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Comments by CBagleyJones
you could ask him at the bottom of the page, it has two comments, he replied to the first comment.
you can start a conversation about a topic, or you can make a page, about whatever, you don't have to create a game, check out the alphabetical index and you will see how there are different things posted besides chess variants.
Missed this lively convo about these interesting pieces a few years ago. Yes it seems the first appearance of 'Hunter' (forward rook, backward bishop) was from 'Tenkiju Shogi', called 'Multi-General'. I notice though, no mention is made about the first appearance of these pieces in the west. In '100 SQUARES FOR CHESS+DAMANTE' by V.R.Parton, which is from this site too, link here (22 lines from top) .. http://www.chessvariants.org/parton/100Squares.txt 'DECIMAL FALCON-HUNTER (Schulz Chess) The variant of Decimal Chess described in this section is derived from a very original idea due to the imagination of an Austrian player Karl Schulz who invented about 1943 two new kinds of chessmen. The common characteristic of these two pieces, which are named Falcon and Hunter, is that they move forward in a different way to that in which they move backward. The Falcon moves forward diagonally like the Bishop, but moves backward orthogonally like the Rook; it cannot move left or right along its rank.' 'The Hunter moves forward vertically like the Rook, but moves backward diagonally like the Bishop; it has no movement along its rank. These two pieces are complementary and together form a logical couple, being one another opposite or reverse in type of movement.' The article goes on to say about the placement of the pieces, which is on a 10x10 board, with normal queen, rook, knight and bishop and pawns. So this is way before 'ABC Chess'. George Jelliss also mentions these pieces and game by Karl Schulz and the year 1943. So, with these kind of pieces, we have 'hunter' (multi general) and 'falcon', with 'Firehorse' in 'jupiter' and 'typhoon' games of Adrian King, and this game by you Gary is first appearance of 'Noclaf' is it, the 'forward bishop, backward knight' piece? Can we find 'forward knight, backward bishop' and 'forward knight, backward rook' pieces anywhere? EDIT- oh i see Ralph Betza's army 'Forward Fide's' has .. 'Bishight', moves forward as Bishop or backward as Knight, and 'Knishop', moves forward as Knight or backward as Bishop. Can't see 'forward knight, backward rook' still.
Oh yes sorry, i do remember now reading you can only drop one piece per turn, and yes i think it is best to play this way. The game looks really good.
Hey, the sound didn't work for me with your game also. i'll email you about other editions.
I think this looks really interesting. Congrats. I love the idea of drops having to be placed beside the king, and that means also you could do 3 drops on one turn, right? I also like the 'archer' and 'spearman' idea of winning game if reaching other end, combined with rule if they are captured they are out of the game. The short range pieces are great for the game too. When you release, make a game page here please.
Yes you should make it a zip file. When this game set itself up, it put all the files in a folder called 'Qtrungki11'. When i clicked on the zrf, it said it couldn't find 'blach blah blah 'images/Qtrungki'. So i made the 'images/Qtrungki' folders, put all files in there and the game played ok. So i guess you need to address that. I have 'Quang Trung Chess' (10th edition). I really like it, and the board and piece graphics are great. You can download at zillions. I also have the 2nd edition, you can download here at this site. Both these games, the earlier editions, are different in themselves and also to the lastest edition. It would be good to keep them too, are there any other editions that i could download? Not available from your site? It would be good to collect the older verisons, at least the ones that are like different games, or a different look. Ok, i'm a fan :) You should make a game page here for your game too, and i notice with the pages here on some of your past editions, links are broken.
oh, in the last update when i added the 'Ark', i also corrected the graphics for the knight/dabbaba and knight/alfil pieces (they had the old style knight/rook and knight/bishop graphics).
Oops sorry, i forgot to put the 'Ark' in a variant, updated again to do that.
i've updated this again, i think the Threeleapers on the 2nd rank promoting to a Flamingo was too quick, so only Trippers now on 2nd rank. Diagram below shows this start position.
And Carlos, the 11x11, is interesting, i'll email you about it. The two diagrams you posted in your earlier post are both the same?
Hey Carlos, the diagram doesn't look distorted to me. Well, i'm not sure about your setup, tell me what you think. It's all the Trippers on the back rank. After the Tripper, say on d1, moves to g4, it cannot move forward because the black Tripper on g10 can capture it. And also, the black Tripper on g10 now cannot move. Same with the Tripper on g1, after it moves, it also cannot move forward, because of the black Tripper on d10, which now cannot move too. Surely this cannot be good? The way i have it set up, most pieces cannot come in contact with each other, allowing them to start their journey through promotion. And the ones that can move and attack (only the Fourleapers), the opposing side has this attack defended. I note also, where i had 3 Threeleapers and 2 Fourleapers in opening setup, you have 4 Threeleapes and 1 Fourleaper. Is this intended? It is really minor thing though, because the Commuters do promote to Fourleapers. Anyway, let me know what you think, you have made me look at this more now, and i see something about the opening setup that may need .. fine tunning, curse you, hehe. It is very difficult to get these pieces in perfect opening setup, because of their awkward moves, so painful, but it is worth it, these pieces are rarely seen and hardly a game plays with them having a major role. If you are happy with a setup, i can always make a 2nd 'Carlos Cetina Variant' if you wish.
I have updated this game, to add 8 extra pieces. Flying Armies plays on a 8x8 board with 'shogi-like' drops. There are many variants with now a total of 48 different pieces showcased. The new pieces added are as follows... Ark .................. rook + alfil (first mentioned 13th century) Alibaba-Slider ...... moves like alibaba but must slide, first square must be vacant. Alibaba-Wazir-Slider ... moves as wazir plus alibaba slider Alibaba-Fers-Slider ... moves as fers plus alibaba slider Lion .................. the 'must jump to move' lion (not shogi lion or murray lion, see Piececlopedia, 'Lion2) Lion is not placed in variant, it is just in the zrf. Dragon .................. knight + pawn Knight-Alfil-Wazir Knight-Dabbaba-Fers
Awhile ago Jeremy Good and Carlos Cetina talked about how there could be flaw in this game because of the piece called the 'Tripper' being able to give check on the 2nd move. Jeremy said 'it might restrict the nature of opening possibilities too much'. I agree with this, so i have updated the game to replace the offending 'Tripper' with a 'Threeleaper', which leaves the game pretty much the same but removing the problem of the 2nd move check. Thanks.
