Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

This should be Chancellor g1-h3. Here is the shortest Fool's Mate possible, normally, with more established pieces on boards 8x8 and larger using symmetrical arrays. Its existence is reason enough for dissenting from Capablanca's array. Smaller boards especially can rather easily have even mate in one with initial set-up unsymmetrical between the sides. On 8x10 like this, or 9x10, 10x10, long-distance leaper like Flamingo(2,7), Ibis(2,9), and Namel(2,8) can readily be arranged for Mate by Black on the first move, if White does not take remedial action in the very opening move. That takes also the arrays so set up in different line-ups for Black and White (although their over-all pieces can be exactly the same); otherwise, White could mate in opening move -- making play pointless to some aesthetics. My series in 2007 under 'ProblemThemes', carrying the idea a step further, shows 30-some initial set-ups where there are, in fact, no legal first moves at all for White, required to start. Those become opportunities to admire many exotic pieces without actually playing them. In those 30 set-ups (ProblemThemes One and Two), any move, even of Pawn, would cause check (illegal); so no moving of piece or Pawn can be possible -- regardless who goes first in the 'ProblemThemesTwo' instances. Stalemate all around. The methods use perfectly-recognizable, well-defined pieces from the likes of Berolina Pawns to Flamingo, Elbow Rook, multi-path Sissa, Betza Rhino, and bifurcation Venator.