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Comments by JeffRients

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Mitregi. Larger Shogi variant with more powerful diagonal pieces. (10x9, Cells: 90) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeff Rients wrote on Fri, May 28, 2004 02:23 PM UTC:

Actually, I think Mitregi works quite well if you don't try to pronounce
it as a compound of Mitre and Gi.  With a short i (as in the first
syllable of mittens) and an unaccented second syllable you get a word that
rolls off the tongue fairly well. 

'mit-ruh-GEE'

For the larger variant I would propose Humpregi.  Not good, but maybe
better than Humpmitregi.

Jeff Rients wrote on Thu, May 27, 2004 04:24 PM UTC:

I whipped up a couple of graphics showing the arrays for these two variants. I have submitted them. In the meantime if you would like to see them <a href='http://jrients.tripod.com/gameblog/index.blog?entry_id=324045'>click here</a> to go to my blog, where I have posted them. I used David Howe's excellent alfaerie graphics. For the Cross I used a Berolina Pawn. For the Mitre I used the Minister. I thought the double head on the Berolina and the doubly pointed hat of the Minister helped suggest the movement of the pieces. For that controversial piece the Hump I used a Camelrider graphic.

Jeff Rients wrote on Thu, May 27, 2004 02:30 PM UTC:

Unless someone else has already started, this weekend I am going to try to develop a graphic depicting the arrays for both variants.

Jeff Rients wrote on Wed, May 26, 2004 07:48 PM UTC:

Good use of links in the body of the text.

I'd agree that this article could be vastly improved with some graphics. 


Fergus, which side of the Atlantic are you on right now?  Here in the
Midwest of the United States the word 'hump' has plenty of non-obscene
uses.  It is similar to the word 'bump'.  Real (non-chess) camels have
humps on their backs, as does Quasimodo.  Today, Wednesday, can be
referred to as 'hump day', meaning the middle of the work week. 
(Because 'It's all downhill from here.')

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]

Jeff Rients wrote on Mon, May 24, 2004 04:54 PM UTC:

Peter,

I would love to be able to fufill your request, but it is outside my
present abilities.  Making the basic presets for the contest stretched my
skills considerably.  I'm a banker by trade and not much of a programmer.

Chogo-44. Game with pawns and kings with co-enclosure capture.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

📝Jeff Rients wrote on Tue, May 18, 2004 09:03 PM UTC:

You're very welcome. But truth be told, I did only the most barebones of coding for the various contest entry presets I've submitted. The editorial staff probably ended up doing more work than I!

Contest to design a chess variant on 44 squares. Our annual N-squares chess variant design competition.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeff Rients wrote on Tue, May 18, 2004 06:43 PM UTC:

<A href='http://www.chessvariants.com/44.dir/chogo.html'>Chogo-44</a> now has a preset and can be moved to the main category.

From Ungulates Outwards. A Systematic Set of Names for the Simplest Oblique Pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeff Rients wrote on Tue, May 18, 2004 03:21 PM UTC:

I don't think the origin of the term is American, but British. 'Pope's Nose' is also mention in the James Joyce novel A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man.

Chogo44. Game with pawns and kings with co-enclosure capture. (7x8, Cells: 44) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeff Rients wrote on Tue, May 18, 2004 02:25 PM UTC:

I have submitted a barebones Courier preset for Chogo44.

Contest to design a chess variant on 44 squares. Our annual N-squares chess variant design competition.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeff Rients wrote on Mon, May 10, 2004 03:33 PM UTC:

Yes, please accept a late entry.

(Last night while engaged in a lengthy car drive I came up with an idea
for a 45 piece variant that is a combination of Hnefatafl and Chaturanga.)

Jeff Rients wrote on Sun, May 9, 2004 12:27 PM UTC:

I don't know the original intent of the suggestion, but I was thinking 45 pieces total. That odd 45th piece is where meat of the challenge would lie, I think.

Jeff Rients wrote on Sun, May 9, 2004 02:05 AM UTC:

No reason why we couldn't do both. To keep roughly the same number of entries you could pare back each category (45-square and 45-piece) to just one entry per inventor.

Jeff Rients wrote on Sun, May 9, 2004 12:14 AM UTC:

45 pieces sounds like an interesting challenge!

Tamerlane chess. A well-known historic large variant of Shatranj. (11x10, Cells: 112) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeff Rients wrote on Sat, May 8, 2004 10:38 AM UTC:

Ah yes, I see now. Thank you for providing a clarification.

Jeff Rients wrote on Sat, May 8, 2004 02:29 AM UTC:

The individualization of the pawns is a complete novelty. Doesn't <a href='http://www.chessvariants.com/historic.dir/chaturanga.html'>Chaturanga</a> use the 'pawn of ...' mechanic even though the pieces are neither so named or numbered? It seems the novelty exists only in making the pawns easier to identify. Is that what you are refiering to, the piece design and nomenclature?

Hole Chess. Variant on a board of 44 squares with two holes that pieces can be dragged into. (7x10, Cells: 44) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeff Rients wrote on Fri, May 7, 2004 04:24 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

This variant looks fun to play, especially with the suggested box for
tractored pieces to fall into.

I don't think I like the fact that two pawns are trapped behind holes,
the poor little guys!  Have you considered using Berolina Pawns?

Oblong Chess 44. Based on the original oriental variant "Oblong Chess", a 16X4 Shataranj variant, but reducing the number of lines.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

📝Jeff Rients wrote on Thu, May 6, 2004 03:58 PM UTC:Poor ★

Oops! Looks like I made two errors in this preset! The rules link should point to <a href='http://www.chessvariants.com/44.dir/oblong44.html'>/44.dir/oblong44.html</a> and the white king and firz need to be flip-flopped. Sorry, everyone!

Taikyoku Shogi. Taikyoku Shogi. Extremely large shogi variant. (36x36, Cells: 1296) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeff Rients wrote on Wed, May 5, 2004 04:39 PM UTC:

I see no reason to consider this chess variant intimidating to play when considered alongside modern board wargames, some of which have maps using maybe ten thousand hexagonal cells, involve the deployment of literally hundreds of pieces, and require hundreds of hours to play. I believe a veteran wargamer (or 'grognard') would quickly devise a good abstract system to aid in identification of the abilites of each piece and play 'Ultimate' Shogi with no difficulties.

Lance. Moves one or more squares straight forward.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeff Rients wrote on Wed, Apr 28, 2004 07:21 PM UTC:

Making the most of bad pieces can be a lot of fun. Anyone can get a lot done with their knight+bishop+rook superpiece. Accomplishing the same task with a lame piece like the lance is much more satisfying.

Monkey King Chess. Monkey King fights Goblin King on 44 squares board in game with oriental influences. (5x8, Cells: 44) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeff Rients wrote on Mon, Apr 26, 2004 02:06 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

I love the disk illustrations! They're so cute!

Action Man's Chess. A small (5x6) board and simple pieces ensures lots of easy-to-understand action. (5x6, Cells: 30) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeff Rients wrote on Fri, Apr 23, 2004 10:08 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

Nifty little variant.

Incidentally, the inspiration for this game is a line from
www.oldmanmurray.com, a rather vulgar website devoted to reviewing video
games in a rude and crude fashion.  The call for 'action man's chess'
comes on page two of the review for the video game Rune.

Man. Moves to any adjacent square, like a King, but not royal.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeff Rients wrote on Fri, Apr 23, 2004 07:05 PM UTC:

I like both Prince and Henchman. Both are much for colorful than Man or Commoner. I think Henchman would be particularly appropriate in games that use many such pieces.

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