Check out Janggi (Korean Chess), our featured variant for December, 2024.


[ Help | Earliest Comments | Latest Comments ]
[ List All Subjects of Discussion | Create New Subject of Discussion ]
[ List Earliest Comments Only For Pages | Games | Rated Pages | Rated Games | Subjects of Discussion ]

Single Comment

Universal Chess. Missing description (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jeremy Good wrote on Tue, Oct 13, 2009 05:28 PM UTC:

Suppose we allow the Wuss to be captured (provided of course that there are other kings on the board)? That thrill is still there until it is captured - one can still wreak havoc chasing the Wuss; it just doesn't allow for such a decisive climax, so it's not as thrilling. But one could still chase the Wuss without fear of being captured or blocked.

How would this work though? Well, the Wuss would of course still be required to move until it couldn't move away from a piece checking it any more without being captured. Then the rules for capturing the wuss have to be laid out since ordinarily, the Wuss can't be captured!

We could just go with Nicholas's generalized idea for checkmating extra kings: Simply remove them from the game. How exactly is this done though? Does the checkmater eliminate the Wuss on impact and then let the defender move? This is not so simple with the Wuss. Unless the pursuer is allowed an extra move after eliminating the Wuss, it could spell big trouble for the pursuer since pieces pursuing Wusses are oblivious to attack.

How to resolve this if we think we need to provide some protection for the Wuss's bully/bullies?

Defender could be forced to pass his turn after Wuss is eliminated; or the elimination itself of the Wuss - possibly any king - could count as a move!

We might also resolve this by saying that no piece covering a square the Wuss could move to can be attacked until one move after the Wuss has been eliminated.

If we just ignore the issue, the Wuss-like character of the piece is again somewhat compromised. Which might not be a bad thing; wuss fights back, so to speak!