GV1469 .W2M3 • AT ^ ;^ r> ^- *V.".,.''-* ^°'^*. THE GAME OF WAR Invention of HUDSON MAXIM LANDING, N. J. United States Patent Applied For Copyright, 1910, by Hudson Maxim Instructions, Rules, Diagrams, Illustrative Game and Problems ©CI.A25'9229 The Game of War The board upon which the Game of War is played shown in its proper colors. The Game of War THE GAME OF WAR is one of skill, and be- longs to that class which includes chess and checkers. It is played upon a board laid out in squares or rectangles, and the pieces employed represent and symbolize the important men and weapons of warfare, while their movements simulate the military evolutions of two armies opposed in battle, advancing, retreating and engaging in the diA^erse methods that characterize actual warfare, and employing all the A^arious forms of strategy. Each side, as a fighting force, comprises °a king, a commanding officer, field and siege artillery, cavalry and ordinary troops and flying machines. All the movements of chess are found in the game, and, in addition, the troops have the movements made familiar in checkers or draughts, while some pieces are given different moves, and more freedom of movement than in either chess or checkers. But while these two games are thus drawn on to con- tribute all their virtues, the vital principle of the Game of War is radically difi^erent and wholly new. In chess the game is won when a player so hems in his adversary's king that it cannot escape capture ; The Game of War in checkers all of the adversary's pieces must be cap- tured and taken from the board, or the last of them penned, to secure a victory. In the Game of War, however, the object is to lay siege to and capture the citadel — a central square in the king's rank on which the ruler is stationed at the outset of the game. When an adversary's piece can enter and hold this square without being captured at the next move, such occupancy of the citadel wins the game. Chief of the many other distinctive features in the Game of \Ya.i- is the introduction of two flying ma- chines on each side. The purpose and the move- ments of these are wholly novel, and give a singular fascination to the playing of the game. Moreover, the board used in the game is of a new design, hav- ing one hundred squares, instead of sixty-four, as in chess and checkers, and the all-important citadel square stands forth in battlemented prominence. In addition, there are four flying machine stations. The possibilities of combination and position, al- ready great in chess, are vastly greater in the Game of War, by reason of the increased size of the board, the presence of new pieces, the introduction of new movements and the complete novelty in the objec- tive of the attack. An extraordinary zest is given to the game from the fact that, essentially unlike both chess and checkers, the most spirited attack and defense can be carried on at one and the same time by both sides. In consequence of this, the ex- citement of the struggle always surpasses anything possible in other games, while a draw is rendered practicalh^ impossible, whether the two players be tyros or adepts. The Game of War DESCRIPTION OF THE GAME THE surface of the board, which is rectangular, is divided into one hundred squares of equal size, alternately white and black, with four attached circular spaces — two white and two black. One square on each side of the board is distin- guished as the citadel, both by its color and by its encircling battlements. (See Fig. 1.) The pieces are forty in number — twenty red for one player and twenty blue for the other. These pieces are as follows for each player : King, General, Cannon (two), Horse or Cavalry (two), MtDrtars (two). Flying Machines (two). Troops (ten — five van and five rear). (See Fig. 2.) The game is played by two players. The choice of colors having been determined by lot, the board is so placed that each player has in the rank nearest him on his side of the board a citadel square of his color, which is that square having an inner battle- mented area of blue or of red. Each player then places the pieces of his color in their positions, as follows: Beginning with the king upon the citadel, the general occupies the next square at the right upon the red side and the next square at the left upon the blue side, and then upon each side of the king and general on both sides of the board are un- occupied squares, and immediately behind these The Game of War Fig. 1. Diagram of the board on which the Game of War is played. The Game of War Kins. c. ,Hj ))> L i!: Horse or Cavalry. B Fig. 2. The pieces with which the Game of War is played. General. ^ Flying Machine. Van Troop. The Game of War unoccupied squares are four circular spaces or areas, one black and one white on each side of the board, upon which the flying machines are placed. Next, on each side in regular order, come the field artillery or cannon ; then the horse or cavalry, and, lastly, upon the corner squares are placed the mortars or siege artillery. The ten troops are placed on those ten squares marked by a dot of their color, the rank of larger troops behind the smaller. Fig. 3 shows the location of the respective pieces upon the board, each being in its proper position at the beginning of the game. The game is opened by one player moving any piece from one square to another, according to the rules of movement hereinafter described. The other player then moves in turn, and this alternation of moves continues until the end of the game. The victory is secured by the player