[ List Earliest Comments Only For Pages | Games | Rated Pages | Rated Games | Subjects of Discussion ]
Comments by JohnLawson
Tai Shogi pictures. Photos of a commercially available Tai Shogi set.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The board is wider than my arms are long, so the tongs helped me position pieces across the board without standing and leaning. It took hours. When I've done this in the past, it took about two hours of steady work, but this time I interrupted the job several times for other household chores. Thankfully, the cats took no interest. Bifocals were the worst impediment.
1st World Open Chess Variant PBEM Championship. Tournament proposal open for public comment before creation.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The selection for options 2 and 3 should be limited to variants posted at the time the contest is announced. Otherwise you have a moving target, with the later registrants having slightly more choices, and even the possibility of a contestant submitting a variant with an unobvious second player win, and then choosing it for his third option. An acceptable way of 'gaming' the choices, if a contestant were very strong at one of the option 1 games, would be to choose option 2 and 3 games that no one would want to play.
It occurs to me that the wording could be a little more precise on the selection options. It could be wrongly interpreted in such a way that a contrary registrant could try to select the same variant for all three options. BTW, if either Christian Freeling, Ralph Betza, or Wayne Schmittberger registered, and chose a game he invented as his option 1 game, would you require option three to be one they did not invent? Or would we be so pleased, we wouldn't care?
Capablanca's chess. An enlarged chess variant, proposed by Capablanca. (10x8, Cells: 80) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The page on Bird's Chess is http://www.chessvariants.com/large.dir/bird.html
PromoChess. Everything but the king can power up. Mix of Japanese/Western/fairy pieces. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I'm not sure a King should be promoted. If it gets out seven ranks, I'd assume one of two things is going on: It's getting chased all over the board by the opponent. The opponent probably deserves to win, so why make it harder? It's advancing despite the best the opponent can do. Why are you fooling around with your King? Put that effort into mating or gaining a winning material advantage.
More Shift Square Chess. Shifted Square Chess needs more than one page to explore its possibilities. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Aha! Thanks! I was looking for that, and the reason I couldn't find it was that it is 15x8 (two Kings, but only three Rooks.) The CVP link page is: http://www.chessvariants.com/link2.dir/millenniumchess.html .
Hans Bodlaender resigns as editor-in-chief. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I'm sad. It's not often one creates something that develops a life of its own. Thanks, Hans.
Abstract Chess
. Pieces are represented by stacks of different heights.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I think many people would be tempted by the strategy Peter mentions, of the 'pawns' getting combined into the back rank pieces early on to build more powerful pieces. The approach I would try in my first game, however, would be to combine pairs of pawns into knights, resulting in having a total of six knights. There's even some logic in demotion: you start with a rook and two pawns, and end with three knights; or a queen and four pawns, and end with five knights. If you carry this idea to its conclusion, you get two bishops, and thirteen knights. In the endgame, you can recombine into whatever more powerful pieces you need. Of course, all this conversion carries a cost in tempo.
'Now, promoting a Rook to Queen, dispite the gain of 1.5 to 2 Pawns is less obviously a good idea because of the leveling effect.' And because it takes two tempi, not one. You can use two tempi and two Pawns to change a Rook to a Queen, two Bishops and two Pawns to two Rooks, or a Rook and two Pawns to three Knights. Or two Bishops and two Pawns into four Knights. Which would you rather have? That is a question anawerable only by playtesting.
A Xiangqi problem. A Xiangqi problem.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]And I'm certain the first vote was mine. Both contributed equally.
Abstract Chess. Pieces are represented by stacks of different heights.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]This is an interesting general mutator. Imagine it appplied, for instance, to Ralph Betza's Chess with Different Armies.
Doublewide Chess. A discussion of the variant where two complete chess sets (including two Kings per side) are set up on a doublewide board. (16x8, Cells: 128) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I have to try this game! A couple of observations, based on logic alone:
Castling your Kings toward the center might allow the defense, in some
situations, to use alternation ('inside lines') to good effect, thus
freeing more forces for a counterattack. All the better if this strategy
were unanticipated.
