Congo (chess variant)

Congo is a chess variant invented in 1982 by Demian Freeling when he was nearly eight years old, with encouragement from his father, the Dutch abstract games designer Christian Freeling. It is played on a seven by seven board with a river across the middle and a three by three castle at each end that houses each side's lion. Pieces borrow from chess and xiangqi but include animals with their own powers: the zebra moves like a knight, the elephant steps one or two squares and may jump, the giraffe leaps in straight lines, the monkey captures by jumping as in draughts, and the crocodile moves along the river. Any piece other than the crocodile that ends a move in the river must leave it or drown. The game is won at once by capturing the opposing lion, so stalemate does not exist. Congo became the second most popular chess variant at the Fanaat games club in Enschede.