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Comments by ultimatecoolster

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John Smith wrote on Thu, Oct 16, 2008 06:04 AM UTC:
Dr. Muller, did you intend for a single piece to have multicolored
components? If so, what is the purpose of this?

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John Smith wrote on Fri, Oct 17, 2008 05:12 AM UTC:
What I think would be a good rating system would be to have every user
that wants to judge, including those that are competing, view every
contest entry, and rate the entry on a scale of 1 to 10, in multiple
categories, e.g. Creativity, Playability, Analytical Interest, and Overall
Enjoyability. Those that score the highest amount of points in one category
compared to others will be first, second highest second, etc. within that
category. If prizes cannot be equal or someone thinks they should not be
equal, I think the Overall category winner should receive the main prize.
If a limited judge system is chosen, however, I would be happy to be one
of the judges, as long as I don't come up with a ridiculous amount of
entries first, as I did with the upcoming contest! ;)

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
John Smith wrote on Sat, Oct 25, 2008 08:04 PM UTC:
I could do it today.

John Smith wrote on Sat, Oct 25, 2008 10:09 PM UTC:
It should be up by tomorrow.

John Smith wrote on Sun, Oct 26, 2008 12:52 AM UTC:
It's up. I'm open to any suggestions.

Super Asian Chess. An aggressive take on the Asian variants of Chess. (9x10, Cells: 90) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝John Smith wrote on Sun, Oct 26, 2008 02:31 AM UTC:
I thought it depended on the dialect.

Indistinguishable Chess. Player pieces indistinguishable from each other. Board squares are indistinguishable. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Smith wrote on Sun, Oct 26, 2008 07:31 PM UTC:Average ★★★
This could be played Apocalypse-style, also, where the squares don't have an outline either.

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
John Smith wrote on Wed, Oct 29, 2008 05:58 AM UTC:
This thread is for ideas for themed Chess variants.

With Halloween just around the corner, I've been thinking of creating a
Halloween-themed variant.

Here are the pieces I have so far:

Witch - Moves as Queen, but can jump any number of pieces and cannot
capture. Can also turn adjacent pieces into Frogs (0,3 or 3,3 leapers) .

Ghost - Moves to any empty square on the board and immobilizes adjacent
pieces.

Frankenstein's Monster / Zombie - Moves as Wazir, but can be revived
after the captor leaves its square.

John Smith wrote on Thu, Oct 30, 2008 12:14 AM UTC:
I'm thinking of a piece called a Headless Horseman, which would move as a
Gryphon or Aanca, but cannot capture when moving 2 steps or more:

m . m . m . m .
. m . m m . m m
. . m . m . m .
m m m m x x x m
. . . . x H x .
m m m m x x x m
. . m . m . m .
. m . m m . m m

I would estimate it to be worth about 7 Pawns. Does anyone have other
value suggestions, with reasons or playtesting?

John Smith wrote on Thu, Oct 30, 2008 02:36 AM UTC:
Perhaps I could do that, if it's only for one move. I'd have to playtest it.

John Smith wrote on Fri, Oct 31, 2008 01:24 AM UTC:
I guess you're right, Joe. I just based my assumptions of capturing move
values on a theoretical piece that moves as a Shogi Pawn, but can only
capture, being more valuable than a piece that moves as a Shogi Pawn, but
can only not capture. I'll try to have the correct value up.

John Smith wrote on Sat, Nov 1, 2008 10:45 PM UTC:
It should be worth 6, I estimate, to apply the 12 (value of the Gryphon +
Aanca)/ 9 (value of the Queen) ratio to the Keen, which is worth 4.5 .

I have also come up with a new piece, the Unicorn, which moves as an Advancing Mao-rider. Does anyone know the value of an Advancer? I estimate it to be about 10 or 11, being more than a Queen because it takes 8 pieces to be able to fully defend a piece from it. A Mao is worth about 2.5, I think, so we can apply the 2.5 (Mao) / 3 (Knight) ratio to the Nightrider, which is worth about 5 or 6, to make 10 (a bit less than an Advancer, as it only attacks 4 squares) / 9 * 2.5 /3 * 5.5 = about 5, same as a Rook.

ximeracak.. A leaper-heavy fantasy variant designed for play with a standard set. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Smith wrote on Sun, Nov 2, 2008 12:15 AM UTC:
It would be nice to have a piece that moves 3, 4, or 5 squares orthogonally to make a nice diamond shape with the major pieces' combined movement diagram.

