Answers.Body: <p>The powers of &quot;SuperKing&quot; and many other variations on standard chess pieces are explored in the game <a href="http://www.chessevolved.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Chess Evolved&quot;</a>.  If the SuperKing were not invaluable (i.e., a King) and was just another piece it would still be nearly as strong as a Queen provided it could jump to squares a knight's move away (i.e., like the <a href="https://chess-evolved-online.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Dragon+&quot;</a> in Chess Evolved).  In general, most chess variants struggle with adding more powerful pieces to the 8x8 board, and I would imagine this would be no exeception.</p>
  
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Answers.Text: Heck, I should have known that there was already a game that covered this. Anyway, thank you for your answer and letting me know about Chess Evolved!
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Answers.Text: You're welcome!  I don't know how active Chess Evolved is any more, hopefully there's still people playing it.
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Body: <p>In standard chess, everyone knows that the king is the weakest piece, being able to move one square in any direction (diagram below), with its movement often hindered by enemy pieces and even friendly pieces (hence the possibility of back-rank mates). The protection of the king is a must for both players, and the only things that define the existence of a game of standard chess.</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/UxUlJ.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/UxUlJ.png" alt="Movement of an unhindered king." /></a></p>
  <p>But, what if we could worry less about losing the king? What if we could be proud for having more opportunities for our king to attack?&quot; What if we powered up the king by giving it another circle of protection?</p>
  <p>Say hello to the &quot;super-king.&quot; It would be a <em>king + knight + alibaba</em> compound piece in reality, but &quot;super-king&quot; is a cool name for this goated king. On a 8x8 board, it would control up to 3/8 of it if unhindered (diagram below). No longer will the king be defenseless; the king finally understood what it meant to protect his army.</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/vrYET.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vrYET.png" alt="Movement of an unhindered super-king." /></a></p>
  <p>To demonstrate where I'd like to employ the super-king and ultimately answer to the intentions behind my question, I'm going to devise a new variant creatively named &quot;Superking chess&quot; where the standard king in chess is replaced with the super-king for both sides.  In this variant, you would add five more starting moves (bringing the total to 25) with the superking (first moves with White highlighted below, apologies in advance for the clutter), akin to more aggressive Bongcloud openings.</p>
  <p>Normally, kings wouldn't be very active until the endgame, but my amateur mind is thinking that a super-king in this variant described could provide opportunities for very sharp games as it could be very active in the middlegame with its increased mobility and even the opening if possible because of the additional resources it now provides with a larger field of attack/defense. I'd also surmise that games of this variant could last much longer because it would be harder to mate a super-king (ladder mates would be basically impossible, for example) and the goal of preserving much more material would be much more distinguished in the ultimate goal for either side to win. Further analysis on these comments would be much appreciated!</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/l2NDr.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/l2NDr.png" alt="The 25 starting moves available for White in Super-king chess." /></a></p>
  <p>My ultimate question with the entire query is: <strong>&quot;How much material value would the super-king in 'Superking chess' possess?&quot;</strong></p>
  <p>As a slightly unrelated follow-up question, how much material value would the super-king possess in a variant I'd like to call &quot;Mega-Royalty chess,&quot; whereby the queens would be further replaced with amazons (with White now being able to play 27 starting moves, diagram shown below)?</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Lqc2F.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Lqc2F.png" alt="The 27 starting moves available for White in Mega-Royalty chess." /></a></p>
  <p>I'm honestly fine with anyone giving an answer to just my main question (bolded for convenience), but I'm more than grateful if you can answer the follow-up as well. Thank you! :)</p>
  
Tags: <chess-variants><unorthodox-pieces>
Title: Material value of the super-king
ThreadText: # Material value of the super-king
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-01-11)
  
  In standard chess, everyone knows that the king is the weakest piece, being able to move one square in any direction (diagram below), with its movement often hindered by enemy pieces and even friendly pieces (hence the possibility of back-rank mates). The protection of the king is a must for both players, and the only things that define the existence of a game of standard chess.
  
  [![Movement of an unhindered king.](https://i.sstatic.net/UxUlJ.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/UxUlJ.png)
  
  But, what if we could worry less about losing the king? What if we could be proud for having more opportunities for our king to attack?" What if we powered up the king by giving it another circle of protection?
  
  Say hello to the "super-king." It would be a *king + knight + alibaba* compound piece in reality, but "super-king" is a cool name for this goated king. On a 8x8 board, it would control up to 3/8 of it if unhindered (diagram below). No longer will the king be defenseless; the king finally understood what it meant to protect his army.
  
  [![Movement of an unhindered super-king.](https://i.sstatic.net/vrYET.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/vrYET.png)
  
  To demonstrate where I'd like to employ the super-king and ultimately answer to the intentions behind my question, I'm going to devise a new variant creatively named "Superking chess" where the standard king in chess is replaced with the super-king for both sides. In this variant, you would add five more starting moves (bringing the total to 25) with the superking (first moves with White highlighted below, apologies in advance for the clutter), akin to more aggressive Bongcloud openings.
  
  Normally, kings wouldn't be very active until the endgame, but my amateur mind is thinking that a super-king in this variant described could provide opportunities for very sharp games as it could be very active in the middlegame with its increased mobility and even the opening if possible because of the additional resources it now provides with a larger field of attack/defense. I'd also surmise that games of this variant could last much longer because it would be harder to mate a super-king (ladder mates would be basically impossible, for example) and the goal of preserving much more material would be much more distinguished in the ultimate goal for either side to win. Further analysis on these comments would be much appreciated!
  
  [![The 25 starting moves available for White in Super-king chess.](https://i.sstatic.net/l2NDr.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/l2NDr.png)
  
  My ultimate question with the entire query is: **"How much material value would the super-king in 'Superking chess' possess?"**
  
  As a slightly unrelated follow-up question, how much material value would the super-king possess in a variant I'd like to call "Mega-Royalty chess," whereby the queens would be further replaced with amazons (with White now being able to play 27 starting moves, diagram shown below)?
  
  [![The 27 starting moves available for White in Mega-Royalty chess.](https://i.sstatic.net/Lqc2F.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Lqc2F.png)
  
  I'm honestly fine with anyone giving an answer to just my main question (bolded for convenience), but I'm more than grateful if you can answer the follow-up as well. Thank you! :)
  
  **Tags:** chess-variants, unorthodox-pieces
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2024-01-11. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
  
  The powers of "SuperKing" and many other variations on standard chess pieces are explored in the game ["Chess Evolved"](http://www.chessevolved.com/). If the SuperKing were not invaluable (i.e., a King) and was just another piece it would still be nearly as strong as a Queen provided it could jump to squares a knight's move away (i.e., like the ["Dragon+"](https://chess-evolved-online.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon) in Chess Evolved). In general, most chess variants struggle with adding more powerful pieces to the 8x8 board, and I would imagine this would be no exeception.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Heck, I should have known that there was already a game that covered this. Anyway, thank you for your answer and letting me know about Chess Evolved!  
  > **username_1**: You're welcome!  I don't know how active Chess Evolved is any more, hopefully there's still people playing it.  
  
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