Regarding different armies, each player could use the same pair of armies,
but there is the choice of like opposite like, or like opposite unlike.
That could become interesting if the two armies were of very different
strengths on a 16x8 board, and like was not opposite like.There was something like this in Verney's 'Chess Eccentricities', but I remember it as a four player game, and cannot remember if only one King needed to be mated, or both, since I haven't seen the book in over 30 years.
As long as we're combining variants, how about Doublewide Optima-Abecedarian Big Slanted Sideways Escalator Chess? 10.5 x 21 square board, and more different pieces than stars in the sky!
David, I think you missed part of Ralph's point. Doublechess is a good game and fun to play, but I think Ralph was interested not only in the effects of the double-size board, which applies equally to both games, but also in the effect having two kings to defend and attack has on the play, when losing either (not both) ends the game. Furthermore, in any contest between equal players, I would bet on the Doublechess army, simply because it has an extra Queen, and only only one King to defend.
Caïssa Britannia. British themed variant with Lions, Unicorns, Dragons, Anglican Bishops, and a royal Queen. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'the standard Bishop would be assumed Anglican in most of the English-speaking world' I should have commented on this earlier, but in the United States there are 2.5 million Episcopalians (Anglicans) but almost 60 million Catholics. I know better, but most chess-players would be more familiar with Catholic bishops that Anglican ones. Most other Protestant denominations do not have a rank of Bishop at all.
Xiangqi: Chinese Chess. Links and rules for Chinese Chess (Xiangqi). (9x10, Cells: 90) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Good question. Certainly the modern sets that I own only distinguish between the Kings, Elephants, and Pawns. However, book illustrations vary. Most only show the diffences noted, but some also differentiate the Cannons and Advisors. 'The Chess of China', Dennis A. Leventhal, 1978, shows all the pieces with differences between the sides. This book was published in China, and reprinted in Taiwan. What the actual historical usage is, I do not know. I also referred to 'Schachspiele in Ostasien', Peter Banaschak, 2001. I found no reference to it, but my German is weak, and I could well have missed it.
Octahedral Chess. 3d-board in octahedral form. (9x(), Cells: 340) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Charles, Are you aware of the Yahoo group for 3d Chess? http://groups.yahoo.com/group/3-d-chess/ There are links there to other 3-d chess sites as well.
Taikyoku Shogi. Taikyoku Shogi. Extremely large shogi variant. (36x36, Cells: 1296) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Miscellaneous Chess FAQ. Some answers to some frequently asked questions about chess and trivia.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]You can force him to move the piece. It's still up to him to choose any legal move with it.
Doublewide Chess. A discussion of the variant where two complete chess sets (including two Kings per side) are set up on a doublewide board. (16x8, Cells: 128) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'But how does one win?' It's like one of those 'co-operative' games where everyone wins or loses together. Note also, if you are registered, that you can actually edit comments you have previously made.
Home page of The Chess Variant Pages. Homepage of The Chess Variant Pages.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]That would be good for the final round of an important tournament, where a prize might be at stake. Usually, though, I don't play in such an orderly way, and would find it onerous. I rarely spend more than a minute deciding a move, and the analysis process is decidedly non-verbal.
Caïssa Britannia. British themed variant with Lions, Unicorns, Dragons, Anglican Bishops, and a royal Queen. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'Real Catholic Bishops'? Anglican bishops are also catholic, as the line of apostolic succession remained intact when the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church.
I'm sorry, I *did* misunderstand, but referring to the Church of England as catholic is not simply an internal matter. Because bishops left the Roman Catholic church to join the Church of England, the unbroken line of apostolic succession requires the Roman Catholic church to admit the validity of sacraments performed by Anglican clergy. This recognition is by no means automatically extended to Protestant denominations routinely. Of course, at least one sacrament, baptism, can be performed by anyone, even you and me.
OK, you win. Since I am neither Anglican nor Catholic, I have no investment either.
