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Game Reviews (and other rated comments on Game pages)

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Fairyranga. Game based on Chaturanga & Makruk with Southeastern, Mongolian and even Russian elements. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jean-Louis Cazaux wrote on Sun, Mar 24 05:15 PM UTC in reply to Daniel Zacharias from 03:24 PM:Good ★★★★

I like it too, very much. I agree with Florin that the text is not well promoting this variant. Maybe someone with better English than me could help Lev in re-phrasing his presentation. That game would deserve it.


Equalized Shatranj. (Updated!) Basic weak moves of ancient pieces are compensated by their numbers. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Lev Grigoriev wrote on Wed, Mar 20 07:12 PM UTC in reply to David Paulowich from 06:47 PM:Good ★★★★

Круто, прикольно. Что-то в этом есть и от тайских шахмат. Мне нравится такое распределение фигур по цветовым комплексам.

Cool and cute. There’s even a breeze of Thai chess here. I like this management and distribution of pieces on color complexes.


Flying Chess. Some pieces can fly. (2x(8x8), Cells: 128) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Mike Town wrote on Wed, Mar 20 01:20 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Are people still playing this game? Would love to hear if they are and if anyone would want to play with me? Post on this group and we can make a plan.


Clairvoyant Chess. Players predict what opponent will do to gain advantages.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Daniel Zacharias wrote on Tue, Mar 19 02:14 AM UTC in reply to Florin Lupusoru from Mon Mar 18 06:26 AM:Good ★★★★

I think you're reading a lot into this that isn't there. It just introduces an incentive to make non-obvious moves. Perhaps it could be cumbersome to play, but it's a clever idea.


Florin Lupusoru wrote on Mon, Mar 18 06:26 AM UTC:Poor ★

When chess meets witchcraft. I am against the idea of turning chess players into witches and wizards, but here we are. Sadly, there are lots of similar games that use spells, magic, and predictions. Why do we even call them chess variants? 


Bigorra. A 16x16 board chess with all pieces from my variants. (16x16, Cells: 256) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Daniel Zacharias wrote on Thu, Mar 14 04:04 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

This is very fun (but very long!) to play. I like it more than Terachess II because the extra pawn rank allows for more blocking and the very powerful pieces come singly instead of in pairs.


Fergana. (Updated!) The clash of empires on Fergana Valley. (Cells: 168) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Mon, Mar 11 07:34 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

Looks pretty innovative.


10-directional Chess. 10-directional pieces: an augmented Knight and a restricted Chancellor. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
HaruN Y wrote on Mon, Mar 11 02:44 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Fabulous FIDEs vs 10-directional Army

files=8 ranks=8 promoZone=1 promoChoice=NBRQ graphicsDir=/membergraphics/MSdealerschess/ squareSize=50 graphicsType=png symmetry=none royal=K lightShade=#9b8dae darkShade=#6c5776 borders=0 rimColor=#505365 coordColor=#8188a1 firstRank=1 pawn:P:ifmnDfmWfceF:pawn:a2,b2,c2,d2,e2,f2,g2,h2,,a7,b7,c7,d7,e7,f7,g7,h7 knight:N:N:knight:b1,g1 bishop:B:B:bishop:c1,f1,,c8,f8 rook:R:R:rook:a1,h1,,a8,h8 queen:Q:Q:queen:d1 eohippo:E:NvW:hippo2:,,b8,g8 fischer:F:NvR:unicorn:,,d8 king:K:KisO2:king:e1,,e8

I know Eohippos aren't Hippotamus.


Trafalgar Chess. (Updated!) 8 extra Pawns in two columns mimic the famous Battle of Trafalgar. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Piotr Smagacz wrote on Sun, Mar 10 10:39 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

I really like this variant. It's simple but adds something new to the game. I think it would also be interesting to add some optional rules:

  • A friendly pawn behind its friendly pawn can bypass it by moving diagonally.
  • The knight has an additional special move. Special move: The knight can move without capturing an enemy piece two squares horizontally or vertically, provided that there is a friendly pawn between the target square and the knight.

These are my thoughts on this variant. Overall, a very interesting idea.


Chess. The rules of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Florin Lupusoru wrote on Sun, Mar 10 09:44 AM UTC in reply to Kevin Pacey from Tue Jan 18 2022 04:08 PM:Excellent ★★★★★

Is chess [still] important? An older member of my chess club once opined in the new millennium that chess is no longer as important as before. I didn't ask what he meant. To me, chess reached its high mark in the 1970's, mainly with the Geo-political stakes involved in the Fischer-Spassky match, and later the Karpov-Korchnoi one. Chess was also important back then since it was seen as a test for AI whether a machine can beat a highly skilled human player at the game. Chess suffered to some degree because of what followed historically, in both cases.

In the TikTok era Chess is more relevant than ever. In a world were people are increassingly lacking concentration, playing chess can not only help people maintain focus, but also evade the modern insanity. 


Patchanka. (Updated!) Decimal variant with several bi-compound pieces. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Florin Lupusoru wrote on Tue, Mar 5 08:20 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

Two of the pieces used here (Phoenix and Medusa) I will be using in my Titanic Chess but I'll have to use different moving and capturing abilities for that purpose. Since these are mythological creatures I have to disagree with the way they are used to move and capture in this game. But appart from that, this looks like a great game. 


