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Comments by JaredMcComb

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Fantasy Grand Chess. Variant of Grand Chess with different armies and fantasy theme. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Apr 14, 2003 09:17 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Hey!  Are you open to ideas for new armies?

--Jared

Chestria. Each player has 11 randomly selected pieces in this game of placement and flipping. (3x(5x5), Cells: 43) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Apr 14, 2003 09:27 PM UTC:
Umm, is it too late to submit a better name, now that it is on the site?  I
just thought that it would be cool to call it Chestria, as a nod to a TT
clone that I have just recently heard about (but actually have not
played... yet).

www.questriax.com
thedomain.chemical-e.com

--Jared

💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Apr 15, 2003 03:42 PM UTC:
You forgot the mention of the name in the first paragraph.

💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Apr 15, 2003 04:05 PM UTC:
Well, you had a few minutes ago! ;P

💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Apr 15, 2003 09:46 PM UTC:
Well, whether you did or not, you still didn't catch my
super-almost-secret reference to the old title in the first paragraph, and
it's still in there!  Authors have strange powers too!  MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Apr 16, 2003 03:18 PM UTC:
Yes, Peter, those need to be removed, since they have no context now.

And I pronounce it 'zerfolize', since I also pronounce 'zrf' as
'zerf', but that's just me.

DuchessA link to an external site
. For 2, 3, 4 or 6 players on a rose-shaped board.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Apr 16, 2003 03:30 PM UTC:Poor ★
Both of these links are dead!

--Jared

Chestria. Each player has 11 randomly selected pieces in this game of placement and flipping. (3x(5x5), Cells: 43) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Apr 16, 2003 08:52 PM UTC:
Why, as 'zusguh', of course! I use Zog to load a zusguh of a zerf! :P

💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Thu, Apr 17, 2003 03:58 PM UTC:
Well, I don't talk like this around people I don't know, of course!  :P

Hey!  This is the fifteenth comment to this page, and not one of these
fifteen has anything to do with the actual GAME.  Hmmm....

💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Fri, Apr 18, 2003 09:17 PM UTC:
It is obvious to me that no one on these pages has ever played Triple Triad
before...

No, Peter, flipping is non-recursive, and if you don't clarify the rules
page right away then I'll start calling you 'Mithter Petey'!  (j/k)  If
it was recursive, the game would degenerate into a race to see who could
place the last link in a long chain, like John Lawson brought up.  It
would ultimately become cumbersome and boring.

To Tony Quintanilla:  First, it doesn't have to be a Fodder piece, but
since it never attacks anything and is often taken on the opponent's
first move, I decided to call it that.  And I don't want to make the main
board any bigger!  I was going for something simple and elegant, much like
the original (and brilliant) Triple Triad.  So I used the extra spaces as
'holding tanks', because I can!  (And what do you mean, 'Little 'Z'
Man'?)

This isn't a Chess/Go blend or a Chess/Othello blend!  It's a Chess/TT
blend!  So there!  I encourage EVERYONE here (and that means YOU TOO) to
play Triple Triad Gold at ttg.qhimm.com and broaden their horizons!  If
you like this you'll love that!  And while you're at it, go play an
RPG!

--Jared

P.S.  If this sounds irate, forgive me.  I'm tired.

💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Sat, Apr 19, 2003 11:32 PM UTC:
To Tony:  RPGs (meaning video-game RPG's, not tabletop D&D stuff) are just
plain cool, especially when you haven't hit twenty yet.  (Incidentally, I
haven't.)  And, just to note, Qhimm, who wrote Triple Triad Gold, is not
in any way affiliated with Squaresoft.

To Glenn:  Sorry!  I didn't expect that anyone here would have played it!
 Are you under twenty, too?

To Mithter Petey (tee hee hee!):  Could you also note in the Setup section
that a d20 is a twenty-sided die?  Just so people who aren't familiar
with that notation will know?

--Jared (who is trying to come up with a Golden Sun themed CV, because
Golden Sun (which is another RPG) is awesome)

💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Sun, Apr 20, 2003 05:23 PM UTC:
Will the real Peter please stand up?  Now will the real Peter please add
the Chestria variant that gives the second player a copy of the first
player's army to the page?  (Also, will you ask your daughter why you
couldn't make a GS-themed variant?  Why couldn't you have one player
trying to light the Elemental Lighthouses, and the other player try to
stop them?)

To Glenn:  Did your nephews have any actual Triple Triad cards, which have
been out of print since 1999 and are very rare, or did they show it to you
on Final Fantasy 8?

To Tony, if you're still around:  Have you tried TTG yet?

--Jared

Contest to design a chess variant on 43 squares. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Fri, May 2, 2003 01:09 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Umm, it's May 2nd, and nothing is going on.

