🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Tue, May 5, 2020 05:29 PM UTC:
I didn't follow your example concerning Gravitational Chess. It appears to be a different game than Neto's Gravity Chess, and all we have on it is a Java applet by Ed Friedlander, which are not supported in recent browsers. I think we have to bear in mind that the purpose of a glossary is to quickly and clearly explain the standard meanings of terms to people who are unfamiliar with them. It is not to give a comprehensive and scholarly account of the subject. We might create pages for some terms that cover them in more depth, as Greg has for castling, and I've been thinking of doing this for the related concepts of attack and capture. For the glossary definition, we should aim for clarity, brevity, and conformity with standard usage. Inclusivity is also good, but we don't need to stretch a definition so much that it will work with every game we can think of. I've had some thoughts on how to make the definition of attack briefer. Here is the entry I now propose. It also includes a separate paragraph for examples of different kinds of attacks. I have also included entries for some related terms.
attack - 1. n. The threat of capture of a piece on its current space, on a space it may move to, on a space it may pass through while making a move, or on an intervening space while making a leap.
The first two types of attacks are common in most Chess variants, including Chess, Shatranj, Xiangqi, and Shogi. The third comes into play in Chess when a pawn may be captured en passant or when the king is not allowed to move through check when castling. Other examples of it may be found in Caïssa Britannia, whose royal queen may not move through check, and in Fusion Chess, which also has royal pieces incapable of moving through check. The fourth is found in Metamachy, which allows the king to leap two spaces on its first move, though not over checked spaces, and it is illustrated in Fusion Chess, whose cavalier king may leap as a knight but not through check.
2. v. To threaten a piece with capture in any manner described above.
3. v. colloquial. To make a move that creates a new attack on an enemy piece on its current space.
attacked, under attack - 1. adj. Subject to attack; threatened with capture.
check - 1. n An attack against a royal piece.
2. v. To attack a royal piece.
checked, in check - 1. The state of a royal piece being under attack.
I didn't follow your example concerning Gravitational Chess. It appears to be a different game than Neto's Gravity Chess, and all we have on it is a Java applet by Ed Friedlander, which are not supported in recent browsers. I think we have to bear in mind that the purpose of a glossary is to quickly and clearly explain the standard meanings of terms to people who are unfamiliar with them. It is not to give a comprehensive and scholarly account of the subject. We might create pages for some terms that cover them in more depth, as Greg has for castling, and I've been thinking of doing this for the related concepts of attack and capture. For the glossary definition, we should aim for clarity, brevity, and conformity with standard usage. Inclusivity is also good, but we don't need to stretch a definition so much that it will work with every game we can think of. I've had some thoughts on how to make the definition of attack briefer. Here is the entry I now propose. It also includes a separate paragraph for examples of different kinds of attacks. I have also included entries for some related terms.
attack - 1. n. The threat of capture of a piece on its current space, on a space it may move to, on a space it may pass through while making a move, or on an intervening space while making a leap.
The first two types of attacks are common in most Chess variants, including Chess, Shatranj, Xiangqi, and Shogi. The third comes into play in Chess when a pawn may be captured en passant or when the king is not allowed to move through check when castling. Other examples of it may be found in Caïssa Britannia, whose royal queen may not move through check, and in Fusion Chess, which also has royal pieces incapable of moving through check. The fourth is found in Metamachy, which allows the king to leap two spaces on its first move, though not over checked spaces, and it is illustrated in Fusion Chess, whose cavalier king may leap as a knight but not through check.
2. v. To threaten a piece with capture in any manner described above.
3. v. colloquial. To make a move that creates a new attack on an enemy piece on its current space.
attacked, under attack - 1. adj. Subject to attack; threatened with capture.
check - 1. n An attack against a royal piece.
2. v. To attack a royal piece.
checked, in check - 1. The state of a royal piece being under attack.