3 forward-adjacent squares means from c3 it would be b4, c4 and d4.
Thinking about it again, the knight indeed could move 'again' as a knight, like a nightrider, but for the author not to mention this is bizzare. He is a troublemaker, hehe.
Knight move, i mentioned 3 ways it could move, if you are trying to 'make a path', but of course, there is the way Charles said, being an action, a leap, and that is the way i see a knight move, and it could be that the creator of the game see's the knight moving like this also, therefore, the knight can only make a normal knight move, if legal. I would be surprised if the knight could do a 'nightrider' type of move, though it is possible. especially seeing that it is not mentioned in the rules. If the square a knight could move to does not exist, why should that mean that it can continue on moving again like a knight, wouldn't that mean it has actually 'used' the non-existent square? You would think that if the knight had such a move, or a special way to move, he would of mentioned this type of move. Seeing he did not talk about the knight, one could assume it only can play a normal knight move.
Very interesting game, i have never noticed this before. It appears to me the pawn is checking the King, and also attacking the pawn on a2. It would be good to know what the author says about the Knight. Hans says 'The rules do not state exactly the way knights move. One could assume a knight moves one square orthogonally, and then one square diagonally, skipping again attacked squares.' This is one way to describe the Knight move, but some people describe it as moving 2 squares orthogonally then 1 to the side, or even moving 1 diagonally and 1 orthogonally outward. If you assume it moves like Hans says, then it does appear it is checking the King.
Hi all, I dont think there can be much advantage having first move, not with so many armies on such a big board. Yes 'Qin' have the dream start, most space around them, 'Chu' and 'Yan' have next best start. I dont think this gives an advantage though really, because of the nature of multi player games, anyone that is looking stronger than the others will naturally become a target for everyone else, hehe. Interesting pieces 'crossbowman' and 'archer' and 'cavalry'. I dont know if i have seen such pieces before. Also the start position is interesting for 'Qin' in relation to 'Yan' but mostly because of 'Chu' with 'crossbowman'. Oh, do you have link to wiki site, i cant seem to find it. http://chessvariants.wikidot.com/
wow, great info there champion, thanks!
Laugh, ok, here are some more. 'Operational Chess' by Andy Thomas, January 2006. Piece called 'General', leaps 3 squares away, all directions. Thus, it is a 0,3 and 3,3 leaper, and also can move like the 3,1 Camel and the 3,2 Zebra. 'Scirocco' by Adrian King, 1999, piece called 'Frog'. Leaps as a (0,3) or (3,3) leaper, plus can move 1 square all directions. G.P.Jelliss gives these names and movements. 'Frog' {1,1}+{0,3}, 'Toad' {0,2}+{0,3} and 'Newt' {2,2}+{0,3} Also 'Threeleaper' {0,3}, and 'Tripper' {3,3}. The 'Threeleaper' and 'Tripper' are in my game 'Sky', under those names. You can see the 'frog' {1,1}+{0,3} in 'Presiding Chess' by Tucker Kao, 2003. In 'Quangtrung Chess' by Vu Q, 2002, piece 'Voi' moves like above 'Newt'. Chess with Different Armies has the 'Half-Duck', steps 1 space diagonally, or jumps 2 or 3 orthogonally. 'The Travelers' by Roberto Lavieri, 2006. Piece called 'Trey', has non-capture and capture moves, as follows. Non-capturing: slides 1-3 squares orthogonally or diagonally. Capturing: can leap 3 squares, 0,3 and 3,3, only to capture. In 'Jetan', (Martian Chess) by Edgar Rice Burroughs, piece called 'Flier'. The Flier moves three squares diagonally or in a combination of these diagonal directions. It may jump over intervening pieces. I do not know of a piece that is a pure 0,3 and 3,3 leaper. Not saying there isn't one, with so many chess variants and pieces, just saying i have not seen it, as far as i can recall.
The Rook and Alfil piece is a very old piece, called the 'Ark'. First mentioned in the 13th century 'Bonus Socium' manuscript, 1275. Information from V. Nebotov’s Dictionary of Fairy Chess. G.P.Jelliss talks about this piece in Variant Chess 2, April-June, 1990, showing the mate in 2 problem from the manuscript the Ark was in. Rook Alfil Fers is in 'ABC Chess', by Jeff 'Cavebear' Stroud, 2001. You create pieces and 'army2' compounds start with 'rook/alfil/fers' so that piece can be chosen. Bishop Dabbaba is in 'Chess with Different Armies', called 'Bede'.
so, what do we have here, chinese rook that predates chaturanga? if you believe chaturanga date scholars give, hehe. time to rewrite history books? (lol).
yes i've noticed too, i can't comment on many games, can't see where it gives that function. The only reason i could comment before on my 'fairy pieces part 1' was because Jörg commented on the game, and i went in through there. Same way i am commenting here now.
thanks for info, i will add it soon. i'm glad to hear no 'gross' errors, at the end there everything was getting blurry and rolling into one, it's a wonder really there is no mistakes. Sorry, i know this is overdue for zillion file release. i will update page for when i will release, it will be soon, (this month for sure) but i will add yet one more piece, i found a little more strength to add more, hehe.
The 'Queen' in this game moves like an 'Alibaba'. It does say there is a special rule about queen capturing another queen and to look in 'rules' section, but i can't seem to see anything. Edit: oh capture might be 'concourse of queens' rule. Anyway, would this be the first appearance of an 'Alibaba' in a game? Anyone know of an earlier game with the 'Alibaba', or, any old game it plays in?
