Ratings & Comments
Ok! I got it!
Sign in to the Chess Variant Pages. Sign in to the Chess Variant Pages.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Thanks to many email carriers having overzealous spam detection, email is no longer as reliable as it used to be. So, I'm contemplating changing how registration works. Like many other sites, it would just require a userid and password. When an email address is given, it would try to verify the email, but inability to verify an email would not keep someone from using his new account. Other email would be sent only to members with verified email accounts, and one would still be required for retrieving a lost password. Whenever an email address is entered, it would make sure it doesn't match any verified email address, and when an email address is verified, it would remove any unverified use of that address.
So far, I have replaced the deadEmail column with the emailVerified column, I have added the dateVerified column, and I have made appropriate changes to some scripts. I have not yet changed how registration works.
Games for Game Courier. The many games you can play online with Game Courier.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Thanks. Which links? Where to put links? I have taken the images now from Diagram Designer as you said, and I put the link in the page of the GC. Is it OK now (for Teramachy and Zanzibar-S)?
Which links?
These are link pages to locally hosted content. Each page for a Game Courier preset should have a link to the preset it is for.
Where to put links?
Text and image links both work. I recommend putting a link around the image and telling the visitor to click the image to play the game on Game Courier.
Is it OK now (for Teramachy and Zanzibar-S)?
No, I did not see a link on either page.
Meta-Chess. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Does anyone know if Mr. Brown is still selling 'Meta-Chess'?
If so, what is the up-to-date address to reach him? (I sent a money order to the address given, but it was returned back from the post office saying the address is undeliverable and unforwardable.)
I really would like a copy, if it is at all still possible.
His activity on this site dropped off right around the time I got involved with the site over 20 years ago, and I do not think I was ever in personal contact with him. Considering that he has no website of his own, his book is not sold through any other venue, he is probably 76 years old, and I can find hardly any information on him, I expect he is no longer selling this book.
Yep, hearing all that, it would seem so.
If that is this case, then here's a call out to all chess variants enthusiasts.
If anyone who sees this has a copy of 'Meta-Chess' they are willing to sell to me or have a digitized copy they are willing to share, send me an email.
I'll put this out on the sub-reddit as well.
I was in contact with him also long time ago and I have a copy his book. It is not a real book. I remember something like a student's project, with pages bounded with a spiral. Currently we are doing big works in my house so I can't reach that book immediately, but keep contact with me and I will see what I can do. Sell it, no I wish to keep it. Digitize it maybe but it might be a long task for more than hundred pages. I will see.
Games for Game Courier. The many games you can play online with Game Courier.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]OK. I start (finally...) to understand what I'm asked to do... Is that OK now for both Teramachy and Zanzibar-S? Thanks
Is that OK now for both Teramachy and Zanzibar-S?
Yes, I have now unhidden both pages.
Great, I open a bottle :=) Thank you for your patience.
Strong of this experience I think that you might consider a more user-friendly process. For example, when someone has developed a GC preset which works (which demonstrates some skills already, as it is not very easy), why not having a box to tick that would allow a public submission.
No offense meant.
Now I'm going to repeat that process for 3 other games I wish to offer to our community.
Meta-Chess. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Totally understand not wanting to sell it, and I am aware it's not a "book-book." And, ~ahem~ not to seem too grabby, but, if you happen to come upon it and want help with digitizing it, it would be a pleasure to assist. :-P
I will check back here, regularly to see what's come up here. I also have put out an APB for the book on Reddit here.
That's one lead now. The search continues!...
Sign in to the Chess Variant Pages. Sign in to the Chess Variant Pages.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I have modified the registration script to register new members without sending email. It will now display the password and provide some instructions for getting started. To make sure it works, I deleted one of my other accounts and recreated it.
Games for Game Courier. The many games you can play online with Game Courier.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I have submitted the GC preset also for Zanzibar-XL, Gigachess II and Terachess II now.
You will please tell me if they are OK or if I need to correct something.
Thank you
Hyperchess. Members-Only Missing description[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.
Games for Game Courier. The many games you can play online with Game Courier.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I have submitted the GC preset also for Zanzibar-XL, Gigachess II and Terachess II now.
Each one is fine, and I have unhidden each one.
ChessV
. Program for playing numerous Chess variants against your PC.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I would like to script some small chess variants. I started by looking at the Los Alamos chess, but can't figure out how to enable castling or allow an initial double pawn move.
📝Greg Strong wrote on Sun, Jan 24, 2021 12:24 PM UTC in reply to Robert Mate from 07:59 AM:If you're deriving from one of the board-size specific games then there are shortcuts to enable these easily. But the options vary depending on the board size, so for unusual sizes it is a little more work.
