Shuuro
Shuuro Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
A game of Shuuro is divided into four phases:
- Form the army.
- Prepare the battlefield.
- Deploy.
- Fight!
1. Form the Army
During this phase, both players secretly decide what pieces to recruit into their chess army, writing down their choices on a sheet of paper. This is done secretly so that the opponent does not know what pieces he is going to face.
Each player has a total of 800 points available to spend, with which he must buy the pieces he wants to use in the game.
Each piece is worth a certain amount of points, as described in the following chart, which also lists the maximum number of pieces of each kind that can be included in an army:
| Piece | Cost in points | Maximum in army |
|---|---|---|
| King (mandatory) | 0 points | 1 |
| Queens | 110 points each | 3 |
| Rooks | 70 points each | 6 |
| Bishops | 40 points each | 9 |
| Knights | 40 points each | 9 |
| Pawns | 10 points each | 18 |
Example: A player may buy from zero to three Queens for his army, at a cost of 110 points per Queen. Queens are very powerful pieces, but very expensive!
There are only two restrictions to the player's choice:
One King! Each player's army must always include one King (representing the army's general, in other words the player himself!*), and can only include one. An army must have a King and can only have one King!
Small is beautiful! Each player's army can include a maximum of 32 pieces in total (including the King).
Example Army
The rules give the following example army, which is a well-balanced army that you should feel free to use yourselves as an example force when first learning to play the game. It is written on the Shuuro army sheet as printed in the rules:
| Piece | Cost in points | Number | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| King | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Queens (0-3) | 110 | 2 | 220 |
| Rooks (0-6) | 70 | 3 | 210 |
| Bishops (0-9) | 40 | 4 | 160 |
| Knights (0-9) | 40 | 4 | 160 |
| Pawns (0-18) | 10 | 5 | 50 |
| Total |
2. Prepare the Battlefield
After writing down which pieces they've chosen for their army, the players then set up the battlefield upon which the two chess armies will fight.
The game board is divided into four quadrants, each made up of 6X6 squares, as shown in the diagram below (the printed diagram labels the two sides Player A and Player B, and the quadrants nearest each player are the two that player rolls for).
Next, the players must randomly deploy two plinths (the rules also call them pillars) on each Chessboard Quadrant. This is done as follows:
- A player indicates one of the two Quadrants closest to him/her and rolls the die twice. The first result of the die indicates one of the columns (a result of one indicates the first column, a two indicates the second column, and so on). The second result indicates one of the rows (a result of one indicates the first row, a two indicates the second row, and so on).
- Cross-referencing the two results indicates a single square, as shown in the diagram below, and the player places a plinth there.
- Once the first plinth is in place, the player must place a second plinth in the same quadrant, by once again rolling the die twice as described above.
- If the player rolls the same results for the second plinth that he has rolled for the first, the second plinth is not placed, and that quadrant will only have one plinth in it for this game.
- Once the player has finished rolling for the first quadrant, that player then does the same for his other quadrant.
- Once the second quadrant has been rolled for, the die is then passed to the other player, who does the same for both quadrants in front of him. He will do this looking at the quadrants from his own point of view (i.e. counting as square 1,1 the square closest to him and to his left).
In the end, there should be two plinths per quadrant of the board, except for the rare case when the second plinth has ended up in the same position as the first and so there is only one plinth in a quadrant.
IMPORTANT: During the game, these plinths will be treated like chess pieces that cannot be taken or moved by any player. They effectively form obstacles across the chessboard (Knights have special rules regarding plinths, as explained in the Fight! section below).
The printed diagram shows the 6X6 grid used for the rolls: the first roll (column) is read across the top from 1 to 6, and the second roll (row) is read down the side from 1 to 6.
The diagram below shows an example of a game board after placing the plinths. Feel free to use this as a basic set-up the first time you try the game.
3. Deploy
After the battlefield is ready, the players decide which colour army they are going to use - blue or red (this makes absolutely no difference). They then take the pieces they have chosen for their army in phase 1 and arrange them just outside the board for the other player to see.
Both players then roll a die to decide who will deploy first. The player rolling the lowest result will deploy his King first on the chessboard, according to the Deployment Rules below.
The other player then places his King, according to the same rules, on his side of the board.
The players then alternate deploying one piece at a time, following the Deployment Rules given below. So player A will deploy one of his pieces first, then B will deploy one of his, then A, then B, and so on until all pieces have been deployed.
If a player finishes deploying all of his pieces before the other player, the other player continues to deploy his pieces until all of them are on the board.
Note that, as you are playing chess even while deploying, once you touch one of your pieces you must deploy it, and once you let go of a piece you may not change where you have deployed it (unless in either case you're violating the deployment rules).
