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Comments by GeorgeDuke
Chancellor Chess. On a 9 by 9 or 9 by 8 board with a piece with combined rook and knight moves. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'ABCLargeCV': Never commented since posted 8 yrs. ago, Chancellor Chess studies were devised by the American problemist par excellence Sam Loyd(1841-1911) around the turn of the 20th century. Puerto Rican Gabriel Maura's Modern Chess also has 9x9 embodiment, invented in 1960's, but has 'Minister'(B+N) rather than Foster's 'Chancellor'(R+N).
Divergent Chess. All pieces capture different than they move without capturing. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'DEF,LargeCV': All pieces move in capture like their 'opposite', loosely taken to mean that B-R, K-Q, and Knight-Guard are opposites. So, for ex. Bishop captures like a Rook (but otherwise moves its own Bishop way); King captures like a Queen; and so on. Knight goes diagonal-straight to capture, else the reverse; the new piece 'Guard' goes straight-diagonal to capture, else the reverse. Pawn already has 'split' capability between capture and non-capture. The central idea is fine, but 14 ways of moving (Michael Nelson's move-type density?), more or less, despite duplications among pieces, are confusing to play. Promotion of pieces(yes, pieces) is not clear: I think it means a piece at last rank reverts to FIDE normality. That is not logical here for King which would lose power. The particular set of rules has a few problems.
Cardmate. Chess variant on board with 100 squares, inspired by card games. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'ABCLargeCV': Before reading on, peruse 'Cardmate' and make a salient comment for practice. Cards and chess are used together in Knightmare Chess, adapted from Tempete sur l'Echiquier. Dice and chess were used for centuries from year 600. 'Fortunately these rules can be relaxed at will.' That sounds suspicious. 'Games usually last around 80 moves, give or take 40 moves.' That clinches it as a hoax: not altogether incoherent, characteristic of any charade. A special deck has variously from 52 to 56 cards. The cards and suits correspond to specific assizes. They stand as well for a position and a move, like 'diagonally forward', never mind 1,2,or 3. 'Vous transformez l'un de vos Cavaliers en Chameau' works a lot better. Stay with Knightmare if necessary. Cards and Chess still have unrealized potential.
Free Chess. Dissociate movement-abilities from physical pieces. The opening setup is an empty board. (13x13, Cells: 156) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'DEF,LargeCV': 'The grammar is convoluted, but the rule should make sense (if you read it a few dozen times.)' --Scarmani, at 'Objective'. No thanks. Just one or two rules derived from Free Chess might make a good game. Of no real playability as it is, this 13x13 has great unifying idea and ties in with today's Divergent Chess. The latter separates pieces' attributes as to move or capture. Free Chess abstractly sets up empty board and 'attribute reserve' numbering 32 in hand. Each turn either places an attribute or moves a piece. Several may stand on the same square because they may be attributes or combinators. A combinator-attribute may be captured without its even being a piece. One clever rule: an attribute's, placed on opponent's piece, subtracting that one's same attribute. That combinator-Kings may move through check: also true in Divergent Chess. Critique: (1) 'Opawn as 1- or 2-mover is arguably Queenlike. (2) What is the incentive to use a royal attribute? (3) Why two Knight attributes becoming Nightrider, as there are other possibilities?
Dabbabante Chess.. Played on a 10x10 board with Super Dabbabah pieces. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'DEF,LargeCV': Good write-up by Peter Aronson of what is nevertheless a poor game. Reaching only one-fourth of the squares, Dabbabante does not add anything to chess, making Dab. Chess an inadequate 'idea' game not worth playing. The weak novelty stems from un-chess-like division of basic pieces into Wazir, Ferz, Alfil and Dabbaba, whence Dabbaba-Rider('-Leaper') as some inevitable derivation. Alfil itself at least, as in Shatranj, by movement transverse to 'orthogonal' Pawn, creates interesting chess combinations. Yet the piece Dabbabante might become compelling with Berolina Pawns instead, together with minor change of other piece(s) in 10x10 array. V.R. Parton shows no inclination to follow through in plopping Dabbabante in lieu of Chancellor and Archbishop in decimal chess.
Eight-Stone Chess. On an 8 by 9 board with eight neutral stones. (8x9, Cells: 72) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'DEF,LargeCV': Heretofore unrated: great game for all of its novelty, play-worthiness, clarity of rules. One-rank extension of board, and own-piece-adjacent swap with Stone, and no immediate reversal of a Stone step or leap -- these appear to solve any problems in the simplest way.
