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Shatranj Kamil X. Shatranj Kamil, with new pieces from Jetan, Shogi and Xiangqi. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Joe Joyce wrote on Thu, Apr 19, 2007 06:22 PM UTC:A thought-provoking comment, Mats, so I did some looking. XiangQi has 32 pieces on 90 points, for a 36% starting piece density. Shatranj Kamil X has 44 pieces on 100 squares, 44% starting density, so it is more crowded, with about 25% more pieces on board, and the SKX cannons are behind all the other pieces - plus to XQ. But the board has 1 more file [11% increase] for the 2 cannons to operate on, which mitigates this a bit - plus to SKX. Further, while the cannons in XiangQi are forward of the other pieces, they are behind a pawn row that's only 55% filled, and there is no pawn in front of a cannon to start, unlike SKX. To effectively use the cannons in either game requires maneuvering - even. The additional pieces in SKX will give the cannons more opportunities to capture as the game goes on, so they are less effective in the very beginning, but more effective during the game, and their effectiveness lasts much farther into the game, as all agree cannons lose effectiveness in the endgame, where there are so many fewer pieces for them to leap. Also, the larger board favors unlimited sliders over shortrange pieces. In my opinion, the advantage is tilting toward SKX.
In order to know how the Chinese Cannon fares in this congested situation one would need to test this in a Zillions program. The situation is quite different compared with Chinese Chess where there are always open lines. /Mats
The Elephant has no brakes, so it cannot stop after moving just one square. Compare this piece with the Chinese Horse, which makes one orthogonal move and then must continue with a second (diagonal) move. Also the [Jesters] link on this page takes you to the King's Court Chess page, which has a diagram for the Jester - Free Padwar - War Elephant.
[2008 EDIT] Added a remark concerning the Chinese Elephant to the Pieces section.
Joe Joyce wrote on Wed, Mar 14, 2007 03:48 PM UTC:The piece moves like a ferz, then must move like a ferz again [a 'forced 2-step bent ferzrider' ;-) ]. It has 2 limitations: 1 - it cannot capture on the first step of its 2-step move. The first square it moves to *must* be empty. It may only capture on the second step. 2 - it cannot make a null move. It may not move back to its original square.
I don't quite understand how the Elephant moves in this game. (I read the Pawdar's description, didn't help.)
Joe Joyce wrote on Wed, Mar 14, 2007 12:11 PM UTC:A very nice-looking game overall, looking forward to playing this one too [and probably losing]. The pieces are an unusual mix, with shortrange predominating. They seem nicely balanced, with what appears to me to be a slight bias for white toward the white squares and black, toward the black. I'm curious to see how the ferz plays out against the 2 lame elephants. Without the cannons, it would be very much an 'open shatranj' feel, but I suspect the cannons will often be used as sacrifices to crack open a defended position; certainly they could speed up the game a bit.
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