Game Reviews by DavidPaulowich

My first thought was that the stalemated player is usually "Low" and will lose the game in fifty moves. My second thought was: What about my [2023-04-18] Comment to Grander Chess? A few minor changes resulted in the diagram below, where both Kings are equidistant from the centre.

WHITE can play 1.Bc8 and BLACK is stalemated (but still wins the game).

Grant Sinclair writes: "Black’s height advantage, which makes Black High when both Kings are equidistant from the centre, has been designed to balance White’s first-move advantage." This statement is unconvincing. In fact, White’s advantage could be even greater in High Chess.

In the the diagram below White has five pieces on the board and a single Rook "in hand". All the other pieces belong to Black. Suppose White drops this Rook on (b2) and Black advances his Pawn to (c3). This "blockade stalemate" has resulted in a drawn game.

ATTENTION EDITORS: This Chessgi problem also provides an answer to the Patricia Stalemate Puzzle. I recently constructed another stalemate position with fewer pieces than this one and would like to add a suitable diagram to the puzzle solution page.

WHITE TO MOVE AND MATE IN EIGHT MOVES

If the Bishop was on (f4), placing all the pieces on the same board, this would be a simple mate in two moves. But I needed help from ChessV to solve the given problem. Apparently the trick is to move the White King from (b3) to (C2), effectively "wasting a tempo". Bishops cannot do this in Alice Chess - while the Bishop could travel from (F4) to (f4) in three moves, that is not actually the same square. ChessV 2.2 game record is given below.

Alice Chess
Player(White) = ChessV
Player(Black) = Human
FENStart = "16/16/16/16/2N10B2/1K14/16/1k14 w - - 0 1"
StaticExchangeEvaluation = false
Moves = {
F4g5 b1A1 b3C2 A1a2 g5H6 a2A1 c4D6 A1a2 H6c1 a2A1 D6e4 A1a2 e4C3 a2A1 c1B2
}
Result = 1-0 {White wins}

MOVEMENT DIAGRAM - White Chained Padwar (Elephant icon) and Black Chained Warrior (War Machine icon)

On an empty board a Warrior will attack the same squares as a Kylin - a Chu Shogi piece currently lacking a PIECECLOPEDIA entry. A Padwar attempts to reach the same squares as an Alibaba - the diagram shows a Black Padwar blocking the (e5) square from the White Padwar. Likewise, the Black Padwar is blocked from attacking the (b2) square.

The Chained Padwar in this game is called an (ordinary) Elephant in Shatranj Kamil X. Last week I added a comment there showing how a Knight and two Elephants can checkmate a lone King.

The Dragon has an impressive 13x13 movement diagram on this page.

1. d3 Db6 2. Md2 Dxe3 is the fastest mate in Ryugi.

1. Nd4 c7 2. Nc6 Ne7 3. Nd8 does it with a Knight.

1. h3 g5 2. Kh2 Ll6 3.Ki3 Qj4 is a very foolish mate. If the type font is confusing, Black's second move is "ell-ell-six".

While the stated NBRQ values are suitable for a 10x10 board, the Bishop simply cannot attack as many squares on a 12x8 board. Bishop = 3.50 and Queen = 10 seem more appropriate for this game. I reserve judgement on the Elephants for the time being - currently working on a new game with "Wafflephants" on 12 columns.

M. Badii - J. Stranjakovitch, Paris 1989 reached the position in the diagram below after

1.e4 a6 2.d4 b5 3.f4 Bb7 4.Bd3 f5 5.exf5 Bxg2 6.Qh5+ g6 7.fxg6 Bg7 8.gxh7+ Kf8

The game continued 9.hxg8=Q+ Kxg8 10.Qe2 Bxh1 with a win by White after 24 moves.

I see no reason for rules that may prevent early pawn promotions in Grand Chess. Most of us want games that are more interesting, not less. And after all, there is no limit to the number of promoted pawns on the board in Shatranj.

[EDIT] I should have specified the rules that I was objecting to:

"5. A Pawn can promote only to a friendly piece that has been captured, and for which it is exchanged."

"6. If no friendly piece has been captured, then a Pawn may not move beyond the 9th rank."

Have we missed the fiftieth anniverary of Modern Courier Chess? The rules page for Reformed Courier-Spiel (2011) contains the sentence: "With this design, Begnis also intended to improve Modern Courier Chess invented by FIDE Master Paul V. Byway in 1972."

On his own website, Clément Begnis writes: "In this respect, I need to mention here that at first (in the 1970's), Byway had made an attempt to modernize the Courier game with more powerful extra pieces."

On his own website, John Savard writes: "Attempts have been made to modernize the game, one in 1824 and one in 1971. The one in 1971, Modern Courier Chess, changed the moves of several of the pieces. Even that of 1824 by Albers made a number of changes, although it was less radical."

The current address is: Modern Courier Chess. Meanwhile, the year when Byway finished creating his game remains a mystery. VARIANT CHESS No. 8 does contain the following game from the previous year - with the letters "F" and "C" standing for Ferz and Courier (Alibaba).

