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Comments by Gary Gifford

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Desert Pub Chess. A game where Desert Wazirs & Desert Ferz capture by jumping. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sun, Jan 22, 2023 02:03 AM UTC in reply to H. G. Muller from Sat Jan 21 09:23 AM:

Thank you for making the active board. I agree with you about the pawn promotion, i.e., promoting to Prince should be allowed. I will see if I can edit that. The only AI issue I noticed was pawns can move 2 initially in the AI, but in the rules they do not have an initial 2 move option.

Shatar, Old 1 Hia.

Old Shatar with one Hia. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sat, Jul 9, 2022 12:27 AM UTC in reply to Jose Carrillo from Sat Dec 3 2016 11:38 PM:

Just noticed this comment. Apparently Old Shatar actually starts with the pawns on the 2nd and 7th ranks. 1. d4 d5 is mandatory first move. Since Old Shatar did not actually have the Hia, I wanted to keep the game as close as possible to the original but, of course, add a Hia. Your idea, of course, is good. I did add a game in a comment, as an example game. I think the checkmate is very nice.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sat, Jul 9, 2022 12:19 AM UTC in reply to bukovski from Mon Dec 19 2016 12:16 AM:

I just noticed the question (only 6 years later). I think the stronger player will win. Here is a game with notes:

d4 d5 mandatory first move
g3 Nc6
Bg2 e6
Pawns only move 1 space, except for the first required move (1. d4 d5)
e3 b6
f3 g6
Kf2 / Hia e1 . . . White Hia goes to e1 (mandatory) 6.. . . . Bg7
b3 Ba6
Bb2 Nge7
c3 Kd7 / Hia e8
Nd2 Kc8
Nh3 Kb7 As there is no castling in Shatar, Tony moves his King manually to reach something like a Queenside castle. He moves his King to b7 to free the Rook on a8 for his next move.
a3 Rc8
a4 Hia d7 Neither player is used to the Hia but they know it is a great defensive aide to the King. Tony moves his towards the Black monarch.
b4 b5 Timmy wanted to pawn-fork the Bishop and Knight. Tony played b5 to stop it.
axb Bxb5
Qc2 Ra8
Hia e2 . . . Black can’t capture the Hia with his Bishop as he’d have to stop at d3 due to the Hia’s protective field. . . . a6
Ra2 Ra7
R(h)a1 Hia d6
e4 dxe
Nxe4 . . . attacking the Hia . . .Hia d7
Nc5+ Kb6
Nxd7+ exchanging Knight for Hia . . . Qxd7
Hia d3 . . . Annoying, the Black Bishop can’t take the Hia . . .Rha8
Qb3 e5 Struggling for counterplay
d5 Nxd5
c4 Bxc4
Qxc4 N(d)xb4
Qb3 a5
Hia c4 Bf8
f4 Bc5 (This is not a check due to the Hia)
Bxc6 Kxc6
Ra4 Nd3+
Remember that Knights are immune from the Hia forces but Hias can still capture Knights. Here the Hia can’t capture the Knight because that would activate the Bishop’s check (from c5)). White playing 34. QxN would be a blunder because Black would play 34….QxQ and the Hia could not recapture due to the Bishop check factor.
Kg2 Nxb2
Qxb2 e4 (perhaps dreaming of a Queen)
Ng5 Qe7
Rb1 e3
Qb5+ Kd5 (Kings are immune from Hias)
Rd1 #

Odin's Rune Chess. A game inspired by Carl Jung's concept of synchronicity, runes, and Nordic Mythology. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Wed, Nov 20, 2019 11:55 AM UTC:

There is (was) a Zillions version which grasps the game and plays it brilliantly. I lost all initial games to it... Thanks for commenting.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Tue, Jul 23, 2019 09:31 PM UTC:

Many thanks for the fix Erik, it is much appreciated. I was not aware of the issue. Regards, Gary

Catapults of Troy. Large variant with a river, catapults, archers, and trojan horses! (8x11, Cells: 88) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Tue, Sep 25, 2018 01:55 AM UTC:

Thank you for your detailed review, Kevin... it is appreciated. I've not played this game in many years, but I do not recall the play being slow. Antoine Fourrier created a Zillions version of this and if you play that I think you will find the game moves along pretty well... also, if you play another human I think you will see it moves along well. I did find one minor bug in the Zillions app concerning the Ram...not sure if it still exists after all these years. If I ever update the rules it would be to delay movement of the Traojan Horse 3 moves. I have reasons for this.... but will not go into them at this time. Thanks again for the comment.

