Single Comment

Movement diagram pieces can be helpful for someone who isn't already familiar with the pieces. I'm sure movement diagram pieces would be a great help in a game like Chu Shogi, and they are indispensible to a game like Xorix Shogi. But in games where I already know most or all of the pieces, the value of movement diagrams is diminished, and what is most important to me is the ability to quickly recognize all the pieces at a glance. This is easiest when all the pieces have clear individuality. For example, I can look at a game with a Staunton set and recognize every piece in a flash. But if I play with a Renaissance set, I have some trouble telling Pawns and Bishops apart when their backs are to me. The Chess pieces in the Abstract set are all individual enough that I can quickly tell them apart. Three are basic shapes -- circle, square, and triangle -- and the other three are different combinations of different shapes. With Nalls' concrete pieces, I have to look closely at the pieces to tell them apart. My brain cannot work with them as fast, because their shapes do not cue in directly to specific pieces. For example, a cross and an X are the same shape, differing only in orientation. I cannot tell these apart as quickly as I can a square and a triangle.