--Jared

Chestria. Each player has 11 randomly selected pieces in this game of placement and flipping. (3x(5x5), Cells: 43) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Sun, May 11, 2003 10:35 PM UTC:
To Peter (sorry for the wait):  Has Jenny played Golden Sun: The Lost Age
yet?  Because in it, you actually play as 'the dark side', except that
it turns out that you're actually the 'light side'.  (Also, rule
clarification:  A player may pass their last turn if and only if their
only move is a special move and they have no pieces on-board.)

To Mr. Kuchinski:  CALM DOWN PLEASE and reread the rules thoroughly. 
Also, go try Triple Triad Gold (find it at www.qhimm.net or
www.the-underdogs.org under 'T' if you can't get it at the former) to
see where I'm coming from.  There are no empty spaces at the end of a
game, queens only attack eight spaces, SGs attack five, the most powerful
piece is a Marshall/Cardinal (12 spaces if placed in the center).  Blue
can only have a clear advantage in the endgame if they can get over the
disadvantage of having to place the Fodder, and if Red cannot play a good
enough defense in order to try to nullify Blue's final moves (except for
the special move, of course; if Blue gets a very powerful special, Red
will have to work hard to overcome it).

--Jared

Chess It Up[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Jared McComb wrote on Tue, May 20, 2003 04:05 PM UTC:
Okay, this is a bizarre hybrid idea, but I thought I may as well come up
with it...  Why not a Chess/Pump It Up mix?  (Pump It Up is one of those
dancing games where you have to jump on big buttons.)  It could be a kind
of solitaire, where every turn you have to move all your pieces in order
to hit every 'step', but you have to do it right so you can prepare to
hit future 'steps' as well.

--Jared

84 Spaces Contest. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Sat, May 24, 2003 02:19 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
So now the twelve finalists are going to be judged as a single group?  Is
that it?  Maybe someone oughta make a 'Round 2' page.

--Jared

Recognized1[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Jun 3, 2003 10:25 PM UTC:
Tee Hee!  I'm pretty sure that 8th vote was mine!

Contest to design a chess variant on 43 squares. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Sat, Jun 14, 2003 01:49 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I voted for the first round!  Can entrants vote in the second round?

--Jared

Doublewide Chess. A discussion of the variant where two complete chess sets (including two Kings per side) are set up on a doublewide board. (16x8, Cells: 128) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Jun 18, 2003 03:39 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
If it's impossible to do that, how did he do it in the first place?  It
must not be impossible, or at least not to Europeans.

Would someone please ZRFolize this?

--Jared

(EDIT) This should be under the Gufuushogi link!  Oops!

Gufuu Shogi A game information page
. Tiny variant on a 2x3 board with four pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Thu, Jun 19, 2003 04:28 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Wonderful game! Would someone please ZRFolize this?

Doublewide Chess. A discussion of the variant where two complete chess sets (including two Kings per side) are set up on a doublewide board. (16x8, Cells: 128) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Thu, Jun 19, 2003 04:39 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
Wow!  I've been called clever by the immortal variantist himself! 
*blush*

But in this game, you win if you know the correct game, of course!  Just
like those stupid radio trivia thingies -- it's based on the honor
system, but you get brownie points for being the first to call in.

Also, in an attempt to be on-topic, how would you have doublewide games
that don't have a 'home-row' type setup?  Like Halma or Danadazo, for
instance.

--Jared

Jared McComb wrote on Sat, Jun 21, 2003 05:19 PM UTC:
Danadazo is too a chess variant!  I should know, too, because it's mine! 
Look under the 'boards with an unusual shape' section.

What would doublewide hexagonal chess (a la Glinski or McCooey) look like?
 Or doublewide multiplayer variants?

(Am I asking too many questions?  Relative to you, I'm a CV 'n00b'.)

--Jared

Contest to design a chess variant on 43 squares. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Sat, Jun 28, 2003 02:02 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Can you let me know if you get/don't get mine too?  Thanks.

--Jared

Jared McComb wrote on Sun, Jun 29, 2003 05:55 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I second the motion!

Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Jul 8, 2003 01:46 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Do entrants have to vote in this round?  Are entrants banned from voting in
this round?  If an entrant may vote, may they vote for themselves?  The
rules do not make this clear.

--Jared

Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Jul 8, 2003 08:47 PM UTC:
Are you saying you don't know either, or are you trying to answer my question?  I'm confused.

(Incidentally, I'm also wondering what number Chestria placed.)

Passed Pawns, Scorpions and Dragon. More Falcon Chess Variants.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Sat, Jul 19, 2003 11:15 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
It seems to me that the Scorpion and Dragon are pretty clumsy, always
having a fixed large range.  Aren't they a little too difficult to use
well?

