Quantum (board game)

Infobox_Game
subject_name = Quantum
image_link =
image_caption = The starting position of "Quantum" on an 8 by 8 board
designer = Phillip Slater
publisher = Lazy Days
players = 2
setup_time = under one minute
playing_time = 10–60 minutes
complexity = Medium
strategy = High
random_chance = None
skills= Strategic thought

"Quantum" is an abstract strategy board game for two players, invented by Philip Slater and published by Lazy Days in 1975. It has similarities to chess and checkers.

Rules

The game as marketed was played on a special rectangular board and several variants of the rules were possible.The variant described here uses an 8 by 8 board.

Instead of taking enemy pieces as in chess, a player builds up vertically stacked pieces by moving onto enemy pieces.

There are three types of piece: squares move only along ranks and files (horizontals and verticals, a little like rooks in chess); circles move only diagonally (a little like bishops in chess); and queens (shown by the plus symbol) can move in all eight directions.

The distance that a piece may move is determined by the number of pieces in its stack. All pieces are initially single pieces, and may move only a single square. (In a rule variation, a single piece may also jump over a single piece of the same colour, thus travelling two squares.) Stacks that are 2, 3, 4, or 5 pieces high may move any distance up to 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively. The colour of a piece, and the type of move it may make, are determined by the colour and type of the top piece in the stack. Thus a queen remains a queen, whatever it jumps on. Stacks of pieces that are 6 high or more may not move.

It is not permitted to jump over any piece (except as described in the rule variation above) nor to land on a piece of one's own colour. A move may lead one piece to land on an enemy piece of the other colour; when this happens, a single piece is created, with the moving piece on top. It is not permitted to move onto stacks that are 6 high or more.

The aim of the game is to be the first player to have three stacks of height 6 or more.

References

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* [http://www.abstractstrategy.com/quantum2.html Photograph of original board and pieces.]