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Comments by austinlockwood

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Stanley Random Chess A game information page
. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡Austin Lockwood wrote on Fri, Jun 18, 2021 04:00 PM UTC in reply to Fergus Duniho from Wed Jan 20 06:52 PM:

Hi Fergus,

Interesting that this discussion is still rolling on after sixteen years ;-)

SRC is real... some of the flowery discussion around it is the product of various hyperactive imaginations, but the game itself is most certainly real.

I am the game's inventor (Topov has written extensively about SRC, but he didn't invent it), and I wrote the software which runs behind SchemingMind.com... so I can attest to it's authenticity with some authority.

I have sent you a challenge; I hope you accept... it's a fun game, you might enjoy it.

Sure, you can argue that the occult nature of the rules mean that it doesn't belong on this website... if that is the case, then please just go ahead and delete the article rather than describing it as a hoax... because it isn't.

Cheers, Austin


💡Austin Lockwood wrote on Wed, Oct 19, 2005 09:42 PM UTC:

This article was submitted in a complete form and accepted for publication as such by a ChessVariants editor nearly a year ago, it's been available for peer review ever since. No respectable publisher would demand changes so long after publication, and I'm sure that ChessVariants is no exception to this. OK, if the editors now feel that the article is offensive in any way then simply remove it and we'll discuss it no more; but please don't ask Greg to change it at this point.

The rules of SRC are occult within certain limitations; moves which are legal in SRC are always legal in Standard Chess, but not necessarily the reverse... so if I enter the move 1.e4 in my game, the server might (or might not) deem that move to be illegal under SRC rules, and change it to 1.a3. The reason for this is unimportant, it could be because dark squares are modal on the third Tuesday of the month, or it could just be because there's a random number generator hidden somewhere within the software - you don't know and it doesn't matter, the fact is that it's impossible to say why without some degree of confabulation - and the more outrageous that confabulation, the more enjoyable the game.

Yeah, OK, some of the things that have been written about SRC may have been slightly exaggerated... but c'mon guys, relax - it's only a bit of fun!


Chess480. Fischer Random Chess with orthodox castling rules. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Austin Lockwood wrote on Wed, Oct 19, 2005 08:28 AM UTC:
Reinhard, we have used your numbering scheme to identify Chess480 starting
arrays (since these are identical to Chess960 positions) - I hope this is
OK with you?

Austin

Stanley Random Chess A game information page
. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡Austin Lockwood wrote on Wed, Oct 19, 2005 08:24 AM UTC:

First of all my apologies if my promoting this chess variant has caused any offence to members of this site, I can assure you that this hasn't ever been my intention. I do realise that SRC is not a conventional chess variant, however I would hope that people who were sufficiently enlightened to change the rules of orthodox chess would be prepared to at least consider the possibilities.

Whether or not this page remains on this site is clearly an editorial decision, however Stanley Random Chess is a chess variant. I fail to see why some people find it distasteful, but then many orthodox chess players find CrazyHouse and Fischer Random Chess distasteful in the same way...

I can assure everyone here that Stanley Random Chess is a real game, which is currently being played and enjoyed by dozens of people. The rules are occult - nobody knows them; whether you choose to believe that this is because they are contained in hundred year old bound leather volumes which are only available to members of a secret society, or because they are encoded in a computer algorithm on the SchemingMind server is up to you - the important thing is that it doesn't matter, you don't need to know the rules to play the game... that's the whole point.

Regarding the previous posts here - part of the fun of SRC is discussing the mythology around the game, and a common style for this prose seems to have evolved. I do recognise the names of some of the posters here from SchemingMind, and if I am correct in identifying these people then these posts have been made by discrete individuals. I would urge you to check IP addresses if possible before taking any further action.


Extinction chess. Win by making your opponents pieces of one type extinct. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Austin Lockwood wrote on Thu, Apr 7, 2005 03:33 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I have just added Extinction Chess as a playable game on the correspondence chess/chess variants server <a href='http://www.schemingmind.com'>SchemingMind.com</a>. I haven't played a full game yet, but am looking forward to doing so!<br><br>I couldn't find an email address for Mr. Schmittberger anywhere, and would like to check with him that he doesn't mind me having Extinction Chess on SchemingMind.com - if anyone here knows how he can be contacted I would be grateful for this information.<br><br>Cheers,<br>Austin

Alice Chess. Classic Variant where pieces switch between two boards whenever they move. (2x(8x8), Cells: 128) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Austin Lockwood wrote on Wed, Jul 14, 2004 10:38 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Turn based Alice Chess can now be played on <a href='http://www.schemingmind.com/'>SchemingMind.com Online Correspondence Chess Club</a>. Both the standard version described here (Alice1) and the variation where the black pieces start on board B (Alice2) are available.

Shatranj. The widely played Arabian predecessor of modern chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Austin Lockwood wrote on Sat, Jun 19, 2004 11:26 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
We have just introduced Shantranj as a playable variant on SchemingMind.com - this is a fascinating game!

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