I think the best approach may depend on how many different pieces and movement types you use. One idea may be to use adjectives that are mnemonic. For instance, I am playtesting an unpublished variant of Falcon Chess with Peter Aronson in which the Falcon move is combined with other powers. When an otherwise normal piece also has the Falcon move, the adjective 'winged' is added to its name. If there were no more than four things combined together, a 'Winged Roving Leaping Whatever' might be easier to remember. Ralph Betza has taken the approach, in some variants, of trying to arbitrarily arrange his funny notation to be pronouncable, with mixed results. Similarly, you could assign an open syllable to each combining part, and form nonsense words that would at least be precise and pronouncable. So a 'Winged Roving Leaping Whatever' might be a 'WheeRoLee Whatever' or a 'WheeRoLeeWha'.
Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 3). More on the value of Chess pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Without doing lots of arithmetic, I'll just comment that enormously powerful pieces like the Amazon are actually less valuable than their overall mobility would indicate due to the levelling effect. I quote Ralph from Part 4: '...what's more, if one minor piece is a bit more valuable than another, some of the surplus value is taken away by the 'levelling effect' -- if the weaker piece attacks the stronger one, even if it is defended the target feels uncomfortable and wishes to flee; but if the stronger piece attacks the defended weaker piece, the target simply sneers.' While Ralph refers here to minor pieces, it seems to me to be a generally applicable concept. Isn't that why we don't develop a Queen too quickly, so it's not chased all over the board by less valuable pieces?
Caïssa Britannia. British themed variant with Lions, Unicorns, Dragons, Anglican Bishops, and a royal Queen. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Before Mr. Gilman goes off on a wild goose chase, hunting down how to register, he should know that one can only become a registered user if one is on the contributor list. As yet, he is not, although I believe he has some ideas for contributions in the near future. Making contributions is certainly not a requirement to participate in this site.
L. The list of official nominations for the variant-by-committee.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Here's my two cents: 1 - Towers can split at will into two Towers of arbitrary size by moving part of the Tower as a regular move. 2 - The moving part of the Tower can capture. 3 - A moving Tower can recombine with a separate Tower whose square it can move to without hinderance or penalty, even if it split from another Tower that turn. Here's the different part: 4 - An Eaglet flanked by two Towers of any size (even different) is promoted to a single piece Tower. This promotion is easier, but it only results in a strong minor piece. The largest number possible is 16 per side, including the original Tower. If each Eaglet were promoted to a full height Tower, it is mathematically possible for each side to require 2,048 draughtsmen.
There's another logical possibility also: Eaglets may NOT promote to Towers of Hanoi. But I think it would be more fun if they can.
Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 3). More on the value of Chess pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Mike Nelson wrote: 'I would not call the magic number arbitrary--it is empirical, it cannot be deduced from the theory, but I think the concept has an excellent logical basis.' May I add, an empirically determined constant is no less scientific. For those who remember high school physics, it is rather like the gravitational constant, which has been measured very precisely to make the equations fit the evidence. This is all OK, because results that depend on it can be applied to accurately predict events in the real world. Of course, it is even better if we find a way to calculate the 'magic number'.
Mike Nelson wrote, 'I feel that WcR will be perceptibly stronger than WmR but I could be wrong.' I think there is more going on here than just mobility when we compare a WcR and a WmR. My opinion is that tempo matters significantly. A WcR cannot move quickly, but its long-range threats are immediate, for it captures at distance. A WmR threatens only at short range, and must take the time to move to make an immediate threat. Furthermore, in the endgame, a WcR can interdict the King across the board, a WmR cannot. Therefore, if given the choice between the two, I will choose a WcR. I would happily trade a WmR for a minor piece, but I would think long and hard about losing a WcR for a minor piece. Although I have only discussed the specifics of these two pieces, the concepts (king interdiction, threats without loss of tempo) are general considerations, that, like leveling, affect the values of pieces in ways that would be difficult to calculate. Some pieces have abilities that are more useful than their calculated value would imply. In Omega chess, the Wizard moves as a Ferz or Camel (WL in Betza notation). Although they are colorbound, I prefer them to Bishops and Knights because they can make threats beyond a pawn chain.