who is able first to place a piece in his adversary's citadel that cannot be captured at the next move. The moves of the pieces are as follows : The king moves one square at a time, in any direc- tion, straight or diagonally, right or left, forward or backward, as does the king in chess. The general moves any number of squares in any direction, either straight or diagonally, right or left, forward or back, as does the queen in chess. The cannon move any number of squares diagon- ally upon their proper color (black or white), as do the bishops in chess. The horse or cavalry move one square diagonally and one straight, as do the knights in chess. The Game of War a3y ''/'////M 'k ^ ^ T^'^^ i^^ '^ a. 1 ^. m BLUE Fig. 3. Showing the location of the respective pieces upon the board at the commencement of the game. The Game of War The mortars or siege artillery move straight any number of squares, right or left, forward or back, as do the castles in chess. Each flying machine has only a single move in a game, which move may be made over any interven- ing pieces to any unoccupied square whatsoever of the color of its station, except to either of the two citadels, after which it must remain on that square until the end of the game, thus blocking such square against occupancy or passage over it by pieces of either color. The troops, having the combined movem^ents of the pieces in checkers and the pawns in chess, may move forward one square at a time, either diagonally as in checkers, or straight as in chess, except in the first move, when a troop can be advanced two squares straight, at the option of the player, as in chess, but it cannot be moved two squares in a diagonal direction. The troops cannot move back- wards or sidewise. Xo piece can be moved to a square occupied by another of its own color. No piece can pass over a square occupied by another piece of either color, except the horse and the flying machines, which are able to leap over any intervening piece to an un- occupied square, and the troops in making their jumping moves to take an adversary's troops, as in checkers. Any piece, except the flying machines, can capture any piece of the opposite color, except the fhdng machines, on a square within its range of movement. The flying machines alone, of all the pieces, can neither capture nor be captured. Captured pieces are removed from the board. The Game of War A troop can capture only a piece on an adjoining square diagonally in front of it, either by occupying the square of the piece thus captured, as in chess, or, when the opposing piece is a troop, but not otherwise, by leaping over it to the next adjacent square beyond the captured piece diagonally, as in checkers, provided, of course, that the square beyond be unoccupied at the time. Although a troop can move forward upon an unoccupied square lying next before it in a straight line, it cannot capture a piece occupying such square. A troop, when offered one or more troops of the opposite color, to be taken b}^ jumping, as in checkers, must so take by jumping, as in checkers, or, if the taking player so elects, the capture can be made by moving upon the square of the offered troop, or the capture of the offered troop can be made instead by any other piece bearing upon this square. If the troop elects to jump, then, should there be two or more troops in positions to be taken by continuing the jump, he must, as in •checkers, take all of the troops of his opponent thus •offered. When a player offers a troop to be jumped or taken by a troop of an opponent, if the taking troop be also in a position to take a larger or more important piece, it is at the option of the player which piece he shall take. But he must take a troop offered to any troop of his own other than the one thus attacking a piece, and in the event of such offer has no option to capture the threatened piece in- stead. Any troop attaining the last rank on the far side of the board cannot then be captured, but remains ■dead on the square thus reached for the remainder The Game of War of the game, and such square is henceforth blocked by the dead troop against occupancy by any piece and against passage over it by any piece except the horse and the flying machine. This rule, however, does not apply in the case of a troop's entrance into the citadel of the opposite side, when it is still liable to capture by the enemy, but has itself necessarily no further move. The Game of War THE NOTATION THE notation employed in the Game of War for play and problems is as follows : The pieces to the left of the red king as they are set at the opening- of a game are termed, respectively, the king's flying machine, the king's cannon, the king's horse, the king's mortar ; while those pieces on the right of the red general are called the general's flying machine, the general's cannon, the general's horse, the general's mortar. And the blue pieces to the right of the blue king and to the left of the blue general, as they are set at the opening of a game, are designated in like fashion. For purposes of abbreviation the initials alone suffice, thus : K for king, F for flying machine, C for cannon, H for horse, M for mortar, T for troop and G for general ; and the compounds : KF for king's flying machine, KG for king's cannon, KH for king's horse, KM for king's mortar, KT for king's troop, GF for general's flying machine, GG for general's cannon, GH for general's horse, GM for general's mortar, GT for general's troop. The troops take their names from the pieces in front of which