Torus Chess (The Shape of Space). (Updated!) Chess on a torus from the book "The Shape of Space". (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Cannon wrote on Tue, Mar 5 01:24 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

A good concept, but it needs improvement. I don't like having only one Bishop, as it can reach only half the cells. It's a colour-bound piece, so we really need two. To avoid attacking non-pawns on the other side, perhaps enlarge the board and put a "hedge" of pawns around each army — I don't see that there needs to be only two of them.


N-Relay Chess. Uncapturable Knights give other pieces the ability to move as Knights. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
HaruN Y wrote on Mon, Mar 4 06:30 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Simplified form of Knight-Relay Chess

files=8 ranks=8 promoZone=1 promoChoice=BRQN graphicsDir=/membergraphics/MSdealerschess/ squareSize=43 graphicsType=png symmetry=none royal=K lightShade=#ffffff darkShade=#ed1c23 rimColor=#0d76bd firstRank=1 borders=0 coordColor=#ffffff pawn:P:iifmnDfmWfceF:pawn:a2,b2,c2,d2,e2,f2,g2,h2,,a7,b7,c7,d7,e7,f7,g7,h7 bishop:B:B:bishop:c1,f1,,c8,f8 rook:R:R:rook:a1,h1,,a8,h8 queen:Q:Q:queen:d1,,d8 relay knight:N:mNxaN:relayknight:b1,g1,,b8,g8 king:K:KisO2:king:e1,,e8

Symmetric Chess. (Updated!) Variant with two Queens flanking the King and Bishops Conversion Rule. (9x8, Cells: 72) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Florin Lupusoru wrote on Fri, Mar 1 03:05 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

Complicated problems most of the time have simple solutions. You could have put both Bishops on one side of the board, and both Knights on the other side. And the opponent will have them the other way around. Simple. 

Another solution would be to add an extra piece (A Shield Bearer/Scutier to protect the King) and make the board 10x8. 


Retreating Chess. Pieces must fall back one square after each move. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
HaruN Y wrote on Wed, Feb 28 05:50 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
files=8 ranks=8 promoZone=1 promoChoice=NBRQ graphicsDir=/graphics.dir/galactic/ squareSize=50 graphicsType=gif rimColor=#11457E lightShade=#FFFFFF darkShade=#D7141A borders=0 firstRank=1 coordColor=#FFFFFF whitePrefix=W blackPrefix=B Retreating pawn:P:fafmoabWfmpWfcabzmFfmpabaspaqcW:Pawn:a2,b2,c2,d2,e2,f2,g2,h2,,a7,b7,c7,d7,e7,f7,g7,h7 Retreating knight:N:fmopafsmocabqmWfmpababspafqWfmopafzcmaqmFfmpabasmpafpaqWbmpabasmpafqmcafqmWbmpafopabzFbmpafqmcafmFbmpafmpafsopabqW:Knight:b1,g1,,b8,g8 Retreating bishop:B:fyocabzmBfympabzpabBfyabzmBbyocafqmBbympafqopabBbyafqmB:Bishop:c1,f1,,c8,f8 Retreating rook:R:fyafomcabRbymcamfRfompabyasmycazmWfcabWbympafpoabRfompabyasmypazopabW:Rook:a1,h1,,a8,h8 Retreating queen:Q:fyocabzmBfympabzpabBfyabzmBbyocafqmBbympafqopabBbyafqmBfyafomcabQbymcamfQfompabyasmycazmKfcabKbympafpoabQfompabyasmypazopabK:Queen:d1,,d8 Retreating king:K:focabzmFfmpabzpabFfabzmFbocafqmFbmpafqopabFbafqmFbmcamfKfompabasmcazmKfcabKbmpafpoabKisO2bopabzF:King:e1,,e8

Russian fortress chess. An old Russian variant for four players. (Cells: 192) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Florin Lupusoru wrote on Tue, Feb 27 06:43 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

Four stars for the original chessboard.

This game was very popular almost two centuries ago and lots of famous people used to play it. 


Chess 2. Different armies, a new winning condition, and duels. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
HaruN Y wrote on Thu, Feb 22 12:21 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
files=8 ranks=8 promoZone=1 promoChoice=NBRQ graphicsDir=/graphics.dir/alfaeriePNG/ squareSize=50 graphicsType=png symmetry=none iron=6 lightShade=#ed2711 darkShade=#9b3423 coordColor=#d9cca9 rimColor=#5e5c50 firstRank=1 borders=0 pawn:P:ifmnDfmWfceF:pawn:a2,b2,c2,d2,e2,f2,g2,h2,,a7,b7,c7,d7,e7,f7,g7,h7 knight:N:N:knight:b1,g1,,b8,g8 bishop:B:B:bishop:c1,f1,,c8,f8 rook:R:R:rook:a1,h1 queen:Q:Q:queen:d1 blocker:G:mU:owl:,,a8,h8 reaper:U:U:wolf:,,d8 morph=! king:K:KisO2:king:e1,,e8

Bario. Pieces are undefined until they move. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Florin Lupusoru wrote on Thu, Feb 22 06:13 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

It's a shame that great ideas are buried and forgotten. This game has a great potential and I'm really impressed by such a simple idea. 

Also, this game deserves a better name. 


Crouching Stepper, Hidden Rider. Xiang Qi pieces' moves lengthen and shorten with location. (9x10, Cells: 90) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Lev Grigoriev wrote on Wed, Feb 21 11:46 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Like Half-Kyoto Chess. Remarkable.