--Jared

Taikyoku Photographs. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Thu, Jul 24, 2003 11:34 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
The question that comes immediately to my mind is 'Why bother?  Isn't it
just a little too big to handle?'

--Jared

84 Spaces Contest. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Sun, Jul 27, 2003 11:37 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Well, admittedly, it wasn't a very good game -- I designed the whole thing in less than ten hours. (Although I'm still honored that someone liked it that much!) If I could redo it, I'd remove the extra move and demotion rules, and make the board wider. Maybe I'll do that later.

Ryu Shogi. Large modern shogi variant. (7x12, Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Jul 29, 2003 08:52 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
The reasons I have a somewhat low opinion of this game are:

1.  I did not spend very much time (in fact, almost no time at all)
designing it.
2.  I did not (and still do not) have a competent opponent to play it
with.
3.  I didn't win a prize with this game (admittedly, this is kind of
juvenile, but it had a small influence nonetheless).

I am honored, though, that so many people find this game attractive. 
However, I agree that the demotion rule is a very bad one (who was it who
said a beautiful rule may not be a good one?), and would like any editor
who happens to be passing by to remove the rule, and all references to
it.

I am working on a larger version of this, but I do not know how to say
'great dragon' or 'expanded dragon' in Japanese.

In conclusion, if you would like to thank me for this game, email Steve
Evans and ask him to incorporate it into his SV program.

--Jared

💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Jul 30, 2003 05:16 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
I'm thinking about eliminating the entire double-move rule altogether.  I
do know that the demotion has got to go, though, and I like the 'no drops
in zone 4' rule -- if you could drop there, they could drop adjacent to
it and capture your piece with the just-dropped piece, assuming they have
something in hand (unless I illegalize that, too, which I'm also
considering).  I'll probably send Mr. Aronson a revision sometime next
week.  (And I'm totally clueless when it comes to advanced ZRF
programming techniques.)

And as for the large version, the main reason I would want to do that
would be to make more space (I'd like a piece density of about 40%).  So
I would probably be able to keep all the rules from the small version
intact, and add a minimal amount of pieces.

(And thanks, Mr. Lawson, for that name suggestion.  Dai Ryu (Dairyu? 
Dai-ryu?) sounds good to me, too.)

--Jared

💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Aug 5, 2003 10:32 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
I know Rules 2 and 6 are going, and Rule 4 modified to match.  Rule 7 looks
like it will be edited to say that a player with a bare king has the
option of forfeit at any time.  The Pawn-drop restriction will also go,
except for the checkmate part (dropped pawns are much more powerful in
this game than in normal Shogi).  As for Rule 1, I like it because it
forces the players to come up with somewhat more strategic methods of
checkmate.  (However, your suggestions have not gone unnoticed!  How does
Michael Nelson no Ryu Shogi sound for a variant name?)

I will send an update in shortly.  (My computer crashed recently, so I no
longer have the original document.  I will not be sending in a new file
altogether, but rather some plain text.)

💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Aug 11, 2003 02:55 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I've submitted the modifications, but I haven't got a reply from Mr. Aronson yet. Hopefully they'll be up by next week or so.

Contest to design a chess variant on 43 squares. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Sep 2, 2003 12:36 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Grrr!  I lost my Internet access yesterday and was in agony about the
results, and I get online today and find that nothing happened!

--Jared

The UR guy[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Sep 3, 2003 11:58 AM UTC:
Does anyone know who this 'under review' guy is, what he's doing, and
what his messages mean?

Ultima. Game where each type of piece has a different capturing ability. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Thu, Sep 11, 2003 11:52 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I have always been an Ultima fan. This game was the major inspiration for Rook Mania (which incidentally spent about three years in development, and which I am developing a more 'traditional' version of). It amy be true that this game favors defense over offense, and it may not be a perfect game, but the concept -- having all the pieces move similarly, but capture differently -- is a purely beautiful one. I also agree with Mr. Aronson that the imbalance of pieces is not necessarily bad, although I do not necessarily agree with his analogy -- the reason those games faded out of popularity was probably in favor of more balanced ones.

Contest to design a chess variant on 43 squares. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Sep 24, 2003 03:26 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
It does look as if you may be waiting until 2004 (or at least November
2003) to announce the prizes, Mr. Overby.

Also, when will the 44SC start?  I've been working on my first entry for
about a month now, because I just can't wait for you to announce it.

--Jared

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Jared McComb wrote on Fri, Sep 26, 2003 07:54 PM UTC:
The first thing that I thought of was Double Royal Queen Chess, which
should be self-explanatory.  The second thing I thought of was Anti-King
Chess or Anti-King Chess II with a queen replacing the original King, and
thus removing the entire King Thing.  I dunno about anything else, though.

