Imagine a chessboard, but twice as wide in each direction, 16x16.
Using algebraic notation like such used for real chess, it would look like this:
Oh, and that's Mario's beloved Pauline in the upper right corner (16p).
One of two players starts by placing Mario in either row "1" or column "a" (or both, though it will be obvious in a moment that 1a, like 16a and 1p, would be
very poor opening moves), that is, the leftmost column or the bottom row.
Then the players, starting with the other player, take turns moving Mario. The object is to get Mario to the upper right corner and Pauline. Mario may be only moved straight up, straight right, or diagonally up and right, any number of spaces. This is to say he moves as does a Queen in chess, but limited to those 3 of 8 directions.
You may start a game by announcing where you choose to place Mario, or by deferring the initial placement to me. Please allow one player to lose before starting the next game. You may only play one game.
For the first player to beat me by moving Mario to Pauline in the upper right corner, I have a DK Forum t-shirt:
If you have already earned one, you may still play, but if you win, nobody gets the shirt.