Los Alamos variant. Chess on a 6 by 6 board from the early days of computing. (6x6, Cells: 36) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'At the time Los Alamos chess was invented, computing power was at a premium.' I did some quick research, and came up with these facts about the MANIAC, on which this variant was played. Memory - 1 k Storage - 80 k I/O - paper tape Time to multiply two numbers - 1 sec. Contained 2,400 vacuum tubes In those days there were no compilers, programmers wrote directly in machine code. I think they deserve a LOT of credit.
Glenn's Decimal Chess. A 10x10 blend of FIDE, Shogi, and Xiangqi influences. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Regarding the name: there is precedent for 'la tanxecak.'.
Minor bug: On the Chinese Chess preset, the available pieces list cannot find the gifs for BSage2 amd WSage2.
Chess Cartoon. Members-Only A chess game being played by the pieces themselves.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Since this comment is for a page that has not been published yet, you must be signed in to read it.
Ryu Shogi. Large modern shogi variant. (7x12, Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Jared - If I may be bold enough to suggest: 1. Spend some more time polishing this game. The problematic rules are demotion, no drops in opponent's home zone, drop and move is your own home zone. Work on this one before you move on to the larger one. You already know that people like it, and it was a finalist, even if you received no prize. The experience will make the next variant better. 2. Try to find someone to playtest, even via email. Ralph Betza once said that one playtest game by strangers was worth a hundred played by yourself. 3. Send the revision to the editors, and, if you ask nicely, the ZRF could be updated to match. Or you could try it yourself. 4. Then, I might write Steve about your game, but don't hold out much hope. The last revision of Shogivar was over five years ago. 5. How about 'Dai Ryu Shogi'? Regards, John
The FIDE Laws Of Chess. The official rules of Chess from the World Chess Federation.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]No, you cannot castle Queen-side if the Knight is still there. See rule 5.1.f.ii on this page. Also see our Castling FAQ at http://www.chessvariants.com/d.chess/castlefaq.html
Deneb. Special pieces and winning conditions. (7x9, Cells: 63) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I have a few questions: 1 - 'When a Soldier captures a friend piece, it can promote by COMPENSATION to a SPECIAL PIECE.' Does that include another soldier? That is, can my soldiers capture each other to create three more special pieces? 2 - When a Special Piece is adjacent to a Reducer, can it still make a stationary move to transmute into a different Special Piece? 3 - A 'rules lawyer' would notice that there is no prohibition against capturing your own King with a Soldier. You'd get another Special Piece, and you can't lose by checkmate! Is this what you meant?
The ZRF answers all: 1 - Soldiers can indeed capture other Soldiers. 2 - Reducers do not restrict the stationary move. 3 - You can capture your own King, but you lose.
Chess problems: A proof game. Problem to construct a legal game of given exact length to reach a given position.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The King is never actually taken, since checkmate ends the game immediately before the capture of the King. However, a Pawn can give checkmate, that is, a Pawn can be the piece that would capture the King if the game were not ended by checkmate.
The Game of Nemoroth. For the sake of your sanity, do not read this variant! (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Roberto, I have the scores of two medium-decent games played by Ben Good and me. If you'd like to see them, drop me a private email. The major notational problem is ichor.
The FIDE Laws Of Chess. The official rules of Chess from the World Chess Federation.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating] Ravioli Chess. Chess on two boards squeezed together at the edges. (2x(8x8), Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]A fitting accompaniment to the Pizza Kings! http://www.chessvariants.com/unequal.dir/pizza-kings.html And don't neglect the Oriental variants Fortune Cookie Chess and Dumpling Chess.
Rules of Chess: Pawns FAQ. Rules of promotion and movement of pawns explained.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]It starts on the square the pawn finishes, and the pawn is removed from the board.
Chess Rules for Kids. An illustrated guide to the rules of chess for children.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]No, the King moves one space horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, so he can go to squares of either color.
