Single Comment

Joe Joyce wrote under 'Proliferation' 19.Sept.07, ''Personally, I don't like rifle capture pieces and gimmicky pieces like planes. So right off the top I think it is a Poor game.'' --about this Chess-Battle. So, clearly Joyce dislikes Charles Daniels' recent Flying Bombers(airplane-like) too. Agreeing with Joyce about those two groups of pieces, we do not care for Fugue, for example, utilizing Rifle or 1996-patented Quantum's rifle or Schmittberger's either by the standard of playability. However, despite personal taste the latter should be credited its fine originality for year 1981. Likewise, Joyce's evaluation of Chess-Battle should not be poorly based on one criterion, the reaction against Rifle-types. Chess-Battle dates remarkably from year 1933, before 90% of CVs existed, and has many original and appealing features. They include first use of triple compound leaper, distinction between jumping over enemy or friendly pieces, and unique mix of short- and long-range, to name only three. The 'Rifle' gun and machine-gun are not the entire game and with imagination could be cut back or eliminated in personally-suited variations.