Comments by MatsWinther
Bataille astrale (Astral battle) has pieces that can rotate and shield themselves from attack. It's an interesting concept. I made a Zillions program:
Mats
In Ploy, according to my sources, pieces can only rotate 45 degrees, left or right. This makes sense. So I wrote a new Zillions program according to this rule. I have also tweaked the piece values, because Zillions values them incorrectly. Zillions plays strongly in this variant.
These two contributions of mine have still not been reviewed by the editorial staff. It's gone a long time.
http://www.chessvariants.com/invention/blockula-chess
http://www.chessvariants.com/invention/diarchic-chess
"Diarchic Chess" is a more advanced version of Blockula Chess, with two kings each. Witches have the kingdom under a spell...
Diarchic Chess
Fergus, in the Comment section (here) I see this sentence above the comments: "SELECT * FROM Comment WHERE IsDeleted=0 ORDER BY CommentID DESC LIMIT 25". (I use Chrome in Windows 10.)
This is a new concept, isn't it? The pieces, except the friendly "Witch", are helpless against the attacking enemy king, which is immune against threats. But when the enemy Witch disappears, the spell is broken. It could put the enemy king in a dire situation.
When editing index information for a 'user submitted page' I cannot change the link to external site. The change is simply ignored when I save. This problem has existed a long time. It means that my variants aren't sufficiently explained. Can somebody fix this problem, please. /Mats
I have now corrected the preset for the chess variant created by King Gustav III of Sweden (1746-92). It is a royal variant that functions very well.
Can't somebody explain this? All my work, which is considerable, has been destroyed. Why is this?
Is the Mastodon/Pasha implemented? It is a very suitable piece for big boards. /Mats
None of my presets work anymore on account of reworking of the compilator. How long is this going to continue and how long has it been so?
Several of my presets have disappeared, too.
Mats
It has been tested and it works fine. The Brigadiers are positioned on those initial squares so that they point to strongly defended pawns in the enemy position. Otherwise it wouldn't work very well. The Brigadiers can easily be exchanged, so a single queen becomes dominant. The queen can chase away a Brigadier. So it is a well-functional game, highly aggressive. /Mats
Johnny, it appears from your comment that you aren't familiar with chess theory. It revolves around white's first move advantage and how to retain it. As soon as theorists discovers a method to neutralize white's advantage, that particular opening is virtually dead. This has happened to many openings, such as the King's gambit, which is hardly ever played anymore. Were it to happen to all openings, it would mean the death of chess. --Mats
All changes in nature depend on potential differences. A waterfall creates energy because there is a difference between high and low. In chess, there is a difference in "altitude", too. White has an advantage, which is converted to either a tactical or strategical initiative. This gives rise to fine pieces of art as well as interesting theory, because the potential serves to energize the game. It is possible to design a game in which this potential doesn't exist, but then it isn't Western chess anymore. For instance, I think Shogi and Xiangqi are different in this respect. I don't know about Shogi, but Xiangqi does not have the same status as chess. In China it is regarded as kind of vulgar, although it is great fun. So that's why I wanted, in the relocation variants, to retain white's first move advantage. Otherwise it isn't chess anymore, and it won't become as popular. The positions chosen are all very natural. There are no awkward positions, as in Chess960. Moreover, compared with Chess960, in some of the variants the array has been expanded, since there are also non-mirrored positions. Non-mirrored starting positions are congenial with real warfare. See my article, "Relocation variants": http://mlwi.magix.net/bg/relocationvariants.htm --Mats
by the players, such as Fischer Placement Chess.
