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Xhess. Decimal variant with Nightriders and Cannons. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Kevin Pacey wrote on Tue, Mar 6, 2018 02:04 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

This looks like an interesting variant that deserves to be played more on Game Courier. I'm not sure I completely like that in the setup each player has two horsemen on the rook's files that take a move longer to promote minimum than the other horsemen, nor am I sure I completely like the king-to-the-last-rank wins extra victory condition added to the variant, but perhaps it's all a matter of taste.


Anthony Viens wrote on Thu, Mar 5, 2020 01:03 AM UTC:Average ★★★

This looks like a decent 10x10 variant; it has the basic Chess pieces--with more mobile Pawns-- and well-known Knightriders & XiangQi Cannons.

The King game-winning 'promotion' rule could liven up the endgames without totally changing the game.

However, I am confused as to the logic behind the apparently abitrary initial setup. The Rooks have an open rank (like Grand Chess) which is fine.  But the Horsemen (modified Pawns) are more mobile--but start very close to each other.  So close, in fact, they can't use their forward most moves initially without being captured.   Except the Horsemen on the far ends; they start one rank farther back for no discernable reason. 

The forward pawn lines leave a bunch of space to the rear; considering the vast area there aren't very many other pieces.

Also, the Knights are back a rank from the Horsemen, consequently they cannot move forward as the first move. They are protecting Horsemen, but it seems like there ought to be another way to do this.

Xhess is quite playable, but I'm left with the impression the starting setup could use an overhaul.


Lily Dawn wrote on Sat, Mar 21, 2020 01:38 AM UTC:

This variant was very influential on me; I found it specifically because I was looking for variants that used cannons, but the pawns really hooked me.

I'm in agreement that the starting position is odd. I would push everything back a row, and then just find a starting square for the nightriders that makes sure they're not immediately attacking anything. 

This is kind of a criticism of the nightrider itself, but in practice it's probably not fun to constantly keep track of what pieces it's threatening from far away. The piece seems fun but I feel like there are other possibilities that don't require so much 'proofreading' of the board.

I like the 'king reaches the last row' win condition. On such a large board, especially if everything were pushed back a row to begin with, it may be logical to change that to 'king passes the midline.' Not necessary, but not an extreme possibility either.


Greg Strong wrote on Thu, Dec 24, 2020 02:11 AM UTC:
files=10 ranks=10 promoZone=1 promoChoice=NBRQCIH graphicsDir=/graphics.dir/alfaeriePNG/ squareSize=50 graphicsType=png knight:N:N:knight:d2,g2,,d9,g9 bishop:B:B:bishop:c3,h3,,c8,h8 rook:R:R:rook:a1,j1,,a10,j10 queen:Q:Q:queen:f2,,f9 cannon:C:mRcpR:cannon:b3,i3,,b8,i8 Nightrider:I:NN:nightrider:e3,f3,,e8,f8 Horseman:H:fafsmWlafrmWraflmWmfWcfF:knightpawn:a3,j3,b4,c4,d4,e4,f4,g4,h4,i4,,b7,c7,d7,e7,f7,g7,h7,i7,a8,j8 king:K:K:king:e2,,e9

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