Comments by flowermann

I like Mario games. I have 2 ideas about this variant:
1. There are walls adjecent to files a and h and gaps adjecent to ranks 1 and 8  (or vice versa) When stunned pieces, wich moves diagonally or orthogonally touches 'walls', they turns 9 degrees and moves further, until moved to 'gaps'. It's hard to describe, how it works with hippogonal moving stunned pieces... Imagine direction of Shogi knight. There are 4 of such directions. When hippogonally-moving stunned piece touches wall, it changes to respective opossite direction. If it moves out of board, think that it move to unexisting square. Here are some examples:
----3---
--------
---2-4--
--------
--1---5-
--------
-p-----6
--------


--------
---2-3--
--------
--1---4-
--------
-p-----5
--------
--------

--1---3-
p---2---
--------
--------
--------
--------
--------
--------

Walls are adjecent to first and last ranks, p - stunned piece, numbers shows it's path.

2. Pieces are not 'stunned', they becomes unshelled (as in 'Yoshi island').
When pieces moves to opponent-occupied squares, they works as in original game, but they leaves behind empty shells, unshelled opponent's piece moves one square in direction, opossite to direction of just moved piece (if piece moved only 1 square or hippogonally, unshelled piece occupies square, wich just was occuppied by moved piece). If piece 'jumps' n several pieces, 2nd, 3rd, etc. 'attacked' pieces are not unshelled, they are stunned, as in original Koopa chess. Unshelled piece can be captured as in normal chess. If unshelled piece moves to square, occuppied by empty shell, it can either kick it or 'wear' it.
Just unshelled piece cannot immeditally wear shell back.

I hope, i described it clearly enough...

Simon Jepps, you might mean this:
http://www.chessvariants.org/index/msdisplay.php?itemid=MSeurasia-chessc

Here is my smess adaptation of Shogi (it's not complete, i did not chosen directions of arrows yet, and even if someone will help me to complete it, it don't seems ideal).

King, of course, replaced with brain. Flying chariot and angle mover both replaced with numskulls. All 4 generals (gold and silver) replaced with ninnies. Pawns are replaced with pieces, wich can move only 1 step forward and sideways. Lances replaced with pieces, wich can move any number of steps forward and sideways. Knights are pieces, wich moves as yahoos, but only forward and may leap. Numskulls dont's promotes, other pieces promotes to ninnies (according to Shogi rules). No prohibition of dropping pawn on file, wich already have one pawn, other rules like in Shogi.

Another idea (also don't seem ideal) is that arrows changes defination of 'forward'.

Are you asking me?
I'm really interested in shogi and other chess variants, but playing
taikyoku shogi in practice seems too exotical for me... All the more, i am
not well chess player, so playing with me will only waste your your time,
you need more experienced opponent (unless you are not well chess player
to).

I own alike set (interesting, was it made with permission of modest solans?), but worse: players control pieces of identical colours, but one of players controls transparent pieces, other controls opaque pieces, and it's very hard to discriminate piece's side (when i got this set, i did not knew about chess variants, and i was thinking 'that a fool made this set?!'... But in set, there was no any booklet with rules of any heraldic chess game, so, maybe, author of set did not knew about variants to, and was made for sake of beauty, but it's unlikely... They should include rules in set).

I have some ideas about heraldic chess.
First,  Charles Gilman's idea about pawn promotion: can be used for normal chess, but several different variants for promotion of king's pawn are possible:
it can promote to non-royal king;
it can promote to royal king, and opponent will have to capture both kings;
it can promote to royal king, and opponent will have to capture either king (here promotion of king's pawn is mostly bad idea, opponent can win by forking);
it can promote to amazone (as in russian chess - http://www.chessvariants.org/difftaking.dir/russianchess.html )
it can promote to queen.
Second, include in deck cards 'move any piece of that type' and 'move any piece of that color'.
Third, playing communist chess with this set: http://www.chessvariants.org/index/msdisplay.php?itemid=MScommunistchess
-pieces of similar colors must removed or promoted.
Fourth, heraldic Shogi. I have 2 ideas about it:
first, pieces on same files similar colored: there are mostly 2 pieces of each color, expect for pieces on 2nd and 8th files: there is 3 pieces of each color: honourable horse, pawn and flying chariot or angle walker.
Second, each piece of first rank have same color as it's pawn, flying chariot have same color as angle walker.
Heraldic Xiang-qi needs some thinking... I have 2 ideas, but they don't look very good... First, each piece of 1st rank have same color as pawn or cannon in front of it, advisors are not different. Second: advisor-elephant, knight-elephant's pawn, cannon-another cannon... Another idea is to use additional pieces from one of 3-players Xiang-qi variants.