The Game of Nemoroth. For the sake of your sanity, do not read this variant! (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]From the rules: 'The Go Away can be petrified, and a petrified Go Away is mute.' So a petrified Go Away is just another piece of impedimenta on the board, and its scream is a resource that is no longer avalable. As for petrified Humans promoting to Zombies anyway, that might be interesting to try out. In my limited (four games) experience, even petrified Humans got nowhere near the far rank. One's tempi were better used elsewhere, specifically in maneuvering the Basilisk, Ghast, and Go Away.
I can't code, but I have actually played some games of Nemoroth, would be glad to help playtest when the time comes.
Glenn's Decimal Chess. A 10x10 blend of FIDE, Shogi, and Xiangqi influences. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]When H.J.R. Murray described the Lion from Chu Shogi in his book 'The History of Chess' he got the move wrong. The Lion move in this game is the one 'invented' by Murray, rather than the proper Lion move from Chu Shogi.
Constitutional Characters. A systematic set of names for Major and Minor pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]H. J. R. Murray used the word 'orthogonal' in the sense that we modern variantists do in 'A History of Board-Games Other Than Chess' (1952) in his description of Tablut on page 63. In his 'A History of Chess' (1917), I was unable to find the use of the word 'orthogonal'. He instead uses the phrase 'horizontal or vertical'.
Jupiter. Huge chess variant on 16 by 16 board. (16x16, Cells: 256) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]breadman wrote: 'Why might the Great Dragon be less powerful than the Water Buffalo?' They both have the same Rook components. However, the Water Buffalo can also move as a Bishop, but the Great Dragon's Bishop move is restricted to three squares.
Game Courier Tournament #1. A multi-variant tournament played on Game Courier.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Fergus wrote, 'most people may be able to manage a pace of two moves a day in each game.' Most, but not all. I work strange hours, and am usually online between 23:00 and 01:00, when most honest folk have gone to bed. That makes more than one move per day problematic. From my point of view, more simultaneous games (say, 8) on a slower time control would be better.
The kind of thing Michael proposes would be fine with me. David shouldn't have to kick in his own money.
Xiangqi: Chinese Chess. Links and rules for Chinese Chess (Xiangqi). (9x10, Cells: 90) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Check out http://www.aikidoaus.com.au/dojo/docs/chinese_chess/notation.htm
Janggi - 장기 - Korean Chess. The variant of chess played in Korea. (9x10, Cells: 90) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The pieces are in the 'standard' arrangement, with the Horses next to the Chariots.
Ultima. Game where each type of piece has a different capturing ability. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I dug out my copy of 'Abbott's New Card Games' (1963, Funk and Wagnalls) and the suicide rule is stated thus: 'A piece that is immobilized does have one special move that it can make, that of suicide. A player may use a turn to remove from the board one of his own pieces that is immobilized.'
Rules of Chess FAQ. Frequently asked chess questions.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Hi Ryan, Go here http://www.chessvariants.com/onthese/membership.html and follow the directions.
Horus. Game with Royal Falcons where all pieces start off board and most captures return pieces to owner's hand. (7x7, Cells: 44) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]In the games Peter and I have played, it was very unforgiving of error. Once a player fell behind, he was pretty much toast. Having the initiative was critical. If the pieces weren't recycled, the available force would rapidly become insufficient. Capturing with anything but the royal piece is no advantage, and even capturing with royal piece, which eliminates the captured piece from the game, can involve a loss of tempo which can be fatal.
Berserker Pawns. Pawns may go berserk to protect their King and once per game in addition. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Rule quote: 'A Berserker may move up to seven (7) squares in any direction or combination of directions, and must attack at the end of the move; that is, must end the move in a space occupied by an opposing piece. A Berserker may not: - pass through/over occupied squares, - end a move in an unoccupied square, - end in a square occupied by a friendly piece, or - attack the opposing king.' First, all the intermediate squares in the Berserker move must be unoccupied, so there may not be a clear path less than eight squares long. Second, a Berserker may not attack the opposing King, so it doesn't matter anyway.
The FIDE Laws Of Chess. The official rules of Chess from the World Chess Federation.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Bill - On its first move, a pawn may move 1 or 2 squares forward. Or, it may capture, but never more than one square diagonally.
csipgs Chess. Design and buy new chess pieces during play. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Under 'Orthogonal Atoms', the rules state that the base cost of sideways-only pieces is multiplied by 0.5.
