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Game Reviews (and other rated comments on Game pages)
Rex: Six Direction Chess 
. Six Direction Chess.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Gerardo wrote on Tue, Jul 16, 2002 11:05 PM UTC:Good ★★★★<p><font face=arial color=navy> Very good adaptation of hexes to a rectangular board. His page provides a lot of info on the game, and also many graphic explanations about it. Interesting new rules, such as zig-zag movement. </font></p>
Janggi - 장기 - Korean Chess. The variant of chess played in Korea. (9x10, Cells: 90) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Shawn wrote on Sat, Jul 20, 2002 09:04 AM UTC:Good ★★★★Hello, nice site. I read your instructions and they were enough to get me playing my first game without too many problems! I was just wondering of you knew of any places to play online, since I can't seem to access Korean game sites (they require some kind of Korean registration ID number that foreigners don't have). Let me know if you are aware of a place to play online. Thanks.
Smess. Produced and sold in the early 70's by Parker Brothers. Arrows on squares determine direction pieces can move. (7x8, Cells: 56) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Michael Jacobs wrote on Sun, Jul 21, 2002 05:21 AM UTC:Good ★★★★I used to have a copy of 'Take the Brain', and played it a lot. It is a great game, and the 'one-way' system means that moves must be planned very carefully. Ultimately, he who controls the central squares usually wins the game. The typical '1970s' graphics add to the charm of the game, and 'All the King's Men', whilst more 'dignified', somehow lacks this cute element of anarchy... Whilst I had seen 'All the King's Men', the 'Smess' version is news to me. I am very pleased to see that this game is still preserved for posterity, and hope one day to see a commercial edition on sale again so that I restore it to my collection! I would have rated this item as excellent - even just for existing - if the pictures of the pieces had been a bit clearer, and more had been said about actual game-play.
Shogi. The Japanese form of Chess, in which players get to keep and replay captured pieces. (9x9, Cells: 81) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Lachlan wrote on Mon, Jul 22, 2002 04:39 AM UTC:Good ★★★★I noticed that the notation you provide for the pieces differs from that used in Japanese game scores; for example the opening position of the White bishop is given as 'b2' whereas in Japanese notation this position would be given as 2b. I think it's important to use the Japanese notation so that people can use game scores from competitions in Japan.
Shatranj. The widely played Arabian predecessor of modern chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Arash Salarian wrote on Thu, Jul 25, 2002 09:51 AM UTC:Good ★★★★Just wanted to comment that Persia is not an arabic country. This way, repeatedly calling Shatranj an arabic game in these pages is not a an acceptable argument. Everyone admits that Shatranj comes from Persia so why you don't call it a Persian game?
Iyad wrote on Fri, Jul 26, 2002 08:46 AM UTC:Good ★★★★I would like to note -as a chess player- in the arab countries such as Jordan and Syria, they play chess the orthodox way with one difference, in your first move you have the option to move any two pawns one square only, or one pawn for two squares. but it is becoming old fasioned. And one more note, it's a fact that chess came to the Islamic world from Persia. But at that time there was no Persia, instead there was one Undivided Islamic country, And from there chess spread to the world by trade. So chess(Shatranj)is not Arabic or Persian, but Islamic. For that was the only thing incommen among the residents of that huge country. But furthermore, Persia's origin is from Sumeria, so why not call it Sumrian chess? or New Cave-man Chess?? or...
Tandem Chess. 4 player variant where pieces taken from your opponent are given to your partner. (2x(8x8), Cells: 128) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]LittleKarpov wrote on Fri, Jul 26, 2002 07:44 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★The one thing I would correct is that in bughouse, you must press the clock before you pass the piece. Because your turn is not effectively completed until you press your clock you could still do something else (as is the case in blitz when touch-move is not in play). I have seen more than once what happens when in over-the-board someone takes a piece and then doesn't press his clock: the opponent may try to move but the player could claim, 'But I haven't pressed my clock yet.' Of course, in over the board play, if you press your clock you don't necessarily have to pass the piece...especially if you are playing with 5 people and the loser is out! Otherwise the page looks good! -LittleKarpov (Rated 2005 on FICS)
Mono-dimensional Chess. Small, one dimensional variant with unorthodox pieces. (1x10, Cells: 10) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]William Overington wrote on Sun, Jul 28, 2002 03:49 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★This is fascinating. After just two moves for each side there are an amazing number of possible positions for the game! An interesting game, perhaps ideal for email games. Also, by being a simplified game, perhaps an attempt to have a computer play it will be an interesting exercise. I hope that it is successful and gathers its own literature of games. William Overington 28 July 2002
Burmese Traditional Chess. An article that discusses chess as it was played in Burma. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]this is absolutely amazing. a very clear exposition and easy to follow. The thing that intrigues me the most is a move leading to stalemate is not allowed. which get's away from the fuddily rules in FIDE and other variants dealing with stalemates. I think this is a worthwhile rule to adopt in other variants.