The 'Bishop' in this game moves as a 'Ferfil', and the 'Councillor' moves like a 'Centaur' (knight, wazir, fers). Would this be the first appearance for these pieces? Anyone know an earlier game they are in, or another old game anyway. I know 'Ferfil' is in the game 'Shako', 1990, by Jean-Louis Cazaux.
oh sorry, hotmail put it in junk, i can't imagine why, it's really stupid how it does that, yep i'm an inch away from having something, will reply soon Charles, thanks.
haha, someone rating their own game is exactly like parents rating their own kids, and no one knows a child best like their parents, but everyone else just smiles.
yes charles, i would be interested in adding those pieces. the Zebshal is your original piece, right? .. if you send me an email i can send the text i have on the pieces i've done, if you can't, when the page goes up here you can help correct errors and add input.
you know, another idea, besides what you doing, if you are worried about people coming to this site and not finding quality games, or finding it hard to find them, making a link on main page to 'recommended games', or something along those lines (some recommended top quality games) etc etc. You could start by just picking some obviously top games. Later you could change it to link to the top rated games that have been rated by your system.
cool, well done, hehe, good work, just you know, being protective and silly, great work fergus, your a legend. sorry if i cause trouble, hehe, dont mean to.
Fergus, you said 'What you're wanting to do is minimize false negatives, quality games that unfairly go unrecognized.' Sorry, this is not true. The only thing i am trying to do is keep 10 years of members ratings. Every game has a game page, every member can rate these pages. Sounds fair to me, i dont see how that is unfair to any game. I have faith in the members rating games, even non-members, for that matter. But i see you are bent on changing things. Can i ask, what does it mean to put ratings in the 'item table'? Is this a page like this .. http://www.chessvariants.com/index/mainquery.php?type=Any&startswithletter=Na&orderby=LinkText&displayauthor=1&displayinventor=1
Well, last thing i will say about all this is, whichever way you throw it, i see games that are not on zillions and game courier or other programs at a disadvantage with the 'how many times have you played' question. And finally, i just hope if a new rating system goes ahead, i really hope it is seperate, throwing out, what, a decade of ratings, or putting them in with the new system would be a little disappointing. Surely it can be seperate. You say the 'hidden' rating system right now is useless, why don't you replace that with your idea, and keep the 'page rating's' as is. Why does this have to get involved?
yep i know you dont have zillions, i was meaning text, thanks, i will send it soon, just need to clean it up a tad.
ah ok, i do now remember seeing something like 'make this game available for rating'. I agree, this is probably useless, and hidden, mainly because people who do rate, rate the 'game page' or 'article page'. This still does give an indication about what people think, especially if a game does get a few good ratings, then people who disagree tend to come out and rate it. Now, you say 'one option would be to migrate the data from this to what I am proposing. Another option is to leave it as a separate page rating system.' I personally would like it to be seperate, see what others think. I can't see a problem keeping it seperate. Especially because, i'm still having major issues with this 'how many times have you played this game' question. Yes, as you say, game courier is not the only way to play, there is zillions and other engines and what have you, but, the fact remains, even counting all these, many, many games are still not available counting all these. I understand how this question can tell how popular a game can be, but as far as indicating how a great a game is, that is another question. I still see it as being a bit unfair to many games.
haha George, your a funny guy :) I'm am surely not an expert, and do not deserve to go in your little list there. Probably my best game is 'Sky', but, i'm more into fairy pieces than designing chess variants, but thanks anyway.
Hey, Fairy Pieces Part 2 is coming soon, it is all non-shogi pieces. Charles, i have added some of your pieces (Knave, Debtor, Zebshal, Goldpastun etc). I wouldn't mind your input on this, i can't see an email for you, email me if you want to talk about this please, i can send you what i have done so far (text). You too Mr. George Duke, Jörg, Joe, or ANYONE interested in seeing what i have done right now, which is over 130 pieces. This is much harder to do than the shogi pieces, of course, because of the problem of naming them and info on what other names they have appeared under (within reason) and where they first appeared (what game). Names are considered either by what they are commonly known as, or what they were first called, which can be a problem. This will be released on a couple of zrf's. It will be first of all put up on this site, so people can see and correct my errors regarding the naming etc etc and also suggest pieces to be added.
Heya Fergus, some questions. This is not going to wipe out all the ratings over the years that have already happened, is it? I certainly hope not. And, you are talking about implementing a new rating system, shouldn't you talk to the members about it to see what they think first? I think the rating system in place is fine, it is casual, and that is what a lot of people here are, i think. If you are going to make it serious, that would be ok, IF about 20 people decided to go through every game and rate them, AND every game was on game courier. Heaps of people don't rate games. Heaps of people dont rate games they think are good, too. What is the point of the question ... 'How many times have you played this game?' (why, who cares). I rated 'capablanca chess' and other games 'excellent', and i havn't even played them, ask me to explain more if you can be bothered. And the question, 'how many times have you played this game', this affects a game's rating???? How is this fair, when all games are not on game courier. Plenty of people do not know how to put a game on game courier, plenty of people can't be bothered. Look at how many people play games here on game courier, a small percentage of the amount that post. I can't see how this is fair to games that are not on game courier. i just doubt this rating system is very fair to all, that is my point. Also, i dont understand why you say ratings at the moment are hidden. Let me pick a random recent game, 'Battle of Six Armies', ok, now i go to the bottom of page, and i find 'Number of ratings: 1, Average rating: Excellent, Number of comments: 2. (What is hidden??) Anyway, for the record, i'm happy with the rating system as it is, and if a new system is started, make my games 'unrateable' please, thanks.
I wasn't planning on adding more pieces, i was just going to update with info on what games some of the pieces play in, but i've now added 10 more pieces anyway, to make 153 pieces all up. It's looking good to go up on zillions for download next week i'd say. edit; with some talk to do with CWDA lately, with more armies, it should be pretty easy to add a shogi army, seeing there so many different pieces to help make it all balanced with fide army.