--Mats
I never claimed that one can gate more than one piece per time. I don't know what is so unclear with my description of the rules. Just follow the correct rules and play on my preset. It works fine. /Mats
Spengler, whenever a piece moves from its initial square, the player is free to insert an extraneous piece, if he so wishes. If he moves all pieces from their initial squares without introducing any of the extraneous pieces, then he has forfeited his right to introduce them. Castling is a double move, when the king moves from its initial square and the rook moves from its initial square. So it is essentially the same as all the other moves, except that here the player has a choice. He can place an extraneous piece on either the corner square or the king square. I see no problem in the description of the rules. /Mats
My Chess Variant page has changed address again: http://mlwi.magix.net/public/chessvar.htm M. Winther
My chess variant page has been down a long time, so I created a mirror here: http://boardgames.zxq.net/chessvar.htm /M. Winther
I have implemented Pretwa and other Indian war games on the following link. These are rather naive games, nothing like chess. http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/indian_wg.htm /Mats
"The main question of this thesis concerns the possibility of illuminating the presence and impact of the irrational element that is play in an ancient societal structure. [...] The study is based on selected game-related finds from the site of Mohenjodaro. Located in Sindh in southern Pakistan, the site constitutes the remains of the largest urban settlement of the Bronze Age Indus Valley realm (ca. 2500-2000 BC). One of the typical features of this realm constitutes a focus on small-sized art. Among other artefacts, numerous small objects of a supposedly game-related purpose have been found in Mohenjo-daro, such as dice and gamesmen. [...]"
Gaming in Mohenjo-daro – an Archaeology of Unities
I wrote an article about historical board games with special reference to mandala shapes, here:
The Boardgame Mandala
/M. Winther
The game earlier discussed in Variant Chess, called Vietnamese Chess, has now been resolved. But I don't know if it qualifies as a true chess variant: http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/nam_dinh.htm /M. Winther
Fergus, Game Courier no longer displays a "rules" link, which links back to the rules page of the game. It has disappeared. I think this link is quite useful. /Mats
It seems like people get no response when they apply for membership on the Chess Variant pages. Why can't this be automatized instead, so that people can get a permanent password by themselves? http://www.chessvariants.org/index/displaycomment.php?commentid=29216 /Mats
/Mats
The rules button is not visible anymore in Game Courier. This means that players cannot easily go back to review the rules of the game, which is bad, since all the rules aren't always easy to memorize when you are trying a new game. In the Game Courier presets one always inserts a link to the rules, so that the players easily can view the rules. But the button has disappeared, it seems. This is a high priority bug. /Mats
The rules button is not visible anymore in Game Courier. This means that players cannot easily go back to review the rules of the game, which is bad, since all the rules aren't always easy to memorize when you are trying a new game. In the Game Courier presets one always inserts a link to the rules, so that the players easily can view the rules. But the button has disappeared, it seems. This is a high priority bug. /Mats
Regardless of the exact values, it seems like many very fine strategical qualities are lost on the 9x10 board. The space factor, so important in Fide-chess, has taken on a completely different meaning. Suddenly there are large areas of space always available. Of course, there are new aspects of the game, such as the enormous tactical capacities of the super-knights. This is great fun, but many important factors are lost, too. However, with the Gustavian board they are retained, while new tactical qualities can be added. I don't repudiate the Capablanca variants; they are an interesting complement. But I don't think they will ever become popular. Seirawan Chess implements the super-knights on the 8x8 board, however, they are introduced in an erratic manner. To place them on the extra corner squares of the Gustavian board is much more to the taste of the modern player, I think. Gustav III's Chess, with Amazons on the extra squares, is actually a very good game. A preset is here: http://www.chessvariants.org/index/msdisplay.php?itemid=MPgustaviiisches /M. Winther
