Comments by Michael Nelson
Symmetric Chess. Variant with two Queens flanking the King and Bishops Conversion Rule. (9x8, Cells: 72) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I solved the colorbound pieces on a nine-file board in the early versions of my Colorful Osmosis Chess in exactly the same way--I added a tenth file and filled the square next to King with a piece I called Guard: a non-royal king.
Onslaught. Several pieces can capture only on the enemy half, favoring attack. (12x12, Cells: 144) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Thank you for the clarification. It's obvious in the interactive diagram. Likely on the wording of the rules as given, but capable of being misundertood.
Now I'm certain this is the rule, let me give the game an excellent. The slashing rider moves deep into enemy territory and the defense against such should be a thing of beauty.
Rules question: How do moves across the mid-line of the board work? Can a knight on f6 capture on g8 or must it enter the other half of the board as a non-capturing knightrider? If the latter, can it move as far forward as as empty squares allow, or can it only take a single knight leap?
I'm assuming cross the mid-line as a non-capturing knightrider and go as far as you can, but I'm not certain that's correct. Clarification appreciated.
Paragi. Shogi without drop rule + Strong pieces. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]An interesting take on how historic Little Shogi might have evolved if the players had strengthened the pieces rather than introducing the drop rule.
Duck Chess. A Duck that must be moved by both players can block your moves. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Would letting Black place the duck after his first move provide a more balanced game?
Colorful Osmosis Chess. All basic pieces are colorbound or colorwithching. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Zillions played a wild game--a 119-move marathon culminating in a King, Guard, and Harvestman vs. King and Gnu ending. The stronger side was eventually able to fork the King and Gnu for an easy mate. Zillions could have won by trading Harvestman for Gnu, King and Guard vs. King is a forced mate on 10x10, but perhaps that would take more moves.
Camel Decimal Chess. Decimal Chess with Camel. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Exactly the solution to the Camel problem I independently adopted for my unpublished Colorful Osmosis Chess. Camel Decimal Chess should be a good game.
Colorful Osmosis Chess
. All basic pieces are colorbound or colorwithching and can create compounds. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Fixed a subtle bug in the zrf. Due to a typo, a black pawn in the j-file could not promote except by capturing. I noticed it by observing a Z vs. Z game where Black blew an easy win by persistently failing to move a pawn from j3 to j2 and promoting, eventually letting White escape by a perpetual check draw. BTW, the Harvestman (and Harvestman compounds) are quite good at saving a lost game by perpetual check on a relatively empty board.
Corrected .zrf uploaded.
Zipfile containing revised zrf, images and ten sample games included has been uploaded.
I notice Zillions is rather fond of the "Four Camels" opening. Indeed it once played an "Eight Leapers" opening. Getting and keeping a compound piece when the enemy doesn't is normally a winning advantage.
Colorful Osmosis Chess. All basic pieces are colorbound or colorwithching. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Thanks, Fergus. Correct All correct images are displayed now. Now getting ready to upload new zrf on that page, with sample games (I will provide ten).
But how do I link to the individual piece images? I don't want to show the whole set.
Board image .gif created and uploaded, working on the piece images. Where are the existing piece graphic files? If necessary, I can convert all my .bmp files to transparent.gif files, but if chessvariants.com already has the correct piece graphics, I'd prefer to use them.
After a large amount of editing, I think the game and this page are really ready for publication. I believe I have a playable game and a reasonable page now. I have to make a few edits to the help text in the Zillions file, and then that page should be ready as well. The Zillions page will probably be ready later today.
Are any further edits necessary or desirable?
Fergus, I know what I was told, I'm glad the rule is nonexistent, it must have been someone else's opinion. I will try the suggestions for better tools and see what works best. If none of those tools give satisfaction, I will upload a Zillions screenshot (trimmed to show just the board) as I wanted to originally.
Bob's suggestion of a piece on the blank space improves the game considerably. I chose the Guard (non-royal King) as the best fit. It provides better King protection and if it persists to the endgame K + G versus K can force mate. The Guard should be a Pawn promotion option as well. In certain positions, it may be the best choice. Thanks to all for the suggestions that improved the game considerably. I should be able to upload the revised .zrf this afternoon or tomorrow.
(Deleted replied to the wrong person.)
A modified Queen doesn't fit the theme, but perhaps a Mann or Commoner (non-royal King) would work well. I'll try that out later today.