Deployment Rules
While deploying your army, the following limits apply:
-
King first! The King must be placed first, in one of the six squares in the 'centre' of the first row, shown in red in the diagram below.
-
Nobles next! Queens, Rooks, Bishops and Knights are deployed next, in any order. So, for example, you can deploy two Knights, then a Bishop, then a Rook, then another Knight, then a Queen, then another Rook, etc. None of these pieces can be placed in the second row until the first row has been completely filled. None of these pieces can be placed in the third row until the second row has been completely filled. None of these pieces can ever be deployed beyond the third row. Only Knights can be deployed on plinths.
-
Pawns last, at the front! Once all other pieces have been placed, pawns are deployed following the same rules for the 'Nobility', except that pawns may never be deployed in the first row, even if there still are empty spaces there.
A note on plinths. Pieces cannot be deployed on squares occupied by a plinth, with the exception of Knights, which can be deployed on top of a plinth if there is one available when the player chooses to deploy a Knight. Note that the rules above must still be obeyed when deploying Knights, so you cannot deploy a Knight on a plinth on the second row if you can still deploy the Knight on the first row (whether on a plinth or not).
4. Fight!
Once both players have finished deploying their pieces, the game starts. The game is played until checkmate of one of the two Kings, using the normal rules for chess with the following exceptions:
- Seize the initiative! As there is no Black and White, players must roll a die to decide who moves first. The player that scores highest goes first.
- Alas! The King is ambushed! If the player that moves first has deployed so that one of his pieces is in a position to move and take the enemy King, he is allowed to do so and wins the game immediately. It is also possible for the player that moves first to start the game in check, and if he cannot remove the check, he will lose the game immediately. This way, either player might lose the game on turn one, so remember to create a solid defence for your King during deployment...
- Sally forth! Castling is not allowed.
- Cavalry on higher ground! Plinths are treated as chess pieces that cannot be moved or taken by any player, effectively constituting obstacles to movement and ensuring that every game of Shuuro is different. Knights, however, can jump plinths normally (as they do with other pieces), and may even end their move on top of a plinth. Being on top of a plinth effectively makes a Knight impossible to take for enemy pieces, with the exception of an enemy Knight, which may take it normally, and will in this way take its place on top of the plinth.
- Head start! Pawns that are deployed in the third row cannot move two squares for their first move. Only pawns in the second row can move two squares for their first move.
Shuuro Variants
Time is of the essence!
An optional way of playing Shuuro, and one that the rules highly recommend, is by using a chess clock. Designed to give each player the same amount of thinking time and to speed up the game so that it lasts a pre-determined amount of time, chess clocks will add an extra element that will make your games of Shuuro an even more enjoyable experience. More information on chess clocks and how to use them in Shuuro can be found at www.riverhorse.eu.
Mini-Shuuro
If you don't have enough time for a full game of Shuuro, or you need a quick demonstration of the game for a friend, you may play a reduced version, which the rules call Mini-Shuuro. To do this, fold the game board so that only one quadrant is available. Then each player chooses an army as they would normally for Shuuro, but has only a maximum of 200 points to spend and a maximum of ten pieces in the army. Finally, set two plinths on the quadrant as normal. Everything else is exactly the same.
Larger or smaller games
The number of points available may of course be altered for larger (more time-consuming) or smaller and quicker games. For example, players may agree to use 1,000 points or perhaps 600 points a side, and so on...
It is even possible for a player to offer a handicap to its opponent, taking fewer points to balance out a difference in playing skill.
No limits!
If players want a more extreme variant of Shuuro, they may decide to alter or completely remove the limit on the maximum number of each type of piece in the army, except the King (so they can have as many Queens, Rooks, Bishops, Knights and Pawns as they have points to spend, still with a maximum of 32 pieces per army though!).
For example, an army may be made entirely of one King, seven Queens and three Pawns - very extreme!
Scouts
You might want to introduce the idea that the army's scouts have informed the King of the nature of the terrain for the ensuing battle. This is simply done by inverting the order of phase 1 and 2, picking your army after seeing what the battlefield is going to look like.
It's a jungle out here!
Players may decide to increase the number of plinths per quadrant to three, four or even more. This makes for a tighter game, but watch out as your Knights may become too good!
King in the castle
When deploying the king, the players may use the entire first row, and not just the six 'central' squares.
Serious Business
The most serious players may want to eliminate all of the randomness created by the use of the die to decide who deploys and moves first. This can be done by agreeing, before picking the armies, that the person that will have more pieces in his army will deploy first (the dice can still be used to decide in case of a tie on the number of pieces), and the person that finishes deploying his pieces first will have the first move.
Turanga!
The rules mention an expansion, Turanga, in which four players battle it out over a weird and unique chessboard, with teams of two players each. The full Turanga rules are on page 27 of the printed booklet and are not included in this file.