Here is interesting variant: additional piece moves as all piece opponent have!
But, i think, that hero and piece i just described, are more interesting to use in game with large number of pieces with different moves.

Hey, there is very interesting point:
Cylindrical Xiang-qi. There is cannon on one of ranks. And there one of opponent's pieces on same rank. There are no other piece on that rank. Can cannon capture this piece? Hehe...

Wich 'forward' antihero uses should be chosen before playing, both variants are well. But game, where antihero don't change opponent's forward is interesting, if it's fouur-player game! How about adding antihero to Yonin shogi? http://www.chessvariants.org/index/msdisplay.php?itemid=MSyoninshogi

There are 2 ways to make 3d variant of this game:
1st - pieces moves on sides of cubes.
2nd - pieces moves on edges of cubes.
Both variants, probably, are equal to some bindings of cube centers games, as in previous comment was noted that original Border wars is same as chess on 1 bishop binding, but it don't make them worse!

I liked ideas of this game, but how about variant on squares (with same pieces)? I think, it can be made!
By the way, same symmetry was used in XQ.

I like this idea. I also invented game, where pieces moves as in all 3 games (sounds simple, but some rules are pretty complicated) and send it by e-mail, but it has not been published...
Wich further variants are possible?
Pieces can move only if move is legal in all 3 games: completely unplayable game!
Pawns moves 1 orthogonally forward, cannot capture, on last rank promotes to piece, wich moves and captures 1 sideways. King moves like in XQ, including palace and bare facing. Queen 1 diagonally forward, cannot leave palace (what a weak piece!). Bishop cannot move at all. Knight moves only in 2 forwardmost directions and like mao, cannot jump, don't promote. Rook moves only forward and again, don't promote. Right special piece moves as rook, but cannot capture. Left special piece don't move at all.
Not interesting! Variant, where pieces makes move, wich no of 3 games shares with 2 others is much more playable:
Pawns on first move can make non-capturing duoble step, can capture diagonally forward, on opponent's half of board can move and capture 1 sideways, on one of 3 last ranks (but not on latest!) promotes to queen, on last rank promotes to other pieces (wich are further promoteable) or stays unpromoted.
King cannot move expect for castling.
Queen can move as queen, but not as gold general, when in palace, can only move 1 diagonally backward to leave it.
Bishop can move diagonally, but at least 3 steps (can also move 2 steps diagonally to cross river), plus one orthogonally forward, on 3 last ranks promotes to queen.
Knight cannot move in it's 2 forwardmost directions, can go in other directions only if leaps over orthogonally-adjecent piece, promotes on 3 last ranks to queen.
Rook cannot move expect for castling.
Right special piece can capture as cannon, cannot move without capturing; after promotion can also move and capture 1 diagonally.
Left special piece can move as cannon and bishop, after promotion cannot move 1 orthogonally, but can capture.
Before i had idea, where half of pieces can move as in FIDE, but on as in XQ, other half can move as in FIDE, but not as in Shogi. Two kings. Four special pieces: 2 grasshoppers (considered as related to cannons), chanselor and archbishop (considered as related to flying chariot and angle mover). Probably, more playable.
Other ideas?

What if drops would be added to Tenjiku shogi? Altrough it's also very large variant, it can be fast... And, probably, in game drops first captured devil will win game...
http://history.chess.free.fr/tenjikushogi.htm

Knight is used in Ko shogi, here it's name is kōkyūki, Longbow cavalryman. But in Ko shogi, pieces, wich was in other shogi variants, have different names.
Knight also was used in modern variant, suggested by western chess player - Okisaki shogi. Here it's chōma (don't know translate), but queen here is okisaki, princess.