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Comments by JohnLawson

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FireFighter Chess. A game where one piece is a secret fire fighter with special powers. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sat, Jun 8, 2002 03:59 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Crowd Chess 1: http://www.chessvariants.com/boardrules.dir/crowded1.html

Crowd Chess 2: http://www.chessvariants.com/boardrules.dir/crowded2.html

Multiple Occupancy Miscellany:
http://www.chessvariants.com/boardrules.dir/multocc.html

My nextdoor neighbor in Brooklyn was also a fire-fighter, and was not a big
man, but strong.  We broke up our common driveway with sledgehammers, and I
was impressed.

Captain Spalding Chess. Find an Elephant in your Pajamas.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sat, Jun 15, 2002 03:24 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
But where is the Schnorer? Or the Bromeliads?

John Lawson wrote on Wed, Jun 19, 2002 12:15 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
My daughter has raised the question, 'If there are Headless Rhinos, why are there no Rhino heads in the Box?' I suggested that they had been reduced to Crumbs, but this explanation was rejected on the grounds that the rest of the Rhino would also be Crumbs.

Piazza San Marco Chess. On random moments, the middle of the board gets flooded, meaning that pieces can get out only by using special walkways.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Fri, Jun 21, 2002 12:10 AM UTC:
The link to the picture of the Piazza San Marco is broken.

White Elephant Chess. Four variants pitting the white Elephant army against black with the normal FIDE array. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sun, Jun 23, 2002 07:35 AM UTC:
If drunken humans see pink elephants, do Drunken Elephants see pink humans? And what about diversity?

General Comments Page. Page for making general comments.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Tue, Jun 25, 2002 02:48 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I noticed the unobtrusive random page link a few days ago, and I wanted to let you know that I really like it. The CVP has become so huge that there is no way one can remember everything on it. The random page allows for serendipitous discovery and adventure.

PASGL 312 Chess. Critters steal lunch in the forest, while trying to get close to the campfire and avoid the train. (Cells: 68) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Wed, Jun 26, 2002 02:36 AM UTC:
To indicate 'stinky' in notation, how about '*'?  And to indicate being run
over by the Train, how about '_'?

I live a few score miles from PA SGL 312, and I have never seen any critter
(aside from a Hunter) carrying lunch in a brown paper bag.  Sometimes the
brown paper bag contains appropriate liquid refreshment, like Wild
Turkey.

I try to imagine strategies and tactics, and my mind fogs up.  Maybe Wild
Turkey would help.

John Lawson wrote on Wed, Jun 26, 2002 08:47 AM UTC:
Let me see if I understand 'Lunch' correctly:

If a critter loses its lunch, that lunch disappears from the game; it is
not lying around to be picked up by some other critter.

If a critter drops its lunch, that lunch disappears from the game; it is
not lying around to be picked up by some other critter.

If a critter steals another critter's lunch, the stealing critter must, of
course, already have a lunch.  The result is that the stealee has no lunch
and the stealer has lunch, not two lunches.

Since lunches are not 'conserved' as objects, then they may be considered
more as states, say 'lunchvoll' and 'lunchlos'.

Did I get it?

John Lawson wrote on Thu, Jun 27, 2002 12:07 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I've been looking at the point scheme.

The total number of points a player can have for critters next to the
campfire is 24 plus 1 for each Shrew that can be promoted to Chipmunk, or
32.

If you assume that promoting Shrews is difficult: 

Then the likelihood of exceeding your opponent's point count by 30 is close
to zero.

And the likelihood of losing the game even though the opponent's Bear is
eliminated for 20 points is close to zero.

Furthermore, to achieve the maximum score (32) for Campfire propinquity,
there would have to be 16 critters adjacent to the Campfire.  Since the
train passes through each Campfire square 2 of every 20 turns,
orchestrating the 'campout' without some critter getting sqooshed would be
near impossible.

Another interesting effect is that if each side loses its Hunter
(foolishly, since the only way I can see for that to happen is for them
both to be squished by the Train), the game can never end, except draw by
agreement.  Perhaps in this case we need something like a 50-move rule, but
instead of a draw, the winner is declared on points.

I can see the possibility of an urban variant of PASGL 312 called NYCTA
IRT, where commuters jostle to be near the door to get on or off a subway
train without being pushed onto the tracks or having their pockets
picked.

BTW, I noticed no one has actually rated this.  I give it excellent for
concept.  Play is still moot.

John Lawson wrote on Thu, Jun 27, 2002 06:54 PM UTC:
I think Joseph is right.  It looks like I missed exactly how points were
accumulated.  I was thinking they would be assessed once, at the end of the
game, but assessing them at the end of each ply makes more sense.

Then missing Hunters might not be a disaster, because if you outplayed your
opponent, your score would eventually exceed his by 30 points anyway.  It
would probably be undesirable to have two royal pieces.

This is another one of those games, like Nemoroth and Captain Spalding
Chess, where you need to spend days studying the rules to have a chance.  I
love this stuff.

John Lawson wrote on Thu, Jun 27, 2002 07:58 PM UTC:
I've been meaning to ask how 'PASGL 312' is spoken.

Most straight-forward would be 'pee-ay-ess-gee-ell-three-twelve'.

I've personally been referring to it as
'Pennsylvania-State-Game-Lands-three-hundred-twelve Chess', but this might
be considered hyper-correct.

Other alternatives are also possible; which is most appropriate?

John Lawson wrote on Fri, Jun 28, 2002 02:42 AM UTC:
'...I guess you can score enough in one turn to win; with the Train coming
by, you have 10 moves to load up a square and ten moves to empty it; but
some of the emptying moves could go from one Train square to another.'

