Comments by sibahi

Done ..

I posted the preset. Waiting to be published.

I tried to calculate rough estimates for the values of the pieces, using the Safe Check principle. This is, simply put, if you place a piece and a King randomly on the board, the probability of that piece giving a 'safe check' to the King. For pieces like the Knight this like the movement estimation.

[[ The following calculations assume that the Querquisite on the e-file moves like a King, but the one on the D-file moves like a Queen. Any changes in the definitions of files (as in Fischer Random) might change the value of the Querquisite. ]]

I came out with these percentages :

  R= 15.7 %
  B= 8.7  %
  N= 7.9  %
  U= 10.8 %

And the Queen is simply the sum of its components. So are the Chancellor (Rook+Knight) and Archbishop (Bishop+Knight.) The Querquisite's compounds are a waste of time to calculate, since they're not practical.

Giving the Knight the absolute value of 3 Pawns, these are the values:

  N= 3   Pawns
  B= 3.3 Pawns
  R= 6   Pawns (However, as in normal Chess, I think they should be
                adjusted to 5 Pawns.)
  Q= 9.4 Pawns
  U= 4   Pawns

Out of curiosity, I computed the two Capablanca pieces on this board:

  A= 6.3 Pawns
  C= 9.4 Pawns

This seems about right. It's worth mentioning that the values would certainly change on a 10x8 board with these two Half-Ranks added.

The Querquisite, generally, is most mobile on the Rooks and Queen's files. Place it there.

Proposed variant : Shatranj Kamil (72) :

I did some piece value experiments on the Templar Chess board, which adds half a rank behind both home ranks. And this game looked like it would suit such a board.

Proposed setup:

9      - e k -
8  r n s f e s n r
7  p p p p p p p p
6  - - - - - - - -
5  - - - - - - - -
4  - - - - - - - -
3  - - - - - - - -
2  P P P P P P P P
1  R N S F E S N R
0      - E K -

   a b c d e f g h

No castling, and all pieces move as they do in Shatranj Kamil (64). Pawns promote to Silver Generals at the eighth rank, regardless of which file they're on. (They start on the second.) All rules are as in the original game: Shatranj Kamil (64).

It's just an idea.

I would think that, instead of the Silver Generals (S) why not use S2 ? The S2 moves like a 2-step Bishop or a 2-step Lance.

This sounds like a very interesting mutator. My guess would be that it's very much playable with normal chess.

(I would like to point out that there are a couple of typos while listing the numbers. 2 and 12 both deflect to the right.)

An interesting variant would be for the bullet to be deflected 180° (return to the shooter) when the dice add up to 7 (or any other number.) This would make someone think twice before shooting a bullet.

(Might be wrong), the chances for the dice to show a certain number are:

2 : 1/36
3 : 2/36 = 1/18
4 : 3/36 = 1/12
5 : 4/36 = 1/9
6 : 5/36 
7 : 6/36 = 1/6
8 : 5/36 
9 : 4/36 = 1/9
10: 3/36 = 1/12
11: 2/36 = 1/18
12: 1/36

I didn't know where to ask or publish this, so I thought I would ask it
here.

Emergo is a Checkers variant created by Christian Freeling & Ed van Zon.

The rules are here :
http://www.mindsports.net/CompleteGames/Elimination/Emergo.html

I was wondering, if we get rid of the entering phase, and start from a
certain setup, what's the worst that could happen ?

The opening setup i have in mind is this : 

/  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1  -   B   B   B   -
2    B   B   B   B
3  B   B   B   B   B
4    -   -   -   -
5  -   -   -   -   -
6    -   -   -   -
7  W   W   W   W   W
8    W   W   W   W
9  -   W   W   W   -

Of course, the (-) are vacant squares the pieces may move to. The other
squares are just ignored.

This setup is perfectly possible to play even under the original rules if the players agree to it. Certainly the Placement Phase (which is omitted by the starting setup entirely) provides more tactical possibilities, but the rules of it are quite complicated (you may not expose yourself to attack unless you are already attacked!!)

So, what does anyone think ?


Note :

http://www.mindsports.net/CompleteGames/Checkmate/

Many variants here, some are worthy of being on the Game Courier some
time.

Great minds think alike.

http://www.chessvariants.com/41.dir/familymatters/index.html

In a slightly irrelevant note, I notice that you have a few extensions of
the Falcon named.