Yes writing as 'pawn' is strange, i guess it plays the role of a pawn, but it's true, it's not a 'pawn'. I wrote in 'foot soldier' info now. And the 'king', yes i knew about the two different names for each side, i should add that info under 'King' also. Well, i tell you why i have 'Kyosha' in 'Lance' info, on Wikipedia, the 'Lance' is in many, many variants, and in every single one, this is the name that is written for the 'Lance'.
Charles, thanks for info. Yes, there is a 'Free Copper' piece, the reason i did not add it was that it moves exactly like the 'White Horse'. There are 3 pieces that have the same movement as other pieces in this collection, i didn't notice it till after they were done, i just left them anyway. But i guess it's all still information on pieces, so, i've added the 'Free Copper' now also. The 'rook' and 'bishop' names, yes, of course these are not translations of the japanese names. All info on pieces comes from Wikipedia game pages, and, for some reason, everyone seems to call these pieces 'rook' and 'bishop', without any mention of 'flying chariot' and 'angle mover', except for the page on 'standard shogi 9x9'. I dont know why this is so, maybe because the names are so well established, or for easy finding of these pieces, not sure. I have now added in 'help' (this is the info you see when you mouse over a piece within 'zillions') this info for these pieces. Also, on wikipedia, you always find 'pawn' and 'king', which are not japanese translations. I also added 'honorable horse' info to the 'Keima' piece. What is this 'Kyoosha' name referring to? Sorry, i'm not sure what this is.
sorry, this is the best link. http://www.wgosa.org/ttchs.htm
sorry, i mean it would be good to be added now, but it's ok if that is difficult.
Around a year ago i posted .. aww this external link now doesn't work, i wanted to just look again at the rules of this game, is Danny Purvis still around, or, omg, is this game 'lost in time'? Well i found the page, and forgot to post. Anyone who has not read this description of this game should have a look, it is amazing. Here is the link .. http://www.wgosa.org/ttchsrules.htm Could an editor please fix the link given on this page, thanks! oh this link is to do with the game also http://www.wgosa.org/ttchsglos.htm
It doesn't really matter i guess. You don't even have to say this is a problematist piece. It's just the information that is interesting to be recorded, at the end of the page you could just have written something like .. Under the name 'Templar', this piece appeared in a problem composition of Bernd Schwarzkopf, published in the German magazine 'Problemkiste', No.23, 12/1984 (see 'http://www.softdecc.com/pdb/search.pdb?expression=PROBID='P1112855'' and 'http://www.softdecc.com/pdb/piecedef.pdb?id=M0000209'). I'm starting to think i like the name 'Whatever' for this piece anyway, lol.
Nice big board shogi like games, wonderful array of pieces. Goldpashtun and Silverpashtun great pieces. Lots more, have not looked at fully but i will, just thought i would post first off anyway. Congrats.
Great Elephant is the simplest one but probably the one i like best, very cool. War Elephant is nice and must be dangerous piece. Tiger is very interesting idea with it's one diagonal step and then 2 leap repeatedly. Not sure if i have seen a piece have this kind of movement. Mammoth is great piece. This piece is in 'Tai Shogi' under the name 'Free Gold', moving like a gold general with unlimited range.
never noticed this game before, 4 very nice pieces, congrats.
Thank you for this wonderful information, 1984! We do know that this piece is called 'Templar', it is been said in this thread also. Sadly, Charles Gilman has a thing about 'problematist's' names for pieces. Charles likes pieces that have played in a game. Charles, you should add the info that Alfred has given here on this page, at least, it is good to have this information there.
Possibly, the most exciting thread of all time. And i see we have probably another Mr. Hubert comment coming, lol. Jörg, look, i can do your name perfectly, hehe. I also blame you for this latest .. activity, lol (**smiling and said in a joking way**). And you too Charles, hehe (**said in same way as above comment**). It would be a pity if we lost Simon from this website.
this really does not have to get out of hand. (edits follow, less said the better i think) Look i don't really think Simon is saying everyone should only give positive feedback, that is what he himself does. He does have a point though, bad games get no good ratings and people dont talk about game, and the game passes into the sands of time. I was of the understanding, as far as everything i have seen on this website for years, that people can, and do, rate games poor, granted not much, but it happens, and no one appears to have a problem with that. There is not some type of policy that this cannot be done on this website, why would there be an option to rate 'poor' and 'average' or 'below average' etc etc.
'Is it consensus here as Jepps says to say nothing if you do not like a game, to let silence speak for itself? If it is consensus, then that is what I will practice if I continue here. Also if so, perhaps we no longer need the ratings levels, just a thumbs up option?' I fully answered these questions, so i do not understand why you are asking again. Once more, people can bag any game they want, and rate it as they like.
Hi Mr Hubert, how are you going :) ok, i think we both have not fully understood each other, so, let's see if we can fix this up. I will give an example of what i was trying to say earlier. I don't like the rook/knight and bishop/knight compound pieces, i find them frustrating to play with and too powerful, especially with the queen etc. That is my personal taste. I do appreciate these pieces though, they are classic fairy pieces, and there is nothing wrong with them. I would not rate a game 'poor' because they are in it (feel funny saying this cause i may release a game with these pieces in it, but there is a reason for that, haha). This is what i thought you were doing, rating a game 'poor' because you personally did not like the pieces, but i can see now, it is more than that. You don't like the pieces because of different reasons than i was thinking. Does that make sense? So i understand why you rated this game 'poor', even though i do not agree. And you can rate as you want, that is ok. Now, you said 'if it is inappropriate to rate a game poor when that is what you think then editors should remove that option.' No no, the editors here, i am pretty sure, do not think it is inappropriate to rate a game poor. It's an option because it is ok to rate that way. No editor said you shouldn't. And you said 'If editors want a 'don't say anything if you can't say nice' website that is their decision.' No, no editor said this, that is not a policy for the website. Also, not sure why you said '...you want me to rate game excellent?' Hmm, i don't think i said i wanted you to rate the game excellent did i? Anyway, all is good, hey, i think you should consider becoming a member of this site, i think it would be nice, you are having fun talking on forums, yes? Ok, hope i explained myself clear, laters :))
hehe yeah, that's a funny one. we should make up some 'murphy laws' for chess, here's one from me, hehe. if you have a won endgame, the chances of losing are in direct proportion to the amount of people watching.
