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Comments by Tony Paletta
Overprotection Chess. If an attacked piece is more often defended than it is attacked, it gains extra powers. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating] Chigorin Chess. White has knights instead of bishops and a chancellor for his queen; black has bishops instead of knights. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]This variant seems to favor Black materially by at least a pawn.
My comment that Black was ahead was based on R+B vs R+N multiplied by pawn
promotion. The B vs N is probably just a wash -- maybe giving White some
early play but moving towards Black in mid-end play.
Slanted Escalator Chess. Chess on an asymmetric board with interesting connectivity. (8x8, Cells: 60) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Agree with gnohmon that there is an imbalance. Suggest reversing e-side
escalator and transposing one side's royals (e.g., Kd1 and Qe1).
Full Double Chess. 32 pieces each, including all combinations of the basic Chess pieces, on a 16x8 square board. (16x8, Cells: 128) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]He probably got the idea from all the 'Double Chess' variants that have popped up in the past 100 years. Basically, though, few of the double-wide 'real' chess games play like chess for club-strength (Class C and Up) chessplayers. Standard Knights play a reduced role on larger boards (for example, 7 moves to move between end files) and standard Bishops also lose some of their lateral value. Adding power pieces is one way to compensate (whether 3 Qs, RN, BN, whatever) but that tends to reduce minor pieces to sacrificial fodder. Fans of more subtle play are likely to be disappointed. I actually like the 'mate two Kings' idea in Sirotkin's game somewhat better, as it compensates somewhat for the stronger forces and reigns in the value of the initiative a bit (sacs that may win one K must be balanced against a material disadvantage in pursing the other).
MY personal preference is for CV proposals that contain a minimum of narration and a straight-forward presentation of the author's rules. I'm OK with very brief comments that actually simplify learning the rules, but I have very little interest in extended narratives.
Rectahex Chesss. A chess variant that looks like hexagonal chess but can be played on a normal chess board. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Glinski-type bishops can reach every third diagonal, so if the standard chess array position is used both bishops are limited to the same 1/3rd of the board.
Oops. In my previous comment on 'Anti-Relay', the example for the second alternative should have both the f3 and f2 pieces temporarily =R+N+B. Of course there are also some other options (gain/lose power only due to friendly units, gain/lose only from hostile units; gain powers only due friendly units, lose power only due to hostile units, etc.).
For anyone who might find the approach helpful, a very rough try at a 'faceted definition' of a movement rule for 'an Extended Relay Chess Family' might look something like this. Pick one from each bracketed category to get a CV (design new options that fit the structure; design a new structure ...). 'Chessmen have intrinsic movement patterns: [intrinsic movement rules]. The movement powers of [affected group] are temporarily modified by the intrinsic movement patterns of other chessmen. Chessmen affected by this rule temporarily gain the unshared intrinsic movements of [gain source] when [gain condition]; they temporarily lose the intrinsic movement patterns shared with [loss source] when [loss condition].' Some sample category options: [intrinsic movement rules] these patterns are the same as in standard chess, ... [affected group] RNBQ, ... [gain source] friendly affected class units, hostile affected class units, any affected class units, ... [gain condition] intrinsically observed by the source, intrinsically observing the source, on a space adjacent to the source, ... [loss source] friendly affected class units, hostile affected class units, any affected class units, ... [loss condition] intrinsically observed by the source, intrinsically observing the source, on a space adjacent to the source, ...
An extension that might also be considered is the use of [gain-type] or [loss-type]. Up to this point, the discussion has focused on adding or subtracting the power to move or capture, but the relayed power added or subtracted might be movement to a vacant space, movement to an opponent-occupied space, movement to a vacant or opponent-occupied space, etc.. (the possibilities might also include interchange powers -- the right to switch places with a friendly piece). I would also consider a piece observed by or a piece observing as only two options in defining the 'source'. A relay-type relationship might also be triggered by an absolute relationship (e.g., piece a K-move away, N-move away, B-move away, etc.) -- essentially the [gain-condition] or [loss-condition] could be defined by any rule that, when applied to a potential source, temporarily evaluates to true. Obviously we don't have to use all the facets of 'generalized relay chess' to define a CV in the family. A broader framework does allow some curious family members. A simple example might be called 'Channel Chess' -- Any RNBQ may move to a vacant space with the movement power of the last friendly piece captured.
