[ List Earliest Comments Only For Pages | Games | Rated Pages | Rated Games | Subjects of Discussion ]
Game Reviews (and other rated comments on Game pages)
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]
Anonymous wrote on Tue, Aug 20, 2002 10:42 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★I have recently played this variant (or 'upgrade') and found it very interesting. The new peices certainly are different, and the barons proved to be very useful. <p>
Usually when I play standard chess, no pawn ever has a chance of being promoted. However, here the addition of the jester has the ability to skip around other pawns with its diagonal advance (very useful). The jester certainly helped the pawn cause. <p>
When playing, players must be careful <i> never </i> to let their opponent obtain a sorceror, as this peice will very easily be their downfall. I learned this the hard way the first time I played. Mr. Munzlinger said the board needed more mating power, and there is no doubt the sorceror gives it that. <p>
I beleive that Mr. Munzlinger did a very good job of what he wanted to accomplish. The larger board and new peices make for a more interesting and fun game, and I beleive this is one of the better variations (upgrades) out there.
Action Man's Chess. A small (5x6) board and simple pieces ensures lots of easy-to-understand action. (5x6, Cells: 30) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Anonymous wrote on Tue, Aug 20, 2002 10:54 PM UTC:Good ★★★★This variation certainly does provide a quick and fast way to play chess. The game seems to very rarely last more than five or six minutes, yet is still fun. <p>
The point system is a much needed portion of the game as often the game develops to the point where it is immposible to checkmate your opponent (if they have a brain). Points can quickly wrap up the game. <p>
One more thing. Here is a proposed additional rule to avoid stalemates without resorting to the point system: <ul> <li> If only spearmen are left on the board, they may move sideways one square in addition to their other moves. </ul> <p>
While not for the fan of elaborate strategies, Action Man's chess is a fast, fun game.
Tournoy. Pieces have orientation that can be rotated. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]this is a very interesting game, and i'd suggest adding it the list of possibilities for the pbem tourney. it is quite clearly superior to ploy, and it is probably more interesting than rotary as well. <P>
for the record, i can't agree with the author's comment that the standard pawns in rotary are poorly inspired - i originally thought so too, until i actually played the game, they work quite well. my problem with rotary is that all the pieces are approximately the same value, a problem only somewhat resolved in tournoy. <P>
in tournoy tho, the probes make an interesting pawn front, and one that is more appropriate to the nature of the game. the hammer is a very neat piece, much easier to visualize than i had anticipated. i suspect it will work very well with more conventional chess pieces as well. <P>
the suggestion that comes to mind for this game is that it will probably make for a livlier game if pieces can rotate at the end of a move, rather than just rotating in place. i'm not worried that this will create pieces that are too powerful, it should balance out nicely i think.
ximeracak.. A leaper-heavy fantasy variant designed for play with a standard set. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]It might be interesting to try the following modest variant of ximeracak: 0: all rules as Ximeracak except as noted below 1: when the general is under check it can switch with the pegasus, provided of course the pegusus is not also attacked. This simple modification will increase the pegasus's streategic value which will make people be more careful before putting pegasus in harm's way, and keep it in the game for the end game. In fact it should have the overall effect of decreasing the apeal of captures in the game.
The FIDE Laws Of Chess. The official rules of Chess from the World Chess Federation.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Nigel_Shaughnessy wrote on Thu, Aug 22, 2002 06:37 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★2002-8-22 Thanks for your reply. My question was answered in the FIDE handbook link you suggested, under Para. 3.9(a). But why is the para numbering and the arrangement of laws there different from this page?
Chess. The rules of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Henk Penning wrote on Thu, Aug 22, 2002 09:31 PM UTC:Good ★★★★No, I am a different Henk, sorry. However I do like chess! Nice website. Thanks for making me famous
Xiangqi: Chinese Chess. Links and rules for Xiangqi (Chinese Chess). (9x10, Cells: 90) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Smitty wrote on Fri, Aug 23, 2002 06:16 AM UTC:Poor ★Good try but not informative enough. A person that know NUTS about chinese won't know what you are implying. Horse/ Knight in chinese is 'ma' NOT 'mao'. Cheers!
Cheapmate Chess. Mate your opponent with an illegal move. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]This plays well OTB and is alot of fun. I think this might work well as a rule change in other variants.
