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Modern Shatranj. A bridge between modern chess and the historic game of Shatranj. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Joe Joyce wrote on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 08:08 PM UTC:

Thanks for the comments, George. This is the third variant I posted, and the first one anybody played. It is a modest shatranj variant, and because it had a decent reception, it changed my area of interest from 4D games to shatranj variants. And I agree that it is very modest, but it does exactly what it advertises; it plays halfway between historic shatranj and modern chess. But rather than weakened chess, it is high-performance shatranj. 

The larger point is playability. A game can be good, and a game can be successful, but these are 2 different things. This is a decent game that is very playable. It is extremely easy to learn, and can be played with standard equipment. It corrects the major flaw of shatranj, that stilted awkwardness and lack of flexibility, with minimal change to the historic game. It gives the game flow. But it makes the game slow. Given that 99.9+% of people that play variants learned chess first, a game with a 2-square bishop, even if it is jumping like a knight now, and a 1-square queen, is just too slow for modern sensibilities. Would'a kicked butt 1000 years ago. But time has marched on, and shatranj bit the dust way before buggywhips. Still, for anyone looking for an easy way into variants, this game is one. Even if it is weakened FIDE. ;-)