Falcon    3-square multipath
Scorpion  4-square multipath
Dragon    5-square multipath
Phoenix   6-square multipath

I wonder what others you have named in this chain. The one I am wondering
about is the 2-square multipath (which is, technically, a combination of
the Mao and his opposite, the Moa.) Since I think you're relying on Egyptian Mythology for naming these pieces it would be fun if this piece is called the Cat. The name isn't much appropriate though.

I think Betza has his wording correct. More force DOES make the game more
strategical, especially if one mistake can lead immediately to a mate in
1.

An example is Suicide Chess (though it doesn't quite fit here.) Suicide
for beginners is a very tactical game. However, among the masters (who
became so by avoiding tactical mistakes,) it's a game of strategy.

Betza in his page of Tripunch chess talked about Small Weaknesses, and how
the Nightrider is useful in this matter. As I understand strategy, small
weaknesses is all that matters.

the Patient Pawns in Queen of the Night Chess may also move sideways. Is this the case in IX ?

I might add that the dropping mechanism in this set of variants has a certain flaw. It's possible, in normal chess, to attack a piece on the opp's first rank. In this game, assuming a similar capture happens, and that there's no way to prevent the capturing piece from 'escaping' in a sense, it can vacate the square, have the spare piece droppes, then capture a second piece. It's highly unlikely that players will allow this kinda capture, but it's still an annoyance.

There's also no retreat mechanism, maneuvering, in a chess sense, can prove difficult.

Also, doesn't that make the board particulary 'crowded' ?

As a possible solution, consider this : the piece is dropped on that square as soon as the piece originally occupying it is captured (in a circe-style.) If this square is occupied, the piece is dropped anyway, destroying any piece (enemy or friendly) that is under it. A legal possibilty is having the King on a knight's square, the knight is still on the board, it's illegal to place the knight under attack, since capturing it will destroy the king.

The pieces behind the king are replaced by a Queen capture. Pieces behind pawns are dropped as soon as the pawn leaves its file, or promotes, or is captured.

As I understand the rules, a pawn's double move costs 3 points ?

I don't believe the BrainKing mass of games is reliable. Too many
beginners. If, somehow, you could get the percentages where both players
in a game are among the top ten, you would get a better estimate.

As I said in an earlier thread, I don't believe the first move advantage
is a flaw. I think it is the most natural thing.

Incidentally, the setup I prefer for this variant is : R N B R* B* K N* B
N R

Ha .. Finally a contest ..

An example you might like for a game that uses one type of piece is Chad, by Christian Freeling.

This brings up the suggestion of having a confined King as a theme. The most obvious example is Xiangqi. Other examples I can think of are Seenschach, Sphinx Chess, and Congo (which is animal themed.)

Like Graeme Neatham suggested, a Multi-board contest would be nice. (Examples being Alice Chess, Bughouse, Tandem-84.)

However, I would also suggest that using triangles for cells would make a nice change. Not necessarily equilateral triangles or a flat board.

Also, using pentagons is also a nice change. Using the Cairo tiling for example.

You can specify a certain board for the game. Like the Crazy38's board or the board in The Central Squares, or an Icosahedron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icosahedron).

Congo, by Demian Freeling, is Animal themed. This is also a pretty theme for a contest.

Other suggestion: games that use a Royal piece that does NOT move like a King. (Either a specific piece, like a Queen, or the player is given the choice.) Examples are many for Queens and Knights. Horus by Peter Aronson uses royal Falcons. Some games use a stationary King. (There's a game in the Number 10 contest, which used a piece that can only move when in check, called the President.)

Speaking of Christian Freeling's games, a theme that immediately comes to mind is games without pawns. Another theme is that Pieces can't capture each other (unless in specific situations, like in Chad.) In Caissa, instead of capture, you swap places with the other piece. Usually the only piece that can capture is the Royal piece.

--

As for my vote, I vote for boards that use a fixed board, specifically the Icosahedron (admittedly, I have an idea for a game.)

I prefer the voting method to judge the contest.

To Mr. Duniho,

An option to have 'Diamonds' in the menu 'Shape', which are 45 degrees squares, would be nice. It's like the difference between vertical and horizontal hexagons. (I realize it can be worked around using the bkg image, but it's a nice option to have.)

Regards,

Thompson, George Duke has played a few games of Omega Chess, one of them was against me.

Personally, I think Omega Chess is a good game in its own right. However, the endgame does play out like a prolonged and boring Chess ending. The existence of all those leapers (and the huge space between the two armies) makes pawn pushes somehow unnecessary, and pawns are the soul of chess.

I wonder though, what George Duke considers to be the 'best' decimal variant, (my bet is that he will say Rococo, but I would call it an Ultima variant, not a Chess variant.)