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Score: Bifurcators including Venator > Great Shatranj > Mastodon > Unicorn
Great > Big Board > Centennial > Eurasian > Wildebeest > Fantasy Grand >
Black Ghost > Eight-Stone > Modern > Templar > Courier de la Dama >
Switching > Seirawan.
http://www.chessvariants.org/index/displaycomment.php?commentid=24303
Mastodon is de-coupled from Bifurcators and in turn
Great Shatranj edges Mastodon. Also Modern moved up a notch for its supporting material passing Templar.
It is appealing to keep the Rooks of mediaeval Shatranj, as in Great
Shatranj R. At least 8x10 is proving practically necessary in NextChesses
for reasons from computers to completeness. Betza pre-described the atoms
Wazir, Ferz, Dabbabah, Alfil, Knight in
http://www.chessvariants.org/dpieces.dir/diffknights.html, all of which gain expression in Great Shatranj. Think of the pieces of
G.S.R. not the piece-types. That helps because, except for Rooks, eight
pieces are of comparable mobility and value.
http://www.chessvariants.org/index/msdisplay.php?itemid=MSgreatshatranjm
Now five of the ten pieces are from standard Shatranj and standard old-style strong-Queen 64-square: Rook, Rook, Knight, Knight, King. Therefore, we are looking at just five new guys remaining, and two of those exist as a pair of Alfil-Ferz Elephants (who is
1/2 the Mastodon, or Pasha, elsewhere). Then the only three single unknowns left: one, a singular Courier Chess Man, being same-moving as King from the other mediaeval game, so as to achieve fuller synthesis here. The final two are nothing but one each stand-alone, rarely-used tri-compound of Knight-Wazir-Dabbabah and of Knight-Ferz-Alfil, both of Betza device. Does it seem odd to have so many as three embodying (Alfil + Ferz) in whole or part? No, because they make up for no Bishops, and they get counterbalance from subtle Pawns' themselves forwardness within due stress on quite moderate movers and resultant non-trivialization of Pawns. There is the general expectation that future temperaments instead will likely gravitate towards rambunctious long-range knock-about hooked movers, crooked groovers, spooked rovers... Which a Great Shatranj wholly sorely lacks. Who knows or can definitely pre-judge? These NextChesses are dissected and reviewed broadmindedly for variable futures. In the event, it takes contrasting
Great Shatranj to Mastodon's even further considered elementalism as
perfection and Bifurcators' inevitable dynamism for the current standings' exact
slotting-in above.