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Jared McComb wrote on Sun, Oct 26, 2003 10:03 PM UTC:
Where is Mr. Overby?  I am (and probably everyone else is, too)
still waiting for an official prize announcement for the results of the
43SC and I'm positively aching to enter the 44SC!

--Jared

WWW site: Play Banchi A game information page
. Members-Only Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Since this comment is for a page that has not been published yet, you must be signed in to read it.

Shogi Piece Graphics. Graphics of shogi pieces and symbols.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Thu, Nov 20, 2003 01:27 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Isn't one king supposed to have a different marking, without the little
'tick' mark on it?

--Jared

Contest to design a chess variant on 44 squares. Our annual N-squares chess variant design competition.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Nov 24, 2003 01:25 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
When will last year's winners get their prizes?  Or did I miss something?

--Jared

Ryu Shogi. Large modern shogi variant. (7x12, Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Dec 3, 2003 12:39 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
It would be really nice if this game could be linked to on the Oriental
variants list.  Could someone with mysterious editing powers do that for
me, please?  Also, I've been focusing on school and other variants
lately, so Dai-Ryu is currently on the back burner.  (I'm currently
working on 44SC entries, a page for Yonin Shogi (which has precious few
English resources available for it and which really ought to be a
recognized variant), a page for a game which I compiled ages ago called
Grand Shakomega, and a variant using Icehouse pieces which is based
loosely on Yonin.)

Thanks all,

--Jared

EDIT:  Whoops, I forgot to mention something!  I'm looking for someone who
can provide me with traditional-style Kanji for the pieces of Ryu Shogi 
(and some pieces which will debut in Dai-Ryu).  Anyone who can help, post 
here, please (don't email!).

Ultima. Game where each type of piece has a different capturing ability. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Dec 8, 2003 04:09 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Yes, that assumption would be correct. In fact, in the illustration, the white chameleon imitates four different types at once and puts the black King into check, since it could capture the King by replacement. This, however, brings another question to mind: Must a chameleon be adjacent to a King to capture it? Since there is an orthogonal restriction for them when capturing pawns, is there also a one-space restriction when checking the King? --Jared

Tetrahedral Chess. Three dimensional variant with board in form of tetrahedron. (7x(), Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Thu, Jan 8, 2004 10:18 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
It seems to me that a true tetrahedral form of chess would have 'cells' which, in three dimensions, would take the form of rhombic dodecahedrons, which would allow the board to be pyramidial with 'hexagonal' tiled layers. (Rhombic dodecahedrons tesselate space quite nicely, you know, and naturally lend themselves to making tetrahedra with.) Does the current setup of this game allow for such an analogue? The board can be easily translated, complete with cell coloration and the same twelve directions, but can the rules be translated as easily? I'd love to see an attempt.

Contest: the 9 Queens Problem. Put 9 queens and 1 or 2 pawns such that queens do not see each other. Send your solution before Feb 29, and win a book![All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Sat, Jan 10, 2004 03:23 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
If anyone is interested, I have a problem of my own that could replace this one for the book prize.

Tetrahedral Chess. Three dimensional variant with board in form of tetrahedron. (7x(), Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Sat, Jan 10, 2004 04:13 AM UTC:
Here's the deal.  The boards are topologically identical, but I find the
directions easier to visualize when the board is reoriented like that,
since it is easier to see that the orthogonal directions are parallel to
the edges of the board.  I do not have any RT software at the moment, but
I'm working on a variant using this setup myself, so you may see an MS
Paint interpretation sometime soon.

Here's a quick'n'dirty diagram of what I mean, on a 10-cell board:

  R
 Y G    B
R B R  G Y  R

(Each layer is centered on top of the previous one.)

As you may be able to see, when the board is reoriented in this way, each
layer has a four-color tiling that makes Dabbabante (spelling?) moves
about ten times easier to see, and it opens itself up to interesting
interpretations of 'triagonal' movement.  For example, the two green
cells in the example above could be considered 'triagonally' adjacent. 
If you use a Glinski interpretation of a bishop, and extend it into all
four 'hexagonal' planes that come out of a single cell, you get a
non-colorbound piece.

The problem with this setup is that it muddles your interpretation of pawn
moves a bit, since 'forward' is in a totally different direction.

If I'm not making any sense here, don't mind me.  I came up with this a
couple years ago on graph paper, and had been thinking about it a while
before the 84SC, but I'm only now realizing the parallells.

Jared McComb wrote on Sun, Jan 11, 2004 01:10 AM UTC:
I was going to use an order-4 octahedron for my variant, with armies on opposite faces. See if you can figure out why I'm using that shape.