Chess with Different Armies. Betza's classic variant where white and black play with different sets of pieces. (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Mike Nelson wrote on Thu, Aug 29, 2002 08:33 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★CWDA is IMHO the best variant on these pages and that's saying a lot. I particularly like the fact that the concept can be adapted to most variants.
<p>
Here is an experimental CWDA army based on <a href='http://www.chessvariants.com/diffmove.dir/separate-realms.html'>Separate Realms Chess</a>:
<p>
On the Rook's squares: the Separate Realms Queen (mAADDcQ)<br>
On the Knight's squares: the Separate Relms Rook (mDDcR)<br>
On the Bishop's squares: the Separte Realms Bishop (mAAcB)<br>
One the Queen's square: the FIDE Queen (or any queen-value piece you prefer).
<p>
Calculation and playtesting suggest that the Separate Realms pieces are worth about 2/3 of their FIDE counterparts, so this should be in the ballpark of CWDA armies, with an unusual material balance (strong Rooks and weak Bishops).
Xiangqi: Chinese Chess. Links and rules for Xiangqi (Chinese Chess). (9x10, Cells: 90) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Sam wrote on Fri, Aug 30, 2002 12:54 AM UTC:Poor ★Notice you say the word points to describe where you put the pieces to play. Under Geometry A line has an infity number of points. Maybe you should use the word intersections to make it much easyer to understand where you place the pieces.
Chaturanga. The first known variant of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Nigel Shaughnessy wrote on Sun, Sep 1, 2002 06:49 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★The black pawn that moves to, let us say b8, will get promoted to a knight. But what if it moved diagonally to b8 from a7 (by capturing)? Does it become a rook or knight? Please email me at nigel_j2000@yahoo.co.in or nigelj@indiatimes.com
Nigel Shaughnessy wrote on Sun, Sep 1, 2002 07:16 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★I can nowhere find in your site the chess game called 'Indian Style Chess' which is played by many orthodox families especially in Delhi (India). The features different from the international style are: (1) Instead of castling, king moves 'horsefully' once in the game before check (once check given, loses privilege); (2) Kings & Queens not aligned (each king faces opp queen); (3) Pawn moving once forward only; (4) Promotion only on rank piece (rook, bishop, knight, queen) [not clear about exact rule re this]; (5) King cannot be left alone on board: must have at least a piece or two pawns i.e. if Black has only king & queen, then White cannot kill the queen. Please tell me where I can find the rules of Indian Style Chess? Please email me at nigel_j2000@yahoo.co.in or nigelj@indiatimes.com
Chess with Ultima, Rococo and Supremo Pieces. A series of variants with the Orthochess array transplanted to a 10x10 board and various exotic pieces added. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Jared wrote on Tue, Sep 3, 2002 04:16 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★Regarding the 'Co-Ordinator Chess' variant, I would like to propose a slight rule change that I call 'Co-Ordinator Chess II' (since Roman numerals stuck onto CV names seem to be all the rage around here). I would also like to see it implemented in the ZRF, if nobody minds stuffing it in there (as my ZRF coding is awfully limited). Here's the change: When both Co-Ordinators are still on board, they co-ordinate with each other, instead of the King; they co-ordinate with the King only when one of them has been captured. If there happen to be three or more Co-Ordinators through Pawn promotion, after you move one, it can only co-ordinate with one other Co-Ordinator at a time. --Jared (who hates typing 'Co-Ordinator' on a laptop keyboard)
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]Anonymous wrote on Thu, Sep 5, 2002 03:13 AM UTC:Good ★★★★I wonder if this is the Michael Jacobs who lived in south africa and directed chess tournaments. if so I'm trying to make contact. Ian Kitai, 95 bayly st w #202, Ajax, Ontario, Canada L1S 7K8
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]AWJ wrote on Fri, Sep 6, 2002 07:37 PM UTC:Good ★★★★Good overview of the game, but the images of the pieces need to be much larger--the Japanese characters on each piece are no more than undistinguishable four-pixel squiggles.
Chess. The rules of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Anonymous wrote on Sat, Sep 7, 2002 01:50 AM UTC:Good ★★★★ Extinction chess. Win by making your opponents pieces of one type extinct. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Actually, this game can be found in the standard Chess ZRF that comes with Zillions.