they are placed at the opening of the game. Thus, the troop standing before the king is known throughout the game as the king's troop The Game of War (KT), while that in front of the king's horse is called the king's horse's troop (KHT). The square on which each piece stands at the be- ginning of the game has the name of that piece, with the exception of the king's square, which is known as the citadel, and, with the exception of the squares occupied by the troops, which have no distinctive designation. Thus, the general stands on the gen- eral's square ; the king's cannon stands on the king's cannon's square, and similarly of all the other squares occupied in this rank. For the purposes of the notation the vacant square immediately before each flying machine station is termed the flying- machine's square, although it is not occupied as such at the beginning of the game. The rows of squares as they run from right to left are called ranks, and that rank nearest the player is termed the king's rank, which is the first rank. For example, the troops are placed at the outset of a game on the third and the fourth ranks of each side, respectively. The rows of squares run- nnig across the board at right angles to the ranks are called files. The file proceeding from each piece as it is set in the king's rank at the opening of the game is called by the name of that piece. Thus, the file on red's extreme left is termed the king's mor- tar's file ; the one next it is termed the king's horse's file, and the like fashion is followed in designating the other files. In addition, the squares in each file are numbered in order from one to- ten. To illus- trate, the king's troop at the beginning of a game is stationed on the third square of the king's file. This is known as the king's third, and is abbreviated to The Game of War K3. If this troop be advanced one square in a straight Hne toward the opposite side of the board, it will then stand on the king's fourth (K4). Were it advanced two squares straight, it would stand then on the king's fifth (K5). So of all the other squares on the board, they are known by their numerical position in the various files. For example, the gen- eral's mortar's second square is written GM2, while the king's flying machine's fourth is designated KF4. It must be borne in mind, also, that this notation is double, since each square is reckoned by its posi- tion in a file, starting with the king's rank of each player. That is to say, the red king's cannon stands at the outset of a game on its square, but its position to the player of blue on the opposite side of the board is KCIO, for he reckons each square according to its position in the file running from his own king's rank. This subject of the notation employed in the game is made clear by the accompanying diagram of the board (Fig. 4), whereon the dual terms for each square are given in abbreviated form. The Game of War KM1 Fig. 4. Showing- each square with its notation or distinctive denom- ination marked in duplicate according to its distance in a forward direction from the square in its file upon the rear rank of squares of each player. The Game of War 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. SPECIMEN GAME The Siege Gambit. RED. GM to M2 KM to M2 GM to K2 KT to K4 GM to K3 KM to K2 K to G2 G to Citadel KT to F5 M takes M M takes M M enters Citadel G takes H 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. BLUE. GM to M2 KM to M2 KT to K5 GM to K2 GM to K4 KM to K2 GC to M3 G to H4 KT takes KT M takes M GH to F2 H takes M And Red wins. If, at the eisrhth move, Blue, instead of movino- the general to his horse's fourth, had advanced the king's cannon to the flying machine's second, the enemy's attack would have been seriously ham- pered. It will be observed in reference to the ninth move by Blue, that in its capture of a troop by a troop, The Game of War the taking troop advanced either to the king's fly- ing machine's sixth, or to the king's cannon's seventh, thus occupying the square of the captured troop as in chess, or leaping over it to the square beyond, as in checkers. Blue is forced to make this ninth move of the game under the rules, since Red's preceding move was of the king's troop to the king's flying machine's fifth, whereby that troop was of- fered in surrender to the opposing troop, and Blue having no other piece bearing upon it was obliged to capture it with his troop. Blue's choice as to whether he effect the capture in the manner of chess or in that of checkers does not modify the remainder of the game as here played. But Blue's final defeat at this point in the game might be avoided by the following play : RED. BLUE. 11. M takes M 11. KF to K2 The interposition of the flying machine blocks Red's advance on the citadel along its file, and makes necessary the development of other strategics. But the advantage still remains with Red. The Game of War THE LAWS OF THE GAME I. The Board. The board must be so placed that each player has a citadel rank on the side next him, in which the citadel is of the color of the pieces with which he is to play. II. The Pieces. I A game must be abandoned whenever, in the course of it, it is discovered that the pieces were improperly placed at the outset, or that any one of them was omitted from its position on the board. The accidental removal of a piece from the board after the beginning of a game shall cause the game to be annulled, unless the two players, on discovery of the error, agree as to the retraction of the moves made during