Contest: the 9 Queens Problem. Put 9 queens and 1 or 2 pawns such that queens do not see each other. Send your solution before Feb 29, and win a book![All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Sun, Jan 11, 2004 01:12 AM UTC:
Actually, I was thinking something along the lines of 'maximize the number of queens on a standard 91-cell hex chessboard,' because nobody's done that yet.

Tetrahedral Chess. Three dimensional variant with board in form of tetrahedron. (7x(), Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Jan 12, 2004 05:22 PM UTC:
Oh, don't worry, I've got something in mind.  *wink*

Also, in an effort to remain on-topic here, I think it would be a very bad
idea to make that sort of distinction between 'rook' and 'bishop'
moves. since they are all topologically the same move.  Rather, you could
replace the 'rooks' and 'bishops' with differently defined pieces
altogether.  (For example, see D. Nalls' pages on the Zig-Zag, etc.
pieces in the Piececlopedia.)

Chess. The rules of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Thu, Feb 12, 2004 09:10 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Sigh... The Internet is a mixed blessing.

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Jared McComb wrote on Sat, Feb 21, 2004 03:04 PM UTC:
Does anyone out there have a copy of the April 2004 issue of Games
Magazine, which is in newsstands now?  It has an interesting-looking
variant in it which is being billed as 'The New Oldest Game in the
World.'  (Note the month of the issue.)  I didn't have the opportunity
to copy the rules down when I saw it (and besides, that'd be cheap), so
does anyone else have a copy?

Cai QiA game information page
. Chesslike game on circular board.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Fri, Mar 5, 2004 10:19 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
New name and link!

Cardmate. Chess variant on board with 100 squares, inspired by card games. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Fri, Mar 12, 2004 08:13 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
The Ascii diagram of the moves for the One through Seven are messed up.

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Mar 22, 2004 01:36 AM UTC:
One of the reasons I like Shogi so much is that you really do exchange
pieces.  'Advantage in the exchange' takes on a whole new meaning, and
there may be additional advantages to sacrificing a piece for the sake of
being able to drop another.  In fact, the very ability to drop makes the
game so much deeper than FIDE Chess, yet the game seems so much more
refined sometimes.

I would suggest that another criterion, overall clarity, be added to the
list.  Sometimes when I read a new variant that has just been posted on
the CVP, I think to myself, 'I bet it's fun when you figure it out!' 
Some games have learning curves the size of Omaha, and I find that a major
problem.

--Jared

Rook Mania. Game where all pieces have different sorts of Rook-like moves. (7x7, Cells: 43) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Apr 5, 2004 09:40 PM UTC:
I am still waiting for my fifth-place prize here!

Or do I not get one?

Contest to design a chess variant on 44 squares. Our annual N-squares chess variant design competition.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Fri, Apr 16, 2004 01:47 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
You guys got my entries (and non-entry), right?

Border Wars II. Game played on line edges with Shogi-like aspects. (Cells: 44) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Apr 21, 2004 09:33 PM UTC:
I was hoping you guys could cook up something. :) By the way, a carriage return or two seem to have wandered away from their spot between the paragraph about Monks and the paragraph about Generals.

Contest to design a chess variant on 44 squares. Our annual N-squares chess variant design competition.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Thu, Apr 22, 2004 12:22 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Can entrants vote for their own games in the second round? I would assume not, but I may be wrong.

Rules of Chess FAQ. Frequently asked chess questions.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Thu, Apr 29, 2004 03:21 PM UTC:
This is not the place for asking about the ozone layer. Try an online encyclopedia.

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, May 3, 2004 09:25 PM UTC:
Does anyone know of a good program which comes with a set of Tsume Shogi
problems and which lets you try to solve them, preferably with a GUI?

Contest to design a chess variant on 44 squares. Our annual N-squares chess variant design competition.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Sun, May 9, 2004 01:21 AM UTC:
It sounds interessting, except that *some* of us have already started working on 45-space variants! *growls*

Chogo44. Game with pawns and kings with co-enclosure capture. (7x8, Cells: 44) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Wed, May 12, 2004 12:23 PM UTC:
It is impossible to read the text diagrams when there is no differentiation between players provided.

Regenbogen. Unusual spectrum-based game with Wizards, Clerics and Spirits. (Cells: 44) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Sat, May 15, 2004 12:17 AM UTC:
The references to Vantage Master Online should direct to the following
link:

http://www.falcom.co.jp/vantage/index_e.html

I would encourage people to try this game, even if it is pretty
far-fetched in the realm of chess variants.

Contest to design a chess variant on 44 squares. Our annual N-squares chess variant design competition.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Tue, May 18, 2004 05:55 PM UTC:
If Regenbogen ends up being the only Extra entry, will it win by default or will it be disqualified and the category abandoned?

Aviary. New pieces with shogi elements and a bird theme. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Wed, May 19, 2004 06:23 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
A quick observation: The contrasting black and white in those possible boards make my eyes hurt. Badly. A set of neutral colors would be much nicer looking.