Prisoner's Escape. Free your Prisoner by getting it to an unattacked square -- a small board version of Anticheckmate Chess. (7x8, Cells: 44) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Boards with a cell or two beyond the first and last ranks have been available as a mutator (as Joao Neto would say) at least since George Parker published Chivalry in 1888. See the World Camelot Federation website at http://groups.msn.com/worldcamelotfederation/home.msnw
<p>
From Ungulates Outwards. A Systematic Set of Names for the Simplest Oblique Pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Re: 'Parson's nose' In my family, as I was a child in the 1950's, the turkey tail was called the 'Pope's nose'. That is US usage, New York City matropolitan area.
The FIDE Laws Of Chess. The official rules of Chess from the World Chess Federation.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]You cannot leave your King in check. This is covered in Article 9. Opponent 2 has commited an illegal move by failing to remove the check on his/her King. The move should be retracted and replayed.
Patt-schach (Stalemate chess). Players start with an illegal move from a stalemated position. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]No, you can't. The white pawns are moving UP the board, and the black are moving DOWN.
Ultima. Game where each type of piece has a different capturing ability. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Try this link. It was a little awkward to find: http://www.chessvariants.com/index/listcomments.php?subjectid=Game+Design
Tony Quintanilla is a new Father. Our Chess Variant Pages editor's new creation![All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Congratulations! May we expect a page on 'Paloma Chess'?
Tamerlane chess: ms 7322 version. Information on historic variant of Tamerlane chess. (11x10, Cells: 112) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'ms' stands for 'manuscript', i.e. a handwritten book. MS 7322 is a particular manuscript, catalogue number 7322, in the collection of the British Museum. It is referenced in Murray's 'History of Chess'.
I have been a junior editor, and I just do not have the HTML skills to build new pages efficiently. [And yes, burnout was a factor. I was pretty much finished off by judging the 84-square contest.] However, I have no problem reviewing pages already built for content, and flagging them approved, since that would only take a few minutes. Submitted pages would need more than two flags. You'd need: - accepted - rejected - needs work by author - needs work by editor and also comment fields, so, for example, another editor would know why I thought more work was needed, or why a page was unacceptable.
Dave's Silly Example Game. This is Dave Howe's example of a user-posted game. (2x2, Cells: 4) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]So where do I go to see posted games to approve them?
Maybe put a link on the Minimal New page? (This is where I always start a visit to the CVP.)
veSQuj - Chess with 21st century armies. A highly tactical variant with a 21st-century-war theme. (6x6, Cells: 36) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Hey Glenn! Glad you're back! (Now if only I were.) A small 'typo': In the equipment section, you refer to Halberdiers instead of Sargents. This would be OK if the President were Pope.
Salmon P. Chess. Huge three-dimensional game celebrating 10 years chess variant pages. (10x(), Cells: 7500) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Amy, it's not just kids here! Many of us are firmly middle-aged. (Is 'firmly middle-aged' an oxymoron?)
Most of our editors have their ages in their bios. I am 55, and have been interested in chess variants for 43 years.
Jared: 'Wow, y'all are geezers.' Yes, but not geezers whose brains have ossified!
For pieces, I have a regular Staunton set, plus three different modern style sets. In addition, I have the three Exchess sets (see http://www.superchess.nl/ for available sets), so I can mix and match pieces as needed, and they are pleasing to play with, being medium quality wooden sets. Boards are a bigger problem, which I haven't solved to my satisfaction. I recently purchased a table saw for a home improvement project, and I am considering making a couple boards in common sizes like 10x10 and 10x8.
Chess Eccentricities. An old book on Chess variants from 1885.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]When I was in high school, the Brooklyn Public Library had a copy, but it does not appear in their online catalogue now. When I took it out in 1967, the card said the last time anyone had taken it out was 1959. I would certainly want a copy, and I'm sure there are others who would also.
