Hocus
Hocus: Chess with dice powers
How to play Hocus
Chess with dice powers
- Chess on a 6x6 board: Rooks, Knights, a Queen, a King and six Pawns each. Pawns step one square and become a Queen on the last row. On 8x8: the chess army, Bishops too (they do not leap).
- On your turn, make a chess move or roll the two dice. A roll uses your turn: pick one of the two powers it shows and use it at once.
- In check you must move, not roll. A roll with no use for either power is wasted. Checkmate wins.
1 FreezeAn enemy piece, not the King, cannot move on their next turn.
2 ShieldOne of your pieces cannot be taken on their next turn.
3 LeapYour Queen or a Rook jumps like a Knight, and may take.
4 SwapTwo of your pieces trade places. Not the King.
5 RushOne of your Pawns runs two squares straight ahead.
6 ReviveOne of your captured pieces returns to your first row.
Small print
Frozen and shielded pieces still attack and give check; the effect ends after the opponent's turn. No power may leave your own King in check. No castling, no double step, no en passant. 80 turns each without checkmate is a draw (150 each on 8x8), and so are two bare Kings with nothing left to revive. With a clock, running out of time loses, unless the other side can no longer checkmate: then it is a draw.
Hocus puzzles
Piece set: cburnett by Colin M.L. Burnett (CC BY-SA 3.0).