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Comments by JohnLawson

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The Game of Nemoroth. For the sake of your sanity, do not read this variant! (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Mon, Oct 27, 2003 05:51 PM UTC:
From the rules:
'The Go Away can be petrified, and a petrified Go Away is mute.'
So a petrified Go Away is just another piece of impedimenta on the board,
and its scream is a resource that is no longer avalable.

As for petrified Humans promoting to Zombies anyway, that might be
interesting to try out.  In my limited (four games) experience, even
petrified Humans got nowhere near the far rank.  One's tempi were better
used elsewhere, specifically in maneuvering the Basilisk, Ghast, and Go
Away.

John Lawson wrote on Mon, Nov 10, 2003 02:40 AM UTC:
I can't code, but I have actually played some games of Nemoroth, would be glad to help playtest when the time comes.

Glenn's Decimal Chess. A 10x10 blend of FIDE, Shogi, and Xiangqi influences. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Wed, Nov 19, 2003 05:19 AM UTC:
When H.J.R. Murray described the Lion from Chu Shogi in his book 'The
History of Chess' he got the move wrong.  The Lion move in this game is
the one 'invented' by Murray, rather than the proper Lion move from Chu
Shogi.

Constitutional Characters. A systematic set of names for Major and Minor pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sat, Dec 13, 2003 07:33 PM UTC:
H. J. R. Murray used the word 'orthogonal' in the sense that we modern variantists do in 'A History of Board-Games Other Than Chess' (1952) in his description of Tablut on page 63. In his 'A History of Chess' (1917), I was unable to find the use of the word 'orthogonal'. He instead uses the phrase 'horizontal or vertical'.

Jupiter. Huge chess variant on 16 by 16 board. (16x16, Cells: 256) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Mon, Dec 22, 2003 04:52 AM UTC:
breadman wrote:
'Why might the Great Dragon be less powerful than the Water Buffalo?'

They both have the same Rook components. However, the Water Buffalo can
also move as a Bishop, but the Great Dragon's Bishop move is restricted
to three squares.

Game Courier Tournament #1. A multi-variant tournament played on Game Courier.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sun, Jan 18, 2004 09:33 PM UTC:
Fergus wrote, 'most people may be able to manage a pace of two moves a
day
in each game.'

Most, but not all.  I work strange hours, and am usually online between
23:00 and 01:00, when most honest folk have gone to bed.  That makes more
than one move per day problematic.  From my point of view, more
simultaneous games (say, 8) on a slower time control would be better.

John Lawson wrote on Wed, Jan 21, 2004 03:50 AM UTC:
The kind of thing Michael proposes would be fine with me. David shouldn't have to kick in his own money.

Xiangqi: Chinese Chess. Links and rules for Xiangqi (Chinese Chess). (9x10, Cells: 90) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Tue, Feb 3, 2004 04:46 AM UTC:
Check out http://www.aikidoaus.com.au/dojo/docs/chinese_chess/notation.htm

Janggi - 장기 - Korean Chess. The variant of chess played in Korea. (9x10, Cells: 90) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Mon, Mar 1, 2004 12:07 AM UTC:
The pieces are in the 'standard' arrangement, with the Horses next to the Chariots.

Ultima. Game where each type of piece has a different capturing ability. Also called Baroque. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sat, Mar 27, 2004 02:55 AM UTC:
I dug out my copy of 'Abbott's New Card Games' (1963, Funk and Wagnalls)
and the suicide rule is stated thus:
'A piece that is immobilized does have one special move that it can make,
that of suicide.  A player may use a turn to remove from the board one of
his own pieces that is immobilized.'

Rules of Chess FAQ. Frequently asked chess questions.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sat, Mar 27, 2004 02:58 AM UTC:
Hi Ryan,

Go here http://www.chessvariants.com/onthese/membership.html and follow
the directions.

Horus. Game with Royal Falcons where all pieces start off board and most captures return pieces to owner's hand. (7x7, Cells: 44) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sat, Apr 3, 2004 01:18 PM UTC:
In the games Peter and I have played, it was very unforgiving of error. 
Once a player fell behind, he was pretty much toast.  Having the
initiative was critical.  
If the pieces weren't recycled, the available force would rapidly become
insufficient.  Capturing with anything but the royal piece is no
advantage, and even capturing with royal piece, which eliminates the
captured piece from the game, can involve a loss of tempo which can be
fatal.