The Pizza Kings. An experimental army for Chess with Different Armies, with lots of calories.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'It is about 1.25 pawn stronger than a Queen, 1075 on my scale (on 10x8 board).' It was strong enough to unbalance the army relative to the other 'equal armies'. Note also that, as a short-range piece, the Meatball would devalue on the larger 10x8 board. Yes, I know there are other ways to name the piece and describe the move. Part of the fun of the experimental equal armies vogue in 2001 was an amusing theme, and in those days using Betza's funny notation was routine. I also invented a Nemoroth variant that could not be published here, since it was based on bodily fluids and secretions.
BTW, there were some older comments on this game, including an 'excellent' rating from Ralph Betza himself. http://www.chessvariants.org/ratings/-unequal.dir-pizza-kings.html
A variantist who happened to have a wood lathe: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/TCLPRO.html with a duplicator: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/CML-DUPU.html could make repetitive cylindrical shapes from templates is quantities of dozens for cost of materials plus time. They wouldn't be fancy, but the hard part would be designing the profiles. Now all you need is a variantist who is also a turner.
I suggested a variantist only because he/she would possibly donate or discount their time. An example of what could be done for rather more money than most would be comfortable with is Henk van Haeringen's Exchess sets. http://superchess.nl/indexengels.htm I also buy any reasonably priced chess set in boxwood and ebonized boxwood that is an unusual design. I can then select pieces for whatever I have in mind. The costs of that mount up over the years.
So there are three possibilities:
1) Buy his pieces
I've bought them all, and he's trying to make the shape mnemonic.
If you read his book, there are many more pieces than those he
manufactures.
2) Pay him to make our designs, as he obviously has the equipment and
experience to do this
I think Superchess is a labor of love for him, so I'm not sure that
would be feasible.
3) Set up our own production line, and start competing with him
It looks like he contracts the production. The quality is pretty
high, and the pieces seem to be turned on production duplicators, based on
the toolmarks. I believe he is only interested in Superchess, not variants
in general.
Having tried it, it is quite difficult, at least for me, to design a
decent-looking chesspiece, let alone one that can be turned economically.I've been using different style sets in boxwood and ebonized boxwood. I have all the Superchess Exchess sets as well as: Sets similar to ones I own: http://www.thechessstore.com/product/RSB400/Royal_Staunton_Chess_Set_in_Ebonized_Boxwood_Boxwood__4_King.html http://www.thechesspiece.com/G2000135_the_modern_staunton.html http://www.thechesspiece.com/G-223-KDF_the_berliner.html http://www.thechesspiece.com/AR01_the_arabic_chessmen.html http://www.chessforum.com/sitm.asp?itmID=340 Ones I would like to get some day: http://www.thechesspiece.com/G778105_the_staunton_wein.html http://www.thechesspiece.com/G-275-KTF_antique_repro_chess_set.html So you see I have a significant investment in chess pieces!
I also have some (not all) of these: http://history.chess.free.fr/images/staunton/karpov-set.jpg Yes, they are all wood. Boxwood or ivorywood, black pieces are ebonized. (I would prefer ebony, but money matters.) If you wish to see chess sets I'd love to have but can't afford go here: http://www.houseofstaunton.com/Store/category=House+of+Staunton+Antique+Reproduction+Chess+Sets&exact_match=exact http://houseofstaunton.com/Store/product_name=The+Empire+Series+Luxury+Chess+Set+-+4.4+inch+King/exact_match=exact In my old house, I kept them in glass-door cabinets on display in the game room. I haven't gotten to setting that up in my new house yet.
Horus. Game with Royal Falcons where all pieces start off board and most captures return pieces to owner's hand. (7x7, Cells: 44) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I suspect many 'inactive' variantists lurk, at least occasionally.
Sadly, 'international draughts' boards seem to be non-existent here in the US, let alone nice ones. I've looked, but I need to search in European languages to find them. I can get by in German, and get the gist of Dutch, but that's it. And then the shipping charges...Ugh! Another possibility is a Grand Chess board http://www.mindsports.nl/DownLoad/Noware/GrandChess.html but the shipping is still appalling. And it has to be a nice wood board, because I already have a 10x10 board made by my daughter as a craft project for Christmas, and I can't just use any vinyl board instead. I may end up with one of the vinyl boards anyway, because they are reasonable and shipped from Canada, which is much cheaper.