26... Kg8 27. Nf6+ Kf7 28. Rxh7 Kg6 29. Rh6+ Kf5 30. Rg1 Ng6 31. Ng4 Nxf4 32. Ne3+ Ke4 33. Bxg7 +-
/Mats
The reason why the Capablanca big-board variants haven't caught on is because the board alters the relation between pieces. There are now ten pawn, a fact which affects the pawn value. The center of the board isn't sharply defined anymore. The knight is worth a pawn less than a bishop. The rook is now worth equally much as a bishop + knight. There is now plenty of space on the board, so one is unlikely to achieve spatial advantage. All this means that important strategical themes are lost, especially the important relation between knight and bishop, and it's hardly possible to sacrifice a rook for a knight anymore. However, the Gustavian board retains all the relations of Fide chess. There are only eight pawns, and the relation between knight and bishop is retained. Possibly, the knight value increases slightly because of the extra corner square, which makes it easier to maneuver with the knight. The queen is probably somewhat more valuable since it can now invade the enemy position via the extra corner square. I hold that the 68-squared Gustavian board is much superior to the 90-squared board, although it also depends on the rules of the game. However, if we simply add the chancellor and the archbishop to the Gustavian board, we get a much better game than Capablanca Chess or Gothic Chess. This is because all the fine nuances of Fide-chess are retained. http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/gustaviii.htm /M. Winther
Kramnik rates this as the best game ever, with Swedish GM Gösta Stoltz as white: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1152958 Gösta Stoltz on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6sta_Stoltz /Mats
Indeed, Game Courier runs on Android. It would be neat if one didn't have to scroll every time when making a new move, because the board doesn't fit in the window. I am curious how much money the Android app developers earn, when selling their programs on play.google.com and elsewhere. The apps are cheap, but sometimes there are half a million downloads, because Android is so widely used. Many of the apps have glitches that are very, very frustrating. It is not possible to download a decent painting program, for instance. If it's possible to earn some money, it could motivate that one learns Android programming. /Mats
Maybe it is time to create variant software for Android, too, because it us used so widely, today. Soon Android will be in every TV set, too, and people will surf the web on the TV. Today, there are apps for chessbase online database (a remarkable tool) and Playchess.com, ICC, etc. It would be great if an Android version of game courier could be created, too. /Mats
Aha, I can always turn down the volume. What does it mean that "Chess for Android" can run your FairyMax engine? Are chess variants playable on Android? http://www.aartbik.com/MISC/eng.html /Mats
Matteo, it is the search tree which is the heavy operation. The problem is here that the king search is involved in the search tree, which has thousands of branches. You should consider changing the rules a bit to make it easier to program, until you know how to do it. Anyway, these 'create' and 'capture' commands do nothing if not followed by an 'add'. After the last 'create' there is no 'add', so it won't happen. You probably only need an 'add' in the last position, and that cascade seems superfluous(?). You don't need to 'capture' the king-check piece. It is superfluous. You could also use 'change-type' instead of 'create', to avoid a capture sound. /Mats
(while (and (on-board? next) (not-flag? found))...
The parse error is that you write (verify found?). It should be (verify (flag? found)).
/Mats
So perhaps you should try the solution I suggested. Add yet another move-type, the highest of the three. To verify that the king is in check you could do like this, for instance (at least if it's white's move) :
a1
(while (on-board? r) ;correction: r
    (if (and (piece? King) friend?) (verify attacked?))
    r    Â ;r is the same as direction e except that h1 is connected with a2, etc.
