La Trel
La Trel Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Pieces and Movement
Pieces move as follows:
Defender (small square): one space in any direction orthogonaly. Defenders cannot capture other pieces. Sabre (large square): Like a rook in chess Trident (diamond): Like a bishop in chess Warrior (round): Like a queen in chess
White moves first and must move a defender.
Set-Up
The translation does not describe the starting position. The following is taken from the figures of UK patent GB 2284561 (Figure 1 for the Basic and Standard games, Figure 10 for the Advanced game) and is not part of the translated text.
- Each player has 8 attacking pieces (4 Sabres, 2 Tridents, 2 Warriors) and 8 Defenders for the Basic and Standard games. The patent's piece list gives the same counts per colour.
- Each player's back row (the row nearest that player) holds the attacking pieces, from one edge to the other: Sabre, Sabre, Trident, Warrior, Warrior, Trident, Sabre, Sabre.
- The row in front of it holds eight Defenders, one on each square of that row.
- The four middle rows of the board are empty at the start.
- The board is mirror-symmetrical, so the two sides are set up identically.
Advanced game: two Defenders on each side are replaced by two Blockers. On each side the Blockers take the third and sixth squares of the Defender row (counting from the left as seen by that player), so each side has six Defenders and two Blockers in that row.
Basic Game
Capturing: Pieces are captured by jumping over them and occupying the space immediately beyond them, as in draughts (checkers). The piece is then removed from the board. This rule does not apply in corners. To capture a piece in a corner, you do so by substitution as in chess. A piece may not capture another piece unless there is a clear path between it and the piece being captured. A player is not forced to capture a piece just because he/she is able to do so. Multiple pieces may be captured on a move. A piece may change direction in order to capture more than one piece (see diagrams in rulebook). Moving a defender to the last row on the board enables exchange between it and any previously captured piece of the same colour. A piece may only move into a corner if it is capturing another piece.
Winning: The game is lost (basic & standard) when a player loses all his attacking pieces or his three remaining attackers are unable to move.
Standard Game
Exactly the same as the basic game, except that pieces may NOT be captured in a corner.
Advanced Game
Two of the defenders are replaced with the two blockers (hexagonal shape). Blockers can move up to three squares in any of the combinations shown in the diagrams (i.e. 1 space up, 2 across, 1 space diagonal, 1 across, 1 up, etc.) Blockers may not capture or be captured. Pieces are able to move into corners at will. The advanced game is won when one player has lost all of his attacking pieces or when his last piece is trapped.