Welcome to your next death match. In the Death Match, elimination is on the line. The two players selected for the Death Match will compete in a one-on-one duel, where the winner will advance to Round 8, while the loser will be out of the game.
Earlier today, the Elimination Candidate, Dean, selected a player without a Token of Life to join him in the Death Match.
He has made his selection. The player joining Dean in the Death Match is…
Hedger.
Without further ado, your first death match is…
In Apocalypse, both players will simultaneously submit moves in an attempt to capture all of the opponent’s pawns.
Apocalypse is played on a 5x5 grid, set up as below. Each player starts the game with two knights and five pawns, which each move as they do in chess; a knight moves one space forwards, backwards, or sideways (not diagonally) then two spaces in a perpendicular direction, and a pawn moves one space forward. A knight can jump over other pieces (yours or your opponent’s) during its movement. Furthermore, unlike in normal chess, pawns cannot move two squares on their first move. However, pawns still only capture by moving one square diagonally forwards. (Note that in this context, “forward” refers to the direction of movement for each player, thus left for the white player and right for the black player.)
Instead of taking turns making your moves, each player’s moves will be made simultaneously. During a turn, each player will submit their move to their dealer room, supplying the starting and ending coordinates of the piece you wish to move. Then, each player’s move will be revealed publicly and executed simultaneously. The following rules apply:
1. If the movement and capture actions can be performed together, without conflict, they are executed.
2. If the movements end up at the same location, then there are two cases. If two knights or two pawns land on the same space, they will both be taken out of the game. Alternatively, if a knight and a pawn land on the same space, then the knight will capture the pawn.
3. If one movement ends up on a location occupied by the opponent’s piece, the latter is captured and removed from play, except if this piece has received a movement order, where the movement is executed without capture.
4. If you declare a capture with your pawn by moving it one square diagonally forward, but the piece to be captured is moved from its square, the pawn’s move still stands. (In other words, the move converts to a diagonal step instead of a capture.)
5. If two pieces have been ordered to capture one another, the players simply exchange the pieces’ locations.
6. If your pawn moves onto the last row (i.e., the opponent’s line), it will be promoted into a knight if you have less than two knights. If you already have two knights, then you must move the pawn and drop it onto any empty square.
7. If a declared move is illegal, you will earn one penalty point.
8. Players are not allowed to pass their turn.
When one player has no pawns remaining, the game is over and that player id declared the loser. If both players lose their last pawn at the same time, or if neither player has any valid moves, the game is a draw. In addition, accumulating two penalty points will forfeit the game in favor of your opponent. The winner will advance to Round 8, whereas the loser will be the eighth person eliminated from The Genius III.
As this is a live match, it is up to the two of you to determine a time for this match to occur.
With that, begin the match!