Ghost chess: Where captured pieces haunt the chessboard

It’s starts off as a chess game however there’s a catch : when a piece is captured it returns from the dead and becomes a “ghost” and it spawns on the coordinates on the edge of the chessboard!

Here is your spooky guide to ghost chess!

In ghost chess the numbers (1-8) and the letters (a-h) printed around the chessboard are treated as extra squares, when a piece is taken it is immediately moved to the nearest letter or number square on the edge and becomes a “ghost” piece

Ghost pieces haunt the edges of the board launching surprising attacks onto the main board giving you a chance to completely change the tide of the game from beyond the grave!

How to play (the core mechanics) :
- Spawning : When a piece is captured move it immediately to the nearest edge coordinate if there is a tie between 2 coordinates the players whose piece was captured can decide which edge square the piece will go to ( note you can only choose between the 2 closest squares )

- Turn economy: When a piece becomes a ghost it happens automatically meaning it will not cost you a turn. However moving a ghost piece will still cost you a turn

-The Ultimate Sacrifice : A ghost piece can capture and move on to the main board however once they do this they will disappear for the rest of the game

The Binding Rule For The Undead

The rule for the ghosts are quite different then the living so keep these rules in mind

- Edge surfing : ghost pieces can move along the edge of the board or capture other ghost pieces on the edge without disappearing!

- Phasing: Ghost pieces can phase through any pieces alive or ghost stopping only to capture or stop on an edge square
(note they can also phase through the main board so for example a ghost queen could go from one edge directly to the opposing edge)

- Checks and kings : ghost pieces can capture the king to win the game. However because they are ghosts they do not give check, so u have to keep a close eye on the edges or else a can snatch your king to the graveyard !

Special movement and niche rules :
(Note I realized I didn’t say this but it’s pretty obvious that all ghost pieces move the same as their original forms except for 2 exceptions)

-The knight and the bishop : you might be wondering how a ghost knight or bishop would move along the edge of the board! Simple! They move up to 3 squares in a straight line along the edge (note : the knight will still move in its classic L shape when moving it back on to the board and the bishop will still move on to the main board with its classic diagonal)

-Ghost pawns : Ghost pawns can move or capture one square forward or one square sideways on the edge they can also promote on the edges last square to become into a ghost queen, rook, knight, or bishop
(note: your pawn if it wants to capture in the main board it will capture diagonally in front of it)

-Crowded squares : if your piece is taken and is being moved to the closest edge square but their is a ghost piece occupying it you have two options 1.take that piece directly or 2 move to the next closest edge square

Quick tip : to make sense of this spooky variant try to think of the edge squares as an extension to the main board!

Well that’s all you need to know about ghost chess! If you have any questions please ask me about it or message in this blogs chat!

And remember the Golden Rule of this variant : Have fun !

MASSIVE THANKS TOO FrancisludwigII PLEASE CHECK OUT HIS BLOGS HE HELPED ME SO MUCH DURING THE MAKING OF THIS BLOG
Also I spent a lot of time on this so please drop a like !