Pyramid Chase. (Updated!) Chase on a pyramid, 561 hexagons.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Mon, Feb 19 07:11 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

No, normal. Like my Rocket)


52Chess. A piece may teleport to the square corresponding to a drawn card.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Florin Lupusoru wrote on Sat, Feb 17 06:35 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

Interesting concept. It might be more difficult to attack the enemy King from the flank because Bishops will have to travel in zig zag and Knights will be too powerful. But I like the idea. 

Here is my humble suggestion on how to improve this game.

Use a 7x7 board.

7x7 = 49. 

Add 4 extra squares on the corners.

49+4 = 53. 

Add a Jocker to the stack of cards and you are done. 

You can also give additional powers to the Jocker and the King cards. 

So, what do you think? 


Scramble. (Updated!) 36 pieces scrambled on the board. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Florin Lupusoru wrote on Wed, Feb 14 01:27 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Good news! You can play Scramble against Stockfish on Chess.com. 

You have no idea just how insane this game is.

Here is how to do it:

  • Go to Chess,com
  • Go to Learn / Analysis /Set Up Position / Clear Board
  • Place pieces on the board according to the rules of Scramble
  • Practice vs Computer
  • Change Bot
  • Play!

Go with chess pieces. Generalization of go-rules using chess pieces. (19x19, Cells: 361) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Florin Lupusoru wrote on Sun, Feb 11 09:40 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

These are probably just a bunch of silly ideas. However, some of these variants might give somewhat nice strategic games. I hope I did not offend go players with my unusual description of their game.

This was a good attempt at mixing Chess with Go. However, in my humble opinion, in order to make this game work we need to keep the number of "liberties" to four, not eight, otherwise the game might become unecessarily messy and impossible to finish. 

A second rule should be to only keep pieces that move orthogonally only. This means that only  Rooks and restricted Kings (Kings that only move orthogonally) are allowed to join the game.

Alternativelly, we can also invent some pieces that move in zig-zag.

Knights can also be included with the restriction that they can only move along empty squares. 


Atlantean Coffee House Shatranj. Grand Hexagonal Shatranj - the short-range project goes six-sided. (13x13, Cells: 127) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Daniel Zacharias wrote on Fri, Feb 9 11:21 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

This is a fun design. I've made a rules enfrcing preset in case anyone wants to try it.


Sissa. Variant on 9 by 9 board with Sissa's. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Florin Lupusoru wrote on Thu, Feb 8 05:39 PM UTC in reply to Kevin Pacey from Tue Oct 3 2023 08:04 PM:Good ★★★★

I think this piece caled Sissa is great, but I would remove acute angles (45 and 315 degrees) and only keep obtuse angles (135 and 225 degrees). 

I would also remove the rule that both moves have to be of the same length. This will create a new piece that can make an absolute mess on the chessboard. 


Marseillais Chess. Move twice per turn. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Wed, Feb 7 05:20 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

I have not played this game personally, but I must say, for a multi-move variant, this game was very well-made.

Also, the new circle symbol in GC for past moves is very nice. However, this functionality doesn't seem to work with hexagonal boards (like Hex Shogi 91's).


Onslaught. (Updated!) Several pieces can capture only on the enemy half, favoring attack. (12x12, Cells: 144) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Fri, Feb 2 04:40 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

An excellent experimental variant. Need I say any more about a concept so simple and brilliant that it works with any practically any board with an even number of ranks, and with odd numbers of ranks with some adjustment?


Bob Greenwade wrote on Thu, Feb 1 05:53 PM UTC in reply to Michael Nelson from 05:33 PM:Excellent ★★★★★

I echo Michael's sentiment; I think this may be a future Featured Variant.

Those "slashing riders"* are indeed quite interesting. Do their single-step moves capture only the King? (I've never quite understood the k modifier, and I guess now's my chance!)

*That's an interesting term. Has it been used before? If not, I hope it catches on, for any sort of XmXX piece.


Michael Nelson wrote on Thu, Feb 1 05:33 PM UTC in reply to H. G. Muller from 04:44 PM:Excellent ★★★★★

Thank you for the clarification. It's obvious in the interactive diagram. Likely on the wording of the rules as given, but capable of being misundertood.

Now I'm certain this is the rule, let me give the game an excellent. The slashing rider moves deep into enemy territory and the defense against such should be a thing of beauty.


Bob Greenwade's SVG Library. Private The SVG files used in Bob's library of pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

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Paramount Parafigures. (Updated!) An army where some pieces are triply-divergent. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝HaruN Y wrote on Fri, Jan 26 11:39 PM UTC in reply to A. M. DeWitt from Wed Jan 24 08:25 PM:Good ★★★★
files=11 ranks=8 promoZone=1 promoChoice=NBRQ graphicsDir=/graphics.dir/alfaeriePNG/ squareSize=50 graphicsType=png symmetry=none shuffle=QCFZS hole::::i1-k1,i2-k2,i3-k3,i4-k4,i5-k5,i6-k6,i7-k7,i8-k8 pawn:P:ifmnDfmWfceF:pawn:a2,b2,c2,d2,e2,f2,g2,h2,,a7,b7,c7,d7,e7,f7,g7,h7 knight:N:N:knight:b1,g1 bishop:B:B:bishop:c1,f1 rook:R:R:rook:a1,h1 queen:Q:Q:queen:d1 chancellor:C:RN:chancellor:k3 forequeen:Z:fhsQKbhN:amazon:k5 squire:S:NyafK:falcon:k6 R/B/N parafigure:ب:mRkcBkN:bishopinv:,,c8,f8 forwardchancellorprince:F:fhNfsRK:forwardchancellorprince:k4 N/R/B parafigure:ن:mNkcRkB:knightinv:,,b8,g8 gnurider/queen sniper:ق:mNNmCCcQ:queeninv:,,d8 B/N/R parafigure:ر:mBkcNkR:rookinv:,,a8,h8 king:K:KisO2:king:e1,,e8

No other differences.


