In Reserve Chess (R-chess) one extra piece per player is placed in the reserve. The piece is automatically introduced at the position that is first left vacant when a piece leaves its initial square. The piece that first moves will also bring the external piece into play, so it is a double-move, comparable to castling. Neither the king nor the rook can introduce an external piece. Otherwise the rules are the same as in standard chess.

This implementation will allow the user to test which pieces are suitable. It will be enhanced with more alternative pieces in later editions. Reserve Chess is designed to overcome the problem of opening monotony.

In an alternative variant ("ReserveChess_alternative.zrf") the player can choose whether he wants to introduce the external piece at his first or second piece move.

reserve n, often attrib (1648) 1 : something reserved or set aside for a particular purpose, use, or reason: as a (1) : a military force withheld from action for later decisive use. Usu. used in pl.

So far, these pieces have been implemented: Swedish Cannon, Chancellor, Archbishop, Amazon, Mastodon, Dimachaer, Trebuchet, Kwagga, Divaricator, Murmillo, Culverin, Belfry, Adjutant and Zeppelin, Consul, Dragonet, Camel (3+1), Llama, Alpaca, Guanaco, and Vicuņa (see below).

The Consul jumps like a Camel (3+1), or slides orthogonally on the same square colour only. The other square colour is simply ignored. It is a colourbound piece which is worth 5 (estimate). Note that it cannot jump over occupied squares of its own colour.

The Dragonet ('little dragon') flies to any empty square, of the same colour, in any direction. It captures an enemy piece by landing immediately beyond its victim. The Dragonet's value is 4, i.e. light piece + pawn (estimate). It's a colourbound variant of Schmittberger's Airplane, and was invented by me in Oct 2009.

The Llama jumps one or two steps orthogonally, capturing only on the second. Its value is 2.

The Alpaca jumps one or two steps orthogonally, capturing only on the first. Its value is 2.

The Guanaco jumps continuously two squares orthogonally to empty square (i.e. it slides on the same square colour). It can also step, and capture, one square orthogonally. Its value is somewhat less than a knight. A peculiarity is that jumps are allowed even if it has a capture possibility on the first square.

The Vicuņa jumps two squares orthogonally, and continues jumping as long as there are empty squares. It can also move one square orthogonally. It can only capture on its first two-square jump. Its value is somewhat less than a knight.

You can play Reserve Chess with Dragonet against a human opponent here.

To play you must have installed "Zillions of Games". Either double-click on ReserveChess.zrf or
1. Run "Zillions of Games"
2. Choose "Open Game Rules..." from the File menu
3. Select "ReserveChess.zrf" in the Open dialog and click "Open"
ReserveChess.zrf is a rules file used by the Windows program "Zillions of Games". Zillions of Games allows you to play any number of games against the computer or over the Internet. Zillions of Games can be purchased online. For more information please visit the Zillions of Games website www.zillions-of-games.com