allow a rook to "decay" to that of a knight etc.

[modified and reworded slightly for more clarity]

see Knight/pawn combo illustration
-- xenzag, Oct 08 2010

Hour Glass Chess http://picasaweb.go...5525754796624375234
only a quick Illustrator and P'shop combo [xenzag, Oct 08 2010]

you'll have to keep a lot of extra pieces to be sure you can swap them out when the time comes.
-- Voice, Oct 08 2010


It took me a while to follow the arenologic aspects of the engineering, but I like the idea of pieces "decaying" in status.

How about "quicksand chess", where the pieces slowly sink in unless moved?
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 08 2010


My first thoughts were for frozen pieces that gradually melt to reveal the lesser piece within, but that's not reversible.
-- xenzag, Oct 08 2010


If my piece changes state during the other player's turn, is the change acknowledged immediately, or is it of no effect until my turn starts?
-- lurch, Oct 08 2010


I may put up an illustration to clarify.
-- xenzag, Oct 08 2010


A bun, but eat it quick or its crumbs will trickle throgh a small hole revealing only a bone.
-- pocmloc, Oct 08 2010


I don't even play chess, but this is pure Shinola, an original, stellar idea. Have my completely boneless bun [+], [Xenzag].
-- Boomershine, Oct 08 2010



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