KingSwap!. (Updated!) A solitaire swap puzzle to escort your lazy King. (5x5, Cells: 25) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Fri, Jan 26 04:50 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

I have tried the game online, and it is really fun, especially on the normal version.

I don't think you need the word retainer in the sentence "Try to complete the King’s tour with the fewest retainer casualties as possible!".

Also, you should clarify that Pawns move upward, not downward, and that they can swap directly forward as well as diagonally forward.

Otherwise, this looks good enough to be approved.


Lighthouse. Game like Chess and Makruk but on the half of chessboard with drops and full chess set used. (4x8, Cells: 32) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Ilya Yudovski wrote on Thu, Jan 25 08:47 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

I love it. There are a lot of nice, sophisticated and interesting chess variants out there, but not many variants that I see myself actually playing. But Lighthouse will definitely be in my collection of mini-chess games I play with friends and colleagues. This game perfectly blends fast pace, simple and understandable rules, accessibility and an opportunity to enjoy the special spirit of Shogi.

Great work, Lev.


Chess vs checkers. Missing description (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Trollbert06 wrote on Tue, Jan 23 04:08 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

Hey, does anyone know where i can find an online version of this, i wanna play it online with friends


ArchMage Chess. 10x10 30v30 Fantasy Chess. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jean-Louis Cazaux wrote on Mon, Jan 22 07:48 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

I had not seen this page for a while. It is quite nice.

Just for information, I've seen 2 small typos: "sqaure" and "matnicore"


KingSwap!. (Updated!) A solitaire swap puzzle to escort your lazy King. (5x5, Cells: 25) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Ilya Yudovski wrote on Sun, Jan 21 07:49 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

It is a very nice and creative take on the chess labyrinth kind of game. I tend to agree, that digital implementation could be the best way to make this game playable - cause it needs some algorithm that ensures that every starting position is solvable. Overall, I think it's a great minimalistic game that can be used in school tactical games clubs or as support material to teach the basics of chess.


Gamma2 Chess. Chess on a 10x8 board with Berolina Pawns & special Ship & Archer pieces. (10x8, Cells: 80) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Sat, Jan 20 07:22 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

Really cool. Didn’t seen these compounds.
Resonates with my idea of pieces with hopping parts (e.g. for my rocket board as well as for normal one).

P. S. I have a better-quality setup image.


Hybrids. Standard pieces combine and split. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Sat, Jan 6 04:26 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Suddenly seen 18.5 years after (so cool that I’ve first seen Russian language version via random game page!) and I have an idea. There’s stated that same pieces can merge, what if they can be upgraded this way? Like Knight to Nightrider, Rook/Bishop to ranger+hopper hybrids, Guard to Torch (slip Queen) or Lion (area mover) ah he can’t.


Mathematichess. (Updated!) A chess variant specially designed for mathematicians. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Florin Lupusoru wrote on Sat, Dec 30, 2023 02:44 PM UTC in reply to Diceroller is Fire from 12:29 PM:Excellent ★★★★★

I didn't notice the three black Bishops on c5. That was a good point, but still, the black player can't win the game.

I have to recalculate the points. Thanks.


💡📝Florin Lupusoru wrote on Fri, Dec 29, 2023 09:48 AM UTC in reply to Ben Reiniger from 03:15 AM:Excellent ★★★★★

That was a good review of the game. Thank you for your time. I have added the repetition rule. As for the territorial merging, it's hard enough to control a single territory and prevent it from invasion. On a bigger territory that will be even harder. You are right about the black King from e5 having the possibility to push the white bishop to c5 but that wouldn't win additional points for black. The "three of a kind" rule should also imply the same colour too. Also, the new territory created at e5 would give the white player even more points.


Chess on a Tesseract. Chess played over the 24 two-dimensional sides of a tesseract. (24x(5x5), Cells: 504) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Ilya Yudovski wrote on Sun, Dec 24, 2023 07:49 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Astounding. I don't think I'll ever play something so complex, but the concept and work are awesome. The case, when reading about game rules and design, is almost as exciting, as the play itself.


Mathematichess. (Updated!) A chess variant specially designed for mathematicians. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Sat, Dec 23, 2023 01:42 PM UTC in reply to Fergus Duniho from 01:36 PM:Good ★★★★

As for myself, I’m not even sure this is a chess variant. Although it uses Chess equipment, it seems to be a very different sort of game than chess.

Though it’s rather good (at least at first glance). Idea is very interesting.


Copycat Chess. New piece added which copies move of just-moved piece. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
AB wrote on Tue, Dec 12, 2023 02:01 AM UTC:Poor ★

It's basically the idea of the piece Joker, invented by T.R.Dawson but with a lot more constraints. This might be better if there was motivation given for how the extra rules are beneficial. As it is, it occupies the term "Copycat" that might be given better meaning. Sorry.


