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Bland Chess. Chess with no diagonal moves. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Gary Gifford wrote on Sat, Oct 6, 2007 01:58 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

I just played a game of Bland Chess against myself and must give it an initial rating of 'good' as the game stands now. Due to the diagonal restrictions I do highly recommend the following: (a) replace Bishops with Blocks that can't move (b) replace Queen with Rook (or maybe a Knight?) (c) Replace King with Wazir. (d) replace pawn images to represent the non-diagonal capable pawns. The reason for all this in a pre-set is to make the game more user friendly. For example... when I just played it I would occasionally want to make a diagonal move. Correct images would discourage that illegal nature.

What I found: (1) The Knights, as one would expect, become wonderful pieces... This game can really emphasize the value of the Knight... good Knight play is crucial in this game. (2) The central traffic jam I expected did not take place. Knights and Rooks could tear into the pawns because it is hard to defend 8 pawns that can't capture or protect. (3) When one just thinks about the game, it does seem like it would be bland... but when you actually play it it seems to be rather interesting and a bit fun. So it seems we have here, another example of 'Green Eggs and Ham.' We need to try it before complaining about it. We just might like it.

(zz038) A. Black - If you want I will make a pre-set for this... but if so, I would like to substitute piece images with ones that correspond to correct ortho movement... otherwise the brain keeps slipping back into chess mode. I believe once people play your game they will see it in a whole different light. Some may even rate it 'Excellent.' Best regards, g