Afterlife Chess. A game based on Ancient Egyption mythology, played on four boards totaling 42 squares. (Cells: 42) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]this is really cool! conceptually cohesive with every element contributing
Chess. The rules of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Pamela Kohler wrote on Tue, Jul 30, 2002 12:55 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★Brilliant. As a very new chess player I loved the simple explanations and diagrams. Thankyou!!!
Mono-dimensional Chess. Small, one dimensional variant with unorthodox pieces. (1x10, Cells: 10) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]It's a draw by repetitive boredom, unless someone blunders. I programmed a Zillions file for it this afternoon, and the computer cannot win without help. But neither will it lose. Nice theory; I'd like to see a playable linear chess (yes, it's been attempted before). But we're not there yet.
Tridimensional Chess (Star Trek). Three-dimensional chess from Star Trek. (7x(), Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Anonymous wrote on Tue, Jul 30, 2002 08:05 PM UTC:Good ★★★★<b>it's good but you need a PLAY button</b>
Colorboundmost and Nearly Colorboundmost Chess. Games with all pieces either completely or almost completely colorbound. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Mike Nelson wrote on Tue, Jul 30, 2002 10:12 PM UTC:Good ★★★★Ralph has provided an interesting theme which can be developed in different ways. Colorboundmost Chess emphasizes the race to mate theme too strongly for my taste. Nearly Colorboundmost Chess would be more playable. I have any idea for a game which emphasizes colorboundness but not to the degree of either of these variants (based on Peter Aronson's An Odd Piece comment). King and pawns are standard FIDE. The Rooks move as Dabbabah-riders and capture as Rooks (mDDcR). The Bishops move as Alfil-riders and capture as Bishops (mAAcB). The Queen combines the Rook and Bishop (mAADDcQ). The Knight moves as Narrow Knight and captures as Knight (mvNcN). The pieces move to half of their normal squares but capture normally. Rooks, Knights, and Queens are initially confined to 1/4 of the board and the Bishops to 1/8 of the board, but by capturing, each piece has its normal reach. Except for the moves of the pieces, normal FIDE rules would apply and the colorbound castling rule in Rule Zero would apply.
Vierschach. 19th Century 4-player game where allies start off at right angles to each other. (14x14, Cells: 160) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]This is the same unusual placement of partners and order of play that is used by Parker Bros. Grand Camelot, published in 1932. I had thought until now that it was unique in that respect. I have never played Vierschach, but I have played Grand Camelot, and it is a good way to play a partnership game. Peter Aronson also made a variant of his Chaturanga 4-84 with the same seating positions and turn order.