ok, sorry for my post, you are right, you are entitled to your opinion. It's just that, it is your opinoin, your personal taste, about the type of pieces you like. Because you like certain type of pieces, does not make a game that has other kind of pieces 'poor'. You would rate all the old medieval shogi games 'poor' i am guessing. They have pieces like .. 'moves 1-2 squares vertically, 1-3 squares diagonally and any amount of squares horizontally.' Even pieces that move in more harder ways to learn. There are pieces i don't really like, certain compound pieces, other people do not prefer them too, but heaps of other people like them. I am not going to go and rate these games 'poor', just because i personally dont like these pieces. when i first made games, i was not understanding much about 'piece density', and i made games that are 'horror's', because of too many pieces, these games can be rated 'poor', because of that reason. All they do now, is show what not to do, they show how a game is destroyed because of too many pieces, lol. But to rate a game 'poor' because you dont personally like pieces ... well, not the right thing to do, i think. Anyway, that is personal opinion i guess, haha. Sorry if i upset, my bad, i got to .. not post so fast hehe. All the best.
Murphy's laws (some of them) If anything can go wrong, it will If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop Corollary: It will be impossible to fix the fifth fault, without breaking the fix on one or more of the others Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something Things get worse under pressure. Everything goes wrong all at once. Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value In nature, nothing is ever right. Therefore, if everything is going right ... something is wrong. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious. Nothing is as easy as it looks. Everything takes longer than you think. Everything takes longer than it takes. If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway. Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first. Every solution breeds new problems. no matter how perfect things are made to appear, Murphy's law will take effect and screw it up. You will always find something in the last place you look. Just when you think things cannot get any worse, they will. The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...' Said by Isaac Asimov Knowing Murphy's Law will never help. To know Murphy's Law is to draw its attention. If for some reason Murphy's Law fails to operate, it is building up for something big.
hmm, you say .. '.. with divergent both move/capture and forward/backward, ..' well, that sums up fairy pieces .. you say 'lack clarity', i don't see why??. (edit) ...
The more i've looked at this game, the more i like it. I think it is an interesting idea, adding the elements of a pawn to the bishop and knight. One thing is that the new pieces are very easy to grasp and therefore very playable, they mix with the normal pieces very well, and the best thing about them is, they both are less powerful than the rook. Nice!! Hawk: Moves like a bishop or moves 1 square vertically forward. It also has 2 non-capture moves, 1 square vertically backwards or a 2 square vertically forward leap. Elephant: Moves like a knight or has a capture only move, 1 square diagonally forward. It also has a non-capture move, being able to slide 1-3 squares vertically forward. Zillions rates the Hawk more powerful than the Elephant. The Hawk is of course not colorbound. I like the Elephant's capture only move 1 square diagonally forward. The knight, when added with extra power, is often too overbearing, but here, in this game, it is not. Nice idea also giving the knight the 3,1 option with it's very first move, good on the 10x10.
just needing some info on names for this piece Ralph Betza called it 'Doughnut', is that right? The name 'Vicount' then came from Peter Aronson in a discussion about 'rook level chess', correct?
Wow, you rock. Look, i'm sorry if maybe i upset you when all i had to say when i first posted was that you rated your own game. I was just surprised that you did that. But i was going to follow up with my thoughts on your game. i'm always interested in new pieces, and i like the new pieces because i also think the rook/knight and bishop/knight compounds are too strong. Your pieces are not over-powering, so they go nicely with the other normal pieces. Anyway, i'm sorry if i upset you.
'Are you expecting a response to your comment?' No, i wasn't expecting a response, but i see you gave me one. I also see you rated your game a 2nd time, lol, and i'm not expecting a response to that either. Thanks, and good luck with your game.
you rated your own game 'excellent' ...
thanks, i like the new pieces, well done.
Charging Paladin (fBfNsbK). sorry, that means forward bishop and knight, and sideways and backwards king, is that right?
The Charging Rook moves forwards and sidewards as a rook, but backwards as a King. The Drunken Night moves forwards as a Knight, sidewards as a Wazir, and backwards as a Ferz. The Colonel moves as a Charging Rook or as a forward Knight. Two questions. So, 'backwards as a king' means the 3 directions backwards, and 'forwards as a knight' means directly forwards, therefore 2 directions forward, is this right? Oh, and one more question, these are new pieces?
the variant of this game, 2nd diagram, you have set a bishop up for white which looks like an error.
You can speculate all you want, but in the end, it is all speculation. What governs what is considered the 'oldest' chess is what records are the oldest found, that is it. I dont think this is correct of course, so much records of the ancients has been lost. I consider it unclear where chess began, no one can say for sure. An earthquake could happen in China revealing an ancient tomb and chess writing 2,000 years ago are discovered, then chess would be said to have come from china. The idea that chess always evolves to something better also is debateable. People love inventing things and trying new things, it does not mean the newer idea is a progression. There is no reason to consider that the modern pawn, moving 1 square forward and capturing diagonally could not have been the first pawn to exist. One thing i can't help thinking, the date we give as chess beginning, seems to me to be highly unlikely, i feel chess is much older, in India, China and Japan. The ancients were NOT stupid. They were highly advanced. To think that all they played was a 'race game' .... well, really? Look at the mahabharata verse, where Yudhisthira talks about 'delighting the king with his play' ... he is going to delight the king with his play in a race game? Come on ... Chess most likely has been around in India and China and Japan for thousands and thousands of years. But of course, this is speculation. It's interesting what you saying though, don't get me wrong.