)
/Mats
Sorry, I didn't know that it worked that way. It is generally recommended for newcomers to Zillions programming to begin with a simpler game. This is a very, very, complex game. I suppose, the simplest way to solve this is to introduce yet another move-type which has the highest priority of all. This move-type is exactly the same as the normal moves (where pawn capture is not enforced). The only difference is that you must verify that the king is threatened before execution of this move-type is allowed. So you must loop through the board squares until you find the friendly king, and verify that it is threatened. Thus, only if the king is attacked, this priority move will be executed, and the player can thus make a move that is the same as a normal move. Should there be no move that can save the king, then Zillions will signal mate, which is correct. However, for the king itself, it's not necessary to make this loop, because you can check (verify attacked?) where it is placed. /M. Winther
In that case, provided that you have win-condition checkmate set, you don't need to check whether the king is checked, because Zillions does that automatically. Zillions forces you to make a move that protects the king, and you cannot make another move. So it is easy to enforce the rule that an enemy pawn must be captured. Simply add another "move-type" in every piece definition. This move type is exactly the same as the normal move-type except that (1) it is set to higher priority (2) you must verify before the move is executed that an enemy pawn is captured: "(verify enemy?)(verify (piece? Pawn))". This will enforce the capture of an enemy pawn provided that the king is not in check. It will still enforce the capture of a pawn if the king is protected thereby. However, this technique will increase the value of the pieces relative to the pawns. So you need perhaps to tweak the value of the pawns (and other pieces, too) by increasing the number of "adds". You could use my technique of "tweak-shift", which is simple. Zillions tries to evaluate the pieces, but this is highly complicated, and it is necessary to improve this evaluation by tweaking the value of pieces. This improves the playing strength very much. My version of Chinese Chess beats the Zillions standard version every time. It is much better only because I have given the pieces a more appropriate value. M. Winther
out where it is, and then check this square with the "attacked?" command.
But if you only need to know whether a certain enemy piece is attacking your
king, you could perhaps use the same principle as I use in
Coordinator Chess, for instance. I have added a "king gaze" move to the king's
definition, at a lower priority than standard moves, so the king never
performs them. Other pieces can then check if the king "sees" an enemy piece on the
diagonal or the orthogonal, or the knight jump.
M. Winther
the motif of chess was so popular in medieval times.
medieval chess motives
/Mats
You should not put the game in a self-extracting archive (exe) because people don't know what it is and won't download. Browsers warn against downloading files such as these. Put it in a zip file instead. /Mats
I hadn't seen this one before. Spassky, and his predecessor Petrosian, are two of the most creative players in the modern era. /Mats
perfectly equal position. You sound like feminists. The FIDE position
is particularly good, better than any of the FRC positions, just because
it gives white a slight first move advantage.
In this way an energy gradient is created in which good defensive and
attacking play can take place. It is a challenge to try to utilize this little
tactical or strategical initiative and transform it into a winning position.
To black, it is an interesting challenge to defend the position, despite
white's advantage. If there were no first move advantage, then the theorists
would soon work out how to create equality for black. 90% of the
GM games would end in a draw, and people would loose interest in the
game. The first move advantage vouches for a popular game. The problem
is the obverse. It is becoming more and more difficult to procure
an advantage among GM:s, on account of theoretical developments. One
solution is to introduce higher complexity, like adding a new pawn
move (Valiant Chess), or changing the castle rules slightly (Castle Chess).
M. Winther
Chess Genius is a very strong program for Android. http://www.chessgenius.com/android/index.html /Mats
I am running Zillions on Windows 7, 64 bit. The question is, will it work in Windows 8? Anybody knows? Probably it will. /Mats
http://www.chessvariants.org/ (main page) looks very strange in Windows 7 Internet Explorer 9. /Mats
Yes, it can both capture and jump over other cannons. It is special in that it can only slide when it cannot jump. /Mats
I have now added variants to the Zillions program in which any pawn can make the oblique pawn jump. (In one variant it is necessary that the Valiant pawn is blocked by an enemy pawn.) http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/valiantchess.htm /Mats
Thank you for this observation that the fifth rank is already special in that it is the 'en passant' rank. I hadn't thought of that. I'll consider the idea to allow all pawns to move like this. /Mats
This little invention, in the category "modest variants" could be my most important discovery: the introduction of the oblique knight-pawn move. This could greatly enhance and enliven chess at very little cost in terms of rule changes. /Mats
You can also use Mobipocket Creator to convert the pdf to a Mobi book, readable in Mobipocket Reader (also for Windows) and Kindle. This means that one can insert comments, etc. Mobipocket is discontinued, but their site is still up, containing hundreds of free ebooks, also Lasker's book on chess strategy, etc. http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/default.asp?Language=EN /Mats
Thanks. Now the proportions are correct both in Chrome and IE. /Mats
No, no settings have been changed. I created a simple html table and it is quadratic in Chrome, so something must have changed on the Chess Variant site. However, if nobody else can reproduce this problem, then nothing can be done about it. Here is the simple table board that looks quadratic in Chrome (but it doesn't show in IE on account of the empty cells) : http://home7.swipnet.se/~w-73784/chess/blueboard.htm /Mats
screen. I am the only one who has this problem?