Chess. The rules of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]sharon wrote on Wed, Jul 31, 2002 02:25 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★ Tridimensional Chess (Star Trek). Three-dimensional chess from Star Trek. (7x(), Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Doug Keenan wrote on Wed, Jul 31, 2002 07:11 PM UTC:Good ★★★★FREE GAME playable computer version of 3D chess on Spock's board with instructions @ http://www.hemptrek.com/parmen.html
Vierschach. 19th Century 4-player game where allies start off at right angles to each other. (14x14, Cells: 160) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Jared wrote on Wed, Jul 31, 2002 07:13 PM UTC:Good ★★★★What if, to be able to destinguish between the allied teams, you gave them totally different armies? I don't know how you could do this, but it would make it much more interesting! Perhaps you could give the 'A' teams standard armies, and the 'B' teams a Different Armies team. On another note, you could implement this with Zillions by specifying the two teams as two different players, making the two teams per player easily distinguishable, and setting up a double-move script. I don't know how well Zillions would play, though. --Jared
Raumschach. The classical variant of three-dimensional chess: 5 by 5 by 5. (5x(5x5), Cells: 125) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Fearless wrote on Thu, Aug 1, 2002 11:49 PM UTC:Good ★★★★I like the setup, it's the most strait-forward, simple version of 3D chess that I've seen. However, there is a problem. The way the unicorn currently is, you need to have four of them for the same reason that you need 2 bishops in standard chess. Upon further investigating, you will find that each unicorn can only reach 30 squares (60, total) at any point in the game. That leaves 65 squares that they can never reach. As for using 4 color squares, that would be a good idea if you used 2 pairs of closely related colors, e.g. blue and green instead of black and clear and gray instead of white. This way, you can still see the bishop's diagonals. There should be 30 squares of 3 of the colors and 35 of the color that's on the corners of boards A,C, and E. Also, any given 2x2 square from any board should have all four colors (trust me, I've worked it out). As far as the king having too many moves, all the other pieces have added moves, too. Plus, there's more pieces anyway, so checkmating the king shouldn't be THAT hard. But other than the unicorn problem, it looks like a pretty good game.
Tandem Chess. 4 player variant where pieces taken from your opponent are given to your partner. (2x(8x8), Cells: 128) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]NeilK wrote on Fri, Aug 2, 2002 02:52 PM UTC:Good ★★★★Hi! Good page, but the links are a bit outdated. Check out: thebugboard.net, bughouse.info for some good links and software to download. Also if you want to play bughouse or crazyhouse online The freechess server freechess.org is the place to be! the link http://www.bughousechess.com/ mentioned on the page does no longer exists.
3D Chess, a Different Way of Looking at It. A scheme for a geometric translation of 2d piece moves into 3d.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]benito wrote on Sat, Aug 3, 2002 01:52 AM UTC:Good ★★★★who is they?
Mono-dimensional Chess. Small, one dimensional variant with unorthodox pieces. (1x10, Cells: 10) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I like this game =) It's a fun game to play. Is there some way to force some forwardness into the game to avoid situations where the only option is to give up or draw by 3 time repetition? -=T=-
Twenty-First Century Chess. An updating of Chess for the video game generation, on a 10x8 board with Barons and Jesters. (10x8, Cells: 80) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I've downloaded and played this game a couple of times and while I think that it is a good chessvariant I also think that the author coul duse a dose of modesty ;) This is a good chessgame so don't think that I don't appreciate it but it's not the best I've ever played and it's not the 'new chess'. Perhaps I'm wrong and perhaps this is the new chess and if it is I will humbly admit that I was wrong. It has its points though and the one I like the most is the Jester. Zillions seem to have trouble of planing the use of the Jester and put it in at the first move pawn. I'm not a chessprogrammer so I don't know if this is something that most chessprograms would do or if its just a Z problem. Good work Karl. Tomas
Existentialist Chess. 10x10 board with many different pieces. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]M. Howe wrote on Sun, Aug 4, 2002 02:39 PM UTC:Good ★★★★Existentialist Chess certainly contains interesting ideas -- any one of which might be enough to be the basis for a good variant. The inventor certainly has a fertile mind. And I'm not at all averse to large and complex variants. But without having played E.C. yet, my impression is that the inventor might have tried to put too much into one game and the game therefore might suffer from lack of clarity -- meaning that it will be difficult for the player to see more than a couple of moves ahead given all of the interactions on the board. I think it might be worthwhile for the inventor to consider using the ideas in E.C. to make several variants, each simpler than E.C. but still complex enough to be interesting and with greater clarity. I might be mistaken, though, and if someone out there could come up with a ZRF for E.C., I'd certainly like to give it a try and be proven wrong.
Chaturanga. The first known variant of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Steve Nichols wrote on Sun, Aug 4, 2002 07:04 PM UTC:Poor ★Murray's notion that 2-sided Chatrang predates the 4-sided Chaturanga is totally wrong. Where is some evidence? What about previous chess historian Prof Duncan Forbes proof for the priority of the 4-sided game? No mention of Stuart Cullen either. An appalling summary of Chaturanga that should be removed from the web! www.chaturanga.com
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