Cetran Chess 2. Missing description (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Daniel Zacharias wrote on Sat, Dec 9, 2023 12:34 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

I like Cetran 3 more than the 8x8 versions. The piece variety makes it much more fun.


Grant Acedrex. Medieval large chess variant according to recent historians's work. (12x12, Cells: 144) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Mon, Dec 4, 2023 11:02 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Very good article! I really like this variant in this interpretation.


Modern Republican Chess. Private Game with side(s) whose pieces have diagonal counterpart. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

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SWAROS chess variant. Members-Only Board: The SWAROS Chessboard consists of 576 squares, 24 rows by 24 columns, on which the chess pieces are placed. It is square. (24x24, Cells: 576) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

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Chu Shogi. Historic Japanese favorite, featuring a multi-capturing Lion. (12x12, Cells: 144) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Fri, Nov 24, 2023 04:28 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

When I first saw this game, I didn't think much of it, since I was more focused on larger Shogi variants, especially Tenjiku Shogi. However, now I have a few games under my belt, and wow, this game completely blew me away. It is an absolute joy to play, despite its size and complexity (which melts away after a couple games).

However, it is not flawless. The Lion-trading rules are a bit complex, and making the Lion contagious (Like Maka Dai Dai Shogi's Deva, Dark Spirit, and their promoted forms) would make the rule much simpler while also achieving the same effect. The repetition rules are also quite complex, which is a trait shared with Xiangqi. The King Baring rule is completely unnecessary, as it does not add anything to the game that the combined effects of the other rules do not achieve.

However, despite these problems, Chu Shogi is still easily among the best games of its kind.

Edit: Apart from the Lion-trading rules (sans the Okazaki rule), all the other rules are modern "innovations."

Chu Seireigi combines elements of Chu Shogi with the ruleset of modern Shogi. It also has the benefit of not needing any special rules to preserve its quality, fixing all the problems with the modern "innovations" for Chu Shogi that I mentioned above. Players are disincentivized from trading off the Lions in most cases because they would just go into the player's hands, making them even more dangerous. The repetition rule is simply that of Shogi (draw, except perpetual check loses) which is much simpler. The drops also makes King-baring extremely rare, as no piece goes entirely out of play, and the weaker player can always capture enemy pieces to strengthen their army.


Vivarta Chess. he rules are simple. Each piece automatically transforms into a different piece every time it moves. Pawns transform into Knig.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Florin Lupusoru wrote on Thu, Nov 16, 2023 04:09 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

This is a good idea but I would have included more randomness into it. We are talking about computers beating humans at chess. We need to make the chess game impossible for computers to analyse. If the chess pieces for this game were something Reversi like, where you can flip a piece and turn it into a completely different and random piece, that would flip upside down the entire strategy of chess, giving humans more advantage against computers.


Colorful Osmosis Chess. (Updated!) All basic pieces are colorbound or colorwithching. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Sun, Nov 12, 2023 04:24 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

I see that Bishop/Camel + Harvestman compounds (Evangelist and Imam) are also able to checkmate in K vs K + X endgame. (It includes the King move so can easily do that). OTOH Wildebeest (aka Gnu) is not able to do this.


Sac Chess. Game with 60 pieces. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Joseph Ruhf wrote on Sat, Nov 11, 2023 04:51 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

I cannot call this game “bad”, but I agree with the British chess master William Winter that the standard Marshall-Chancellor and Cardinal-Archbishop pieces added to Chess obviate the Knights and Bishops to a great extent when combined with the Queen already existing. The Amazon arguably also obviates the Rook in addition to people being skeptical of adding it to Chess without adjusting the rules so it doesn’t overpower the game. Have you tried playing with Fusion Chess or Assimilation Chess rules with Men?


Companion chess. (Updated!) The Queen may have a companion. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Bob Greenwade wrote on Sun, Nov 5, 2023 06:27 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

This is (IMO) quite a clever use of a Carrier type of piece. I'd love to see if that can be programmed into an Interactive Diagram; I think it'd be interesting to play.


Mirodoly Chess 12x12. Members-Only Chess with Archer and with Sagittarius. A version of chess for a 12x12 board, the closest to the classic. (12x12) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

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Storm the Ivory Tower. A Smess adaptation of Chinese Chess. (9x10, Cells: 90) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
HaruN Y wrote on Mon, Oct 23, 2023 12:37 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Royal Ninny>Ninnyrider>Chinoise Ninnyrider>Yahoo>Ninny>Dumbo>Trapped Ninny


Beast Chess. Replace conventional pieces with those that look like animals. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Ilya Yudovski wrote on Sun, Oct 22, 2023 04:24 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Interesting variant, definitely looks wild and very dynamic.


Fluky Chess. (Updated!) Fast-paced mini-chess variant with dice. (5x5, Cells: 25) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Sun, Oct 15, 2023 07:25 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

(To author):

Реально свежая идея, которую можно развить в свои варианты. У меня есть похожая идея, но с другими доской|фигурами|правилами.

Замечательно!


