Rated Comments for a Single Item

⇩Latest ⇩Later ⇩Reverse Order⇧ ~~Earlier~~

Russian fortress chess. An old Russian variant for four players. (Cells: 192) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

George Duke wrote on Wed, Feb 2, 2005 11:54 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

'DEF,LargeCV': Once upon a time in Russia, Queen had the added power of the Knight. There have also been grandmasters openminded and not locked in the perpetual 64-sq. thought-rut; so it seems Capablanca and Tchgorin played this Fortress Chess in London. Virtually, any mate wins because that one's pieces are removed from the partnership. Though 192 squares, with four players games are not necessarily extremely long. Critique: What about cheating signals of word or gesture not considered a problem in present-day computer play?

Alex wrote on Sat, Mar 20, 2004 03:31 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

I love this game! I'm just a kid, but it will be <b><u>GREAT</u></b> for my report on Russia, and chess is such an integral part of Russia.

B Bradley wrote on Wed, Jan 29, 2003 11:01 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

I always enjoy hearing about variants for three or more players--
especially if the rules and layout are well-conceived. This looks like a
variant I'd be interested in playing, but it looks like I'll have to
construct my own board. If you're playing with people who are on the same
level as you, 4-player chess can be quite exciting.

However, I find it's most interesting when you play free-for-all, and
pieces of a checkmated king are taken control of by the opponent who mated
him. In that case, it's fun to see the remaining two drop everything to
team up on the overpowered opponent, and then(if they survive) continue
decimating each other.

I remember one such game where a friend of mine had broken one such
'treaty', mating me while under the pretense that we were teaming up on
the other person. That little sidequest, however, cost him valuable time--
and later, the game.

Sorry, just a little reminiscing... keep up the good work!