Revised Chess
/Mats
Fergus, here is a Chrome screenshot: http://home7.swipnet.se/~w-73784/scrensh.htm I have used this version of Chrome and this operating system a long time now. I haven't changed hardware. This problem didn't exist before. /Mats
Fergus, I use Win XP Pro, and latest version of Chrome, and IE 8.0. The boards are clearly oblong and the squares, too. However, now I tried an old version of Opera, version 7.5. In this browser the squares are still quadratic. /Mats
But all Table generated presets are now oblong.
/Mats
Chess boards generated with Table aren't quadratic anymore! They are oblong! /Mats
Courier appear oblong now? The squares aren't quadratic anymore, neither in
Chroome or in IE: Seirawan Chess.
/Mats
I still have problems finding a link back to the preset description, that is the "Rules". /Mats
I still can't find the "Rules" button for the preset, although it looks nice with this drop-down menu. The "Rules" button should take you back to the description of the preset. It is very useful. /Mats
The header in Game Courier is gone (where you could click on 'Rules', etc. /Mats
This, I think, is a real challenge to Fide-chess, at least for rapid chess. Blocked flank pawns (knight- and rook pawns) have an additional jump move to empty square. Dynamic chess can optionally be played with queen relocation: http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/dynamicchess.htm /Mats
Yes, now it works fine, thanks. But the Upload File function doesn't seem to work. I only get a blank page with "File Upload Results" when I try to upload a little gif-file. /Mats
I get this "Confirm Form Resubmission" whenever I am working with a preset and I try to back up with the browser. It never happened before. If I make an illegal move I get a message. But when I want to go back to the position I get "Confirm Form Resubmission". After confirmation I must press yet another button. This isn't good. /Mats
I-Ching Chess ("I-ching Xadrez", Mario Sanchez, 1978). This book is mentioned in The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. It is a divinatory chess variant. The I Ching has 64 hexagram and the chess board has 64 squares. However, I cannot find this book anywhere on the Internet, not even in Abebooks. If somebody knows how this system worked, please write an article here on Chess Variant Pages. /Mats
I have now improved play considerably in my Burmese Chess by tweaking the pieces. http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/burmese.htm However, it's not easy to acquire an exact description of the rules. There exist many versions, but not even the federations have published good documents. On this link, for instance, the rules are confusing. http://myachess.blogspot.se/2012/01/how-to-play-myanmar-traditional-chess-3.html According to c1 a pawn can promote upon reaching a promotion square. According to c3 it cannot promote but must wait. These are contradictory rules. I have implemented both in independent variants. "c.1 When a pawn reaches one of the promotion squares, the diagonal squares of the opponent side, it can be exchanged for a general of the same colour provided the general of the same colour no longer exists on the board. c.3 Even a pawn is qualified to be promoted, the promotion is not allowed at once just after reaching the promotion square. It can get the promotion on the next move or later of the same player." It would be great if somebody could find an exact rule description and publish it here on the Chess Variant Pages. /Mats
I have now added a variant following the rules and board pattern according to the Burmese Chess Federation (but rules are still somewhat unclear). http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/burmese.htm ... Addendum 11:35:56 EDT : and now I have tweaked the pieces to achieve better play. /Mats
By the way, my implementation of Chinese Chess is an example of what tweaking can accomplish when programming Zillions. It is much superior to the standard Zillions version, and quite a strong opponent. It is also possible to use Zillions to build an opening database in a directory tree of Zillions games. The directories are named according to the variation ("Central Cannon (vs) Single Horse", etc.). To see that variation one simply double-clicks the game. http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/chinesechess.htm /Mats
Yes, and I have now increased the relative value of the Elephant and removed the small board since it was too small. The Elephant is still less valuable than the knight, but the difference is not that big. The Elephant (Silver General in Shogi) is surprisingly powerful, despite its slowness, as it is a strong defensive piece, but it is also powerful in mating attacks. To be certain that you have the latest version, please download again. /Mats
I realized I had introduced a bug. Please download again. http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/burmese.htm /Mats
You're welcome! In fact, I added yet another alternative graphics (Western, however). Please download again. http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/burmese.htm
I also added eight standard positions.