[Game 4]  R. Talbot - P. V. Byway, 10 xii 1991 
1.f4 f5 2.a4 c5 3.Ra3 Cc6 4.g4 fxg4 5.Rg3 h5 6.i4 
Ch6 7.e3 g5 8.ixh5 gxf4 9.Rxg4+ Fg7 10.Qj5+ i6 
11.hxi6 Ni7 12.Qi5 Ng6 13.Qxk7 Rj8 
[Diagram uses elephants for couriers] 
rn1bfqk1br2pp1pp1f2pQp2e3neP5p9P4pR9P8PPP3P1PPP1NEBF1KFBENR 
14.Rxg6 Bxg6 15.i7 Ri8 16.Qxj7 Fe6 (courier leap) 17 .Ch3 
Ke8 (two-move privilege) 18.Nj3 16 19.Ni5 Bxk2 
(suicidal) 20.Rk1 Bi4 21.Rk8 Resigns. (1-0).

Great idea to replace the Ferz with the Gryphon! This piece rarely gets a chance to dominate an "old fashioned game". The "Griffon" is actually one of the weaker pieces in Mark Hedden's Ganymede Chess . I offer some piece values for the 12x8 board, chosen primarily for simplicity:

Pawn = 1, Woody Rook (WD) = 3, Knight = 3, Elephant (FA) = 3.25, Courier = 3.50, Man (FW) = 3.50, Rook = 5.50 and Gryphon = 8 points.

Incidentally I value the Queen at ten points, the same as R+B+P. Ralph Betza once calculated the Gryphon's worth by multiplying the value of a Rook by 1.46 in Bent Riders circa 2002.

Sort of Almost Chess - with a White Chancellor and a Black Queen - is kind of the best chess game ever invented on less than 81 squares. Skipping the usual long speech about making opening books obsolete and adding new tactics, I will simply state that the dreaded First Move Advantage is completely cancelled. Possibly "more than cancelled" - computer testing may prove interesting.

In the near future I will be promoting this variant to join the list of Featured Games. Maybe we could give Sort Of Almost Chess a more interesting name, like Carrera's Revenge?

Spartan Chess has the Warlord and the General, together worth approximately three Rooks. These are solid performers that have been used in many variants. Worth noting that pieces like the Lieutenant with additional noncapturing moves are rare. My Shatranj Kamil (64) has Elephants with noncapturing Dabbabah leaps and ArchMage Chess by Cyrus Arturas has the Prince, a Commoner with noncapturing R2 moves (no mention of Dabbabah leaps). In the diagram below, a Warlord pins a Rook against the White King - winning the piece and the game.

WHITE TO MOVE AND LOSE

"This rule gets rid of zugzwang." 
 
More than sixty years ago I learned how to use zugzwang to win with King and Rook against the lone King. So how does Tony Berard deal with this problem? 
 
"The rooks, bishops, and knights now also move and capture like a king." 
 
Sixteen years ago I commented on Ultra Chess (by Ruggero Micheletto).  Here is a question for both authors.  Is the endgame King and Rook versus King and Knight even more likely to lead to a draw in your chess variants?

Back in [2018-03-04] Kevin Pacey mentioned "the pleasing possibilities of smothered ... mates".  My 12x12 variant Rose Chess XII has 96 empty squares, with ten Pawns each on the 4th and 9th ranks.  But Black can deliver a smothering mate with a circular Nightrider on the second move of the game.  A position so amusing that it earned a diagram at the top of the rules page.

Similar to Courier-Spiel, the game adds modern Bishops and improves the Elephants (called Couriers here). Switching the Bishops and Couriers in the initial setup will improve this game. While the b-file and h-file Pawns are now undefended, they are also no longer threatened by hostile Bishops. Jumping the Courier c1-c3 will help to shield the Pawn on (b2).

Some time before 1992, Paul V. Byway included the Ferz in Modern Courier Chess, placing RNCBFQKFBCNR on a 12x8 board. Ken Franklin also placed Alibabas in Leap Chess on 44 squares.

I cannot love Courier-Spiel, but I (heart) Shako.

Revising my [2006-08-12] comment:
Unicorn=10, Queen=10, Chancellor=9, Rook=5.5, Lion=5. Bishop=3.5, Knight=3, Elephant=2.75, Pawn=1 
are endgame piece values (for Shako and Unicorn Great Chess) which preserve some formulas I firmly believe in, namely Q+P = R+R and Q = R+B+P and R+P = B+N. The Cannon should be worth 4 Pawns at the start of the game, but decline to half the value of a Rook in the early endgame (2.75 Pawns). I consider short range pieces to have more value than Antoine Fourrière gives them in his Comment. Even the lowly Ferz should be worth 1.5 Pawns on a 10x10 board.

'21. Two Ferz's, even on different colors, cannot checkmate a lone King.'

'23. Two Camels, even on different colors, cannot checkmate a lone King.'

quotes from: Endgame statistics with fantasy pieces.