Six Fortresses. Capture Fortress to releases free pieces to drop. Imposter Kings will complicate checkmates. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Tue, Sep 25, 2018 01:39 AM UTC:

I created Six Fortresses 12 years ago and no longer recall the game... there is no working link to the setup.... If I can find the game in old notes I will see if I can update this.... otherwise, it seems to be a lost game.

Catapults of Troy. Large variant with a river, catapults, archers, and trojan horses! (8x11, Cells: 88) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sun, Jul 29, 2018 11:59 AM UTC:

This is in regard to Kevin's comments on several games yesterday, of which C.O.T. is one. Thank you Kevin for taking time to comment on games. It is much appreciated. Happy Gaming! Regards, Gary G.

Gryphon Aanca Chess - links broke[Subject Thread] [Add Response]

Gary Gifford wrote on Mon, Oct 30, 2017 06:30 PM UTC:

I accepted an invite to play Gryphon Aanca Chess- but my opponent and I noticed the links to the preset and rules do not work. Instead, we get a default abstract 8 x 8 chess board... can anyone correct this? Seems a link fix should be simple. Thanks.

Shatar, Old 1 Hia.

Old Shatar with one Hia. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Thu, Dec 15, 2016 01:44 AM UTC:

Thank you Fergus, for your Diagram suggestion. I added one.

Thank you Jose for your suggestion. I considered starting with Hias on the board, also considered allowing them to be dropped into the game on any vacant space in a player's first or second rank. But The goal of the game was to keep this as close to Shatar as possible... so it starts as does Shatar, with no Hias and with D-pawns advanced. Anyway, when the King moves I figured the bodyguard (Hia) would appear at the King's side, And this would be somewhat akin to castling in this game.

Remote Sensing with On & Off-Board Detection. Special pieces mimic others, some on-board, some which have been captured. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Tue, Feb 4, 2014 02:41 AM UTC:

Glad you like the idea. Since about 8 years have elapsed since I created the game, sadly it would take me a while to get the hang of it again.

Little River Chess. A 46 square variant based loosely on Chinese Chess. (6x9, Cells: 46) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sat, Nov 16, 2013 01:39 PM UTC:

I have not looked at this game in ages so was able to look at it with a fresh eye, and I do strongly agree that diagrams would be helpful.  But diagrams take up memory and I had been informed in past not to use so many (as I often tended to go overboard with their use). Though diagrams would be nice, they aren't essential if one sets up the initial position and then reads the rules for the variant of interest.

Royal Magician's Chess. Missing description (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Tue, Nov 12, 2013 09:51 PM UTC:

Pawns promote as in chess. You can play the game here: http://www.pathguy.com/chess/RoyalMag.htm  The program is rather week, but it moves fast and will give you a good idea of how to play the game.

Gryphon Aanca Chess. Large Variant with Gryphons, Aancas, and a few other not-so-common pieces. (12x12, Cells: 144) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sun, Oct 7, 2012 11:24 AM UTC:

Thanks Christine, for your information.  I have updated my piece notes for this game with this entry: "Noclaf [Update 10/07/2012] -
- from Christine Bagley-Jones' comment I see that, "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. So
the Noclaf is a Bishight... accredited to Ralph Betza."

Dimension X. Chess on two planes - one with the usual chess pieces, the other with spooky trans-dimensional pieces with strange interactions. (2x(8x8), Cells: 128) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sat, Feb 4, 2012 10:05 PM UTC:

A. Black - You ask, 'Are pieces near a spider still allowed to move from the FIDE board to X board?'

Not enemy pieces. As stated in the rules, 'Spiders automatically immobilize all adjacent enemy pieces (including an adjacent enemy Crab and an adjacent enemy Cobra)... Enemy pieces in a web remain immobilized until such a time that the capturing Spider either returns to Dimension X or is captured. Spiders have no effect on other Spiders.'

