Editing Baroque chess (section)

==Variants==
===Maxima===
Maxima was invented by Roberto Lavieri in 2003. It is Baroque played on a somewhat larger board that is mostly rectangular and 8×9 (a2–h10) but for a couple of extra squares that are outside the board, located at d1 and e1 just behind the king and queen's squares. A matching pair of squares are also on the other side of the board, just beyond the black king and queen (d11 and e11).  Although one objective of the game is to checkmate the king, an alternative objective allows depositing pieces in both of the pair of squares on the other side of the board. Bare king is also a win. Unlike Baroque, the king in Maxima moves like the knight in chess, and moreover [[cylindrical chess|treats the board as a cylinder]] (e.g. Kb2–h3 is a legal move),<ref name=renaissance/> making for a game with much more fluid movement of pieces.

There are two extra pieces: Mage and Guard. The Mage moves one square diagonally, then may continue its move orthogonally away from where it started (i.e. the move of the ''aanca'' from [[Grant Acedrex]]). It captures by displacement and is immune to the Immobiliser. The Guard moves and captures like the king in chess (''not'' like the king in Maxima).<ref name=renaissance/>

The order of White's pieces is:<ref name=renaissance/>
*First rank: blank, Mage, blank, King, Withdrawer, blank, Mage, blank
*Second rank: Chameleon, Long-leaper, Coordinator, Immobiliser, Long-leaper, Chameleon
*Third rank: Guard, Pawn, Pawn, Pawn, Pawn, Pawn, Pawn, Guard

Black's setup is mirrored from White's, so the kings are on d2 and e10.<ref name=renaissance/>

===Optima===
Baroque that is similar to Maxima with additional pieces and rules.

===Renaissance===
As shogi is to chess, Renaissance is to Baroque—pieces may be revived and reborn. It was invented by Matthew Monchalin in 1975. It is played on a 9×9 board; the arrangement of pieces on White's first rank is: Immobiliser, Long-leaper, Chameleon, Withdrawer, King, Bomb, Resurrector, Pusher, Coordinator. (The arrangement of the pieces on Black's first rank is backwards, so Immobilisers are on a1 and i9.) As in Ultima, White and Black may choose to swap Immobiliser and Coordinator. Captured pieces change sides and can be dropped back into play. The new pieces transform when captured: Pusher becomes Puller and vice versa, while Resurrector becomes Bomb and vice versa. Players may agree to have extra pieces in a queue, awaiting to enter the board. The pieces from Baroque are the same in Renaissance, except that in Renaissance the Long-leaper can only capture one man a turn.<ref name=renaissance>{{cite book
 |last=Pritchard 
 |first=D. B. 
 |author-link=David Pritchard (chess player)
 |editor-last=Beasley
 |editor-first=John
 |title=The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants
 |publisher=John Beasley 
 |chapter=§17.9 Multiple forms of capture
 |pages=155–158
 |year=2007
 |isbn=978-0-9555168-0-1}}</ref>

The Resurrector (or Swapper or Ankh){{cn|date=September 2023}} moves like a queen for all ordinary purposes, but for swapping actions must move like a king, trading places with any adjacent piece (both friend or foe), never capturing it.  Consistent with the concept of the Resurrector being a piece wholly incapable of killing, it can also step into any adjacent empty square, and leave behind a previously captured piece ''resurrected'' by placing it in the square just vacated.  Although, seen in that light, though the Resurrector is like a piece of ''life,'' it can be transformed into a 1 square bomb when captured and readmitted to the board - but capable only of ''death''.  Instead of moving, a bomb need merely explode to effect the destruction of both friendly pieces and enemy pieces adjacent to itself, and suiciding in the process.  The destruction of pieces in this way causes all affected to be unrevivable.<ref name=renaissance/>

There are also two more pieces that, like the ''Coordinator,'' are not capable of unassisted capture: the Pusher and the Puller.  They can move like queens for ordinary purposes, but for the purpose of exercising their special powers, they must be adjacent to the affected piece at the start of the turn.  If they begin adjacent to a piece (regardless if friendly or foe), they can push or pull it by 1 square.  For a Pusher, the empty square on the other side must be ''open''<ref name=renaissance/> (except for the unusual circumstance of driving a king into an enemy piece, or an Imitator into a king.){{cn|date=September 2023}} Although the Pushers and Pullers are not capable of capture, their pushing and pulling maneuvers can result in other pieces being forced to make captures, regardless of the captured one being a friendly or enemy piece.{{cn|date=September 2023}} (If a Puller pulls an enemy Puller, then that enemy Puller also pulls a piece along with it.)<ref name=renaissance/>

===Rococo===
Rococo was invented by Peter Aronson and David Howe in 2002. It is a species of Baroque that is played on a 10×10 board for the purposes of captures, but on the inner 8×8 square just inside it for the purpose of movement. To put it another way, the outer perimeter of squares can only be entered as a result of a capturing maneuver.<ref name=renaissance/> In addition to the traditional Baroque pieces, Rococo has an Advancer piece that moves like a queen, but captures the enemy piece it has run up next to, stopping just short of the piece taken.  As is usual for most pieces of the Baroque family, the Advancer will not enter into the space vacated by the captured piece, it merely runs up to it, and stops short by 1 square.  Unlike the game of Renaissance described above, Rococo has a similarly named Swapper piece that moves like a queen, but trades places with the enemy it runs up to, a full queen's move away.<ref name=renaissance/> The Rococo Swapper has the unusual property of self-destructing at will, in lieu of moving, provided it is not at the same time immobilized, with the effect of taking one enemy piece alongside it.{{cn|date=September 2023}} What sets Rococo apart from Baroque the most is the way the pawns work; they are called cannonball pawns and move like a king, stepping 1 square in all directions, or leap over any adjacent piece (friend or foe). The only way that they can effect capture is by leaping, and ''landing'' on the enemy piece. They cannot capture like a king does.<ref name=renaissance/> Cannonball pawns can be promoted into other pieces when they reach the other side of the board.{{cn|date=September 2023}}

The pawn formations unique to the parent game, Baroque, already significantly different from traditional chess, are not seen in Rococo.  Instead, Rococo's cannonball pawns seem to hang away from enemy pieces by two or three squares, rarely coming into contact with each other without advance preparation. In both chess and Baroque, however, fine nuances in maneuvering are made possible by locking positions together, made concrete by the establishment of well-defined pawn structures. This sort of thing is lacking in Rococo.{{cn|date=September 2023}}