Check out Modern Chess, our featured variant for January, 2025.

Enter Your Reply

The Comment You're Replying To
Kevin Pacey wrote on Wed, Oct 25, 2017 10:45 PM EDT:

I'm not really satisfied with the latest version of my Gamma Chess variant idea, either, but tonight I've thought of three other somewhat similar variant ideas that I'll diagram for my own leisurely examination, at least. The first variant idea here I'd guess might have the best chance of being successful; for now I'll dub the idea Hannibal Chess (the name 'Elephant Chess' was taken already). Hannibal Chess is sort of a much simpler version of Courier-Spiel, with a smaller board and less piece types. The pieces all move as in standard chess, except for the Elephant piece type, which leaps 1 or 2 squares diagonally; otherwise the game would be played like Capablanca Chess (I wasn't sure if I should switch the bishops and elephants in the setup, but I kind of like the way it is at the moment [edit: after consideration I switched the B's to the c and h files, as the other way there might often be very early trades involving them] [further edit: I cannot submit this idea because apparently an almost identical form of it (i.e. except for my last-minute switch of the Bs & Es) has already been invented - see my next post in this thread {edit: as Mr. Will pointed out, the Elephants in Hannibal Chess have rather different powers than for the variant in question, so I may yet find a use for Hannibal Chess}] [additional edit: this idea for a variant might not be quite satisfying, as in a wide open endgame an E may be all but clearly inferior to a B, and also there may be relatively few good opening variations, e.g. 1.f4 f6 2.e4 e5 3. f5 might be bad for Black, unless 3...h5 is more or less playable (seemingly similar slightly suspect structures like this for Black can arise in Dutch Defence sidelines in FIDE chess)]):

My second new variant idea would be the same as for in my unedited original post on my Archer (or Gamma) Chess variant idea, except that Berolina pawns would be used instead of standard chess pawns. I'm hoping this just might make the idea feasible, but I'll have to study it more. The Archer would be the old version of the piece type, i.e. a Vao+Guard compound, while the Boat would be the old version of that piece type, i.e. Cannon+Guard, and as before the game would otherwise be played like Capablanca Chess; for now I'll dub this idea Gamma2 Chess [edit: it seems this variant idea may be infeasible as at the least a Boat might still harass a castled king by a lift to the third rank, then using another piece to take a doubled Berolina pawn on the same file as the castled king and the lifted Boat; not only that but e.g. 1.j2-i3 attacks the opposing j-pawn at once. edit2: the arguments vs. this variant idea, in this whole last sentence, seem less likely to be real concerns, in hindsight.]:

The third and final new variant idea of this post is simply Capablanca Chess played with Berolina pawns. Not sure this would be accepted if ever submitted, as countless variants could be created by simply replacing standard chess pawns in existing variants with Berolina pawns, for better or for worse. In the database I've seen just one variant with Berolina pawns so far, besides Berolina Chess itself. Anyway, for now I'd dub this last new variant idea Berolina Capablanca Chess [edit: this variant idea may be infeasible as at the least trying to develop one's Chancellor and/or kingside knight might frequently produce undesirable effects]:

Berolina Pawn:

Archer:

Ship:


Edit Form
Conduct Guidelines
This is a Chess variants website, not a general forum.
Please limit your comments to Chess variants or the operation of this site.
Keep this website a safe space for Chess variant hobbyists of all stripes.
Because we want people to feel comfortable here no matter what their political or religious beliefs might be, we ask you to avoid discussing politics, religion, or other controversial subjects here. No matter how passionately you feel about any of these subjects, just take it someplace else.
Avoid Inflammatory Comments
If you are feeling anger, keep it to yourself until you calm down. Avoid insulting, blaming, or attacking someone you are angry with. Focus criticisms on ideas rather than people, and understand that criticisms of your ideas are not personal attacks and do not justify an inflammatory response.
Quick Markdown Guide

By default, new comments may be entered as Markdown, simple markup syntax designed to be readable and not look like markup. Comments stored as Markdown will be converted to HTML by Parsedown before displaying them. This follows the Github Flavored Markdown Spec with support for Markdown Extra. For a good overview of Markdown in general, check out the Markdown Guide. Here is a quick comparison of some commonly used Markdown with the rendered result:

Top level header: <H1>

Block quote

Second paragraph in block quote

First Paragraph of response. Italics, bold, and bold italics.

Second Paragraph after blank line. Here is some HTML code mixed in with the Markdown, and here is the same <U>HTML code</U> enclosed by backticks.

Secondary Header: <H2>

  • Unordered list item
  • Second unordered list item
  • New unordered list
    • Nested list item

Third Level header <H3>

  1. An ordered list item.
  2. A second ordered list item with the same number.
  3. A third ordered list item.
Here is some preformatted text.
  This line begins with some indentation.
    This begins with even more indentation.
And this line has no indentation.

Alt text for a graphic image

A definition list
A list of terms, each with one or more definitions following it.
An HTML construct using the tags <DL>, <DT> and <DD>.
A term
Its definition after a colon.
A second definition.
A third definition.
Another term following a blank line
The definition of that term.