Wataku Genesis
Genesis skips the setup: both armies begin in a predefined formation, already at War. Your two Kings are independent — every piece linked to either King is active — and every piece can travel along chains of friendly pieces with Traverse.
9 x 9 intersections
81 intersections. Pieces stand on points, not inside squares.
Directly in War
A predefined formation chosen at random. White moves first.
2 per player
Your two Kings may stand together or apart; each keeps the pieces linked to it active.
Checkmate either enemy King
Checkmating one King is enough. Kings are never captured.
1. How a game starts
There is no setup phase — the first move is already a War move.
- Each game starts from one of several predefined starting formations, chosen at random when the game is created.
- The formation places each side's Kings, Knights, Turtles and some Pawns. Every other piece of the army begins in reserve: the reserve is always the whole army minus the pieces the formation places.
- A formation may start your Kings together or apart: a King need not touch any friendly piece, and your two Kings may stand on immediately adjacent intersections.
- White moves first.
- On every turn you either move one piece or deploy one piece from your reserve.
2. Armies
Both players have exactly the same army.
Every piece one player owns.
Kingx2
Queenx1
Rookx2
Bishopx2
Knightx2
Pawnx4
Turtlex4Every current formation places the same 8 pieces, so each side starts with these 9 in reserve. A formation that placed different pieces would leave a different reserve.
Queenx1Rookx2Bishopx2Pawnx2Turtlex23. Pieces
Bishop and Pawn have their Genesis movement; the other pieces move as in War.
1 step in any direction
May capture adjacent enemy non-Turtle pieces. Never gives check. May never stand adjacent to an enemy King. Cannot Traverse.
Slides any distance in 8 directions
Moves and captures along any clear straight line.
Slides any distance orthogonally
Moves and captures along clear ranks and files.
Slides any distance diagonally
Moves and captures along a clear diagonal and cannot jump over pieces. Gives check only along an unobstructed diagonal.
Standard chess L-jump
Jumps over intervening pieces.
1 intersection orthogonally to an empty point
Steps up, down, left or right — there is no forward direction. Captures one intersection diagonally. Never captures straight ahead.
1 orthogonal step to an empty intersection
Terrain piece. Never captures and cannot be captured.
4. Traverse
Moving past your own pieces in a straight line.
- Any non-King piece may Traverse instead of making its ordinary move.
- It travels in one of the eight straight directions, passing over one or more consecutive friendly non-King pieces.
- It lands on the first empty intersection immediately beyond that chain. There is no length limit.
- The chain cannot bend or contain gaps. An enemy piece, a King or the board edge ends the chain with no landing point.
- Kings can neither Traverse nor be part of a chain.
- A Traverse never captures and creates no attack through the chain.
5. Connected groups and dormancy
Each King keeps its own connected group active.
- Friendly pieces that touch, orthogonally or diagonally, form connected groups.
- Your two Kings are independent: they may share one group, separate into two armies and reconnect later. A move is never illegal just because it separates them, and separating Kings never ends the game.
- A group linked to either King is Active. A group linked to neither King becomes Dormant. It stays on the board and still blocks, but cannot move, attack or give check.
- A Dormant group becomes Active again as soon as it reconnects to either King.
6. King safety and check
As in War.
- A King under attack is in check. Your action may never leave any of your Kings in check.
- Answer a check by moving the King, blocking the line, capturing the attacker, or cutting the attacker off from its Kings so it falls Dormant.
- Kings never give check, and a King may never stand adjacent to an enemy King.
7. Reserve deployment
As in War.
- Instead of moving, you may deploy one reserve piece onto any empty intersection. That is your whole turn.
- A piece deployed where it touches no group linked to one of your Kings arrives Dormant.
- A deployment must not leave your King in check, and an active deployed piece can give check at once.
8. Winning and drawing
Checkmate either enemy King.
Either enemy King is in check and the defender has no legal action that leaves both of its Kings safe. Checkmating one King wins — you never need to checkmate both.
When both enemy Kings are in check and no single legal action saves them, that is also Checkmate.
Kings are never captured: a checkmated King stays on the board. Separating the enemy's two Kings does not win the game.
Other endings
- Threefold repetition of the same position is an immediate draw.
- If the player to move has no legal move or deployment, the game is drawn by stalemate.
- In online games between players, both sides may agree to a draw.
- Running out of time loses a timed game, and either player may resign.