Comments by Edwin Wilhelm

Well I will try to answer some of the questions so far. Like I say I had a
big reply to Gary and since I put in BOTH my ID and name it rejected it and
then when I come back to the editing section all the words are gone. That
is SO frustrating. So this problem can be fixed I know somehow so the
webmasters should try and fix it. It could cause a loss of customers. :)

Regarding the name Bishops , it is named Bishops because of the Bishops
Rule in the game. When a King enters any corner square he is in Sanctuary
then and his Bishops immediately become Queens. When 2 Queens are captured
the King must re-enter the playing area on his turn. If he cannot enter
without being in Check, then that player misses a turn. He could
theoretically be stopped from further play in the game and thus lose.

Now I see there is 3 more posts about the Pink issue. I admit to defeat on
the pink board, dis i say that already? But here is the reason for the
colours. Chess has 2 sides , white and black. So a 50-50 mix of white and
black will give you Grey. Notice the English spelling of Grey , as I am
Canadian. Hence not Gray. Also a 50-50 mix of white and blood red would
produce a Pink. As i said I am not a lover of Red or Blue or Green for
Chess pieces. But anyway the Pink has to stay for the Chess Pieces ,
otherwise I will be fire the whole engineering department and hire new
people. ( kidding )

In summary I hope some people can ACTUALLY play Bishops and rate it,
irregardless if you want to buy a game or not. You can paint some spare
chess pieces and put extra squares on your coffee table or something. It
may be easier to just order a game from me for $48 US total and have a
collectors item as well. 

The Long version ends 'as Chess' remember and theoretically when all the
pieces return to the 64 square playing area it is Chess. The Short version
simply ends when one palyer forces a Checkmate of the player to his left.
ie Black Checkmates Pink.

Any technical questions , just ask. 

........actually I think I just cause a minor wording change revision in
the rules. When 2 of the 3 Queens are captured makes sense, it does not
have to be the 2 original Bishops. because then identical pieces can be
used in the board version. In a computer game the computer would know when
2 of the 3 Queens are captured and the next move would need to be the King
entering the playing area again.

Ed ( The Inventor of Bishops )

Hi, Holy geepers , yer right. Me being a ordinary hetero guy I never
thought of the gender or sex issue , just the moving of the pieces and
there power on the board. If the Bishops were transformed to a Queen piece
or on a computer game , it would appear a bit transgenderish. We can blame
religion on this problem. So now what do I do. This is going to be a major
rule revision for sure. 

The name has to stay Bishops. Its copyrighted and everything. Plus its a
neat name. 

Off the top of my head I have no ideas how to correct this problem. I will
need a day or two maybe. Maybe some other ppl can give ideas. Its obvious
we cant have a Bishop undergoing a sex change. This will save money on
extra Queen pieces however for the board version. 

Actually if the Bishops stay Bishops and only gain the POWER of a Queen,
whats wrong with that?

later

thx, I missed that , silly me.

Actually....its Knights...originally in 1991 I thought to give the Bishops
the power of Knights!! From a speed playing view point and power , I think
Knights hold lots of power. The idea of having the King in sanctuary was to
speed the game up ,, with more power on the board. I think if the Bishops
are given power of Knights it might work? Thus no controversial issues
regarding the S word. 

later

''Kings may enter their own coloured corner square and become immune from
check or checkmate, provided that both of their Bishops are not captured.
When a King enters his corner square, both of his Bishops obtain the power
of a Queen instantly. If both Bishops are captured, the King must on his
next move return to an unoccupied space around the corner square, but may
not move into check. If the King cannot re-enter then he must wait (miss a
turn) until a square is available. ''

......I had to re-read the rules, it does say only the power of a queen. I
had thought of a computer version making it a queen image,, but the Bishops
will stay as they appear and just gain the POWER of a queen. No werries now
about transwatever. 

Bishops rules on certain webpages have not been updated.....it is ANY
corner square....the King may enter ANY corner square. This allows a quick
castle to the King side and into the opponents corner square.

each side has a heraldic emblem,, each emblem contains colours of all the
opponents. Hence the ongoing mideaval battle ...wars generally involve 2
sides , right vs wrong so to speak,, but often there are many opponents
not just 2. Who is right and who is wrong. Hence a game for 4.

White is the Helmet.
Grey is the Shield.
Black is the Sword.
Pink is the Torch.

I pledge my head to clearer thinking,
My heart to greater loyalty,
My hands to larger service,
My health to better living;

A spinoff of the 4H motto.

Any 4H clubs out there are welcome to start a Bishops Club or add it to
your roster. The 4 corner squares emblems and mottos of the sides are
molded after the 4H motto.

In order for any side to win, they cannot ignore their 2 neighbours on
their right. For if they do they will also lose. Therefore helping one or
two of your enemies is sometimes needed. A trait not found in many games,
while still playing offensive to the left.

Any Chess Variant must also withstand the unswerving wrath of Chess
purists. In fact and I agree, all Chess Variants will fail this challenge.
However when I invented Bishops, I did not intend it to replace Chess, as
nothing could ever. However with the ending played 'as Chess' it may
calm some purists and lull them into buying a game of Bishops from me. Or
2 or 3 or 1,000,000 or .....geepers.....pinch me, Im dreaming I think.


later

GreyBishop99


PS ...There is one false rule which must remain until the right time.

There are several small travel versions available for $10 US plus
shipping.

I will see if I can get a picture posted.


Ed

here is some pics of small game board

http://www.yellowmall.ca/Bishops/FRONT.jpg 

http://www.yellowmall.ca/Bishops/BACK.jpg 


thx

Ed

$10 US plus shipping

Yes, that was a prototype too. I paid for 40 pieces from China , received
20. Some got lost on the boat I guess. The design work and build was free
though. To order, it would need to be 10,000 pieces minimum. ...lots of
moolah needed. :)

I could resurrect it at some future date. It should not say 'Chess' on
the cover and notice the white and black pieces were backwards in the
cover pic.

minor problems tho...

These guys gave a good review in their May/June 1999 magazine,

http://www.chessvariants.com/nost.html 

page 8

Mr John J McCallion ( NOST ) likes the game concept and rules.


No, the website will be at Netfirms......its free.


later

Ed