Contest to design a chess variant on 44 squares. Our annual N-squares chess variant design competition.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Wed, May 19, 2004 06:47 PM UTC:
'If there is only one, and also if there are two entries in the extra
category, the judge (that is me) can decide to award no prize in this
category.'

Not even a li'l coffee mug for not following the crowd? ;)

In all honesty, I would think that this decision would not be fair, as it
would undercut the work I did on the game.  I started designing this game
months before the contest, and I would think that it should be possible
for that work to pay off somehow, even if it is only a coffee mug.  (Of
course, if it is moved to the main category, I won't have any reason to
complain, but I doubt that a preset could be easily constructed, and I am
incapable of programming a computer version myself, for ZoG or
otherwise.)

Just my 2 cents.  I'll shut up now.

Regenbogen. Unusual spectrum-based game with Wizards, Clerics and Spirits. (Cells: 44) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Fri, May 21, 2004 12:28 AM UTC:
I am aware that Game Courier is not well equipped to handle this game. 
It's actually one of those games which was designed to be played with...
get this... ACTUAL, PHYSICAL PIECES, IN REAL LIFE!

*waits for everyone on the CVP to gasp*

Anyways, to answer your other questions:  'Clear' refers to the clear,
colorless pieces, while 'translucent' refers to the colored pieces. 
Opaque means either black or white, not clear or translucent.  Orientation
is a term borrowed from videogames, to mean an orientation with a single
part of the Spectrum, analogous to having an elemental orientation.  And
the number of Pawns and Drones which can be stacked depends on their
function, be it to determine the owner of the piece, in which case the
answer is one, or to determine how much health a piece has or how many
spells left a Cleric has, in which case the rules should clearly state the
number, unless I have forgotten something.

And the references to VMO should still point to the link.

Radical Chess (deleted). Link to website of commercial chess variant on 8 by 8 board with 16 types of pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Fri, Jun 11, 2004 02:31 AM UTC:
Hmmm...  Fergus Duniho wants to see hairy men in bras...  ;P

I second the idea that the link be removed.

Navia Dratp. An upcoming commercial chess variant with collectible, tradable pieces. (7x7, Cells: 49) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Jun 30, 2004 02:18 AM UTC:
Will the CVP be covering this game in depth (i.e. with piece lists, etc., in the manner of many MTG sites) when it is released? I'm extremely interested in this game myself, and it being a chess variant, and a collectable one at that, I would think that it would be the CVP's duty to include in-depth coverage. (Of course, they could link to another fansite, but that wouldn't be as good, IMO -- what would be better for drawing in new visitors to the site than a good section on a game they want to know about?)

Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Jun 30, 2004 08:20 PM UTC:
Oh, it has an antecedent all right. In the meantime, Fergus, shut up.

Jared McComb wrote on Thu, Jul 1, 2004 01:01 PM UTC:
Touché. I'll shut up myself.

Jared McComb wrote on Fri, Jul 2, 2004 08:48 PM UTC:
First of all, Magic the Gathering has caught on -- you just need to know
where to look for it.  I see MTG players all the time at our local
community college, as an example.

One of the things I keep seeing in this discussion is the lack, at
present, of team-building rules.  I would like to point out that most CCGs
have no such rules, except those like disallowing too many of one card in a
deck (and I would assume that this would eventually get a rule like that at
some point).  The reason for this is that there is a counterbalance to
power and usefulness, that counterbalance being the rarity (and
eventually, street cash value) of said cards.  (There is often another
counterbalance, too: the cost to utilize rarer and more powerful things. 
When playing Yu-Gi-Oh, for example, you can't play strong monster cards
without either sacrificing weaker ones or obtaining a bunch of cards to
'fuse' together.  This kind of counterbalance is already in Navia Dratp
in promotion powers.)

My two cents on the anthromorphic-style pieces, as opposed to abstract
stuff:  It's possible to create a set of pieces which are quite easy to
distinguish from each other.  Look at Battle Chess, for instance. 
Besides, I don't really see how you could get different pieces in Navia
Dratp easily confused, since they all have that little descriptive disc on
them.

Finally, I hope that this game doesn't get a Saturday morning cartoon (or
any other morning, for that matter) because when anything gets its own
cartoon, it turns into a game that most older players 'wouldn't be
caught dead with.'

Jared McComb wrote on Sat, Jul 3, 2004 07:32 PM UTC:
It pertains to the discussion because he is trying to tell everyone who has
dismissed any part of it, since it isn't necessarily the entire ruleset of
a game which makes people dislike it -- sometimes a seemingly minor issue
can cause someone to dislike an otherwise good game.

