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Chess 2. Different armies, a new winning condition, and duels. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Ebinola wrote on Thu, Jul 27, 2017 02:13 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Chess 2 is a fantastic variant that really goes off the deep end in how it changes chess yet still retains that familiar chess feel. It's a great shame that it virtually has no playerbase. It pushes chess to a more gamer and esports oriented audience, in my opinion. Some have complained about the midline rule and duelling mechanics ruining classic chess endgames and adding an unwanted element of chance respectively - I say that on the other hand, midline makes endgames more exciting as moving your king to the midline is the endgame, and makes the king's activity in the game much more apparent; likewise, duelling is what keeps the balance of Chess 2 intact. The armies are supposed to be strong and weak against other armies, that way a metagame eventually forms.

Sirlin's site has since moved domains, and as a result the print-and-play version of the game has been obfuscated. However, I'd like to leave a link to a new version of the print and play that is still being updated:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9qCB9zFQM1neHVMY3pUanh5eXc

And for one without backgrounds: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9qCB9zFQM1nOUcxLXVydWI4d3c

The text has been for the most part lifted from the old print and play, but there's a number of new things that I've added, such as:

  • Updated diagrams - makes memorising the movements of the pieces a little less confusing;
  • Rules for OTB play - just basic stuff for tournament play;
  • CHESS 2 NOTATION. No form of algebraic notation has been configured for Chess 2, until now. I've devised (what I believe to be) the simplest and most effective way to record Chess 2 games while still respecting the integrity of regular chess notation.
  • Multiple conversations that I had between various frequent players and beta testers.

For anyone who blows on by this page, I hope you'll take a look at it (if you're interested). If you're wanting to give feedback, you can always find me on chess.com or on lichess.