Knot Chess. Board in shape of geometric knot.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Maybe I'm missing something: in what meaningful sense is Knot Chess not chess?
Rectahex Chesss. A chess variant that looks like hexagonal chess but can be played on a normal chess board. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]In mentioning a three-geometry game, I meant a game which incorporated piece movements derived from hexagon-tiled, square-tiled and triangle-tiled chess variants. The board itself would involve one geometry. Consider a 12x12 board tiled with equilateral triangles (all have a one horizontal side, a1 points at W, a2 at B, a3 at W ..., b1 points at B, c1 at W, etc.). Triangle chess movement (as in Dekle's Triangular Chess - see Pritchard's Encyclopedia of Chess Variants) would be based on the shapes, standard chess movement on the ranks and files (N leaps 2 ranks, 1 file or 2 files, 1 rank; R slides along rank or along file; B leaps in 1r,1f steps in same direction, etc.) and hexagonal movement would follow a scheme similar to that in Hexoid Chess (/Rectahex Chesss). A hex-style three-coloring of the board (a1-blue, a2-yellow, a3-red, a4-blue, ... b1-yellow, b2-red, b3-blue, b4-yellow, ..., c1-red, c2-blue, c3-yellow, ...) would help a little for the hex movements. On such a board we could have Standard Knights, Triangular Queens and Hexagonal Rooks, etc. cheerfully (?) coexisting. Getting the hang of the game would be a little tough -- but then again, who ever said unified (playing) field theory would be easy?
Knot Chess. Board in shape of geometric knot.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]TQ, I was with you almost to the end of the last sentence. Novelty would be fine. 'Variant concept'? - No! I'm too lazy to learn a new word for CVs that AREN'T other CVs in disguise.
Since chess involves an interaction of at least two 'minds', one problem may be trying to simulate the missing opponent. Man-vs-computer does a pretty good job of creating a solitaire! Rule-based moves (as in Chess Patience) or fixed, ordered lists of pieces to move have been tried, but they lack the 'feel' of chess competition. Problem solving (timed, possibly competitive, etc.) is a decent try at creating a solitary chess-like activity.
Chessex
. Hexagonal chess variant for two or three players. (Cells: 169) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The bishops are not colorbound; you misread the rules.
Magna Carta Chess. Black has the FIDE array, White has a Marshal and an Archbishop instead of a Queen and King. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The game seems a bit better if White must have ONE of the two new pieces.
It's not surprising that Black has an edge if White must retain both the RN and BN; I also agree that White is somewhat better if only one must be retained. Finding a roughly balanced version of this CV might possibly involve: (a) weakening Black (Q limited to max of two spaces?) or strengthening White (RNB instead of RN?) if White must retain both insurgent leaders or (b) strengthening Black (RNB instead of RB?) and weakening White (R + 'vertical' or two rank N for RN, B + 'horizontal' or two file N for BN?) if White must only retain one. A second (related) change might be to limit promotion to R, N or B for both players.
Cardinal. Moves as bishop or as knight.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Yes. King and 'Cardinal' can mate lone King: On an 8x8 board the checkmate takes 17 or fewer moves. See http://www.chessvariants.com/misc.dir/endgames.html (Analysis by Dave McCooey, who refers to the B+N as a 'Pegasus'.)
(Well, you asked) A somewhat odd try at might be 'Nordic-QQ Chess'. Pieces are placed on the borders of spaces within a rank (RNBQKQBNR; PPPP_PPPP) and are presumed to be virtual domino chessmen occupying two spaces on the rank. Two friendly chessmen may share a space, but not from the same border; opposing pieces may not share a space. The units move by choosing either the left or right space and moving as in standard chess -- they may move through a space 'occupied' by a single friendly unit, but not through a space 'occupied' by two friendly units or an opposing unit. To come to rest on a space, units must resume either the right position (if they moved via the left) or the right position (if they moved via the left). Units occuping a side edge are hanging over the board and have only one path available. Moving to a border occupied by an opposing unit or onto a space (before reoccupying the border) shared by one or more opposing units produces one or more captures.
