Comments/Ratings for a Single Item
(having given ratings of Excellent previously and not wishing to overdo it) I note that the mixture of non-Pawns in this variant is one King, one each of the two strongest pieces, and two each of four others - a description which also applies to Shogi. This has inspired me to add a subvariant to my Bishogi family of variants(http://www.chessvariants.org/shogivariants.dir/bishogi.html), using the Wildebeest Chess mix of pieces (but two Pawns fewer) on a Shogi board and called Wildebishogi.
Cazaux's Zillions implementation of Wildebeest Chess has a bug: when a pawn makes a triplicate step, an opponent pawn cannot capture 'en passant' if the bypassing pawn ends up on the rank behind. http://www.chessvariants.com/programs.dir/zillions/wildebeest.zip http://www.chessvariants.com/programs.dir/zillions/cazauxchess.zip Moreover, Cazaux's implementation of Bolyar Chess (in casauxchess.zip) doesn't seem to follow the rules that appear on the Internet, and which I have recently implemented. Cazaux gives no source for his version of the rules. Instead Omega Chess is described. My Bolyar Chess: http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/bolyarchess.htm /Mats
Cazaux's Zillions implementation of Wildebeest Chess is also missing the stalemate victory rule. See my comment here. There are even more comments on the 'Recognized Chess Variant: Wildebeest Chess' page here. As I stated there, we have very little information about the problems involved in forcing stalemate.
Two Kingdoms - by Nuno Cruz [2001] - uses the Gazelle piece.
'The Knights represent the Cavalry, moving as the usual Knight or as the fairy Zebra.'
R. Wayne Schmittberg last made appeared here 30 months ago, so I don't know if he will be reading this comment. After dropping the (Shatranj) Bare King Loss rule, there is one minor detail to take care of. Sample Position: White King(c1), Black King(a1), Black Pawn(a2).
Victory Rules Checkmating your opponent wins the game. Note that you require a king and at least one other piece in order to checkmate. Stalemating your opponent wins the game, except when you have only a lone King. Then the result is a draw.
Endgame Position White: King c1, Knight e1 and Black: King a1, Pawn a2, Rook e2.
1.Nc2 check Rxc2 check and Black has won in Shatranj by the Bare King rule, which has only one stated exception. The Zillions Rule File for Shatranj (correctly) scores the game as a win for Black.
2.Kxc2 stalemate draws the game in my two recent 'Shatranj Kamil' variants. R. Wayne Schmittberg has just confirmed that White wins in Wildebeest Chess. And so we all agree to differ.
The Missile Chess.zrf is available at www.zillions-of-games.com
Just wanted to add my 'Excellent' rating. This game is right up there with Grand Chess. I have a question for all you Wildebeesters. Either side can deliver a smothered Fool's Mate on move 2 using the long leap of a Camel or Wildebeest. This can be defended against in a few ways. Does this cause opening variety to be limited, in anyone's experience? Or is it more like Qh5 in OrthoChess, an aggressive move that tends to backfire if the opponent defends well?
One might add a one-space orthogonal step to the Knight (Wazir Knight) and a one-space diagonal step to the Camel (Wizard from Omega Chess), and both moves to the Wildebeest (Wildebeest plus King). This preserves the symmetry between the riding and leaping pieces, and now the King is integrated into it, having the moves which are shared by Queen and Wildebeest. And the stronger pieces can be seen as a second advantage, if one feels that the standard pieces are relatively weak for the big board.
Game Courier Preset with automation and rule-enforcement: /play/pbm/play.php?game%3DWildebeest+Chess%26settings%3DWildebeest+Chess+with+rules
I'm mesmerized by it! But I've noticed that if you change places of the rooks and knights, all leapers and all sliders will be on one side. I can make the game ore interesting. Hugs!
The first and simplest is to allow the 'King swap' of Fergus Duniho's Yang Qi. This stops it mattering that Bishops start on the same binding, likewise camels, and allows this:
The second it to simply swap files e and g over, balancing each kind of colourbound piece with the compound of the other:
The third is to remove the King and its file, the results of which can be seen in my Notchess 100.
The fourth is to put in an extra file with some unrelated piece on it. There has been much discusion here about how the Zebra might be added to this variant. Rather than try to make it part of a two-pairs-plus-their-compound group - which I have done in Wildeurasian Bestiary but which makes for a far more complex game than the one here - it could be a one-off rather like the Diana Knight. I would suggest the following array, to even give balance between the middle two pairs of files:
I review 'New Rules for Classic Games' by Schmittberger in earlier comment this article, http://www.chessvariants.org/index/displaycomment.php?commentid=18367. Wildebeest is ranked high as current number 15 at Next Chess; Next Chess is on track to be turned into article more accessible than its connected threads. http://www.chessvariants.org/hexagonal.dir/glinski/contest2001.html. http://www.chessvariants.org/index/displaycomment.php?commentid=920
One of my favorite large board games. Playing it gives a kind of breathy feeling, if that makes sense. Like on a wide open field; your limbs seem elongated...it's like playing chess on Pandora... In a way.
files=11
ranks=10
graphicsDir=/membergraphics/MSelven-chess/
whitePrefix=w
blackPrefix=b
graphicsType=png
useMarkers=1
startShade=#C0FF40
satellite=wildebeest
symmetry=rotate
promoChoice=QW
pawn::fmW*fceF::a2-k2
knight:N:::b1,j1
bishop::::c1,d1
camel::::h1,i1
rook::::a1,k1
wildebeest::NC:gnu:g1
queen::::e1
king::KisO1isO2isO3isO4::f1
Wildebeest Chess adds two new leaper types to the FIDE setup, two minors and one major. (And the Wildebeest is only a major by virtue of the rule that stalemate is also a win.) What so far stopped it from being represented in an interactive diagram was the castling rule, in particular that a castling King can also end up on an adjacent square (sO1 castling in XBetza notation). With the usual convention that castling is entered by using the King, this would be ambiguous with a normal King move. The diagram script is now enhanced to understand a click on the applicable Rook (which will also be highlighted) as target square of a King move as a command to castle to the adjacent square. |
|
A lovely use of the otherwise powerful jumping pieces included, by having them on a rather long board.
25 comments displayed
Permalink to the exact comments currently displayed.