If you are accumulating points fast enough, it may not be necessary to make
any attempt to unload the Campfire square if you reach the 30 point
advantage before the Train actually squishes your critters.

'Because of multiple occupancy, it's easy to promote a Shrew. However, it
takes quite a few turns.'

And all that time, your opponent is gathering his critters around the
Campfire.  (Do critters gathered around the Campfire sing songs and make
s'mores?)

'...this is baffling to try to play.'

This is an alarming admission.  I confess that, even after actually playing
Nemoroth and Captain Spalding Chess, I am having trouble getting my mind
around PASGL 312, and now the inventor is baffled, too.  Maybe I'm not as
dense as I feared.

John Lawson wrote on Fri, Jun 28, 2002 02:48 AM UTC:
'...but some of the emptying moves could go from one Train square to
another.'

Also, if you unload a Campfire square to a Campfire square on the other
track, the train will be back to that square in 10 moves or so.

Captain Spalding Chess. Find an Elephant in your Pajamas.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sat, Jun 29, 2002 01:59 AM UTC:
My opinion would be that the Cookie Monster's primordial nature would preclude any such politesse. I would expect that both Cookie Monsters would pounce on the mutually adjacent piece, devouring it, and each other, like the Kilkenny cats. We must await gnohmon's ruling for a definitive answer, however.

The Game of Nemoroth. For the sake of your sanity, do not read this variant! (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sun, Jun 30, 2002 03:46 AM UTC:
Based on my slight playing experience with Nemoroth, and considering how many Humans were left unpetrified and unmummified at the end of the game (3 out of 16), I suspect that it matters not which side is winning, the Humans are toast either way.

Rule Zero. A base or starting rule set for most Chess variants.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Mon, Jul 1, 2002 02:54 AM UTC:
You could define a handful of basic rule sets that would apply to most
chess variants, differing in such things as the effects of stalemate, or
repetition.  They could then be codified as Rule 0.1, Rule 0.2, etc., but
that rather defeats the whole purpose of a Rule Zero, which I understand to
be the irreducible minimum that most chess variants have in common.

It is also possible to say, 'Rule Zero applies, except for...'

PASGL 312 Chess. Critters steal lunch in the forest, while trying to get close to the campfire and avoid the train. (Cells: 68) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Mon, Jul 1, 2002 04:28 AM UTC:
I understand that the Hunter cannot shoot through the Train, and the Deer
cannot leap over the Train, but it is unspecified if the Woodchuck chucks
wood in a high enough arc to clear the Train.

John Lawson wrote on Tue, Jul 2, 2002 02:57 AM UTC:
I will be playing PASGL 312 in the near future, and one of the plans I had considered was the Woodchuck and Fox working as a team against the opponents medium-sized critters. The Woodchuck bonks them, causing them to drop their lunch, and then the Fox darts in and devours them.

Knightmare Chess. The American version of Tempete sur l'Echiquier.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Tue, Jul 2, 2002 03:20 AM UTC:
Apropos to other discussions about the importance of theme in a chess variant, this is an example of how theme really does count, even if it ideally shouldn't. The choice of the gothic horror theme clearly can strongly attract or repel a player, regardless of the objective merits of the game.

John Lawson wrote on Tue, Jul 2, 2002 05:12 PM UTC:
Exactly. The theme is completely arbitrary, totally unrelated to the mechanics of play, really just decoration. And yet, it has an effect on who likes and dislikes the game. This is a strong example for those who believe an appealing and well-expressed theme is important in a chess variant.

PASGL 312 Chess. Critters steal lunch in the forest, while trying to get close to the campfire and avoid the train. (Cells: 68) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Fri, Jul 5, 2002 04:42 AM UTC:
I have searched, and I cannot find any rule regarding repetition. Stalemate results in a pass or multiple passes, but I mean voluntarily repeating a position. What happens, if anything? Does it matter if points are being accumulated? Does the position of the Train count?

Tishai. Played on a 7x7 board with 2 sideboards. (7x7, Cells: 49) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Fri, Jul 5, 2002 04:46 AM UTC:
There is already a ZRF for this game on the ZoG site:

http://www.zillions-of-games.com/games/tishai.html

PASGL 312 Chess. Critters steal lunch in the forest, while trying to get close to the campfire and avoid the train. (Cells: 68) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Sat, Jul 6, 2002 04:29 AM UTC:
Yes, that's a good enough rule.  My feeling was that it didn't matter. 
Even in a dual stalemate position, with just the Train chugging around, if
there are pieces near the Campfire, the score will be incrementing, at
least until the critters are squished by the Train.

Wouldn't achieving a stalemate position be difficult?  With multiple
occupancy, it is near impossible to blockade lunchvoll critters, and if one
player's critters were all lunchlos, he would be in a very bad position
anyway, and possibly lost.

Games and Pieces[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
John Lawson wrote on Tue, Jul 23, 2002 05:07 PM UTC:
I'm with Joseph on this: too much work for the payoff.  Think about keeping
it up-to-date; whoever's job that was might have no life in a heavy
contribution week.  Also, listing all the pieces in a game is redundant to
the actual game description.

If it were done, it would be most useful to be identified by move, rather
than name of piece.  This would be a sysiphean labor.  You would have to
create indices based perhaps on funny notation.  The syntax of funny
notation is ambiguous, in that although it can describe movement
precisely, there is more than one way to describe the same movement in
many cases.

Alfil. Jumps two diagonally. Arabic for the elephant.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Fri, Jul 26, 2002 04:37 PM UTC:
There's no reason why better linguistic information could not be included, even if the piece continues to be known by what is now its conventional name.

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