Haha, just kidding last post :) Yeah look it is good question, why can't the king castle out of check. Maybe when they set the rules, on the another day, they could of allowed it. All i can think of, is, castling is like a big production. You move the king 2 squares instead of one, and the rook also moves in the very same turn. Therefore, it cannot be done 'fast enough' to get out of check :) So yes, i don't know hehe. As far as why the king cannot move through check, dont know either, all i can guess is, 'the king cannot move into check', the rule see's moving through check as 'being in check while moving' so to speak. It actually doesn't move (finish) in check though. Interesting and great question.
This out of print book is on amazon at the moment, 12 used copies from $9.00 up and a new copy selling at $344.00.
Great work George posting info on pieces from these old games! This is really helpful, besides shogi pieces, i also want to release on zrf all other fairy pieces (well, at least 120+) to showcase them (not a game).
yeah i was suprised i couldn't find the gazelle listed, maybe the website that used to list it has disappeared.
oh yeah, i like dullahan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dullahan another idea could be Abaddon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abaddon grim reaper http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grim_reaper
i like it, what else do people call it? and i like capa's name for knight/bishop
Interesting, i know the Knight/Zebra compound as 'Gazelle' also, but doing a search i couldn't find anything, Jorg, where does the name 'Okapi' come from. Always interested in alternate names, but i do like the name 'gazelle' for this piece though. Now Charles, you say 'One useful feature to add would be to distinguish usage in actual variants from problematist names largely ignored by varint designers.' Well, i don't know, sounds a bit melodramatic to me, 'Quick, Joe Joyce has been hit by a pie in the face down by the old school road, curse those problematist's!!'. I mean, piece names listed by problematists have many names accepted and used by game designers. And, even pieces that began their life as problem pieces like 'grasshopper' and 'nightrider' have been embraced by game designers (flamingo, locust?). Also, game designers don't just 'largely ignore' problematist names, i would say they largely ignore everyone, other game designers also. Game designers are like 'maverick's', they do as they please, nameing pieces as they wish. Just look at the history of the rook/knight and bishop/knight compounds, and also the 'prince' piece you mention, 1 square all directions. Possible first appearance in the 17th Century game 'Carrera's Chess', they were called 'Champion' and Centaur'. Then in 1874, 'Bird's Chess' they were called 'Guard' and 'Equerry'. Later, in 'Capablanca Chess' they appeared under the names 'Chancellor' and 'Archbishop'. Then a string of similar games followed .. grotesque - guard equerry gothic - chancellor archbishop aberg's - chancellor archbishop optimized - chancellor archbishop embassy - marshall cardinal ladorean - marshall cardinal univers - marshal paladin schoolbook - marshal archbishop janus - 'janus' (archbishop) - no chancellor new chancellor - chancellor - no archbishop flanking archbishops - archbishop - no chancellor. And then recently, Seirawan Chess amazingly calls these pieces 'Elephant' and 'Hawk' ... yep 'Elephant' name was used, could you throw a bigger spanner in the works, hardly, lol. Now, a piece that moves 1 square in all directions, appears to me to first appeared in the 1000 year old game 'Shatranj Kamil', where it was called a 'War Machine' or 'Dabbaba'!!. Note in another variant of this game, the Dabbaba {0,2} appears under the name 'Camel'. And later, around the 12th century, in 'Courier Chess', this piece is called a 'Man'. Was it Jean-Louis Cazaux who first called this piece a 'Prince'? Piececlopedia lists under 'Man' and 'Commoner'. Joe Joyce calls it 'General'. So it is clear to see, game designers not only ignore problematist names, but they ignore everyone, true mavericks, like mad scientists they put their games together and name the pieces as they see fit, ('fool's, i'll destroy them all'), and the chess variant community accepts this, game designers can do as they please, and most people don't mind. Sure, certain names over time become accepted as the norm, but as we see, even big pieces (rook/knight and bishop/knight compounds) still go under multi-names. Sorry for long post. Hey, i saw a site listing old shatranj pieces and it gives the knight/bishop compound the name 'Karkaddan', saying it is an old piece in a game called 'Shatrank al-Kabir'. Piece is at bottom of page, and the game link is in piece description. Any thoughts? http://filer.case.edu/org/cwrums/games/shat-pieces.html#shah main page link for other info on games is here http://filer.case.edu/org/cwrums/games/
lol, you know i didn't like the names when i first saw, 'toad', yuck, and 'newt', what's a newt?!, Newt Gingrich?, haha .. but when i read your comment and finished laughing, i looked up what 'newt' meant, and, yes your right, they are good names, they go nice with 'frog' name, hehe. i can live with 'toad' name :)
ah ok, that is fine anyways i have interest in that list, i didn't realise there was so many shogi pieces with no backward movement, 14 pieces there. i want to update my game 'gods on pluto' with a few more pieces that do not have backward movement, at least putting pieces inside the zrf. Charles you have name for a piece that is mao + xiang don't you, i think i seen before, can't remember. Can you tell me, and, can you link where you where you have piece names for slider and slider compounds not higher than 2 squares? (oh maybe leaper compounds not higher than 2 squares also).
