Single Comment

Although I disagree with his solution, I share some of the same concern
that Derek Nalls has over the recommended variants list. In its present
form, continued expansion of the list would eventually dilute its value.
Instead of proposing to cap the list, I propose to break it down into four
tiers of recognition. These would be Classic, Vintage, Popular, and
Acclaimed. Classic would be the most exclusive tier, reserved for games
that are old, time-tested, and massively popular. In our lifetime at
least, it would be limited to Chess, Xiang Qi, and Shogi. Vintage would be
reserved for games that have remained popular well past the deaths of
their creators. Some examples of Vintage recognized variants would be
Alice Chess and Glinski's Hexagonal Chess. Popular would be for
relatively recent games that have attained a high degree of popularity.
Signs of this would include being sold as a commercial variant, being
played in tournaments held by CV organizations, such as AISE or NOST, or
being played by many people on PBM sites, such as Brainking. Some examples
of Popular recognized variants would be Gothic Chess, Ultima, and Smess.
Finally, Acclaimed would be used for relatively recent games that have not
attained such a high degree of popularity but which have at least won some
critical acclaim and general approval among members of this site. Some
examples of Acclaimed recognized variants would be Crazy 38's and
Wildebeest Chess.

By dividing the recognized variants into graduated tiers, we would
preserve the distinction of being a recognized variant while allowing
uncapped growth of the list. The more exclusive tiers would be harder for
games to reach, and new games wouldn't even qualify for the first two
tiers. Thus, the greatest growth of the list would be in the less
pretigious tiers, and this would preserve the integrity and usefulness of
the list. Beyond this, the four-tier system would make the list more
useful by giving more guidance to people who are new to Chess variants.

After I came up with the names for the four tiers, I noticed a nice bit of
serendipity. The initials of the four tiers, listed in order of prestige,
are CVPA, which can be used as an acronym for Chess Variant Pages Awards.
Thus, with the addition of the four-tier division of the recognized
variants, it might be fitting to rename this endeavor the Chess Variant
Pages Awards.

For now, I will ask for discussion of the merits of this plan and for
opinions on how the current recognized variants should be classified.