Regarding Knappen's [2010-02-04] Comment, I have not investigated mating with a pair of Wizards. I suppose that a pair of Spotted Gryphons will also be unable to force checkmate (in general).

1.g4-g6 h9-h8 2.f4-f5 King g10-h9 3.Bishop h3-g4 King h9-i8 4.Bishop g4-j7

uses both Bishops to checkmate on this large board.

Sometimes you just want to have fun! I recommend trying this game and have created a preset here.

Rule 2 of the seven rules does not eliminate the possibility of a player having no legal moves available. On 2008-04-16 I wrote: 'My [2005-03-08] comment on this page BLOCKADE STALEMATE IN 20 MOVES is unlikely to happen in a real game, but it demonstrates the need for precise and complete rules. Even in those chess variants which allow Kings to move into check and be captured, it is possible for a player to reach a position with no legal moves.'

Rule 3 of the seven rules is a statement of intent, not a rule. You would have served your readers better by providing a sample game ending in (the type of position I have previously referred to as) a blockade stalemate and then stating the game result, according to your new rules. Rich Hutnik has just posted: 'Capturing king instead of checkmate also makes it easier for a new person to learn. It gets rid of stalemate.' TO STATE MY POINT ONE MORE TIME: statements like this will not impress anyone who actually understands the rules of chess and shatranj.

Rule 7 of the seven rules is, at best, confusing. No further comments.

The 'Lion' in this game lacks the ability to move like a Knight, it is in fact the same piece as the Squire: combines Modern Elephant + Modern Machine in Jean Louis Cazaux's list of Chess (Variant) Graphics. This Squire was used in Eric V. Greenwood's Renniassance Chess (1980).

On the whole, I prefer the disappearing extra squares in Greg Strong's variants Brouhaha and Hubbub.

QUESTION concerning the statement 'All standard chess rules apply except that castling is not allowed.' Does this mean that when a White Pawn reaches rank 8, it can and must promote to any piece of the same color (not a King and not a Pawn)? Same question for when a Black Pawn reaches rank 1.

Douglas Silfen has made a ZRF for Whale Shogi by R. Wayne Schmittberger, which also includes the variant from my [2005-04-01] Comment. Surviving for 26 years and producing offspring meets Charles Darwin's test of excellence.

This game uses an unusual initial setup to achieve a better result than The Sultan's Game, an 11x11 chess variant invented by L. Tressan in 1840. I tried replacing the Queen + Knight compound with the somewhat weaker Bishop + Nightrider compound in Unicorn Great Chess in 2001.

Excellent rating for a game this old, of course Christian Freeling's Grand Chess has set a new standard for chess on the 10x10 board.

On 8x8 and 10x8 and 10x10 boards, I estimate: 
[1] Archbishop (moves like Bishop or Knight)
[2] Dragon King (moves like Rook or Ferz)
[3] Bishop and Knight and Pawn
to have the same value.  My opinions have not changed much 
since my [2006-08-12] comment on the SHAKO Page.  I may not 
always be right, but I am consistent!

Piece Values on 5x5x5: I am using the name Alicorn for the piece in Raumschach with triagonal movement and Unicorn for a piece combining the moves of Alicorn and Ferz (called a Ferzicorn by David Moeser in 2001). Wizard combines the moves of Alicorn and Bishop, this piece was used in Jim Aikin's Five Up (2001). Narwhal combines the moves of Alicorn and Rook. 'Alicorn' is the name for the horn of a unicorn, centuries ago narwhals were the main source of fake alicorns. Favourite combines the moves of Bishop and Rook, some 3D variants use it to replace the Raumschach Queen, which combines the moves of Alicorn and Bishop and Rook. Setting the value of a Knight equal to 30 points, Zillions thinks the Pawn is worth around 11 points in Raumschach.

Alicorn=15, Rook=25, Bishop=30, Knight=30,
Unicorn=40, Narwhal=50, Wizard=55, Favourite=60, Queen=80.

Zillions tends to simply add the values of component pieces together, giving 30 + 25 + 15 = 70 for the Queen, while I believe that 80 points is a more reasonable value. Using the Queen as a benchmark, I have estimated values for Unicorn, Narwhale, Wizard and Favourite. Note that the Unicorn and Wizard can visit all 125 cells, unlike their components. Use these numbers until something better turns up - and remember that the original Zillions calculations were based on a game with Kings that moved to all 26 adjacent cells. A final note: Zillions assigned 9 points to Pawns that move straight up (Black Pawns move down) in a 5x5x5 variant I was testing - but that value may have been influenced by the fact that the Favourite was the strongest piece in the game.

Regarding Charles Gilman's [2003-05-25] comment, Jim Aikin called the (Bishop + Unicorn) piece a Wizard in his 2001 variant Five Up.

I consider the (Ferz + Unicorn) piece to be another interesting idea. First reference I can find to this piece: November 4, 2001, david moeser made posts #976 and #977 in Yahoo chessvariants, suggesting the Unicorn in Raumschach be replaced by a Ferzicorn.