The Pizza Kings. An experimental army for Chess with Different Armies, with lots of calories.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
HaruN Y wrote on Sun, Oct 15, 2023 05:21 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
files=8 ranks=8 promoZone=1 promoChoice=NBRQPEMS graphicsDir=/membergraphics/MSdealerschess/ squareSize=50 graphicsType=png symmetry=none rimColor=#dba24a lightShade=#e1d800 darkShade=#e12301 firstRank=1 borders=0 crust:P:ifmnDfmWfceF:pawn:a2,b2,c2,d2,e2,f2,g2,h2,,a7,b7,c7,d7,e7,f7,g7,h7 knight:N:N:knight:b1,g1 bishop:B:B:bishop:c1,f1 rook:R:R:rook:a1,h1 queen:Q:Q:queen:d1 sausage:S:shKvNvH:sausage:,,c8,f8 mushroom:M:bFvNfsL:mushroom:,,b8,g8 meatball:E:KDfNA:meatball:,,d8 pepperoni:P:vhKsDfA:pepperoni:,,a8,h8 cheese:K:KisO2:king:e1,,e8

Yes, I used Bob Greenwade's Dealers Chess set.

15 October is National Mushroom Day.

How does the Onion, the Garlic, & the Anchovy moves?


Tripunch Chess. Knights become Nightriders, Rooks add Gryphon moves, Bishops add Aanca moves, and Queens become unbelievable. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
HaruN Y wrote on Fri, Oct 6, 2023 07:12 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
files=8 ranks=8 promoZone=1 promoChoice=RNCH graphicsDir=/membergraphics/MSdealerschess/ squareSize=50 graphicsType=png symmetry=none firstRank=1 lightShade=#ffffff darkShade=#b22234 rimColor=#3c3b6e coordColor=#ffffff borders=0 pawn:P:ifmnDfmWfceF:pawn:a2,b2,c2,d2,e2,f2,g2,h2,,a7,b7,c7,d7,e7,f7,g7,h7 nightrider:N:NN:nightrider:b1,g1,,b8,g8 combine:C:QyafsK:combine:d1,,d8 harvester:H:WyafsWB:aanca:c1,f1,,c8,f8 reaper:R:FyafsFR:wizardc:a1,h1,,a8,h8 king:K:KisO2:king:e1,,e8

Halfling Combine might be too strong for a Queen.


Short Sliders. Pieces are initially limited to 4 spaces (if that), and promote to longer moves. (12x16, Cells: 192) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Bob Greenwade wrote on Thu, Oct 5, 2023 04:34 AM UTC in reply to Joe Joyce from 02:41 AM:Excellent ★★★★★

I got the icon shown from pictures of actual high priestesses, so I'll do it the other way around: the one already posted is High Priestess (and it's already labeled as such in the filename), and I'll use this new flipped one for High Priest.

Like so:

Oh, and for most purposes I actually prefer to call it High Priestess. It's just that High Priest fits better for what's happening with it in this particular game.

By the way, your use of High Priestess is the only FAN on the Wikipedia page on fairy chess pieces, and I haven't been able to find any other name for that move combo anywhere.

PS: It's the High Priestess in the Dealer's Chess Expansion Set #1.


Metamorph Chess. Variant in which pieces transform by fixed rules into other pieces. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Kevin Pacey wrote on Tue, Oct 3, 2023 08:17 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

Another in a line of Fergus' concept CVs re: fission or fusion.


Sissa. Variant on 9 by 9 board with Sissa's. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Kevin Pacey wrote on Tue, Oct 3, 2023 08:04 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

Symmetric Sissa is a nice compliment to this original CV with the use of Sissas.


Chess on the Rope. 1d chess experimental variant with standard rules and variations. (1x21, Cells: 21) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Sat, Sep 30, 2023 09:20 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

Thx for the layout! I’ve recently refreshed some text and carried the Rules section out of layout. So I want to say: Chess on the Rope are READY!

Also some my other variants are ready (I’ve updated Fluidity this week and ChBrTi today), so you can look at them also. Please


Shogi. Missing description (9x9, Cells: 81) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Sat, Sep 23, 2023 02:54 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Shogi is perhaps one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. It's drop rule lets players come back much more easily, while the forward bias negates the advantage to defense such a rule would normall imbue. However, it is not without it's problems. The biggest one is easily the fact that the vast of the pieces promote to a Gold equivalent. Although this is a very rare situation, when a lot of Gold/Gold equivalents appear on thee board, it can easily turn Shogi into a very drawish Checkers game, and if an impasse occurs, this amplifies the problem even more.

Seireigi fixes the aforementioned problem to an extent by making all promotions unique. This also helps mitigate impasse situations, as more pieces are capable of stopping a King from reaching the opponent's camp. However, this comes at the cost of having more moves to remember (14 in total).

 


High Chess. Drawn games are instead won by the player whose King is closest to the centre.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Paulowich wrote on Mon, Sep 4, 2023 07:43 PM UTC:Poor ★

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.

diagram

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.


Aquachess. One level underwater, one on the surface, and one in the sky, with many strange pieces. (3x(8x8), Cells: 192) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Sat, Sep 2, 2023 12:07 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

However the Sparrow (mQcK) is Duke from Dan Lee's asymmetric Empire Chess (which is playable on Pychess)


Modest Proposals - GOAL Variants. Missing description (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Thu, Aug 31, 2023 02:13 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

Contravention, Linkage, Submission and Triple Check seem interesting)…


Very Heavy Chess. A lot of firepower with all compounds of classical chess pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Bob Greenwade wrote on Sun, Aug 27, 2023 06:42 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

I think the Heroine is very aptly named, but I agree with you that the Popess name is awkward (serviceable, but awkward). Could "Abbess" work?


