🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Mon, Nov 30, 2009 02:24 AM UTC:
Rich,
I think I understand what you are saying. The main issue of disagreement
between us is that we have different values. I place no special value on
popularizing some Chess variant. My interest is in Chess variants as a
pastime and hobby, not as a competitive sport. I need nothing more than a regular stream of opponents who are interested in playing the same games as I am. I don't need throngs of people playing a variant competitively in order to enjoy it. In fact, one of the things that turns me off about the Chess world is that it is overcrowded and overly competitive.
Furthermore, I conceive of Chess as a Platonic form, not as a particular game, and my interest is in exploring that form in its myriad manifestations, not so much in mastering any particular manifestation of it. If some Chess variant did become hugely popular, I would still be more interested in Chess variants in general than I would be in any one variant. Even if it was one of my own games that became hugely popular, I would still create Chess variants, and I would still play different Chess variants. Nothing much would change for me if your goals were reached. My hope is that any promotion of individual Chess variants will help more people grasp the form behind Chess and its variants, engendering a greater interest in Chess variants in general. But any promotion of a variant is only a means to this end and not an end-in-itself. For myself, I will continue to promote Chess variants in general, not any one in particular, because it is in Chess variants in general that my interest lies, and I am not going to sell out that interest for the sake of bringing in more bodies.
Rich,
I think I understand what you are saying. The main issue of disagreement between us is that we have different values. I place no special value on popularizing some Chess variant. My interest is in Chess variants as a pastime and hobby, not as a competitive sport. I need nothing more than a regular stream of opponents who are interested in playing the same games as I am. I don't need throngs of people playing a variant competitively in order to enjoy it. In fact, one of the things that turns me off about the Chess world is that it is overcrowded and overly competitive.
Furthermore, I conceive of Chess as a Platonic form, not as a particular game, and my interest is in exploring that form in its myriad manifestations, not so much in mastering any particular manifestation of it. If some Chess variant did become hugely popular, I would still be more interested in Chess variants in general than I would be in any one variant. Even if it was one of my own games that became hugely popular, I would still create Chess variants, and I would still play different Chess variants. Nothing much would change for me if your goals were reached. My hope is that any promotion of individual Chess variants will help more people grasp the form behind Chess and its variants, engendering a greater interest in Chess variants in general. But any promotion of a variant is only a means to this end and not an end-in-itself. For myself, I will continue to promote Chess variants in general, not any one in particular, because it is in Chess variants in general that my interest lies, and I am not going to sell out that interest for the sake of bringing in more bodies.