http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/burmese.htm
/Mats
I realized that I had messed up the graphics for the additional variants. I have corrected this. You might want to download again. /Mats
Ed, I have now added an alternative 3D piece set to my ZRF. I found images on the net, resized and coloured them. I also added an outlined board instead of a squared one. The result is reasonably good: http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/hiashatar.htm /Mats
If you could point me to a suitable traditional graphics, I would be happy to implement it, if it's public domain. Don't forget to post any new findings about Hiashatar variants. /Mats
Don't miss my Hiashatar implementation in Zillions: http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/hiashatar.htm /Mats
group and the owner threw me out! I also posted it to the Vietson discussion
group, where I use to play Xiangqi. I wasn't dispelled but the message
was removed.
What's going on? How come they regard this little idea as so dangerous
and destructive? They seem to view this little enhancement as a blasphemy.
So I begin to wonder whether many chess players are actually religious chess
worshippers, and that's what causes the exaggerated reactions. This is
where religion has gone, into games! They are chess and Xiangqi believers,
not players.
/Mats
Flexible Chess is my new modest improvement of Fide-chess. The light pieces are external. The introduction method used in Flexible Chess implies that the light pieces are potentially present on empty squares on the first rank. It makes the game more dynamic as the pieces move immediately when they are introduced. http://www.chessvariants.org/index/msdisplay.php?itemid=Mlflexiblechessf /Mats
The introduction method used in Flexible Chess implies that the light pieces are potentially present on empty squares on the first rank. It makes the game more dynamic as the pieces move immediately when they are introduced. /Mats
Large Chinese Chess
/Mats
Chess without Pawns: A chess variant without pawns and with two kings each. Only the kings can capture pieces. The inventor, Rapetsky, believes it is close to original Chaturanga. http://toptoptopaet.narod.ru/english.html A Zillions implementation can be downloaded here: http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/Chess_without_Pawns.zip /Mats
Both players cannot be in check at the same time. The players must have missed that either party was in check and continued to play. They should go back to the position where the first check occurred and begin anew from there. /Mats
An even faster approach is Relocation variants: http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/relocationvariants.htm /Mats
I doubt very much that it is more complex than standard chess. The queens need only to watch out for pawns, and most of the queens will soon be exchanged. There is nothing to fear in this game - no knight forks! Just strengthen your position and exchange queens. That's the only thing you can do. /Mats
I don't understand why you can't download. Other people have downloaded. /Mats
It is very easy to tweak piece values. You create one or more invisible squares outside the board, and fill them with empty pieces (either of a neutral party, or an equal amount of black and white dummy-pieces). Then you make an add to these squares, but first you must verify that it's empty: (define tweak-shift ( $1 (verify empty?) add)) These extra adds must be placed outside the normal move type, so that they get a lower priority (to avoid that Zillions wastes time on them). The more adds you make to these external squares, the higher is the piece value. If you need to lower the piece value, you must increase the piece value in all the others. When increasing the general piece value of all pieces, the queen must have most adds, and the pawns need only a few, perhaps only one extra add. Have a look in any of my implementations: http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/chessvar.htm /Mats
It is important to point out that 'en passant' can only be performed in the move immediately following the double-step move. This is the only chance to capture 'en passant'. It can't be done in the following moves. /Mats
An awkward aspect of Bario is that a rook and a bishop becomes much stronger than a queen, due to the movement choice he has when the pieces are in potential state. It wrecks the relation between the pieces. If you play well and gain material, it might turn out that the opponent is stronger anyway. But it could be fun. That's why I said that it was for entertainment, not serious chess. In Barion Zillions plays much better, that's the point. Probably it lacks those unfair characteristics of Bario. Whether it's a good variant I don't remember. It's from 2006. /Mats