4*Chess (four dimensional chess). Four dimensional chess using sixteen 4x4 boards & 96 pieces. (4x(4x(4x4)), Cells: 256) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
CarCar0 wrote on Sat, Aug 26, 2023 09:29 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Your current set-up can be described as the following: an architect’s plan for a four story building, and there are four such buildings. My question is this: imagine these four buildings lined up next to each other as they would be in the 3D modeling of your game, in addition to this, could we quadruple the entire set up so that there were, for the sake of example, 4 rows of 4, four-story buildings? If we did create what would be 5D spatial chess, what would the initial board set-up look like? What would the new 5th dimensional piece be called? Thank you so much for your effort on these variants.


Chu Shogi. Historic Japanese favorite, featuring a multi-capturing Lion. (12x12, Cells: 144) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Tamás Bajusz wrote on Mon, Aug 14, 2023 07:59 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

The link section should mention that Chu Shogi is playable on https://lishogi.org now as well.


Bigorra. A 16x16 board chess with all pieces from my variants. (16x16, Cells: 256) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Daniel Hancock wrote on Thu, Jul 27, 2023 10:09 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

16x16 is 256 cells not 196.


Two Kings Chess. The queen is replaced by a second king. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
OggyP wrote on Sat, Jul 22, 2023 08:20 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I created almost exactly this and was doing some research too see if it has been done before; I came across this website and found out it had except that I called it Four Kings Chess.

You can play this variant online multiplayer at: https://chess.oggyp.com (you will need to make an account though)
You can just test it out here without an account here: https://chess.oggyp.com/analysis/

https://git.oggyp.com/OggyP/chess-client

Tiger Chess. A large game with fast-moving pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Bob Greenwade wrote on Tue, Jul 18, 2023 02:34 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

I really like this! The "leap-and-slide" pieces take "ski" moves to a new dimension, and are quite innovative (at least, I don't know of any earlier incidents of that; but then again I'm a relative newbie at CVs). I probably will "borrow" the Tiger and/or Astrologer for a future variant (I've even gone so far as to design pieces for them on Thingiverse).


Drop Chess. Players can select from nine chess armies on an 8x8 or 9x9 board. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Bob Greenwade wrote on Sat, Jul 15, 2023 04:51 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

I'll agree (though not vehemently) with the assessment that the 8x8 parts are basically Chess With Different Armies. But the 9x9 parts are their own variant, and arguably deserve their own page.

I also agree that this needs a better name; I found this while looking for an article to explain the drop rule.

But the only real complaint I have is the lack of any diagrams to show what order the back-row pieces are set up in; on that point I don't have a clue. Diagrams showing the various Pawns' moves would be helpful too.


Asymmetric Chess. Chess with alternative units but classical types and mechanics. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
fxzfz fxzfz wrote on Sun, Jul 9, 2023 10:03 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

A very well designed variant, reminds me of Starcraft.


Mirodoly Chess 12x12. Members-Only Chess with Archer and with Sagittarius. A version of chess for a 12x12 board, the closest to the classic. (12x12) [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.

Mirodoly. Members-Only Piececlopedia: Mirodoly. Some theoretical principles of the analysis of pieces, both for classical chess and for modern chess.[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.

Tape Chess and other almost one-dimensional chess variants. Tape Chess and other almost one-dimensional chess variants.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Wed, Jun 28, 2023 09:52 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

So I don’t understand. Bishop is just a Nightrider (repeats knight steps) or knight jumps OVER two squares to third one (by this it can reach all the squares in Tape chess)?


Deconstruction Chess. Members-Only Revising the relations between rows and columns. (Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

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Chessgi. Drop the pieces you take from your opponent. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Paulowich wrote on Tue, May 9, 2023 07:09 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

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.

diagram

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.


Alice Chess. Classic Variant where pieces switch between two boards whenever they move. (2x(8x8), Cells: 128) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Paulowich wrote on Fri, May 5, 2023 07:40 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

diagram

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}


Iss Jetan. Missing description (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Paulowich wrote on Fri, Apr 21, 2023 06:26 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

diagram

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.


Stone Garden Chess. The animal statues in the stone garden came to life and attacked the two rival kings! With the help of a policeman each, they…. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Mon, Apr 17, 2023 04:48 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

Thanks to all. But I agree to make Game Courier preset with another graphics also, such as Alpha or Merida, in settings.


Diceroller is Fire wrote on Sat, Apr 15, 2023 05:09 PM UTC in reply to H. G. Muller from 09:40 AM:Good ★★★★

So I can delete piece articles in parentheses as well as bare piece graphics (not moving diagrams).

Middle arithmetic of mentions said above)


Ryugi. 10x10 variant with Kirins, Marshalls, and Dragons, the latter which can move as a Bishop or as a Nightrider.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Paulowich wrote on Fri, Apr 14, 2023 01:33 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

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.


Wide Chess. Chess with 2 types of non-colourbound elephants added on a 12x8 board using fast castling rules.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Paulowich wrote on Tue, Apr 11, 2023 04:40 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

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.


Grand Chess. Christian Freeling's popular large chess variant on 10 by 10 board. Rules and links. (10x10, Cells: 100) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Paulowich wrote on Fri, Mar 31, 2023 11:08 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

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

diagram

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."