The Duke of Rutland's Chess. Large variant from 18th century England. (14x10, Cells: 140) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'DEF,LargeCV': Judgment about each game occurs within its 'environment' of related games and historical precedents. One term used in patents worldwide is how 'crowded' the 'prior art' is. One principle used by CV designers is novelty, as applied to both pieces and rules. Here Crowned Rook(R+K) non-royal makes debut as new piece, whilst the other heterodox long-ranger Concubine is used before by Carrera. Also facing the exigency of having ten ranks is Pawn's three-square option. Chess master Philidor played Duke of Rutland's Chess in mid-18th century. There is one unprotected Pawn initially, the l-Pawn, versus Courier Chess' three unguarded. DRC would probably play a lot like most of the older Turkish Great Chesses I-VI. Estimate their average number of moves typically around 60-80 per score.
Cobra Chess. Variant on 10 by 10 board with new pieces, including the Cobra. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'ABCLargeCV': The main novelty is the 'Cobra'; Peterson is wrong that 'Duke' as (N+K) is a new piece: there are usages of (N+K) found in Pritchard's ECV. Cobra moves like the Rook in Xiangqi along points, but occupies all four adjoining squares. Lavieri's comment about high-power density shows Cobra's vulnerability. Peterson is off the mark that it would be of Queen value here; instead more like 5 or 6 versus any of its Carrera-compound's 8 or 9. Cobra can capture one or two at a time, but can itself be captured at any of its four squares by any piece. Average innovation that will be useful in establishing a baseline for other pieces that occupy, or have effects over, more than one cell (like we use Sissa to compare riders which change direction in that group).
Russian fortress chess. An old Russian variant for four players. (Cells: 192) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'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?
Black Hole Chess. Variant on board with 100 squares with hole in middle of board, combination pieces and hiding squares for kings. (9x11, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'ABCLargeCV': (9*11)-1+2=100. 14th-century Tamerlane Chess(112 sqs.) also has one square tacked on at each end for King to hide if he wants to. Maxima(76 sqs.) has two extra sqs.(Goal) per side back of the pieces and supplemental winning condition. Beau Monde(100 sqs.) has 1x2 hole in the center of its board. The Central Squares(100 sqs.) and Jacks and Witches(84 sqs.) both have 2x2 center holes. The Pit(84 sqs.) has 4x4 vacancy centrally.
Game Courier Tournament #2. Sign up for our 2nd multi-variant tournament to be played all on Game Courier.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]If I have skimmed the thread correctly, I did not play in Tournament 1, now sign up for #2 early.
Drop Chess. Players can select from nine chess armies on an 8x8 or 9x9 board. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'DEF,LargeCV': 'Drop Chess' a misnomer, it is a Chess-Different-Armies copycat. Nine armies mean eighty-one new games. None of Ralph Betza's elan or panache here, no Betza-style reasoning and rigour. 'I would just like someone's else's opinion if the armies are equally balanced or not' --McKinnis. Sweep this one aside and start from scratch if wanting to add teams to 25-year-old Chess-Unequal-Armies.
Cross-Eyed Chess. Two player variant on cross-shaped board. (12x12, Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'ABCLargeCV': Cross-Eyed Chess makes good use of unpopular Camel, which can turn corners annoyingly here. And Nahbi itself of course is one-path rider to the eight Zebra squares and eight Knight squares, plus Cannon-pawnlike (requiring intervening piece) Dabbabah in noncapturing mode. The Pawn's becoming Wazir-moving Ferz-capturing within the sixteen squares enhances the interest.
Extinction chess. Win by making your opponents pieces of one type extinct. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'DEF,LargeCV': Excellent ideation, average playability. (The extinction-notion could apply to those CVs >71 (or >79) squares, the subject matter of this cross-thread.)
Medieval Chess played in GC now is perfect example of Larry Smith's 'advantage in exchange'. In both GC games there has been one piece exchange so far after close to 30 moves[a 3rd game, zero]. Four pieces are of about the same value: Knight, Longbowman, Seer, Swordsman. 'If a game were populated with pieces of near equal value, the advantage of the exchange might not be significant.' --Smith in this thread. Few sacrifices suggest themselves for positional advantage; Medieval Ch. is from its onset like Orthodox FIDE Chess in rewarding caution.