Alice Chess. Classic Variant where pieces switch between two boards whenever they move. (2x(8x8), Cells: 128) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Masashi Yamazaki wrote on Tue, Sep 10, 2002 02:51 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★The starting setup of graphics version is wrong. Bishops in 1b/8b should be in 1c/8c respectively. Knignts in 1c/8c should be in 1b/8b respectively. The game is wonderful but too complex to play for me. Thanks. Masashi Yamazaki
Four Handed Chess (I). Information on different variants of four handed chess on plus-shaped board.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Dmitri Zdorov wrote on Wed, Sep 11, 2002 09:56 PM UTC:Good ★★★★In Moscow (Russia) there is a club that plays The game of Dessau Many people participate. The game called Quad Chess (or Kvadratichnye Shakhmaty) Your page is missing some info about rulls: 1. If one of the players is mated, his pieces can not be taken (in addition that they can't move) 2. King still can't go to the checked areas of mated player 3. Team players can't talk to each other 4. When two pawn (from 2 players of the same team) reach one another next moving pawn jumps over the other one (moving 2 spaces). It can because a different peice ones it reach the end (even if it's on the side of the cross) also as far as I know, pawns can make initian 2 space jump.
Field Chess. On an 8x12 board with 8 extra pieces per side (Archers). (8x12, Cells: 96) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]24377 wrote on Thu, Sep 12, 2002 11:45 PM UTC:Good ★★★★Why doesn't the inventor of this variant sell this game as a two for one deal with our popular version? It would be a great a mix for the chess world.
Separate Realms. Pieces capture like normal FIDE pieces, but have limited moves that only take them to part of the board when not capturing. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Nice game. One minor thought: the King is substantially weakened by the restriction against moving orthogonally without capture--in cases where it is threatened this can be fatal. Note that the capturing moves of all the pieces are standard, so the King is at a net disadvantage relative to FIDE chess.
Random Wormhole Chess (deleted). Introduces "wormholes" and "toroidal" movement to the game in a fun and manageable way. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]A neat concept for light game! A few questions:
<p><ul><li>
Is it allowed for a wormhole to form such
that it causes a stalemate?
</li><p><li>
Assume a white Pawn on a7, and a wormhole on a8 -- if the white Pawn moves
forward, does it end up on a1 without promoting? If so, can it doublemove
from a1? What if it moves to a2?
</li><p><li>
Can a wormhole be <em>removed</em> in such a way as to put a King in
check?
</li></ul>
Fischer Random Chess. Play from a random setup. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Chuck wrote on Sat, Sep 14, 2002 09:47 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★Brad,
I think your method favors positions with the king near the edge of the board, relative to the standard method.
<p>
This is because, since the king has to be between the two rooks, it's more likely to be closer to the center than to the edges. If the king is on the b1, there are only 6 combinations of squares the rooks can be on, while if it's on c1, there are 10 possible sets of squares for the rooks, and on d1, there are 12. (The fact that bishops must end up on opposite colors muddles things a bit too--it means that the king and two rooks are less likely to all three end up on the same color than they would be without the provision that bishops must be on opposite colors--but I can't think of a good way to explain this in detail without making this post much much longer than it already is.)
<p>
To look at it from a brute-force perspective, if you simply count up the king positions out of <a href='http://www.chessvariants.com/diffsetup.dir/fischer-random-fen.html'>all 960 possible setups</a>, you will find there are:<p>
108 setups with kings on b1 & b8<br>
168 setups with kings on c1 & c8<br>
204 setups with kings on d1 & d8<br>
204 setups with kings on e1 & e8<br>
168 setups with kings on f1 & f8<br>
108 setups with kings on g1 & g8<p>
The standard method gives an equal probability to each of the 960 setups .
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]Anonymous wrote on Wed, Sep 18, 2002 02:15 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★ Tridimensional Chess (Star Trek). Three-dimensional chess from Star Trek. (7x(), Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]joey wrote on Fri, Sep 20, 2002 04:15 AM UTC:Good ★★★★mate it is a very good site if you want to know how the board is set up but i want to know how you play and all the rules with pic with them. then it will be a good site.
25 comments displayed
Permalink to the exact comments currently displayed.