I would like to know whether Matt Arnold is actually an inventor of this
game, as its entry states.  I know he did invent the four-handed
variation, but I thought that was pretty much it.

Jared McComb wrote on Sun, Jul 4, 2004 11:19 PM UTC:
One of the reasons that video-game adaptations of these sorts of games are
so great is that the only money you spend is the $20-$50 on the game
itself...  Of course if successive versions are released, we all know how
that goes.  Still, there really isn't anything like playing a game with
physical pieces with a human sitting opposite you.

An average of $3 a piece may seem a little high, but do recall that you
use much fewer pieces in an army for Navia Dratp than you do cards in any
given CCG, meaning that in the long run you may spend less money to get a
'really good' set.  Of course, none of us knows until it's released.  I
suggest we all wait until then, and *then* start to bash the game's little
details.

Contest to design a chess variant on 44 squares. Our annual N-squares chess variant design competition.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Jul 7, 2004 10:06 PM UTC:
Did you guys get my votes? I sent them in awhile ago.

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Jul 7, 2004 10:09 PM UTC:
When I submitted entries to the 44SC contest, I also submitted a third
variant, entitled Glacial Shift, which had nothing to do with the contest.
 I am afraid that in the hubbub of the submission deadline and voting
starting, the game was either lost or forgotten about.  If necessary I can
send it again.

Rook Mania. Game where all pieces have different sorts of Rook-like moves. (7x7, Cells: 43) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Sat, Jul 10, 2004 05:46 PM UTC:
Any opposing piece in a Basilisk's line of sight is frozen, with the exception of the enemy Basilisk. It is possible to freeze up to four pieces simultaneously, none of which have to have the same distance from the Basilisk as any other frozen piece. Basically, any enemy piece a normal Rook couild capture from the Basilisk's square is frozen.

Abstract ChessA game information page
. Pieces are represented by stacks of different heights.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Jul 20, 2004 09:45 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Why not have 7 be the limit, and make a stack of 7 be a King, instead of having a royal stone? (Then you only have one type of piece, making the game much, er, abstracter, as well as adding more strategies!)

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Jul 27, 2004 06:44 PM UTC:
Okay, I know this isn't official at the moment, and there's really no
point to this, but hey.

Chebble

Play on a Scrabble board.  Each player has four each of Rook, Knightrider,
and Bishop in hand, as well as one King.  Kings start in opposite corners.

Play Scrabble as usual.  Before making a play, you must move a chess
piece.  Scrabble tiles may not be played to an occupied space, and chess
pieces may not move through tiles (although Knightriders may leap them). 
Besides moving, a player may spend points they have accumulated to drop a
piece adjacent to their King.  It costs 10 points to drop a Knightrider,
20 points to drop a Bishop, and 30 points to drop a Rook.  It costs double
or triple points to drop on a premium square, depending on the premium
(double word or letter costs double, triple word or letter costs triple). 
You may not drop a piece into a position from which it immediately gives
check.

Kings may remain in check, but cannot be mated.  Instead, a player
receives a point bonus for each piece of theirs checking their opponent's
King at the end of their turn.  You receive 5 points for checking with a
Knightrider, 10 points for checking with a Bishop, and 15 points for
checking with a Rook.  Any checking piece on a letter premium square
receives an appropriate multiplier which is applied to its checking bonus.
 Any checking piece on a word premium square similarly multiplies all
checking pieces.  It is of course possible to have a checking piece have
its own multiplier as well as one or more other multipliers granted it by
other checking pieces.

Play ends when the game of Scrabble is over, after which the player with
the highest score wins.

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Aug 30, 2004 11:41 AM UTC:
When did that happen?  Did I miss a news post or something?  And why did it
happen?

Recognized Chess Variants. Index page listing the variants we feel are most significant. (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Fri, Sep 3, 2004 03:28 PM UTC:
I would like to make a nomination for Courier chess. This game is an interesting look at the historical development of the modern game of chess, as it includes both the archaic and modern forms of the bishop, and contains the Ferz rather than a modern Queen, thus suggesting that the modern Bishop's move was 'invented' first. In addition, according to these pages' entry for the game, the game was played widely throughout Germany during the Middle Ages, although it later died out (in favor of the modern game, I would assume). The game is very playable and would make a sensible addition to the Recognized list, in my opinion.

Choson chessA game information page
. Korean game, resembling Shogi, mentioned in a novel.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Fri, Sep 3, 2004 03:39 PM UTC:
If I were to reconstruct the game based on the material given, I would have
assumed it would differ from the rules presented on this page in two
ways:

Rather than cannons, there would be two rooks.  The rook is a piece which
is found in every historical game to date, and there is no reason which a
piece that 'resembles a castle' shouldn't be one.

The knight would not be able to move one space orthogonally (this might be
the result of an inaccurate diagram on Kisljuk's part, however).