Ziggurat. Mesopotamian-themed variant on a 43-square board. (13x5, Cells: 43) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Smith wrote on Sun, Nov 2, 2008 02:04 AM UTC:Average ★★★
It is strange that the Horse is more powerful than the Chariot, and that there is only one of them, which would imbalance the game if you thought is was worth less. What are your justifications?

Halloween Chess. Chess with 5 new, Halloween-themed pieces! (13x13, Cells: 169) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝John Smith wrote on Thu, Nov 6, 2008 02:08 AM UTC:
Zombie dropping does not count as a turn, and is automatic.

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
John Smith wrote on Thu, Nov 6, 2008 03:03 AM UTC:
I've been thinking about this variant for a while: Fool Chess (not to be
confused with Graeme Neatham's Fool's Chess) . It would incorporate all
kinds of Fool, Jester, or similarly named piece in Chess variants. For
example, it could have the Courier Chess Fool, which moves as a Wazir, the
FIDE Chess Fool, which moves as a Bishop, and even the Jester from Jester
Chess, which imitates the last moved enemy piece. Does anyone know of any
other Fools?

John Smith wrote on Fri, Nov 7, 2008 12:09 AM UTC:
Actually, I might try to 'combine' these pieces into a sort of average,
or use all of them in one piece, like my Super Asian Chess Elephant.
Imagine a new kind of Falcon, which moves N spaces backwards as a Hunter
Falcon Falcon, then N spaces forwards as a Hunter Falcon Falcon, then
repeats either of those, and can move in any order of the moves I've
said, thus resembling a Sissa, but with a Falcon name also somewhat
resembling a Falcon Chess Falcon. I hope that George Duke is OK with me
using a multi-path piece named a Falcon in a variant without credit,
although it is not the same piece.

John Smith wrote on Fri, Nov 7, 2008 12:25 AM UTC:
And another combination piece!: The Lion, which is a WFDAN +
Omnidirectional English Draughts King. It has the abilities of every piece
bar the Crocodile from Congo, and whose range is the same as the Chu Shogi
Lion!

John Smith wrote on Fri, Nov 7, 2008 01:48 AM UTC:
In my variant, I could have the aforementioned falcon, a piece called a
fool which moves as a Wazir or Renniassance Chess Duke, and an elephant
which moves as a Wazir, then Alfil, or Alfil, then Wazir, or as a Waffle,
which makes altogether a bent-path bonanza!

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
John Smith wrote on Fri, Nov 7, 2008 02:12 AM UTC:
Dutch Chess.

[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
John Smith wrote on Fri, Nov 7, 2008 11:38 PM UTC:
How about this Falcon? : Moves as Hunter Falcon Falcon , but after
capturing moves at a 135 degree angle off of the piece. It is what Mats
Winther would call bifurcating, and mimics the hunting style of a real
falcon.

John Smith wrote on Sat, Nov 8, 2008 09:39 AM UTC:
I don't know what to say, but that seems like a really weak piece,
according to Betza's magic number. The awkwardness explodes
exponentially, making it probably worth a maximum of 1/8 of a Pawn. Have you tested this piece? To quote David Paulowich, it strikes me as almost as bad an idea as the original Shatranj Elephant. Only worse. Much, much worse.

Elephant Hunt. Ituri Forest Pygmi traditional game with chess-like elements. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Smith wrote on Sat, Nov 8, 2008 10:16 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
I'm thinking of making a 3-player variant with a piece called a Roc, which is a giant mythical bird thought to eat elephants.

Tournoy. Pieces have orientation that can be rotated. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Smith wrote on Sat, Nov 8, 2008 11:46 AM UTC:
Pat does not exist? I assume you forgot to translate stalemate, correct?

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John Smith wrote on Sat, Nov 8, 2008 07:34 PM UTC:
Yeah, I guess my old Falcon is more creative. I've never seen any piece
other than a Sissa that is a multipath that can move an unlimited amount
of spaces. You seem to have misunderstood my piece, which can only capture
on the square it finishes its move on, but your version is great because
then it can swoop like a real Falcon. Well, that leaves at one more piece
for my next variant. I think it could be an Elephant (any ideas?) , and I
could rename the Falcon as the Hawk, so to fit in nicely with a Seirawan
chess set. ;) (And no, I'm not H. G. Muller.)

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