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Macrochess. Missing description (12x12, Cells: 144) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Charles Gilman wrote on Thu, Nov 24, 2005 07:39 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
It does indeed echo Chu Shogi in the symmetry of the outer files. Each type of colourbound piece also covers all bindings, which is unusual with the Dabbaba and Alfil.

Christine Bagley-Jones wrote on Thu, Nov 24, 2005 02:48 PM UTC:
knight + camel + zebra is a buffalo
http://www.chessvariants.org/piececlopedia.dir/buffalo.html

Charles Gilman wrote on Fri, Nov 25, 2005 08:42 AM UTC:
That's a good point by Michael Howe. Another question is WHERE Pawns are promoted. The most Shogi-like would be optionally anywhere in the enemy camp, compulsorily should they reach the far rank unpromoted. On the assumption that this will be clarified I do not nullify my previous rating. Further to Christine Bagley-Jones' comment, the U of Buffalo (B already being in use for Bishop) would be a good substitute for the V of Valiant Knight.

Robert Potter wrote on Fri, Nov 25, 2005 05:53 PM UTC:
Okay, yes I should clarify. When castling, the King moves four spaces, none of which can be attacked by enemies. Pawns promote on the last rank, just like in normal chess. (Why you guys couldn't figure that out is beyond me.) I did say something about en passant in the original rules, look for it. I did not know that the Buffalo was such a piece until after I posted this, but I do know about it now. I still like Valiant Knight better though.

Christine Bagley-Jones wrote on Sun, Nov 27, 2005 11:50 PM UTC:
why do you have to have just one letter for a piece?
(i don't like the name 'valiant knight' for the buffalo, because the
buffalo is a very established name for that piece.)

Robert Potter wrote on Mon, Nov 28, 2005 03:26 PM UTC:
I like the name I picked because it conveys the awesome power of the piece's movement in a way that a common name like 'buffalo' does not. But, hey, you call it what you want, and I'll call it what I want.

Andy Maxson wrote on Thu, Mar 1, 2007 07:41 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
this game looks fun but how about merging the wazirs, ferzes, alfils, and dabbabaa into a squire? or maybe just having murray lions instead?

David Paulowich wrote on Fri, Mar 2, 2007 12:04 AM UTC:

The player with the White pieces in Leaping/Missing Bat Chess has 4 Alfils (which can reach every square on the odd-numbered ranks) and 2 Dababbas (which can reach every square on the even-numbered ranks). Reverse 'odd' and 'even' for the Black pieces. This variant makes it impossible to trade an Alfil for an Alfil (or a Dababba for a Dababba).

For another approach to covering the chessboard with colorbound pieces, see my Shatranj Kamil (64) page. The Elephants in this variant may move like an Alfil or a noncapturing Dababbah. This results in a weaker version of the Alibaba, visiting 16 of the squares on the board. Thus the two White Elephants control the 32 light squares between them, while the White General (Ferz) controls the 32 dark squares. An Elephant is intended to have the same value as a General, so it would be reasonable to trade one for the other.


Daniil Frolov wrote on Mon, Jul 26, 2010 11:41 AM UTC:
I made preset:
/play/pbm/play.php?game%3DMacrochess%26settings%3DMacrochess
I think, name 'valiant knight' is better for languages, where (1,2) leaper from FIDE chess is called 'rider' or 'knight', but bufallo is better for languages, where it is called 'horse'.

Georg Spengler wrote on Sun, Jan 4, 2015 07:11 PM UTC:
This is one of the "closed" category of large chess variants, that is, there are a lot of weak pieces, so the game develops slowly. If you like such kind of games - i do - this is one of the best.

It usually begins with a kind of vanguard skirmish involving pawns and alfils (and maybe one or two dabbabahs), in case both players try to advance in the middle or on the same side. This phase is quite pleasent and interesting.
Next comes a longwinded phase of consolidation and defining the front lines, advancing the rest of the pawns and the weak pieces like knights, camels, zebras and the 1-step-sliders. This phase may be tedious for some, it requires strategic thinking rather than tactics. I like this phase and also the next one.
In the 4th phase the players try to break into the enemy's line-up, usually with the weak pieces backed up by the strong one's from the rear. Far reaching minor pieces like zebras and bishops are becoming quite prominent now and often manage to get traded with more powerful pieces.
After most of the weak pieces are traded, the game becomes very tactical. For dull players like me here the game is getting arduous. 

The initial set-up is a good solution, but why are the knights closer to the rim than the camels and zebras? The logical order should be: zebras on the rim, then the camels, than the knights, isn't it?
Initially I also thought, that ferz, wazir and guard standing on the rim are misplaced, too. But thats ok. They are flank fighters, only slowly getting to the middle of the board, so they don't disturb the opening game. Or they stay at home to protect the king.

Georg Spengler wrote on Sun, Jan 4, 2015 07:15 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
I try to rate it, but it didn't work...

Georg Spengler wrote on Sun, Jan 4, 2015 07:16 PM UTC:
ah ok

Georg Spengler wrote on Thu, Oct 29, 2015 12:45 AM UTC:
the Valient Knight is too strong for being 2 of them. One should be replaced  by some other piece.

Georg Spengler wrote on Thu, Oct 29, 2015 12:45 AM UTC:
my posts always double. Donno why.

[Ed. note: I've been deleting them as they occur. As far as I know none of the scripts have changed, so I don't know why this would be happening. This post didn't duplicate either.]


Kevin Pacey wrote on Thu, Mar 1, 2018 08:37 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

A variant that well serves the inventor's aim of a western chess style version of Chu Shogi.


H. G. Muller wrote on Mon, May 10, 2021 12:46 PM UTC:
satellite=macro files=12 ranks=12 graphicsDir=http://www.chessvariants.com/graphics.dir/alfaeriePNG35/ promoZone=1 squareSize=35 graphicsType=png lightShade=#FFFFFF darkShade=#CCBBFF rimColor=#141194 coordColor=#EFEF1F borders=0 firstRank=1 useMarkers=1 promoChoice=XVDAQMCRGBZNWLF holdingsype=1 pawn::::a4-l4 wazir::W::b3,k3 ferz::::c3,j3 alfil::A:elephant:e2-h3 dabbah::D:warmachine:d2,d3,i2,i3 zebra::::b2,k2 camel:L:::c2,j2 knight:N:::a2,l2 bishop::::c1,j1 guard::K::a3,l3 rook::::a1,l1 cardinal::BN::d1,i1 marshall::RN:chancellor:e1 queen::::h1 valliant knight::NCZ:wildebeest:b1,k1 amazon:X:QN::f1 king::KisO3::g1

MacroChess


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