You can look at the include file for Duke of Rutlands Chess for an example but here are the relevant bits. For castling, conventional chess would be:
AddCastlingRule();
CastlingMove( 0, "e1", "g1", "h1", "f1", `K` );
CastlingMove( 0, "e1", "c1", "a1", "d1", `Q` );
CastlingMove( 1, "e8", "g8", "h8", "f8", `k` );
CastlingMove( 1, "e8", "c8", "a8", "d8", `q` );
The arguments to CastlingMove are: player (0 or 1); the square the king starts on; the square the king ends on; the square the other piece starts on; the square the other piece ends on; and a single character specifying what letter should be placed in the FEN to represent the availability of this move.
For the two-space pawn move, in chess it would be:
Pawn.AddMoveCapability( MoveCapability( <1, 0>, 2, 2, false, false ) ).Condition = { location: location.Rank == 1 };
The last bit, { location: location.Rank == 1 } is a lambda function taking a location and returning true or false specifying where on the board this new move should be available. Ranks are counted starting at zero, so Rank == 1 means whenever on the second rank. The arguments sent to the constructor of MoveCapability are: the direction of the move, <1, 0> means rank offset of 1 and file offset of zero; minimum number of steps; maximum number of steps; is capture allowed; and is capture required. We did not set the minimum number of steps to 1 because the pawn already has a single-space move and we don't want to generate it twice.
Finally, if you want en passant, just set EnPassant = true in your SetGameVariables function.
L. Fun contest: Help us create a new chess variant by committee.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I've noticed there is an error in thought on this 'rook camel' piece, probably confusion due to the name. It is said on the page though ...
'The Rook-Camel may move like a standard rook, sliding any number of clear spaces horizontally or vertically. Or the Rook-Camel may move like a non-leaping camel, sliding exactly two squares orthogonally followed by one diagonally without a leap.'
I don't know if I am missing something, but that description is not a rook camel lol, the 'camel' doesn't leap.
However, it's an interesting piece!!
Canvasser. Compound of Rook and Camel.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Yes it's an interesting piece the 'rook camel'. As i just mentioned on the page for 'Lùotuoqí' (Camel Chess), here .. http://www.chessvariants.org/contests/luotuoqi.html
.. it doesn't appear that is actually a rook camel, but with David's comment 'Back in February 2000, S. Sirotkin sent a 7x7 chess variant, called 'Herd', where Pawns promote to Rook-Knight, Rook-Camel, or Rook-Bison.' which is here https://www.chessvariants.com/small.dir/herd.html that is right, we have a rook camel, one that is promoted from a pawn.
Charles has given a name for it though, good work.
Enlarged and Improved Chess. Early large-board variant from Holland.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]So with this here, we have the info 'From Holland, 1696. Guards move as rooks, capture as bishops. Ensigns move as bishops, capture as rooks.' This page here .. http://www.quadibloc.com/chess/ch0502.htm
it says here .. 'D. B. Pritchard's Encyclopedia of Chess Variants brought to my attention an extended form of Chess from 1696, called Enlarged and Improved Chess.' (And further down the page, we have) ... 'the two added pieces were the Ensign, a Bishop-mover/Rook-capturer, and the Guard, a Rook-mover/Bishop-capturer.'
So, these two pieces sound exactly like the ones in this game yeah, https://www.chessvariants.com/diffmove.dir/thinktank.html
The Bisroo - Bishop-mover/Rook-capturer
The Roobis - Rook-mover/Bishop-capturer
that is correct yes, hopefully i got it right lol
@Greg, May you please tell me what is the RGB for the colour #f9f9f9.
Greg Strong wrote on Sun, Jan 24, 2021 03:58 PM UTC in reply to Aurelian Florea from 02:13 PM:249, 249, 249
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Oh sorry, I completely overlooked those questions. The latest version of Fairy-Max and WinBoard now are bundled in the WinBoard-AA package.
The pieceToCharTable is how Fairy-Max instructs WinBoard to map piece IDs on images. Each position in the pieceToChar string corresponds to a certain image, starting with Pawn, Knight, Bishop, Rook, Queen, ... and ending with King. First half for the white images (upper-case IDs), second half for the black (lower-case IDs). For an overview of the available images, look here. Images not needed in the game are indicated by a dot. The others by the ID of the piece they represent (a single letter, or letter plus a single quote or exclamation point, the latter only recommended for use when you run out of letters).
Fairy-Max just sends that string to WinBoard, when the variant it describes gets selected. It doesn't do anything with it itself.
There are some special notations in the pieceToChar WinBoard attaches additional meaning to: ^L , with L some piece ID that was already assigned to some other image means the image is for the promoted version of an L (which, in move and position notations, would be indicated as +L). This is needed mainly in Shogi variants; normally WinBoard assumes that the piece that uses the Pawn image promotes to a piece of your choice on reaching the zone (the depth of which depends on the parent variant and board size)