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Comments by TonyQuintanilla
Aberg variation of Capablanca's Chess. Different setup and castling rules. (10x8, Cells: 80) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The text has been clarified. -Ed.
Hans Aberg has provided a very nice graphic showing the setup. --Ed.
TamerSpiel. Modern large chess variant with elements of historic chess variants. (12x8, Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I am on turn 12 of a very nice game by e-mail. I am a fan of ancient games and modern games with an ancient theme or quality. This is one of them. I really like the use of the Vizir and Firzan in such an active way. It adds a certain depth of the function of the Pawns in the opening. The opening has another dimension before the minor pieces get involved and the game goes into the middle game. The wide board also provides more room for deciding where to focus the attack, King-side or Champion-side! The Lion and the Eagle are nice additions too. The certainly fit the theme, but more importantly, they add another level to the opening and early middle game. Instead of the battle being just between Knights and Bishops, a player must decide whether to commit and risk these stronger pieces--similar to committing the Rook in Chess. I am enjoying the game. Very nice game.
Turkish Great Chess II. Gollon's large historical variant. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Besides its historical interest, this is a very interesting variant. The different central Pawns and the central Knights are intriguing. The selective use of the 3rd or forward rank bears consideration in designing other games too.
Invent-and-Play. A design contest and a small PBEM tournament, combined![All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating] Tiled Squares Chess. Drop tiles to create the board as you play. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Peter, your comment is well taken. You are right that dropping and picking up tiles could be used as a stalling tactic or due to lack of experience by a beginner. I suppose the game could get very tedious if both players did this. I would think that an astute player could take advantage of such a game by his opponent to develop his position better. Taken to an absurd degree, the 3-times repetition rule or the 50-move rules would result in stalemate. Your suggestion to force a move every 3 moves could be implemented, however, during the opening such a rule might stifle legitimate positional drops.
Robert, I did test this situation a bit. <p>Let's say that its the end game and the loosing player has a lone King and the opposing player has a King and Queen. The loosing King is being progressively cornered. The loosing player starts to drop Anti-Tiles to block ranks and files and diagonals. Eventually, the loosing King will block himself into a corner with Anti-Tiles, hoping for stalemate by the 50-move rule, but this does not save him. Once the board is completely filled with Tiles and Anti-Tiles, this tactic fails. The loosing King is forced to move. As the King moves Tiles are created! In addition, the winning player's King can replace Anti-Tiles with Tiles everywhere except adjacent to the loosing King. Then the winning side can force checkmate. </p> <p>The above scenario assumes that the loosing player has been very succesful in droping Anti-Tiles. By the end game, most critical squares have Tiles. In order to drop an Anti-Tile, the Tile must first be removed. This creates an opportunity for the winning player to drop a Tile there. This Tile cannot be removed by the loosing player.</p> <p>The only hope that the loosing player has is that the winning player goes 50 moves without being able to put him in check or move a Pawn. This is possible, but unlikely.</p><p>Perhaps there is a tricky way to avoid loosing by dropping Anti-Tiles, but I don't think so. I would like to know if there is.</p>
Glenn's Decimal Chess. A 10x10 blend of FIDE, Shogi, and Xiangqi influences. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]This game certainly looks interesting. The graphics, as always, are very nice. I like the use of the Rhino, a deserving but somewhat neglected piece.
Ready Chess. Pieces cannot capture right after capturing, they have to be restored first. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I have updated the ZRF to include a variant based on Mike Nelson's excellent suggestion to add thematic Ready-Kings and Ready-pieces upon capture through Pawn promotion. The variant was implemented by Mike and added to the original ZRF. Mike, Thanks!
Maxima. Maxima is an interesting and exiting variant of Ultima, with new elements that make Maxima more clear and dynamic. (Cells: 76) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]<p>Maxima is quite interesting and clear. Its subtle, has a lot of variety, and is quite innovative. I particularly like the long move of the Mage and the traditional move of the Guard. </p><p>The Mages' reach makes it a very active piece early in the game. </p><p>Although it has the single step move, the Guard proves to be surprisingly strong and important for attack. Its interesting that among relatively strong pieces, a traditional piece like the Guard should play such an important role. </p><p>The Coordinator comes into play very selectively but can be surprising and cannot be ignored. </p><p>The custodian capture powers of the Pawn make the dynamics of the opening much more positional than in games using FIDE-type Pawns. </p><p>I wonder what the theoretical piece strength density of Maxima is compared to FIDE?</p>
Hopgi. Small-board variant of Chessgi with an L-shaped board, linked pairs of Kings, where all pieces can move like a Mao-hoppers. (7x7, Cells: 43) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]This is certainly an interesting game. The use of the short range pieces makes the best use of the available space. I like the use of the 'split' double royal pieces, split into Ferz and Wazir capabilities. This is in line with the promoted versions, which adds a Ferz or Wazir capability. The game has subtle tactics. The Mao-Hopper capability adds density to the tactical possibilities on a small board. The drops do not overwhelm game play. The board's diagonal divide adds to the thematic flavor of the Berolina Pawns. Nice game.
Chess Cartoon. Members-Only A chess game being played by the pieces themselves.[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.
