The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants
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The 42-squares chess variant design contest
Introduction
A contest will be held, in which you can participate. The aim of the
contest is to design a chess variant on a board with exactly 42 squares.
Read here more about the history, the rules, and the prizes to win.
Already seven contests to design a chess variant were held. The first contest
was held
from October 1997 till April 1998: the task was to design a chess variant
on a board with 38 squares. That contest was inspired by chess
variants, that people designed for Hans Bodlaender's 37th birthday, and
an early one for his 38th birthday by Eric Greenwood. Then, in May 1998
till June 1999, a contest was
held to design a chess variant on a board with 39 squares, followed in
1999/2000 by
a contest to design a chess variant on a board
with 40 squares, and one in 2000/2001 for 41 squares.
We also had a contest to design a
large chess variant, a a
contest to design
a chess variant on a board with 100 squares, and a contest
to design a chess variant that takes at most 32 turns.
We keep the yearly tradition of the x-squares contests; hence now we have a
contest to design a
chess variant on a board with exactly 42 squares.
The challenge
Design a chess variant on a board
of exactly 42 squares.
The Rules of the Metagame
- To participate, design a game that is a chess variant and that
is played on a board of exactly 42 squares, and send the rules to the
Chess Variant Pages (see the feedback page
how to send them: email to
.)
before March 31, 2002.
You can also send them on paper
to: Hans Bodlaender, Nedercamp 26, 3992 RP Houten, the Netherlands.
- The notion of square can be interpreted broadly, and is
meant to denote any cell that can contain a piece. So, e.g., variants
with hexagonal cells are acceptable.
- In your entry, you may, if you want, also
include a few sample games, comments, etc.
- If you submit a game, you should send the description of the game
(either in html, word, or text-format, with or without added pictures),
i.e., it is insufficient to have the game on your own website and send
the URL.
- Hans Bodlaender and Peter Aronson are `first round judges'. Submissions to the contest
that are not a chess variant, not a game, not played on a board with 42
squares (or other types of `cells'), or are deemed unsuitable for
publication on the Chess Variant Pages for other reasons will be rejected in
this first round. Other submissions will be published on The Chess Variant
Pages.
- A participant may submit at most two entries. If you submit two designs,
please make them very different from each other.
- The winning game will be decided by qualified judges, see below.
Mention games that have inspired you. Write correct English, and be
clear and complete in giving rules, but you may assume familiarity with
the rules of standard chess. (For instance, you can write sentences like:
Knights move like in orthodox chess. The purpose of the game is to mate the
opponent's General. Stalemated players lose the game.)
- See also the additional rules below.
Judges
The contest will be judged by Tony Quintanilla and Peter Aronson. Tony was the winner of
the contest to design a chess variant on a board with 41 squares, and is
a regular contributor to this website.
Peter had the 2nd place in that contest and won prizes in several other chess variant design contest, and
is an editor of this website. Both regularly play chess variants by email.
Prizes
There are five prizes that will be given to the five games that are liked most
by the judges.
The participant that wins the first
prize may pick his prize first; then the participant that wins the
second prize, etc. The prizes are:
- A set of Chessapeak
Classic. Set of four-player chess variant. This prize is kindly donated
by Chessapeak Games Company.
- A set of Omega Chess. Chess variant on a board with 104
squares. Kindly donated by Omega Chess.
- A set of Heraldic chess, with colored chess pieces, cards, and
termoprinted dice. Kindly donated by Modest Solans.
- The book Hexagonal Chess, by Wladyslaw Glinksi, inventor of a widely played variant of Hexagonal Chess. Collectors item!
- A Chess Variant Pages OFFLINE CDrom. All files of the website at home for reading without waiting.
Additional rules
- Send the rules in HTML, text, Word, or WordPerfect format.
HTML or `plain ASCII text' are
preferred: if you use Word or WP, see if your version allows you to save your
file in such a format.
- Send the rules: do not just email the url of your own homepage!
- CorelDraw! files used to draw the Chess Variant Pages boards can be
obtained from Hans Bodlaender and used to draw your boards.
Alternatively, you can use other methods to draw them, possibly using
ASCII. Pictures may be sent as GIF or JPG, or on paper to be scanned. You
might want to try to use the FFEN2HTM
converter to make your diagrams.
- Changes or updates to your entries are allowed. However, in such a case
you
should edit the html-file yourself, and send again the updated version to
Hans.
No changes are allowed after the date of March 31, 2002.
- If you send a file plus a number of pictures, it would help to save my time
if you pack everything
in one zip-file and send that zip-file. Thanks! This is not obligatory, however.
- With participating, you give us an unrevokable permission to publish what
you send
(or in edited form) on The Chess Variant Pages and its offline versions.
Copyright remains with the author, and you keep the right for
publication elsewhere. However, you cannot request to remove your game
from our website, and requests to remove your game will not be granted, even
when
you did not win a prize in the contest.
- An entry having its own variants will have only its 'main variant'
judged.
What else?
If you have questions or concerns, write to Hans Bodlaender (see the feedback page).
Written by Hans Bodlaender.
WWW page created: June 19, 2001. Last modified: August 1, 2001.
Last modified: Monday, December 22, 2008