Magna Carta Chess. Black has the FIDE array, White has a Marshal and an Archbishop instead of a Queen and King. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The revised rules (Black must retain a Q and a K, White a RN and a BN) still favor Black. The Rs, Ns and Bs are obviously balanced; the White RN vs Black RB are roughly balanced and therefore Ps and promotions are also roughly balanced. What's left is a White K vs a Black BN -- about a piece in standard 'point value' favoring Black if both weren't sort of royal, probably about half a piece favoring Black with the royalty restriction.
Got my comment a bit muddled. White (RN,BN) is favored over Black (RB,K) by the revised rules (each must retain two pieces) -- for essentially the reasons I gave. Upgrading the Black Q to RBN would almost balance the game, but the maximum promotion to RBN for Black vs RN for White would favor Black. A Black Q = RBN with promotions limited to R, B or N for both sides would probably come pretty close to a balanced game.
Jumping Chess. Pieces capture by jumping. Board has extra edge squares making it 10x10. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]A somewhat different, but related idea might be 'Amphibian Chess' (not previously published; name chosen in comparison to 'Mermaid Chess' and a tendency, in the problem lit, to use sea creature names for vault-to-capture pieces). Play is on an 8x8 board, and units must jump over to capture if there is a next square beyond the opposing unit, but capture by displacement if there is not.
'Amphibian Chess: Standard chess array and noncapturing moves of pieces. Units must leap over opposing spaces on a normal arrival space to the next space beyond to capture, unless the opposing unit is on the edge and there is no 'next space beyond' in the direction of movement (in which case the capture occurs as in standard chess). For the purpose of determining the next space beyond, a Knight's normal leap is viewed as one space orthogonally followed by one space diagonally (through a corner adjacent to the opposite side); a Knight's one space beyond is one additional space diagonally (i.e., to a space a [3,2] leaper might have reached). All other rules are as in standard chess.'
When I first looked at what I call Amphibian Chess I had just viewed George P. Jelliss's article on chess variants and found his description of 'Sea Chess' (line pieces capture by vaulting to next space beyond). The term 'Sea pieces' was new to me (I was familiar with the 'Mermaid' or Q version only), and I was struck with the practical flaw in the game: pieces on the edge were relatively difficult to capture. Since the 'sea pieces' were in contrast to the more usual FIDE (land?) pieces and 'amphibian' pieces seemed like an amusing compromise, I toyed with how these pieces might work. I looked at this as a 'thematic' task, and I usually focus on making only the necessary changes to produce an interesting and (possibly) playable game (Occam's razor, or something like that). The sea-land compromise was obvious for line pieces, but Knights presented a problem. Three possible solutions were considered: (a) leave the standard Knight alone (b) define a 'space beyond' to correspond to a second Knight's leap (c) introduce a devise to break down the Knight's move Choice (a) seemed unworthy of something called 'Amphibian Chess'. Choice (b) was probably the most elegant option and it's playable, but it seems to makes the 8x8 board seem pretty small. Instead, I chose choice (c) and adopted the Chinese 'Mao' move. Since Peter seemed to be addressing a similar problem, I added my comment. The approach admits to several generalizations (e.g., other Amphibian pieces) that you may wish to explore. I hope you and other CV enthusiasts will do so. BTW my 'rules' left out the qualification that the 'next space beyond' should be vacant. (Sorry. Rule writing is a tough job.)
Peter: I think the defensive massing of pieces is probably of limited value in Amphibian Chess. Knights can capture any unit on an edge (I preferred the Mao-type over the Moa-type partially for that reason) and diagonal movers can pick off corners or edge-resting units. Only the Rooks are unequivocally weak against masses.
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