Check out Symmetric Chess, our featured variant for March, 2024.


[ Help | Earliest Comments | Latest Comments ]
[ List All Subjects of Discussion | Create New Subject of Discussion ]
[ List Earliest Comments Only For Pages | Games | Rated Pages | Rated Games | Subjects of Discussion ]

Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

Earlier Reverse Order Later
Clairvoyant Chess. Players predict what opponent will do to gain advantages.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
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? 


Kevin Pacey wrote on Tue, Mar 19 02:06 AM UTC in reply to Florin Lupusoru from Mon Mar 18 06:26 AM:

Sadly, chess or chess variants themselves (or even many other games, besides some movies, some rap music...) could be argued to have glorified warfare/conflict between people, if one is against that, too. It depends how how impressionable you think some players might be (especially younger ones) that they might go from the playing of CVs stage to trying to imitate something in a game in real life. Even some arguably harmless CVs include the 'wizard' piece type, and, perhaps remotely related, I heard long ago of one person who tried to ban the word 'hello' because it had 'hell' in it.

People go to firing ranges, yet few use arms illegally as a result. There are more known cases of youngsters in fact using guns illegally than perhaps are known to have performed witchcraft successfully (or even if it backfired on them in some horrible way) - the latter may take more knowledge and grownup reading skills, pretending for a moment that most of the modern day world even believes it actually can be performed. If it's any consolation, I believe witchcraft is real enough - however I pray there is never again the need felt for Salem's Witch trials and such...


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 Tue, Mar 19 02:18 AM UTC in reply to Daniel Zacharias from 02:14 AM:

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.

If your King or Queen are under attack, your opponent can almost "predict" that you will try to protect them. 


Daniel Zacharias wrote on Tue, Mar 19 02:24 AM UTC in reply to Florin Lupusoru from 02:18 AM:

yes, and if you leave your Queen exposed to attack you can predict that the other player will capture. The prediction element makes for more complex choices.


Florin Lupusoru wrote on Tue, Mar 19 02:25 AM UTC in reply to Kevin Pacey from 02:06 AM:

I believe witchcraft is real enough - however I pray there is never again the need felt for Salem's Witch trials and such...

That could never happen these days because witches run the courts and the universities. 


Kevin Pacey wrote on Tue, Mar 19 02:35 AM UTC in reply to Florin Lupusoru from 02:25 AM:

I would not be against trying to first tell people not to try it, then finding a humane way, if possible somehow, of treating those who do use witchcraft, even (perhaps especially) in a malignant way. However, water torture or burning at the stake horrify me, and they're not very effective at coping with such a problem, I'd guess.

Perhaps an exorcist might need to be called, if a witch/wizard could be successfully subdued. Anyway, we are far from there, and sadly there are much bigger problems that make the news regularly in today's world, which is blinded by science to the exclusion of other possibilities.


Florin Lupusoru wrote on Tue, Mar 19 02:47 AM UTC in reply to Kevin Pacey from 02:35 AM:

Perhaps an exorcist might need to be called, if a witch/wizard could be successfully subdued.

This is a contradiction. As Jesus said, the kingdom of demons does not fight against itself. 

then finding a humane way

If you knew just how evil some people are, you would wish there was a Hell. 


Kevin Pacey wrote on Tue, Mar 19 03:07 AM UTC in reply to Florin Lupusoru from 02:47 AM:

https://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/11/05/kenya.witches/

I'm in fact sure there is a hell, I just try not to think about it too often. Can evil people be 'cured' of that before they pass away? I'm not about to make any judgement call on what the Lord can do.


🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Tue, Mar 19 05:42 PM UTC in reply to Florin Lupusoru from Mon Mar 18 06:26 AM:

When chess meets witchcraft. I am against the idea of turning chess players into witches and wizards, but here we are.

This page makes no mention of witchcraft, witches, or wizards. Whether you think of clairvoyance as witchcraft, a psychic power, or fantasy depends on your worldview. The creator of this game is a science fiction and fantasy author, and he mainly frames what players are doing in this game as guessing or predicting. Predicting your opponent's moves is in fact a common practice in Chess, though typically based on deduction rather than clairvoyance, and all this variant does is gamify that aspect of Chess.

Sadly, there are lots of similar games that use spells, magic, and predictions.

I don't know any Chess variants played by means of actual magic. My own Magic Chess employs spell casting, but it's as pretend as Monopoly money.

Why do we even call them chess variants?

Whether something is a Chess variant is not determined by the theme given to the game. Aikin could have given his game the more prosaic name of Prediction Chess, or I could have framed Magic Chess as a science fiction game called Advanced Technology Chess without changing any of its game mechanics.


10 comments displayed

Earlier Reverse Order Later

Permalink to the exact comments currently displayed.