Claims

1. A game, comprising: i) a cross-shaped board comprising a center of 6×6 cells and four arms, each of which comprises 3×6 cells, disposed with the longer side adjacent to said center, the shorter side being perpendicular to it; (ii) two to four sets of pieces, each of said sets comprising a) first subset of six pieces, two of which are equal to one another while the other four are different from one another and from the aforesaid two, wherein one of said four pieces is designated as the main piece, b) a second subset of six pieces, equal to one another and different from the pieces of said first set, wherein said game is played according to a set of rules comprising: a) each of the aforesaid two to four sets of pieces is arranged, at the start of the game, in one of said four arms, such that the six pieces of said first subset are positioned on the outermost row of said arm in a predetermined succession, and the six pieces of said second subset on the parallel row adjacent to said outermost row, b) each piece is assigned with a well-defined movement pattern, according to which said piece is allowed to move over the board; c) the purpose of the game is to capture at least one of the main pieces, following which the set of pieces to which each said main piece belongs is removed from the board.

2. A game according to claim 1, wherein the board consists of 108 cells, each of which being in the form of a square, said 108 squares being arranged in a central squared region and in four rectangular regions, wherein said central region is defined by an array consisting of 6×6 squares, and each of the four rectangular regions is in the form of an array consisting of 6×3 squares, wherein each of said rectangular regions extends parallely from a side of said central region, with the long dimension of said rectangular region being contiguous with the side of said central region, and wherein said 108 squares are alternately colored with two different colors, the colored pattern of the board being such that two adjacent squares in any given rank or file are of different colors, thereby preserving the colored pattern of a traditional chess board.

3. A game according to claim 2, wherein the two to four sets of pieces are sets of chess pieces, wherein each of said two to four sets has a distinctive color, and wherein each of said two to four sets comprises a king, a queen, a pair of rooks, a bishop, a knight and six pawns.

4. A game according to claim 3, wherein, at the starting position, each set of the chess pieces is arranged in each of the four arms of the board.

5. A game according to claim 4, wherein the arrangement of the starting position is defined by a first rook, a knight, a queen, a king, a bishop and a second rook being successively positioned from left to right on the outermost row of each arm, and the six pawns positioned on the row adjacent to said outermost row, as seen from the viewpoint of a player handling said arm.

6. A game according to claim 4, wherein four sets of chess pieces are placed over the board.

7. A game according to claim 6, played by two opponents, designated White and Black, which is characterized in that each opponent uses two distinct sets of chess pieces initially placed on two adjacent arms of the board, wherein White, in his turn, makes two moves in succession, the first move being with a piece belonging to a first set of chess pieces and the second move with a piece belonging to a second set of chess pieces and wherein, Black, in his turn, also makes two moves in succession, the first move being with a piece belonging to a third set of chess pieces and the second move with a fourth set of chess pieces.

8. A method for playing the board game defined in claim 1 between two to four opponents, wherein said opponents are: (i) making their moves over a physical board placed therebetween; or (ii) Communicating their moves to each other by any suitable means, including post and e-mail; or (iii) Playing the game via the internet using programs capable of generating virtual images of the board and the chess pieces placed thereon.

9. A board suitable for use in the game according to claim 2, wherein said board consists of 108 cells, each of which being in the form of a square, said 108 squares being arranged in a central squared region and in four rectangular regions, wherein said central region is defined by an array consisting of 6×6 squares, and each of the four rectangular regions is in the form of an array consisting of 6×3 squares, wherein each of said rectangular regions extends parallely from a side of said central region, with the long dimension of said rectangular region being contiguous with the side of said central region, and wherein said 108 squares are alternately colored with two different colors, the colored pattern of the board being such that two adjacent squares in any given rank or file are of different colors, thereby preserving the colored pattern of a traditional chess board.

10. Use of a board consisting of 108 cells, each of which being in the form of a square, said 108 squares being arranged in a central squared region and in four rectangular regions, wherein said central region is defined by an array consisting of 6×6 squares, and each of the four rectangular regions is in the form of an array consisting of 6×3 squares, wherein each of said rectangular regions extends parallely from a side of said central region, with the long dimension of said rectangular region being contiguous with the side of said central region, and wherein said 108 squares are alternately colored with two different colors, the colored pattern of the board being such that two adjacent squares in any given rank or file are of different colors, thereby preserving the colored pattern of a traditional chess board, in combination with two to four sets of chess pieces each of which consisting of a king, a queen, a pair of rooks, a bishop, a knight and six pawns, for playing a board game, wherein said board and said chess pieces may be provided either in a physical form made of any suitable material or in a virtual form using suitable computer programs.

11. A process of organizing a tournament, wherein the competitors participating in said tournament play the game defined in claim 1.

12. A process of organizing a tournament, wherein the competitors participating in said tournament are caused to use the method of claim 8.

13. A game which comprises the following features: 1--It is played by two to four players, each having at least one set of 12 pieces comprising a first subset of six pieces, two of which are equal to one another while the other four are different from one another and from the aforesaid two, and a second subset of six pieces, equal to one another and different from the pieces of said first set. 2--The aforesaid sets of pieces are arranged, at the start of the game, each on the outermost on two parallel rows, the six pieces of said first subset on one row in a predetermined succession, and the six pieces of said second subset on the other row. 3--The players make their moves successively in clockwise or counterclockwise order. 4--One of the pieces of each set is designated as the main piece, and when said main piece is taken, the set of pieces to which it belongs is removed from the board; 5--Optionally, there is only one winner of the game, and he is the player who succeeds to preserve his main piece.

14. A game according to claim 13, which is played on a cross-shaped board, which comprises a center of 6×6 cells and four arms, each of which comprises 3×6 cells, disposed with the longer side adjacent the said center, the shorter side being perpendicular to it.

15. A game according to claim 13, which is played on a cross-shaped board that is a part of a general board, said general board being square and consisting of 14 rows of 14 square cells each.

16. A game according to claim 13, further comprising a time limit for each move of each player.

17. A game according to claim 16, wherein the time limit is determined by an hour glass.

18. A game according to claim 13, wherein the cells are squares.

19. Game according to claim 13, wherein the cells are polygons different from squares or are figures bounded by curved sides.

20. Game according to claim 13, wherein the cells are alternatively of two different colors.

21. Game according to claim 13, wherein each of the sets of pieces is equal to a classic chess set or is composed of pieces each of which corresponds to a classic piece, except in that the first subset has only one bishop and one knight instead of two and the second subset has six pawns instead of eight.

22. Set of patterns for learning the game of claim 3, which defines the motions allowed to at least a number of the pieces for playing said game.

23. Set of patterns according to claim 22, which are cut-out patterns wherein the motions allowed to a piece are defined in each pattern by an opening indicating the position of said piece and cut-out corridors each of which defines at least one of the motions allowed to said piece.

24. Set of patterns according to claim 22, consisting in cut-out cardboard or plastic pieces.

25. Method of generating a game board required for playing a desired game, which comprises providing a base board, providing a set of frames for masking part of said base board, each of the frames of said set leaving uncovered a part of said base board, and superimposing to said base board the frame of said set that leaves uncovered the part of said base board defining said game board.

26. A device comprising a base board and a set of frames for carrying out the method of claim 25.