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Venator ChessA game information page
. Introducing the Venator, a bifurcation cannon related to the Korean cannon, on a Gustavian board (zrf available).[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
H. G. Muller wrote on Mon, Jul 6, 2020 06:21 PM UTC:
files=10 ranks=8 promoZone=1 promoChoice=QNBRV graphicsDir=/graphics.dir/alfaeriePNG/ squareSize=50 graphicsType=png hole::::a2-a7,j2-j7 pawn:P:ifmnDfmWfceF:pawn:b2-i2,,b7-i7 knight:N:N:knight:c1,h1,,c8,h8 bishop:B:B:bishop:d1,g1,,d8,g8 rook:R:R:rook:b1,i1,,b8,i8 queen:Q:Q:queen:e1,,e8 venator:V:gafyafsR:champion:a1,j1,,a8,j8 king:K:KisjO2:king:f1,,f8

This article has no graphics and a very minimal description, so let me post this diagram to liven it up a bit. Also a good opportunity to draw some attention to the class of pieces known as Bifurcators. The Venator is not nearly appreciated as much by the Diagram as it is by its inventor: only about 2/3 of a Knight. This is not to say the Diagram is right, of course. For one, it only tries to estimate intrinsic tactical ability. A piece like the Venator has great forking power in dense positions, so it will be almost impossible to prevent the players can trade it for another minor in an early stage.


Apothecary Chess-Classic. Large board variant obtained through tinkering with known games.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Aurelian Florea wrote on Mon, Jul 6, 2020 01:41 PM UTC:

Ok, thanks for the heads up. I'll try to think at something else.


🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Mon, Jul 6, 2020 01:28 PM UTC:

I wouldn't recommend that. That doesn't sound like the correct solution to your problem.


💡📝Aurelian Florea wrote on Mon, Jul 6, 2020 12:29 PM UTC:

@Fergus

The way I had thought the game, the joker should, when imitating a pawn, get only the regular power and not promotion rights or double move privileges. And that works best with moving some of the lines in the pawn function to the pawn subroutine. It should be rather easy.


Shogi. Missing description (9x9, Cells: 81) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
H. G. Muller wrote on Sat, Jul 4, 2020 10:15 AM UTC:

I still have some doubts with regard to the application of this rule. In particular, when a (checking) position occurs from which it is possible to deliver perpetual checking, but instead of continuing the checking you play something else. And then later, that position occurs a second time. Now you do continue the checking, and the opponent has no way to escape it, so you get a 3rd and 4th repetition of the position.

Does this now count as perpetual checking? Not all moves since the first occurrence of the position were checks. But all moves since the 2nd and 3rd occurrence are. In my engines I would only consider the moves since the previous occurrence. (Especially because it already terminates the line at the 2nd occurrence; if it cannot break from the loop the first time it goes through it, nothing will change by trying it the second time, except that you have less search depth left, which will degrade the accuracy of the evaluation.)

I would think that only considering the moves since the previous occurrence would be more in line with the spirit of the rule; you try to force a repetition by perpetual checking, and this should not be allowed. It is just that you started the checking a bit late, but now that you are at it, and can keep it up perpetually, why should that matter? When I asked it to a Japanese in connection with mini-Shogi, however, he told me this would not be considered perpetual checking, and thus produce a sente loss. (Which is a special mini-Shogi rule; in regular Shogi that would be a draw.)


Apothecary Chess-Modern. Large board variant obtained through tinkering with known games.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Aurelian Florea wrote on Sat, Jul 4, 2020 10:11 AM UTC:

I should use redirect then on the old settings file toward the new one, isn't it?


fpdtest. Members-Only A test. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

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Apothecary Chess-Modern. Large board variant obtained through tinkering with known games.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Greg Strong wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 09:02 PM UTC:

I prefer to keep the name  and maybe rename the settings files used for old games. Can it be done?

You can keep the name of the game, but the settings name will need to change.  I don't know how to change the settings name for existing logs.


Shogi. Missing description (9x9, Cells: 81) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
dax00 wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 08:54 PM UTC:

Indeed, there is a rule against perpetual checking, as an extension of the repetition rule. The repetition rule states that if a position is reached for a 4th time, with same pieces in hand and same player to move, the game is no contest, whereafter colors are reversed and a new game is started. Players get to keep whatever remaining time they had, with a minimum time normally granted.

However, if such 4-fold repetition is a result of consecutive checks, with no single non-checking move, then that attacking player is at fault and loses. A player could potentially give dozens of consecutive checks, before the repetition becomes illegal.

Repetition is already rare enough, especially at the amateur level. Very few instances of perpetual check repetition occur. Most people who see it as a possibility deviate the 2nd or 3rd time around, or avoid it altogether. I found only a couple actually pertinent videos on Youtube under the search 連続王手の千日手


A. M. DeWitt wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 07:00 PM UTC:

I have one question about the rules regarding check. A few sources (i.e. the English Wikipedia page on Shogi) mention a rule against perpetual check, namely making perpetual check four times, or something similar. Yet most of the sources I found do not mention such a rule. So is this supposed rule against perpetual check really a thing?