the link given for George Jelliss: Theory of Moves, Knight's Tour Notes 2001, does not work, but you can find it here, an interesting article (14 pages) he prepared for a talk to the Hastings and St Leonards Chess Club on 21 August 2010. http://www.mayhematics.com/v/v.htm .. just click on 'simple chess variants', a pdf. Great fun for variant fans to read, from page 9 .. All possible leapers with coordinates up to 4 have acquired special names, as follows: Dummy {0,0}, Wazir {0,1}, Dabbaba {0,2}, Threeleaper {0,3}, Fourleaper {0,4}, Fers {1,1}, Knight {1,2}, Camel {1,3}, Gi-raffe {1,4}, Alfil {2,2}, Zebra {2,3}, Lancer {2,4}, Tripper {3,3}, Antelope {3,4} and Commuter {4,4}. Names for all two-pattern leapers with coordinates up to 2 are: King {0,1}+{1,1}, Wazaba {0,1}+{0,2}, Emperor {0,1}+{1,2}, Caliph {0,1}+{2,2}, Duke {1,1}+{0,2}, Prince {1,1}+{1,2}, Ferfil {1,1}+{2,2}, Templar {0,2}+{1,2}, Alibaba {0,2}+{2,2} and Hospitaller {1,2}+{2,2}. Any combination of a piece with a free piece is obviously free. It can however happen that a two-pattern leaper is free even though its components are not. I call such pieces amphibians. The simplest cases are Frog {1,1}+{0,3}, Toad {0,2}+{0,3} and Newt {2,2}+{0,3}. Many other two-pattern leapers are possible. Of particular interest, especially to those who know the theorem of Pythagoras are the Fiveleaper {0,5}+{3,4} and the Rootfiftyleaper {5,5}+{1,7}, which are the only two-pattern fixed-distance leapers on the 8×8. The simplest three-pattern leaper is the Centaur {0,1}+{1,1}+{1,2} a combination of king and knight.
Stone General : moves 1 square diagonally forward. Iron General : moves 1 square in the 3 forward directions. Evil Wolf: steps 1 square orthogonally sideways or directly forward, or diagonally forward. Ram's-head soldier: slides diagonally forward any number of squares. Wood General: slides 1 or 2 squares diagonally forward. Enchanted Badger: Steps 1 or 2 squares orthogonally forward or sideways. Violent Bear: steps 1 square horizontally and one or two squares diagonally forward. Flying Cock: steps 1 square orthogonally sideways or diagonally forward. Lance: moves any number of free squares directly forward (orthogonal). Keima: leaps 2 squares directly forward like a knight only. Side Mover: moves any number of free squares orthogonally sideways, or 1 square directly forward.('Heian dai shogi'). Side dragon: moves any number of free squares in a straight line orthogonally forward or sideways.('Taikyoku shogi'). Running wolf: steps 1 square orthogonally forward or moves any number of free squares orthogonally sideways or diagonally forward (Taikyoku shogi). Angry boar: moves 1 square orthogonally forward or sideways or 1-2 squares diagonally forward (Taikyoku shogi). Shogi variants checked; wa, chu, heian dai, dai, tenjiku, dai dai, maka dai dai, tai and taikyoku.
There is a few shogi pieces that have forward only moves, i could check and give you a list. Are you wanting pieces that move forward and sideways, or are you just talking strictly forwards? oh and yes i was asking a bit ago about a piece that moved 1-3 squares on the diagonal lines, Jorg answered that question.
'Note that the Taikyoku Shogi pieces move differently than pieces with the same name in other larger Shogi variants.' Yes it's funny/strange they do that, either with a slight difference or completely different. I just noticed in Taikyoku that the King moves 1-2 squares on the queen lines, only variant with king moving like this (i think). Talking about limited queen line movers, Taikyoku also has these pieces .. Leopard King (not royal) - 1 to 5 squares Heavenly Tetrarch - 1 to 4 squares Fragrant Elephant and White Elephant - 1 to 2 squares i also notice the Flying Dragon moves exactly like an Alfil.
hi is this your first chess variant, congrats on creating. i think you should make a game page for it here on this site, instead of just giving a link to your webpage in this forum.
Yes 'tai shogi' and 'dai dai shogi' have a 'lion dog', which moves 1-3 squares on the queen lines. Both these games are thought to be from the 15th century, if not earlier. You can call these games war games, but in essence, they really are chess variants i would say. I am guessing you did not know about this piece? I don't know why you would copyright a piece like this, are you meaning you have copyrighted the name 'dragon' for a piece moving as you give? Or copyrighting the name 'dragon'? The chances of someone making a game calling a piece 'dragon' and giving it the moves of a 'lion dog' are probably a million to one. I will be releasing a zrf to showcase many shogi pieces from the ancient shogi variants, the 'lion dog' is included, hope i'm not breaking the law (lol).
Wow, thanks for that :)) I knew of 'guardian of the gods' being in 'maka dai dai shogi' and 'tai shogi', being a R3 slider with also a 1 square diagonally forward move, now i see, yes, 'guardian of the gods' in 'taikyoku shogi' omits the diagonally forward move. Nice!! I knew about the two different 'wrestler' pieces, i'm pretty sure in another chat you told me about that when i was searching for a shogi piece moving 1-3 squares diagonally, hehe. Thanks again for your help, i'm coding shogi pieces from all the ancient classic shogi variants to release on a zrf to showcase them all, will be released this year, it is not a game, just something to showcase the pieces. It will have a least more than 120 pieces. The graphics will be done to try to indicate how the pieces move also just by looking at the piece. i think now i have done 118 pieces, but i'm getting tired of it lol and dont know how many more i can do, the shogi pieces seem endless haha. It is mainly pieces from 'taikyoku' left to do also.
yes it moves 1-3 squares on the queen lines. oops yeah and no jumps, slider. piece is from dai dai shogi, 'lion dog'.
This looks a great game, love the dragon piece, also i think the extra side squares are useful, i'm sure they will be used. Site loads fine to me.