Berserker Pawns. Pawns may go berserk to protect their King and once per game in addition. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sun, Apr 4, 2004 01:50 AM UTC:
Rule quote:

'A Berserker may move up to seven (7) squares in any direction or
combination of directions, and must attack at the end of the move; that
is, must end the move in a space occupied by an opposing piece. 

A Berserker may not: 
- pass through/over occupied squares, 
- end a move in an unoccupied square, 
- end in a square occupied by a friendly piece, or 
- attack the opposing king.'

First, all the intermediate squares in the Berserker move must be
unoccupied, so there may not be a clear path less than eight squares
long.

Second, a Berserker may not attack the opposing King, so it doesn't
matter anyway.

The FIDE Laws Of Chess. The official rules of Chess from the World Chess Federation.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sun, Apr 11, 2004 09:40 PM UTC:
Bill -

On its first move, a pawn may move 1 or 2 squares forward.  Or, it may 
capture, but never more than one square diagonally.

csipgs Chess. Design and buy new chess pieces during play. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sun, Apr 11, 2004 10:34 PM UTC:
Under 'Orthogonal Atoms', the rules state that the base cost of sideways-only pieces is multiplied by 0.5.

Prisoner's Escape. Free your Prisoner by getting it to an unattacked square -- a small board version of Anticheckmate Chess. (7x8, Cells: 44) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sat, May 15, 2004 03:49 AM UTC:
Boards with a cell or two beyond the first and last ranks have been available as a mutator (as Joao Neto would say) at least since George Parker published Chivalry in 1888. See the World Camelot Federation website at http://groups.msn.com/worldcamelotfederation/home.msnw <p>

From Ungulates Outwards. A Systematic Set of Names for the Simplest Oblique Pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sun, May 16, 2004 07:41 PM UTC:
Re: 'Parson's nose'

In my family, as I was a child in the 1950's, the turkey tail was called
the 'Pope's nose'.  That is US usage, New York City matropolitan area.

The FIDE Laws Of Chess. The official rules of Chess from the World Chess Federation.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Mon, May 17, 2004 09:50 PM UTC:
You cannot leave your King in check. This is covered in Article 9. Opponent 2 has commited an illegal move by failing to remove the check on his/her King. The move should be retracted and replayed.

Patt-schach (Stalemate chess). Players start with an illegal move from a stalemated position. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Tue, Jun 22, 2004 03:18 AM UTC:
No, you can't. The white pawns are moving UP the board, and the black are moving DOWN.

Ultima. Game where each type of piece has a different capturing ability. Also called Baroque. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sun, Aug 8, 2004 11:13 PM UTC:
Try this link.  It was a little awkward to find:
http://www.chessvariants.com/index/listcomments.php?subjectid=Game+Design

Tony Quintanilla is a new Father. Our Chess Variant Pages editor's new creation![All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Wed, Feb 9, 2005 05:55 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Congratulations! May we expect a page on 'Paloma Chess'?

Tamerlane chess: ms 7322 version. Information on historic variant of Tamerlane chess. (11x10, Cells: 112) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Mon, Feb 21, 2005 10:24 PM UTC:
'ms' stands for 'manuscript', i.e. a handwritten book. MS 7322 is a particular manuscript, catalogue number 7322, in the collection of the British Museum. It is referenced in Murray's 'History of Chess'.

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
John Lawson wrote on Tue, Apr 26, 2005 09:28 PM UTC:
I have been a junior editor, and I just do not have the HTML skills to
build new pages efficiently.  [And yes, burnout was a factor.  I was
pretty much finished off by judging the 84-square contest.]  However, I
have no problem reviewing pages already built for content, and flagging
them approved, since that would only take a few minutes.
Submitted pages would need more than two flags.  You'd need:
- accepted
- rejected
- needs work by author
- needs work by editor
and also comment fields, so, for example, another editor would know why I
thought more work was needed, or why a page was unacceptable.

Dave's Silly Example Game. This is Dave Howe's example of a user-posted game. (2x2, Cells: 4) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Fri, Apr 29, 2005 06:36 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
So where do I go to see posted games to approve them? Maybe put a link on the Minimal New page? (This is where I always start a visit to the CVP.)

veSQuj - Chess with 21st century armies. A highly tactical variant with a 21st-century-war theme. (6x6, Cells: 36) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sun, May 29, 2005 01:55 AM UTC:
Hey Glenn!  Glad you're back!  (Now if only I were.)
A small 'typo': In the equipment section, you refer to Halberdiers
instead of Sargents.  This would be OK if the President were Pope.

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