Expanded Chess. An attempt at a logical expansion of Chess to a 10x10 board.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Carlos Cetina wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 06:07 PM UTC:

Set. Problem solved. Thank you very much for your help, Fergus.

osprey move corrected

 


🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 05:08 PM UTC:

You can screen those out with a line that rejects ferz moves. Here is a revision:

def Osprey fn (checkride #0 #1 1 1 and empty #0) 
  where #0 0 * 2 sign - rank #1 rank #0 
  #1 
  or fn (checkride #0 #1 1 1 and empty #0) 
  where #0 * 2 sign - file #1 file #0 0 
  #1
and not checkleap #0 #1 1 1
or checkleap #0 #1 2 0; 

Apothecary Chess-Classic. Large board variant obtained through tinkering with known games.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 05:02 PM UTC:

Since it works for displaying legal moves, it's probably because the Pawn functions are only for potential moves, and the Joker is trying to use one of the Pawn functions when making an actual move. Specifically, I think it fails on the line "and empty #1" in the Pawn function, because that space is occupied for an actual move. Some options include changing your rules, rewriting the Pawn functions to handle both potential and actual moves, or using a Joker subroutine for actual moves, which would let you undo the Joker's move before testing it with a function, then redoing it if it is legal.


Expanded Chess. An attempt at a logical expansion of Chess to a 10x10 board.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Carlos Cetina wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 04:34 PM UTC:

Interesting deduction, Ben. Let's see what Fergus thinks.


Diagonal chess (well balanced). Diagonal chess with 7 fortified pawns.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Ben Reiniger wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 04:20 PM UTC:

Ah, so I was wrong about the promotion zone!  Glad to have that clarified!


Expanded Chess. An attempt at a logical expansion of Chess to a 10x10 board.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Ben Reiniger wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 04:16 PM UTC:

I'd guess it's seeing a 2-leap followed by a bishop move inward as legal?  And that doesn't matter for the Aanca because those same squares can be reached legitimately by a shorter path.


Carlos Cetina wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 03:58 PM UTC:

Yes, but then how to explain that the program allows moving the piece like Ferz?

osprey move


🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 03:10 PM UTC:

That looks correct.


Apothecary Chess-Modern. Large board variant obtained through tinkering with known games.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Aurelian Florea wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 02:10 PM UTC:

@ Greg,

I prefer to keep the name  and maybe rename the settings files used for old games. Can it be done?


Greg Strong wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 01:48 PM UTC:

You need to use a new Settings name so old games don't break.  But if you do that, the pending invite is ok.


💡📝Aurelian Florea wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 01:31 PM UTC:

@Oisin D.

I need a moment with no ongoing games so that I can change the pieces from Griffin and Aanca to Dragon and Griffin, so please temporarilly delete your pending invitation.


Apothecary Chess-Classic. Large board variant obtained through tinkering with known games.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Aurelian Florea wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 11:38 AM UTC:

@Fergus,

I have unfortunately uncovered another bug on the preset for this game.

The joker can't move when imitating a pawn, although the moves are properly displayed. Any idea why?

 


Expanded Chess. An attempt at a logical expansion of Chess to a 10x10 board.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Carlos Cetina wrote on Fri, Jul 3, 2020 02:24 AM UTC:

With the following code I have made some progress because the piece already can make the desired legal moves:

def Osprey fn (checkride #0 #1 1 1 and empty #0) 
  where #0 0 * 2 sign - rank #1 rank #0 
  #1 
  or fn (checkride #0 #1 1 1 and empty #0) 
  where #0 * 2 sign - file #1 file #0 0 
  #1
or checkleap #0 #1 2 0;

 

def Osprey-Range mergeall 
  leaps #0 2 0 
  rays where #0 0 2 1 1 
  rays where #0 0 -2 1 1 
  rays where #0 2 0 1 1 
  rays where #0 -2 0 1 1;

However something must be wrong since the program allows the Osprey to be moved as ferz. What do you think is the cause?


Brouhaha. Like Chess, but it really brings the ruckus! (8x8, Cells: 72) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
H. G. Muller wrote on Thu, Jul 2, 2020 08:59 PM UTC:

Right, although one could argue that in Brouhaha not all the squares between the Scouts and the Clerics are 'brouhaha squares'. But in Aurelian's game, which has 5 adjacent brouhaha squares, A rook should not be allowed to capture from one to the other once the intermediate pieces have left their launch square.

The Interactive Diagram I also does not allow sliders to move over the blacked-out squares; they are considered 'off board'. This because their original purpose was for implementing irregularly shaped boards, like Omega Chess. Leapers can jump over them, though. Actually I am not sure what hoppers would do, or even what they should do. One interpretation of inaccessible squares is that they are occupied by uncapturable unmovable pieces, and in that case hoppers might want to use them as mounts!

I guess it would be easy to distinguish several different types of 'terrain' for use as 'background' to which an evacuated square reverts. It would all be inaccessible, but one flavor could be blocking to anything, while another flavor could allow sliders to fly over it, and another could allow hoppers to use it as mount, and these could even be combined as independent properties.


🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Thu, Jul 2, 2020 08:20 PM UTC:

You don't have to imagine bent sliders. If a Rook captured a Scout on its starting space, I presume it would not be able to capture a Cleric still on its starting space. Since Chesire Cat Chess removes spaces from the regular playing area and still includes sliders, it makes sense that it would allow moving over non-existing spaces. But I think that the rule in Chesire Cat Chess is going to be the exception, not the default behavior. Game Courier, for example, would not allow movement across non-existing spaces, and for a game like Chesire Cat Chess, an exception would have to be programmed in. In this game, there are non-existing spaces only between spaces whose only purpose is to provide a launching area for extra pieces to enter the main playing area.


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