Single Comment

It looks like just-Commented Dragon Chess(tm) with USPatent 6799763(October 2004) 'blatantly copied' (interpreting Commenter Kasparov-F's words) this Zonal Chess. Zonal Chess adds 24 squares to 64[or rather 80] and Dragon adds 24 squares to 100. They both add the 12 squares to both left and right sides of rectangular boards, and both call the extra areas 'flanks'. So the designers of Dragon must have studied this earlier Reshevsky-endorsed commercial Zonal Chess and thought no one would notice. It is still no doubt patentable, but weaker patent because of unoriginality. Any technically novel features and specifics can warrant patent, and about half of patent applications issue in most countries. In field of CVs, since there are millions of possibilities, as typically in other arts, it is not hard to come up with minimally-reasonable novelty and unobviousness, if just wanting to get patent, not overly-concerned about usefulness. 'Kasparov-F' says ''They wanted to commercialize.'' So what? That is what patents are for, whether pharmaceuticals or fireproofing or forensics, any patent being prelude to commercialization. We put this Comment of similarity between Zonal and Dragon(tm) here because Zonal is halfway decent game worth some attention, whilst Dragon(tm) yet another practically worthless game though cleverly worked up to patented Claims(mostly for the board).