The Sons of Mithra. Elaborate Fantasy variant with 13 different types of pieces per side. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Ruei Ching Hong wrote on Sat, Mar 25, 2023 01:53 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
The program is dead again .

Fluidity Chess. (Updated!) No displacement capture, all non-royal pieces take by cutting through or bypassing. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Sat, Mar 25, 2023 11:54 AM UTC in reply to Jean-Louis Cazaux from 07:24 AM:Good ★★★★

Thank you by this advice.

(BTW if you want, I can request a Shako tournament with you someday. Site is Pychess (chess variants site written in Python), to play it, you have to create lichess.org (chess site with millions of players and open source code) account)


Cylindrical Chess. Sides of the board are supposed to be connected. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Michael Nelson wrote on Tue, Mar 21, 2023 01:45 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

Very nice touchup of the page. You might have mentioned that in problems, there is more than one way to use the cylinder concept. The one here described is chess on a horizontal cylinder, which is the only form that is playable as a game. Other forms have appeared in problems: the vertical cylinder with the first and last ranks connected and the anchor ring both basically both a vertical and horizontal cylinder simultaneously. In the latter case, a1 is connected to both a8 and h1 (and in some version h8 as well, if you really want to go crazy). With rooks and queens instantly attacking each other and the kings in mutual check, we'd need special rules to play this, but a KBB vs K ending on such a board can be analyzed, as well as more complex problems.


Radioactive Queen Chess. White has a little diff in setup, but great diff in the game. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Tue, Mar 21, 2023 08:35 AM UTC in reply to H. G. Muller from Mon Mar 20 02:29 PM:Good ★★★★

OK I've edited that


Tenjiku Shogi. Fire Demons burn surrounding enemies, Generals capture jumping many pieces. (16x16, Cells: 256) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Edward Webb wrote on Mon, Mar 20, 2023 11:00 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

I read on the wiki talk page for Tenjiku about the idea that jumping generals could have been intended to do more than just jump-capture.

The start position shows the generals in front of the Fire Demons, both straight ahead and diagonally. There is no opportunity for jumping generals to capture Fire Demons in the start position, which is intentional.

It doesn't seem right that there is so much protection for Fire Demons, yet in some versions of the game, the King could be threatened and captured without even being able to evade the attack, as it's boxed in.

(In fact, the Bishop General could just mate the opponent's King on the first move if there were no restrictions on jumping.)

If the generals could jump whenever they wanted as far as they liked, the game would become even more tactically sharp than it already is. However, it doesn't break the game.

The Great General can't jump two squares diagonally to threaten one of the Fire Demons as the Rook General would capture it.

The best the Bishop Generals can do is to manoeuvre and attack a Horned Falcon or Soaring Eagle.

The idea that jumping generals could capture all of the opposing pieces they jumped over in one turn is plausible. I don't know if the game would break, but the inventor(s) of Tenjiku weren't sentimental about pieces — allowing Fire Demons to punch large holes into positions — so having more pieces do the same seems logical.

The Great General could just capture the Vice General; Free Eagle; Queen; Drunk Elephant; and a Pawn on the first move (with check). This doesn't seem intentional.

One of the Bishop Generals could move to the edge of the board and threaten to capture a Soaring Eagle; Water Buffalo; Phoenix; Drunk Elephant; and a Pawn. The Soaring Eagle can leap out of the way, though.

Otherwise, everything is sufficiently well defended that jumping generals couldn't capture a total of anything worth more than themselves, as they are even stronger than their current form.

That could be why Fire Demons are so powerful — with burning and sliding and an area move — because they would be ecliped otherwise by the jumping generals.

The board size (16×16) and large number of pieces that do very little makes more sense if there were even more crazy pieces. The game might devolve into a capture-fest, but that might have been the intention.

Whoever had the imagination to create this game has to be admired. I consider this to be the most ambitious of all the historical variants as its construction is so delicately balanced, even with the ambiguity in the rules themselves.


Bomberman Chess. Variant on 8 by 10 board with bombs and diffusers. (10x8, Cells: 80) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Daniel Zacharias wrote on Mon, Mar 13, 2023 11:03 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

This is a great idea. The bombs add enough chaos to make the game feel very different, but not too much.


Modern Courier Chess A game information page
. An attempt to reform the courier game by emulating the development of modern chess.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Paulowich wrote on Wed, Mar 8, 2023 03:01 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

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).

diagram


Enhanced Courier Chess. Courier Chess with the weaker pieces enhanced.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Paulowich wrote on Fri, Mar 3, 2023 09:57 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

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.


Stone Garden Chess. The animal statues in the stone garden came to life and attacked the two rival kings! With the help of a policeman each, they…. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Thu, Mar 2, 2023 10:28 AM UTC in reply to Daniel Zacharias from Sat Feb 25 08:50 PM:Good ★★★★

Thanks, can you publish it please?


Almost chess. One queen has combined rook and knight moves. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Paulowich wrote on Sat, Feb 25, 2023 09:06 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

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?


Stone Garden Chess. The animal statues in the stone garden came to life and attacked the two rival kings! With the help of a policeman each, they…. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Diceroller is Fire wrote on Sat, Feb 25, 2023 02:05 PM UTC in reply to Diceroller is Fire from Mon Feb 20 08:07 PM:Good ★★★★

Thank you. So I missed out one thing.

It was in the rules but wasn’t in the pieces desc. Read about King, you’ll find.


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