the absence of such piece, and as to its proper situation when restored to the board. III. Color and First Move. The choice of colors before beginning a game and the right of moving first shall be determined by lot. The colors thus determined shall be retained by the two players throughout the games of the sitting, but each of the players alternately shall have the first move in successive games of a sitting. The player The Game of War having the first move in an annulled game shall have the first move in the game next following. IV. Playing Out of Turn. If a player make the first move in a game when it is not his turn to do so, the game must be an- nulled, unless each player has already executed four moves before the discovery of the error, in which case the game must continue as if no mistake had been made. But in the latter case the opposing player shall be entitled to the first move of the fol- lowing game. V. Playing Twice in Succession. If a player move a man when it is not his turn to play, that move must be immediately retracted, but after the play by his adversary he must move the piece so touched, if such play be possible. VI. Touch and Move. A player must never touch any piece unless it be his turn to move, or unless he touches it for the pur- pose of adjusting it on the board, in which case he must say, "I adjust," or equivalent words of ex- planation before taking hold of the piece. A player whose hand touches a piece of his own when it is his turn to play is obliged to move the piece thus touched, if it can be done legally ; or, if his hand touch one of his adversary's pieces when it is his turn to play he must capture the piece thus touched, if it be possible to do so legally. If such move in either case cannot be lawfully made, the offending player must move his king. But if a move of the The Game of War king be impossible owing to its position there shall be no other penalty. If one of the players hold in his hand a piece through indecision as to where to place it, his adversary may demand that it be re- placed on its former square until the decision be made, and the piece must then be moved. If a player, when it is his turn to move touches wnth his hand more than one of his own pieces, he is compelled to play whichsoever his antagonist shall choose that is legally movable ; or, if, when it is his turn to move, he touches two or more of his ad- versary's pieces, he must capture that one which his adversary shall select, if it be lawfully exposed to capture. If none of the opposing pieces thus touched be liable to capture the player must move his king, if this be possible ; if not, there shall be no penalty. VII. False and Illegal Moves. When a player is guilty of a false move, either by placing a piece of his own on a square to which it cannot properly move or by capturing an adverse piece by some move not lawful, he must, at the will of his opponent, either move his own man legally, capture the piece legally, or move any other mov- able piece selected by his opponent. If an illegal move be discovered at any time in a game before four moves subsequent have been made by each player the moves back to and including the illegal- ity shall be retraced. But after four moves have been made by each player following the illegal move the game shall continue without any correction of the error. The Game of War VIII. Penalties. Neither player is compelled to enforce any pen- alty against his adversary, and each penalty must be enforced, if at all, before the touching of a piece for the succeeding move. But a player who touches a piece to move after a false move or an illegal move shall not be compelled to move such piece nor to re- mit the penalty for such false or illegal move. IX. A Drav^ Game. Either player may call upon his adversary to draw the game or to win it within twenty moves on each side, if his opponent persists in repeating a partic- ular move. X. Abandoning a Game. A\^hen a player abandons a game before its reg- ular conclusion, or voluntarily resigns, or wilfully upsets the board, or disarranges the pieces inten- tionally, or refuses in any manner to abide by the laws of the game, the game so interrupted shall count as a game won by his adversary. XI. Time. The time within Avhich moves shall be made may be mutually agreed upon by the players. When there is no such agreement, then, at the end of five minutes, if a given move has not been made, "Time" must be called in a distinct manner by the opposing player ; and, if the move be not completed on the ex- piration of another minute, the game shall be ad- judged as lost through improper delay. The Game of War PROBLEMS Position in Problem I. RED. BLUE. K at KF2 K at G2 M at GF2 G at KF5 C at GF8 F at F2 T at GH3 F at F2 T at GM4 T at GC4 F on station T at GH3 F on station T at GM5 Red to move and win in three moves. Position in Problem II. RED. BLUE. K at K2 M at KC9 H at KF2 F at KF3 F at GF8 G at GC6 H at GF2 F at G3 F at K8 T at GF6 T at KH4 Red to move and win in four moves. Position in Problem III. (See Fig. 5) Red to move and win in three moves. The Game of War Fig. 5. Problem III. — Red to move and win in three moves. The Game of War SOLUTIONS OF PROBLEMS Problem I. RED. BLUE. 1. 2. 3. M to K2 M to Citadel C takes K 1. 2. G to G3 K takes M And Red wins. Problem 11. RED. BLUE. 1. 2. 3. 4. M takes H H to G3 M to K2 M enters Citadel 1. 2. 3. G takes K G takes H Any move Aiid Red wins Problem III. RED. BLUE. 1. 2. 3. T to F6 T to G7 C takes K 1. 2. T takes T T takes T And Re d wins Bm u isiQ ^ H28b 83