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Kozune. Missing description (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Joshua Morris wrote on Fri, Apr 13, 2007 07:59 PM UTC:

Drops *are* terrifying, especially to the newcomer; I've played enough
Bughouse to know that.  I think drops explain why Shogi masters are
naturally good at Chess whereas Chess masters often struggle with Shogi.

Regular Kozune doesn't use drops, however, unless one counts the Sho's
ability to create pawns.

I think it's natural for these 'new' pieces to be rediscovered
independently over and over, especially if the 'inventors' have
read Betza's articles here on CV.  If one likes short-range pieces, the
Wazir-Dabbabah and Ferz-Alfil are the natural complements to the standard
Knight.

And they are vicious little pieces.  One of the things we discovered while
playing Kozune was that checks can never be blocked - if the Sho is in
check, he *has* to move.  This is obvious in hindsight, but came as an
amusing surprise during playtesting.

My local ChessVar club has plans to play Chess vs Kozune on a 9x9 board. 
We'll see just how vicious these shorties can be when put up against the
much heavier firepower of the Orthodox Chess army (plus an extra Queen!). 
Perhaps the Kozune army's agility can overpower the Chess army's brute
strength.  I'll post here when it's been tried.