As for the pawn move, since no information is really given, either a Shogi
or a Changgi interpretation would work, although the latter probably makes
for a more playable game.

--Jared

Navia Dratp. An upcoming commercial chess variant with collectible, tradable pieces. (7x7, Cells: 49) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Thu, Sep 9, 2004 06:32 PM UTC:
The crystals are called gyullahs, and gold ones are worth 20, not 30. Also the pawns are called gulleds.

Recognized Chess Variants. Index page listing the variants we feel are most significant. (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Sep 13, 2004 04:50 PM UTC:
Thanks for clearing that up, Fergus.

I would also like to point out that Fergus did previously state that new
CVs would be added to the RCV list, but on a 'less frequent' than
monthly basis.  We're not just throwing everything we like on this list.

Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Sep 14, 2004 02:28 AM UTC:
I, too, think Fergus's idea is excellent. I also think that 'time-testedness' is a perfectly good word, and wish I could find more opportunities in which to use it.

Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Sep 15, 2004 12:18 AM UTC:
I agree that Changgi should be on the Classic list. Maybe Makruk and/or Sittuyin as well?

Taikyoku Shogi. Taikyoku Shogi. Extremely large shogi variant. (36x36, Cells: 1296) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Sep 21, 2004 09:42 PM UTC:
No, we don't have it. Please post it!

Poll number Fall 2004 Poll for New Recognized Variant. Vote for the new addition to the recognized Chess variants list for Fall 2004.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Oct 4, 2004 01:12 AM UTC:
It seems to me that Courier Chess has been ommitted from the group of games which can be voted for. Unless this was intentional, I suggest we throw out the current votes and start again with it included.

Mecklenbeck chess. Pawns can promote on the sixth row.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Oct 4, 2004 09:35 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
It seems to me that this concept was taken by Christian Freeling and adapted to fit Grand Chess, where it works almost as well.

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Oct 25, 2004 09:44 PM UTC:
What happened to Dai-Ryu Shogi?  I submitted it several weeks ago...

Dai-Ryu Shogi. Large Shogi variant with new pieces. (9x16, Cells: 144) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Sat, Oct 30, 2004 09:08 PM UTC:
The assumption by the unnamed individual is correct.  Also, a link to Ryu
Shogi where it is referenced in the rules would be a very good idea.

Also, I will not be renaming any pieces in this variant.  See, I had this
thing called a THEME going.

💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Tue, Nov 2, 2004 02:15 PM UTC:
I had actually thought about that, but eventually decided against it. As it is, the Knights/L.D.s are still the only leaping piece, and besides, I think I've already added enough power to the original Ryu setup with the Platinum Generals/Dragons.

Ryu Shogi. Large modern shogi variant. (7x12, Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Nov 10, 2004 03:48 PM UTC:
As stated directly in the moves section: 'As a general rule, the promoted forms of pieces retain the movement powers of their third-zone unpromoted counterparts.' In other words, promotion does not change the third-zone move so much as it changes the domain of the move by extending it back to the first two zones. This also happens to apply to Dai-Ryu.

Spherical chess. Sides of the board are considered to be connected to form a sphere. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Nov 24, 2004 03:33 PM UTC:Poor ★
The board is not actually spherical, but rather is a torus with a half-twist.

Contest to design a chess variant on 44 squares. Our annual N-squares chess variant design competition.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Dec 13, 2004 09:35 PM UTC:
All the same, it would be nice to see who did.  If you don't wish to
disclose the information, though, why not just come out and say so?

I would assume BWII wasn't disqualified and was in fact not voted for
well, due to a bad case of rehash disease.  I honestly don't know what
came over me.

Shogi. Missing description (9x9, Cells: 81) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Sat, Dec 25, 2004 07:37 PM UTC:
Would it be possible to create a printer-friendly version of this page, without all the links and stuff? I just got a set for Christmas (yay!) and I'd like to keep a copy of the rules with me.

Jared McComb wrote on Sun, Dec 26, 2004 10:25 PM UTC:
Roberto: I actually got it from my mother, who ordered a board and a set of
wooden pieces from www.yutopian.com.  It's not too bad of a set, although
it's obviously not professional quality.

To stay on topic: Do we have a resource that lists the original Japanese
names (and English translations) of the pieces?  This page doesn't.

Mamra Chess. Adds the Mamra, a piece that only Pawns may capture. (8x8, Cells: 66) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jared McComb wrote on Mon, Jan 3, 2005 09:28 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
Or perhaps have it replace a Knight on the board, and play from there as Pocket Knight.

Jared McComb wrote on Wed, Jan 5, 2005 12:17 AM UTC:
Or, of course, we could have it replace the Queen. This actually sounds the most interesting to me.

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