Enter Your Reply The Comment You're Replying To H. G. Muller wrote on Thu, Jul 17, 2008 04:04 AM EDT:Sorry the link went down: stupid auto-updates rebooted my computer overnight... I restarted it now. And yes, it is difficult to find a satisfactory array where all Pawns are protected, because initially the Falcon can't protect anything. If one sticks to conventional castling and quasi-symmetry (corner Rooks and central KQ), the only possibility is RBFN. This is awkward, though, as it gives a bad conflict between developing the Knight and opening a diagonal for the Bishop. Plus the Bishops would look each other in the eye. It does not seem too bad, though, to have unprotected Pawns in this variant. The Falcons are not superstrong pieces, and also take time to develop. This much unlike Carrera variants, where the (BN) and (RN) can get into play and attack enemy Pawns on the first move, and are super-dangerous pieces even in solo action. In Falcon Chess, by the time the opponent can muster an attack on your Pawns, they are likely to have already moved to a completely different position. I would also be interested to have some feedback on the graphics design. In WinBoard I used the pre-existing Lance symbol (a wildcard piece, for which WinBoard accepts any move) to represent the Falcon. In the html page, I have of course infinite freedom, (the board is simply a table of gif files) and provided 2 alternative representations. But I must say I still like the Lance symbol best: it sticks out most clearly from the other symbols. Especially the bird-like symbol is difficult to spot. This might change if I would depict the entire bird, rather than just is head. I don't like that stylistically, though, as the Knight symbol also only depicts the head (as is the WinBoad Elephant). The Cobra symbol was inspired by the way the Falcon moves on a crowded board. It does not stick out as clearly as the Lance, but can still be spotted at a glance, due to its characteristic asymmetry. Problem of course is that it is not really compatible with the name 'Falcon', and that the C is already such an overloaded letter. The V is much less used, but a Viper does not make such a nice picture. S for Snake is both an available letter and compatible with the Cobra picture. But renaming the piece is a big step. A Lance also seems to have little bearing on a Falcon. Lance woud not be such a bad name for the piece either, as its moves stick through openings in the crowd to fairly large, but limited distance. Another interpretation of the symbol, however, could be a feather. With a vary small change, it could actually be made to look more like a feather, and it would stick out similarly as it does now. So I am inclined to stick to the Lance-like symbol, and say it represents a feather. A more detailed symbol set could make this more explicit. (Note that WinBoard_F does allow redefinition of piece ymbols, for thos not satisfied with the pre-defined bitmaps. All you have to do is supply a Chess font for WinBoard to render the pieces.) Edit Form You may not post a new comment, because ItemID CV demo matches does not match any item.