Take Over Chess. Jump across pieces to take them over from your opponent. (7x7, Cells: 41) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]<p>With regard to Charles' comment, actually, I was thinking of Shogi, but I wanted to get away from taking the pieces off-board.</p><p>I have suggested the 64-square version for the Invent and Play contest. In some ways I prefer the larger board because it does provide more room for maneuver. However, the original reason for the takeover capture was to increase the density of power to make the game more interesting on a small board. In the large board, the takeover feature becomes a bit too strong. The ZRF has two subvariants for both 42 and 64 squares, one limits the takeover capture to a jump adjacent to the capture piece, and the other limits takeover captures to undefended pieces only. I tend to favor the limited jump for the 64-square board</p><p>Antoine's suggestion to limit captures to either a takeover or replacement by some kind of secondary rule is interesting. Perhaps on odd turns it would be by takeover and on even turns it would be by replacement! This could actually be implemented as a subvariant, if I get ambitious!</p><p>Peter's suggestion to use a ring board is also interesting.<p/>
I fully agree with the excellent comments, starting with Ivan's original comments. Thanks to Michael for the interesting clarification of the counting issue. As Jean-Louis says, we must not transmute legend into history. Consequently, I have removed the Saba from the Piececlopedia. As noted by Peter and Jean-Louis, Senterej as a regional variant remains interesting on other grounds, such as the Werera.
84 Spaces Contest. 84 Spaces Contest begins![All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Thanks to all the organizers and judges! What a wonderful contest and great games!
Wizard's War. Game with piece-creating Wizards and a board divided into arena and enchanted sections. (10x10, Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]<p>Very nice game. The dynamics of the opening, middle game and end game are quite distinct, although very different from FIDE Chess.</p><p>The opening is characterized by piece creation in tandem with piece development.</p><p>During the early middle game, positional play starts to develop, with a balance between attempting to get a material advantage by capture or by piece creation.</p><p>As the middle game proceeds, positional play becomes more important. While piece creation is always an important element it must take a secondary position as positional tactics become more critical.</p><p>In the late middle game, the goal of capturing the 'arena' starts to influence tactics. Capture of semi-royal Wizards also becomes a tactical and strategic issue.</p><p>Overall, a very nice game and very innovative.
L 
. Chess variant designed by committee.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating] Advanced Wizard Chess. Chess variant on 10 by 10 board with fantasy chess pieces. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Very nice game. I am intrigued by the use of the Earth and Sky boards. This has strong thematic sense to it, particularly with the overall context of the game. Other games, such as Alice Chess, use the double boards, also thematically. But Advanced Wizards Chess uses this theme very consistently, and, it appears, in a very playable manner. I particularly like the launching of the Dragon and Pegasus into the sky, the swooping of the Eagle, the flight of the Archer's arrow! The Earth-bound pieces also are thematically appropriate. The Wizard is Earth-bound, like a proper royal, but can teleport once per game. This has allusions to certain ancient variations of Shatranj where the King had a Knight's move. The game is complex in that there is a lot going on, but the rules are clear and intuitive. Nice game!
Pocket Mutation Chess. Take one of your pieces off the board, maybe change it, keep it in reserve, and drop it on the board later. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The middle game develops very nicely. At first I thought that there would be a lot of drops. It turns out that the tempo lost in putting a piece in the pocket is very important, so this option cannot be wasted. The game develops very closely to FIDE Chess. The mutation aspect of the pocket actually adds more to the dynamics of the game than the drop itself, it seems. Promotions do not seem to be any more prevalent in the middle game than in FIDE.
Chaturanga. The first known variant of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The ancient forms of chess, Chaturanga and Shatranj used uncheckered boards.
Isle of Lewis Chess Men. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The Isle of Lewis chessmen found comprised parts of several chess sets. The sets commercially distributed appear to use a few of these pieces for their molds. Different sets seem to use a different selection of pieces, such as a tower or a soldier for the Rook. Or the same set may use different pawns or kings for white and black. Basically, selection of pieces that will comprise a set is somewhat arbitrary. If you like the set provided, that's what counts.
Maxima. Maxima is an interesting and exiting variant of Ultima, with new elements that make Maxima more clear and dynamic. (Cells: 76) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The Pawns are interesting. They seem to be more powerful as defensive than as attacking pieces. I like the Mage, although its diagonal first square can be both a benefit and a hindrance. The game develops nicely into the middle game, remaining tactical, yet beginning to move towards the game's goals. The middle game is surprisingly closed; surprising because the pieces are not extremely powerful individually, but their combined reach is still strong enough to control the board.
Wizard's War. Game with piece-creating Wizards and a board divided into arena and enchanted sections. (10x10, Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Another interesting question is whether quantity or quality is more important. I would tend to side with quantity if for no other reason that clearing the arena is a matter of quantity more than quality, although generally concentrated force is more effective than dispersed force. In the opening, when development means clearing the squares to which the Kings may move while starting to control the arena, quantity may be more important. During the middle game when the arena is well populated, concentrated force may be more important.
Invent-and-Play. A design contest and a small PBEM tournament, combined![All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Roberto, you can send your moves directly to the player.
Nuclear Chess Play-By-Mail game. Examine this game![All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Interesting game. Due to the overwhelming possibilities of any capture, any kind of initiative, such as the first move, has significant momentum. At least in the opening, one cannot accept the risk of any capture in the first 2 ranks! This forces a very defensive posture on Black. Although, any turn of events, such as gaining a tactical advantage, can reverse roles quickly.
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