Balbo's game
# Balbo's game

Balbo's game is a chess variant invented by M. [Monsieur] G. Balbo in 1974. The chessboard has a novel shape comprising 70 squares, and each player commands a full chess army minus one pawn.

The game was featured in Le Courrier des Echecs magazine, September 1974.

## Game rules

The starting setup is as shown. All the rules of chess apply, except there is no castling, and promotion squares are specially defined:

* At the end of the d- through h-files, pawns have normal promotion options.
* At the end of the c- and i-files, pawns may promote only to a bishop or knight.
* At the end of the outer four files, pawns may not promote.