House of Mirrors Chess. Mirrors and reflective pieces add interesting twists to strategy by making pieces appear in 2 or 3 places at the same time. (8x8, Cells: 87) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Wed, Dec 21, 2011 12:02 AM UTC:

(zzo38) A.Black asks, 'What if you want Variant III: Reflections block, but real pieces that are standing on a mirror can be passed through (but only if standing on a mirror).'

Yes, you could certainly have that variation. I tend to think of the 'real' piece as one that could not be passed through, but we could certainly play the game as you suggest. Under those rules, a piece on a mirror could not block a check.

Game Courier Tournament #4: An Introductory Semi-Potluck. A tournament to feature games good for introducing people to Chess variants.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Gary Gifford wrote on Sat, Dec 10, 2011 04:13 PM UTC:

Thanks Joe - and Congrats Carlos. I saw the Tournament 4 link on the side and it looked like it was starting in January... I suppose that was last January.

Gary Gifford wrote on Sat, Dec 10, 2011 02:05 PM UTC:

I'd like to sign up for Tournament # 4 ... can I do that with this comment? Or do I need to send an e-mail somewhere? Thanks. Gary

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]

Gary Gifford wrote on Tue, Mar 15, 2011 01:37 PM UTC:

I have White in this game. But I cannot make a move. I get a message that begins like this:

Syntax Error on line 1

[KQRBNP]-Dice1 is not a valid expression, because [KQRBNP]-Dice1 is not a recognized piece, coordinate, command, or subroutine.

some code is provided. It seems that the auto-dice generator function is not correct. Any ideas on what to do here? Can this game be played at CV ?

Odin's Rune Chess. A game inspired by Carl Jung's concept of synchronicity, runes, and Nordic Mythology. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sat, Mar 5, 2011 01:27 PM UTC:

Hi Calvin: To answer your question from a few days back.... The introduction to the rules explain how this game resulted from an experiment in synchronicity (a term coined by Carl Jung). And that is why there is a piece that moves like a Bishop. However, Beorc is the runic name for that piece. So, you can call it Beorc if you want. As for piece images, you can buy runes on-line or download graphics and re-size them.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sun, Jan 23, 2011 02:41 PM UTC:

Hi Greg. To your very good question. 'Pawns can be 'pinched' back to the first rank. Can they then make a double move? What if they take a single step back to their starting rank - can they make a double move then?'

Answer: No. Though not stated in the rules, pawns can only move 2 spaces from the second rank. So, a pawn that was knocked back to the first rank would need to move 1 space to reach the second rank. On its next move or after it could then move 2 spaces.

Shanghai Palace Chess. A blend of Chinese, Japanese, and Western Chess. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Mon, Aug 16, 2010 11:31 PM UTC:

Hi Daniil Frolov - no need to apologize for having a similar game. With the large number of inventors and inventions, it happens every now and then.

Hi (zzo38) A. Black - Glad you like the game. Hopefully you got to play it against Zillions... though it mishandles cannons (at least it used to) I thought it was still fun...
but not as fun as playing against a human face-to-face. I agree that the western student's arguments are terrible. But I had heard some along those lines.

Latrunculi duo milia et septum. Chess with rook/ferz & bishop/wazir substitutes for rooks and bishops.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Thu, Jul 1, 2010 09:27 PM UTC:

Thanks for the questions.
The knight is a normal knight. This game simply replaces rooks and bishops with their associated promoted cousins from Shogi (Dragon King and Dragon Horse).
Yes, they can capture with their Shogi-like move.
Of interest to me is the idea of doubling bishops, or throwing in the queen to have a 3-power diagonal power strike.

King's Reincarnation. Captured Kings return to the board, but at a price. 2 versions of play. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Wed, Jun 23, 2010 11:12 PM UTC:

Daniil, Charles, Simon - Thanks for commenting. Interesting is that your comments have appeared at a time when I happen to be reading
about reincarnation in Buddhist literature.and I've not thought about this reincarnation-based game in ages.

The King enpassant idea is interesting and would likely be best in variant II. I imagine many variants could adapt such a rule.... or be easily modified to do so.

In regard to pawns promoting, yes it is just as in Fide chess... they are no longer pawns and the King, if captured, can reincarnate as the promoted piece.

Juxtaposition Chess.

Pawns and Pieces switch places with pseudo-pieces throughout the game. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Mon, Jun 21, 2010 10:25 PM UTC:

I do not understand the question regarding double moves in relation to the rules already provided.