page_title: Martian chess
section_title: Rules
hierarchical_section_title: Martian chess / Rules
caption_attribution_description: English: Martian Chess starting positions. Image created by Tualha on December 14, 2003. Public domain, copyright disclaimed.
context_page_description: Martian Chess is an abstract strategy game for two or four players invented by Andrew Looney in 1999. It is played with Icehouse pyramids on a chessboard. To play with a number of players other than two or four, a non-Euclidean surface can be tiled to produce a board of the required size, allowing up to six players.
  In his review in Abstract Games Magazine, Kerry Handscomb stated: "The first thing to note about Martian Chess is that it is not a chess-type game at all. Instead, the objective is to accumulate points by capturing pieces." "Martian Chess is [...] an original game with novel tactics and strategy." Looney in 1996 had invented Monochrome Chess, a similar two player game that uses regular chess pieces where the half of the board determined who controlled a piece. While the king is not royal, that piece and rook can castle.
caption: Four-player and two-player starting setups
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