Paco Ŝako
Paco Ŝako Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
The game is conducted on a standard 8x8 chessboard.
Each player commences with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. The pieces are symmetrically positioned on the two back rows, as in chess (see diagram).
Movement of Pieces
Each Paco Ŝako piece moves in the same way as its traditional chess counterpart, and this rulebook assumes you already have a basic understanding of chess.
- Pawns advance one or two squares forward, but move diagonally to unite with a piece (see Forming a Union).
- Rooks travel horizontally or vertically.
- Knights move in an L-shape: two squares in one direction and one square perpendicular to that.
- Bishops move diagonally.
- Queens can move horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
- Kings move one square in any direction.
While these moves follow the rules of chess, you'll find the look of the game quite reckless at first: both players place their valuable pieces directly on threatened squares. This is because of the next rule.
Paco Ŝako = Peace Chess
Pieces cannot be captured; they are never removed from the board. Every piece that enters the game stays on the board until the game ends.
Forming a Union
In Paco Ŝako you never remove the other player's pieces. Instead you have the option to unite your piece with theirs. When a piece moves to a square already occupied by an opponent's piece, the two pieces share that square in a union — both players' pieces remain on the board.
Moving a Union
Once united, both players can keep on playing with that union: each player can move the union according to the movement rules of their own piece in the pair. You may only move the union according to the rules of movement of your own piece.
If your piece is in a union, it is "united." You cannot move a piece out of the union on its own — you always have to take its partner as well. A piece cannot leave its union partner. To free your piece from a union, another piece must take over.
Taking Over a Union
A piece in a union can be replaced by another piece of the same color. You take over a union by playing one of your pieces into the union and replacing your original piece there. By moving a solo piece into the union, the piece of the same color already there is released from the union, and it then makes a normal move away from the union's position, in the same turn.
Instead of moving from the union to an open square, the freed piece can also be used to create a new union.
Chain Reaction
A single piece can take the place of another piece in a union and move on further — to a free square, or to another union, and another union — as in a chain reaction.
Chain reactions move a lot of your pieces at the same time. They are a powerful way to reshape your position on the board and have an outstanding impact on the gameplay. As you gain experience, you'll be able to find longer and longer chains to do more in a single move.
The End Goal
The ultimate objective is to unite one of your pieces with the other player's king and establish peace (Paco). This means the king can never form a union, start a chain, or be used in a chain — kings do not take part in unions or chain reactions themselves.
Making the last move and bringing one of your pieces into a union with the other player's king wins the game.
Special Moves
Castling
A king and one of the rooks move simultaneously. The rook moves to the king, and the king steps over the rook.
Conditions: neither piece has moved before, there are no pieces between them, and the king is not in Ŝako.
To castle, select the king first; you'll be offered the option to move it two squares, and the rook is moved for you automatically. All squares between the pieces must be empty, and any square the king moves over cannot be threatened. In Paco Ŝako this also includes any threat that is created through a chain reaction — this sometimes makes it hard to know whether you are actually allowed to castle. Castling at the right moment, or denying your opponent the opportunity to castle, is often an important part of the strategy.
En Passant
When a pawn moves two squares forward from its starting position and lands directly next to an opponent's pawn, the opponent's pawn dances diagonally along the pawn and takes it "en passant" to the destination square (see diagram).
En passant is a special way for a pawn to form a union: directly after a pawn is moved two squares at once, the opponent's pawns are allowed to unite with it, as if it had only moved a single square. In Paco Ŝako, en passant is allowed at the start, in the middle, and at the end of a chain.
Pawn Promotion
When a pawn reaches the eighth rank, it can be promoted to any other piece except a king — usually a queen. Therefore, you receive extra queens in the box.
A pawn that reaches the opposite side of the board must be promoted to a different piece; the player who owns the piece chooses one of queen, knight, bishop, or rook. A difference in Paco Ŝako is that a pawn can be moved to the opposite side of the board as part of a union — in this case it also promotes, and it is still the owner of the pawn who decides the promotion.
Ŝako
Ŝako is a situation where a king is immediately threatened by a dance (a move that would unite an opposing piece with the king). The player must make a move to eliminate the threat, or win immediately.
Paco
When you form a union (dance) with the opponent's king, it is peace (Paco), and you have won the game of Paco Ŝako.
Draws
- Repetition of moves: a situation where both players create the same position three times. The game ends in a draw.
- Draw by agreement: players may agree to a draw during the game.
- If all pieces dance together (except the kings), it is a draw.
- If the two kings dance together, it is a draw.