H.G. the Diagram Designer is the tool provided by Chessvariants.com and is the preferred tool. The site discourages uploading images--I had originally uploaded a Zillions screenshot which has a proper Harvestman graphic, but the site maintainers strongly suggested I use the Diagram designer instead. Diagram Designer has already defined 26 pieces that don't include the Harvestman so the Rook is the least bad alternative to represent it, as the piece is the game's Rook analog.
Even if I had access to another tool (free, I can't afford to buy one), that would still involve uploading files.
Please tell me how it is possible to add a new piece to the DD piece set, or get the site maintainers not to complain about uploading screenshots.
I can already tell that the new version is much more balanced. The Grand Chess-like setup with Camels on the corners of the board alone on the first rank is much more balanced. I have also extended the osmosis rules. Now when a basic piece captures anything but a Pawn or a corresponding piece, a compound piece is created. The promotion by capturing is reminiscent of Maka Dai Dai Shogi and possibly other large Shogi variants.
Colorful Osmosis Chess . All basic pieces are colorbound or colorwithching and can create compounds. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Put this on hold for a while. I want to add more sample games to the .zip file, as well as the updated .zrf.
Colorful Osmosis Chess. All basic pieces are colorbound or colorwithching. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Thanks, H.G. A NW can't checkmate, my source was incorrect. No wonder I couldn't figure out how to mate with it. I want to give accurate information about the mating potential of Colorful Osmosis Chess pieces. As I'm revising the game page anyway, I want everything right. Can mate is important in the endgame--it might be quite bad to have a Caliph rather than a Cardinal. If I have this right, to have can mate, a piece cannot be either color-bound or color-switching but must be able to reach squares of both colors on a given move. In Chess, the Queen and Rook have this property, the Bishop and Knight. The Harvestman, Camel, Knight, and Bishop are all either color-bound or color-switching. Likewise, the Caliph (BC) and the Battlemaster (N - Havestman) should lack can mate. Cardinal, Evangelist, and Imam have the can-mate property. Of course, being neither color-bound nor color-switching is a necessary but not sufficient condition for can mate: King + Gnu vs. King is
A piece loses some value if K + piece can't force mate, but loses far less value than a piece that can't check the King. This might be a interesting way to reduce the power of an otherwise overpowered piece.
Bob's Zebras don't fit the theme, but I'm now inspired to create a leaper-heavy game with Knights, Camels, Zebras, and all their compounds with such other pieces as may be needed for adequate mating power.
Some thoughts on the "can mate" property of pieces. Apparently, since K + NW vs. King can force mate, King + X can force mate if X is any of the Harvestman compounds, or presumably where X is the Harvestman itself, though I'm not familiar with mating with NW's and Zillions is not good at it. We know mate can be forced if X is a Cardinal. As has been pointed out, when X is a Gnu, the game is drawn. If X is a Caliph (BC), I assume it is also a draw, as the Caliph is colorbound.
In Chess, a major piece (Queen, Rook) can mate, while a minor piece (Bishop, Knight) can't and this is the definition of major and minor pieces. In Chess, the majors are stronger in terms of overall power as well. This is not necessarily true of variants. It is quite possible for a minor piece to have more overall power than a major piece. Can mate is only a significant part of piece value (the proportion is unknown and may vary).
A thought for research: how much less valuable is a Queen which can't capture a King than a normal Queen? The possibility of King capture is the basis for check and mate, though in Chess and variants using the checkmate rules, the capture is never actually carried out.
For Colorful Osmosis, if my assumptions are correct, the major pieces are Harvestman, Evangelist, Imam, Battlemaster, and Cardinal; while the minor pieces are Bishop, Knight, Camel, Gnu, and Caliph.
Please let me know if any of my assumptions are incorrect.
25 comments displayed
Permalink to the exact comments currently displayed.
What a fine concept. A new way of using reserves that makes for a different game from Chess but has a good Chess-like feel. The adjacent kings rule sets a trap for the unwary. Hold that Queen in reserve and when the opponent moves his king next to yours, you have 9 less points to count.
Rules question: does the requirement to evade check have priority over ending the game by moving next to the enemy king? I would think yes, but I'm not certain from the rules on this page.
I'd love to program this game for Zillions, but I have no idea how to implement the win condition for adjacent kings.