The mathematical formula I worked out a year ago for M(=#Moves) helps explain the flatness of play in Medieval Chess in Game Courier. It simply can be expected to have a large number of turns on average for its 76 squares. Building on Smith's Exchange Gradient, #M = 3.5N/(P(1-G)), with P Power Density and G calculated as (PV1/PV2 + PV1/PV3...+ PV1/PVn + PV2/PV3...+ PV2/PVn...+ PV(n-1)/PVn))/(n(n-1)/2). That gives Gradient, but we want (1-G) for right directionality. For Medieval with Q9, P1, R5, and excluding K all the other pieces 3 points, G is 0.614, very high, representing not much benefit in exchanges. Plugged in above, it translates to predicted long-term average of 62 moves, long games for 76 squares. Contrast that to Orthodox Chess(64sq) Design Analysis giving just ave. 34 #M and Capablanca(80sq) ave. 38 #Moves in Comments there.
Back-to-Back Chess. Both sides start "Back-to-Back", seperated by an uncrossable line on a specially-shaped 100 square board. (14x8, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'ABCLargeCV': 'The middle four columns of the central rows cannot be crossed.' Unusual way to add to 100 sqs., the odd array is relatable to two 84-sq. ones: yesterday's Cross-Eyed Chess and also Viking Chess, where both B & W arrays face the same direction. Any Random Chess serves the same purpose for those who cannot let go. Pawn's going laterally too makes it playable: Average, not worth a Poor because we reserve that for real botch-ups.
Field Chess. On an 8x12 board with 8 extra pieces per side (Archers). (8x12, Cells: 96) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'DEF,LargeCV': Written up admittedly as sort of exercise, Field Chess is a good enough practice. Archers are strong Pawns though not of Cannon Pawn value, because Archers are 'progressive' going forward only. They go straight forward 1 or 2 whether capturing or not, or one diagonal only to capture. It looks to be important to get B and N through to start picking off what amounts to 16 pawns, worth thinking about; which would work better with additional back rank piece (Falcon would be perfect there). Or, a good embodiment is just Archer-Pawns numbering 8 and no Orthodox Pawns on the elongated board.
Besiege Chess. Double height chess board, where black is surrounded by white. (8x16, Cells: 128) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'ABCLargeCV': This is notionally like today's Back-to-Back Chess in being a different array here doubled. Gilman thinks it has merit, but Black is disadvantaged by centralized King.
Game Courier Tournament #2. Sign up for our 2nd multi-variant tournament to be played all on Game Courier.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]There is also a Positional Advantage Equation, to go with the Move Equation, both of which I am incorporating into an article to submit, following Mark Thompson's suggestion. There will be rigorous definitions and supporting examples applied to specific sets of rules. We used this thread at will mostly a year ago to test ideas for formulaic evaluation of CVs.
Courier 'de la Dama'. Courier Chess with a Modern Queen and other changes for more dynamic play. (12x8, Cells: 96) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'DEF,LargeCV': In the more conventional Courier 'de la Dama' several changes, the major adding the modern Queen, eliminate the three unprotected Pawns of Courier Chess. Fortunately, unlike with Carrera's Chess copycats, only a handful have seen fit to re-design classic Courier Chess, despite the three array-unguarded Pawns. I would opt to play that original, even with its slower pace, for historic interest and this one's being rather uncreative alteration.
Flee!. Variant on 16 by 16 board with strong royal piece. (16x16, Cells: 256) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'DEF,LargeCV': 256 squares. 'The 3rd to 14th rows start off empty.' Of seven piece-types, five are described in Betza funny notation. On 16x16 some pieces (not Pawns) have directional ranges of one square. King is 'BRAND'. So, King goes like Bishop or Rook or Knight or Alfil or Dabbabah. That way games will last a lot longer. No rating for 6 years til now.
Conveyor Chess. Large variant with conveyor belt on middle of board. (12x12, Cells: 144) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'DEF,LargeCV': 'Its main feature is the central conveyor belt.' Would that were so. The main feature is 14 piece-types. There are three types of pawns; the pieces are the regular and stock variant ones. This conveyor fails because any movement along it dumps piece to f7 or g6 only. Novo Chess has better conveyor-like embodiment in its Railroad and Water paths, where any stopping-square is possible.
Archchess. Large chess variant from 17th century Italy. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'ABCLargeCV': With low piece-density(40%) and Pawn's needing strengthening by later CV standards, Archchess from about 1683 features a new piece Centurion. Squirrel is now the favoured name for the type of three-directional two-square leaper. One good use of Centurion/Squirrel is 2002 Quintessential Chess. Contrast the power density here with 17th-century Carrera Chess' high power density. Archchess has not so many major pieces and two more rows than Carrera's; both factors contribute to its relatively low PD. The two forms of chess originate in southern Europe which had the best players then.
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