Hey, i've noticed something about this mahabharata verse, and i don't think we have been looking at it in the right context. I'll tell you why. First of all, to understand exactly what Yudhishthira is saying in this verse, you have to know what is going on in his life at this time. He and his brothers have just spent 12 years in exile and have one more year to go, but if they are detected in this final year, they must spend another 13 years in exile. So they plan to spend the final year in disguise, living in the city of Virata. So now, each brother speaks, telling the others .... 1. how they are going to disguise themselves 2. how they will spend their time in this disguise and go undetected till the year ends. With this in mind, let's look at what Yudhishthira says. Sentences 1 and 2 ... (1). Yudhishthira replied, 'Ye sons of the Kuru race, ye bulls among men, hear what I shall do on appearing before king Virata. (2). Presenting myself as a Brahmana, Kanka by name, skilled in dice and fond of play, I shall become a courtier of that high-souled king. ok, this is clear, Yudhishthira tells his brothers how he plans to disguise himself as a pro-gamer, so to speak. Now sentences 3 and 4. (3). And moving upon boards beautiful pieces made of ivory, of blue and yellow and red and white hue, by throws of black and red dice. (4). I shall entertain the king with his courtiers and friends. Now the 3rd sentence here is the one we are always told Yudhisthira describes a game, however, this is not true, Yudhisthira is actually describing HIMSELF PLAYING A GAME. He is telling his brothers how he will be passing his days in the king's court playing games. It is one thing to describe a game, but it is another thing to describe yourself playing a game, they are two different things. And look at the 4th sentence, it follows on from the 3rd, it shows the outcome of his playing games, he shall entertain the king. In the 5th and 6th sentences, Yudhisthira then says how he will be undetected. (5) And while I shall continue to thus delight the king, nobody will succeed in discovering me. (6) And should the monarch ask me, I shall say, 'Formerly I was the bosom friend of Yudhishthira.' And look at the last sentence .... (7) I tell you that it is thus that I shall pass my days (in the city of Virata). He finishes telling them 'it is thus that i shall pass my days ..'. When you understand he is describing himself playing a game, rather than the game itself, it isn't such a big deal he has used the word 'board' instead of a more specific term. How many of us today use the word 'board' instead of 'chessboard', and as far as not describing the piece movements, what is the point? If we ask these questions, 'why not board specific word' and 'why not describe piece movements', i think we are clearly not understanding what Yudhisthira is telling his brothers. If you read the Mahabharata after Yudhisthira finishes, all his other brothers speak, telling how they will disguise themselves and how they pass their days in this disguise. Also, looking at the 3rd sentence of Yudhisthira, note his words 'And moving upon boards' and 'by throws of black and red dice'. He is painting a picture of himself playing the game. You will note in this sentence, he describes what the pieces are made of, the colors of the pieces, even the color of the dice, all the visuals. Also i think it is interesting he says 'beautiful pieces', though you can conclude nothing from it. It is more easily imaginable this describes chess-like pieces rather than Pachisi pieces, though as i said, this proves nothing. Oh, one more thing, i think there is also no doubt Yudhisthira's brothers knew very well the game he was talking about playing. So i think i have to go back to what i originally thought, this game could be a pachisi type game or it could be chaturaji.
yeah it does seem strange after a pretty detailed description of the game no info on pieces is given. Pachisi doesn't sit too well either does it, because of the dice maybe? i looked on wiki about that game and it says it is played with 'shell' thingies for dice, and you use 6 or 7 of them to roll or each roll? i'm guessing though you could play with dice?
hey john you don't have an exact quote from murray about this verse do you? i'll post soon what i have concluded about this verse too, there's a couple of questions i have also about it.
Yudhishthira replied, 'Ye sons of the Kuru race, ye bulls among men, hear what I shall do on appearing before king Virata. Presenting myself as a Brahmana, Kanka by name, skilled in dice and fond of play, I shall become a courtier of that high-souled king. And moving upon chess-boards beautiful pawns made of ivory, of blue and yellow and red and white hue, by throws of black and red dice. I shall entertain the king with his courtiers and friends. And while I shall continue to thus delight the king, nobody will succeed in discovering me. And should the monarch ask me, I shall say, 'Formerly I was the bosom friend of Yudhishthira.' I tell you that it is thus that I shall pass my days. Now replaceing 'chess-boards' with 'boards' and 'pawns' with 'pieces', we still have a very interesting verse here! It is true there is not very much detail here, about the game, but that is to be expected. There is a drama going on in the life of Yudhishthira and his brothers, and he is explaining how he will disguise himself. That is the main purport of his talk. So, let's look at what we have about the game. We have a game, played with dice, on a board, with pieces of four specified colors. There is no mention of piece movements at all, but, this is to be expected isn't it, Yudhishthira is talking about how he will disguise himself, not talking really about the game, which is not the main point. Now John, you say .. 'So we have a gameboard, dice, and pieces of four specified colors but NO MENTION OF DIFFERENT TYPES. Not chess, probably pachisi.' I don't understand why you say 'not chess, probably pachisi', can you explain why you say this. It seems to me that a game with dice, board, and pieces of 4 different colors could be 'Chaturaji'.
AndR, i have no idea how zillions comes up with these numbers, it gives a pawn in this game the rating of 2,752. It is free to become a member of this site, and your comments will be posted straight away instead of the wait, you should consider this :)
As George said, they are all very close. I do like Jeremy's comment too, 'The long move gives you speed, but the shorter gives you more maneuverability.'
I dont really understand what you mean when you say '.. the Gazelle would be weaker, and that that was why it was not popular enough to merit a Piececlopedia page.' I don't think a piece not mentioned in piececlopedia means something negative about it. I think Fergus is in charge of this page, but anyone can write about a piece and put it up for being added to the page. There are many fairy pieces in existence and if one person is in charge of the page, i can easily see why it doesn't have every different piece under the sun added, too big a job if you have a life hehe. The ratings i gave is what 'zillion's' gives the piece, i am not saying that this is correct either, it just give's you an idea, i'm sure there are people who probably can give more 'correct' answers to the strength of these pieces.
Well i know pawns really hold a game together, without the pawns things are pretty chaotic and all over the place. Play some short range piece game where pieces cannot attack each other from the start, without pawns, and you will get an idea what pawns do.
The Gazelle is a pretty standard name for the knight/zebra compound. There are many pieces not mentioned in Piececlopedia. If you have Zillions of Games, download my game 'Piece Promotion Games 2', it has the Gnu, Bison and Gazelle in it's variants. Zillions rates these pieces as follows .. Gnu 16,338 Gazelle 15,245 Bison 14,316. Also you can see the Buffalo (knight/camel/zebra) and Squirrel (knight/dabbaba/alfil) in this game. Another place to look at different fairy pieces is http://www.mayhematics.com/v/gm.htm
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