Stealth Chess

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Stealth Chess is a fictional chess variant from Terry Pratchett's Discworld universe, played in the Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild, according to The Discworld Companion.

It is similar to normal chess, with the exception of an extra piece and the widening of the board by two specially colored (red and white has been reported) fields on either side, known as the Slurks. The extra piece is the Assassin (appearing on either side of the Rooks in the beginning of the game), the only piece to be able to move in the Slurk.

The Assassin moves one square in any direction, and two to capture, but if it moves solely along the Slurk, it may appear outside the Slurk in any location the same number of moves from the entry-point into the Slurk as it has moved since. An example may clarify: If an Assassin enters the Slurk it may make five moves within the Slurk and then appear in any square five moves from its entry point into the Slurk before making a one-square move to capture. The Assassin may take pieces of its own colour, should this give the player an advantage, but may not take the opposing Assassins.

This makes it a highly powerful piece and a very effective counter to certain strategies depending on specific pieces, and can quickly win one the game if one manages to take control of the Slurk and access the King directly.

The acknowledged master of the game in the books is Lord Havelock Vetinari, Provost of Assassins and Patrician of Ankh-Morpork.

According to the Companion, some Discworld scholars believe that Stealth Chess is the original form of chess in their world; this belief is corroborated by the discovery, in a tomb in Muntab, of a preserved corpse with an 8×10 board embedded in its skull and a pawn hammered up each nostril.