Heroes Hexagonal Chess. Hexagonal variant with special Hero piece which enhances other pieces. (Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]From the rules: 'If a Guard moves adjacent to an opposing King, it becomes a Heroic Pawn.' Is that what is happening?
I checked out the Supechess program at superchess.nl. Looks nifty, but I'd better wait for the English instructions, since my Dutch is weaker than weak. I have played Superchess via email (with Ben Good) and found it to be quite a lot of fun.
According to 'Superchess and Monarch: The Laws', section 10.3, 'A castling is a move of (i) a King or Emperor and exclusively (ii) a Rook of the same colour...' There's more about how it's done on a 10-file board, but otherwise it's normal castling. As part of his entire Superchess 'system', Henk van Haeringen defines 50 different piece types, so it would be impossible to define single letter abreviations for all of them, and stick with the Roman alphabet.
Cambaluc Chinese Chess Photos. A commercially produced Chinese Chess set with Staunton pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I agree with dhr. Muller in my preference for wooden pieces. Nice ones are not very economical, and custom designs would be quite expensive. I did a 'back-of-the-envelope' calculation and came up with a price of about 2-4 USD per piece if executed by an experienced production hand turner, cheaper if the design and quantity allowed the use of an automatic duplicator. I checked this against prices in internet stores for hand-turned lace bobbins, which are similar to chess pieces in size and complexity, and undecorated ones are about 3-4 USD. There are other less traditional ways of making wooden chesspieces, notably ring-turning and scroll-sawed sillhouettes, which might be cheaper. For those who might want to butcher manufactured sets, the cheapest chess piece retailer I have found online is www.wholesalechess.com
Yes, I think the crafts section would be the place, rather than scattered in random commments pages.
Are you aware of the subject list, found at http://www.chessvariants.org/index/listsubjects.php? Although it is neither threaded nor dated, it will show the discussions not attached to games, listed alphabetically. These can easily be lost, so I check it occasionally for things I may have missed.
This is not an exhaustive list. For regular checkers (not cheap) http://www.chessusa.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=F3-200&Category_Code=CHK&Product_Count=4 http://www.chessusa.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=F3-007&Category_Code=CHK&Product_Count=3 http://www.thechessstore.com/c=mUwXbvqJe2zEk7s142bYNXos9/category/260_other_games.checkers Unfinished wood checkers (much cheaper) http://www.craftparts.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=checkers
The Game of Nemoroth. For the sake of your sanity, do not read this variant! (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Nemoroth is very difficult to play legally. I think every game Ben and I played, there were illegal moves that had to be taken back, usually involving the effects of the Ghast. You may also note that no one ever posted a Nemoroth variant. I toyed with one based on bodily functions, but it was untested, and I am as far from Ralph Betza as can be. I never posted it, as a 'humor' piece, because it would have violated the CVP's G rating. (For those not familiar with the US movie ratings, a G rated film has no sex, no violence, and is considered suitable for very young children.)
Ralph Betza called a Short Queen a Halfling, and wrote a couple articles on such pieces here: http://www.chessvariants.org/dpieces.dir/halflings.html#HALFLINGCHESS
Betza calls them 'anti-Halflings': http://www.chessvariants.org/dpieces.dir/halflings3.html Sorry.
CwDA: Breakfast Brutes. An army with the theme of a balanced breakfast. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Please flatter me and tell me you were inpired by the Pizza Kings!
Existentialist Chess. 10x10 board with many different pieces. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'Of course John Lawson played it.' What does that mean? Do you think that somehow I'm selecting inappropriate variants to play? Maybe, I just want to have fun.
I suppose I should note the obvious: that both these pieces come in a left-handed and right-handed version.
I take umbrage! I'm a pseudo-intellectual, and that seems obvious to me!
100 comments displayed
Permalink to the exact comments currently displayed.