If it's my implementation you have used, it is very lousy and should be reworked. The code is too heavy and slows the program down. Nor does it follow the initial rules exactly. But I never got around to it because I think the variant is inferior. It is not a serious variant, but merely entertaining. Maybe you could try Barion instead, a related variant, which Zillions plays better. http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/barion.htm /Mats
It is this 4 colour chess variant: 4-handed Chaturanga with dice. http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/4chaturanga.htm Please try my implementation. It plays rather well. It is also quite fun. This variant could possibly be popularized. /Mats
It is easy to make Zillions move central pawns initially, something which I do in all my programs. All that is needed is to reward early pawn movements. See my Zillions implementations: http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/chessvar.htm The problem is that if Zillions hops about too much with powerful super-knights, then he loses tempo and might be strategically lost. However, this depends on how the variant is designed, of course. I also discourage early queen excursions, and the like. /Mats
H.G., it is true that C+H generally is worse than R, but sometimes it works to exchange a R for C+H. In Expanded Chinese Chess, it's very unlikely to work. If the Javelins can cross the middle of the board, then the javelins of the parties can never meet, as they move on different colours. The dragons cannot meet either, so it will be a lot of moving around as pieces cannot be exchanged. The rook is exceedingly strong as it can invade on the last rank and move to the other flank behind the palace. The whole construction is very controversial. I don't believe in it. But perhaps it can be developed with the help of a computer. /Mats
Travis, I am trying to give you some input so you can create something that will survive in the future. If the Javelins/Bishops can not cross the river, then you should state this in the rules. If the Javelins cannot attack on the other side of the board, then they are very powerful defensive pieces, only. Yet another pair of pieces to defend the king means that it's much more difficult to achieve mate. The dragons will also serve as defensive pieces, making matters worse. But the dragons are practically useless. Xiangqi pieces can be blocked, so I assume that this is true also for the dragons. This means that they will be blocked most of the time, as orthogonal pieces that move to the fourth square are likely to be blocked most of the time. When the board size is increased, sliding pieces increase their value, while the horse's value decreases. This is a well-known problem in many big-board variants, where the bishop cannot be exchanged for a knight anymore. The relative values of the pieces are changed. It's hardly possible anymore to exchange a rook for a cannon plus horse. If the palace is not increased then the rook can easily invade on the last rank, and move about inside the enemy position, between the flanks. The rook is already very active in Xiangqi, but here it can easily attack the enemy pieces from behind, moving behind the palace, and check the king from behind at the same time. This cannot possibly work. You ought to create a Zillions program and test the variant. You could probably create a good game with an elongated Xiangqi board, but it takes a great deal of testing to make a variant of this type work. I also tried to create a new Xiangqi variant on a bigger board, but I failed, after having tested it in Zillions. /Mats
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In Pushpawn Chess a connected pawn on the fourth or fifth rank can push back an enemy pawn that is placed before it, provided that the square behind the enemy pawn is empty. A Pawn that is situated adjacent to a friendly pawn, diagonally or horizontally, counts as “connected”. This is a serious challenger to Fide chess.
The pawn chain emulates a medieval shield wall. As the pawn is blocked by a shield, it cannot capture directly forwards. Instead, it captures diagonally forwards, which was a typical method, also in the roman army. But there is a move missing, namely a push move. In the ancient and medieval battle situation, soldiers tried to push the enemy shield wall back, to create a breach. The new push move emulates this ancient tactics.
Pushpawn Chess (Zillions)