Check out Symmetric Chess, our featured variant for March, 2024.


[ Help | Earliest Comments | Latest Comments ]
[ List All Subjects of Discussion | Create New Subject of Discussion ]
[ List Latest Comments Only For Pages | Games | Rated Pages | Rated Games | Subjects of Discussion ]

Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

Later Reverse Order Earlier
Amoeba. Small variant with 38 movable squares. (7x7, Cells: 38) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Tue, Sep 26, 2017 01:22 PM UTC:

At present, the Game Courier preset for Amoeba will not let you make any move at all. The only line of code in it is the conserve command, which will now give an error message that it has been removed. Until someone can make one that does enforce rules, I have made one that doesn't at

/play/pbm/play.php?game%3DAmoeba%26settings%3Dbare

In this one, you can move a space with two moves. First, delete a space by preceding it with a hyphen, then add an empty space to it. You can do this by adding an @ to the space, or by moving the "piece" on the space nowhere. So, assuming you want to move the space at d3 to d4, your move could look like "-d3; @-d4" or like "-d3; d4-". Using commands, which are not banned in this bare preset, but which could be in a programmed one, your move could look like "delete d3; add @ d4" or "delete d3; empty d4". The delete command deletes a space from the board, while the empty command empties a space of any pieces, a side effect being that it will undelete any deleted space. Alternately, you could move the "piece" on one space to another, then delete the origin space. For example, "d3-d4; -d3". In a game that allowed it, this notation would have the advantage of letting you move a space with a piece on it. But that is not allowed in Amoeba.


Oisín D. wrote on Tue, Sep 26, 2017 11:02 AM UTC:

What's the command to slide the squares for this?


H. G. Muller wrote on Tue, Aug 12, 2008 06:48 AM UTC:
If you implement the moving board by simply covering the squares that are supposed to be holes with an obstacle, as I suggested below, you would not have that problem. You could use draughts chips for marking the holes, but it would perhaps be nicer to have some square tiles of a third color that completely cover the squares.

This is much more likely to work than actually trying to construct a board where all squares can move.

Matthew Kyle wrote on Mon, Aug 11, 2008 06:38 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
This is a great game. Just one thought: there would be no sensible way to color the squares if you slide them! :) Unless they're all the same color...

Abdul-Rahman Sibahi wrote on Fri, Feb 23, 2007 12:20 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
The Game Courier preset isn't linked to game's page.

In a different note, what if the game was played with Marseillais Chess
style? That is: at each turn, except white's first, the player makes a
move, move a square, than makes another move.

H.G.Muller wrote on Tue, Jan 31, 2006 01:24 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Having holes in the chess board is equivalent to occupying some squares by a 'barricade'. Moving a square into the hole is completely equivalent to moving the barricade oppositely (as solid-state physicists know very well). This allows for an easy, be it somewhat less exotic looking implementation of this game: beside the two sets of pieces there is a number of barricades that move as a Wazir, cannot capture or be captured, and can be moved by either side after the normal turn. In the variant where occupied squares may move, the barricades exchange places with anything they 'capture'.

Anonymous wrote on Fri, Feb 6, 2004 03:36 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
i believe this new game is creative and will create a new challenge to those who call themselves chessmasters

7 comments displayed

Later Reverse Order Earlier

Permalink to the exact comments currently displayed.