Kevin Pacey wrote on Fri, Nov 10, 2017 04:45 PM UTC:
There is one somewhat disconcerting possibility available to White right at move one due to the setup of my Frog Chess variant idea, though Black may have a number of ways to adequately cope with it (in a way the effect of a frog on move one reminds me of a camel's annoyance value in many variants that may not be of the best quality).
After 1.Fh1-h4 (1.Fc1-c4 by comparison may be relatively harmess, if only since 1...Pc7-c6 doesn't look very inconvenient for Black, and if 2.Fh1-h4 then 2...Pf7-f6 is possible) White's frog is kind of threatening to go to either g5 (obtaining the arguably slightly more valuable B and threatening to deprive the Black K of all castling rights) or to i5 (forcing a trade of the N on i8, which may or may not be a slightly more valuable piece, and causing some slight disruption whether or not Black develops the N, albeit at the cost of some time, which may compensate Black). Black can prevent both 'threats' by playing 1...Ph7-h6, but this seems ugly and might favour White to some extent after 2.Pf2-f4, though this is not entirely clear after 2...Pf7-f5. Note that if instead 2.Fh4-e4 then 2...Pe7-e6 may be needed, but it's fine.
Alternatively, Black can 'counterattack' with 1...Fh8-h5, which might even lead to a massive liquidation after 2.Fh4-g5 (2.Fh4-i5 Fh5-i4?? [2...Ni8-h6 seems okay, but if 2...Fh5-g4 3.Pf2-f3] 3.Fi5-f5# is the Frog Chess version of Fool's or Scholar's mate) 2...Fh5-g4 3.Fg5xBg8 Fg4xBg1 4.Fg8xPf7 (or first 4.Fg8xRj8, and 4.Fg8xPh7 might also be tried) etc., which somehow seems a silly possibility to exist from the setup (though White did 'ask for it'...). Also, Black can move his e-pawn at move one, when White can play 2.Fh4-i5 as planned, incidently threatening the disruptive 3.Fi5-f5+ if Black had chosen to move his e-pawn two squares forward. Yet another possibility is for Black to move his f-pawn at move one.
There is one somewhat disconcerting possibility available to White right at move one due to the setup of my Frog Chess variant idea, though Black may have a number of ways to adequately cope with it (in a way the effect of a frog on move one reminds me of a camel's annoyance value in many variants that may not be of the best quality).
After 1.Fh1-h4 (1.Fc1-c4 by comparison may be relatively harmess, if only since 1...Pc7-c6 doesn't look very inconvenient for Black, and if 2.Fh1-h4 then 2...Pf7-f6 is possible) White's frog is kind of threatening to go to either g5 (obtaining the arguably slightly more valuable B and threatening to deprive the Black K of all castling rights) or to i5 (forcing a trade of the N on i8, which may or may not be a slightly more valuable piece, and causing some slight disruption whether or not Black develops the N, albeit at the cost of some time, which may compensate Black). Black can prevent both 'threats' by playing 1...Ph7-h6, but this seems ugly and might favour White to some extent after 2.Pf2-f4, though this is not entirely clear after 2...Pf7-f5. Note that if instead 2.Fh4-e4 then 2...Pe7-e6 may be needed, but it's fine.
Alternatively, Black can 'counterattack' with 1...Fh8-h5, which might even lead to a massive liquidation after 2.Fh4-g5 (2.Fh4-i5 Fh5-i4?? [2...Ni8-h6 seems okay, but if 2...Fh5-g4 3.Pf2-f3] 3.Fi5-f5# is the Frog Chess version of Fool's or Scholar's mate) 2...Fh5-g4 3.Fg5xBg8 Fg4xBg1 4.Fg8xPf7 (or first 4.Fg8xRj8, and 4.Fg8xPh7 might also be tried) etc., which somehow seems a silly possibility to exist from the setup (though White did 'ask for it'...). Also, Black can move his e-pawn at move one, when White can play 2.Fh4-i5 as planned, incidently threatening the disruptive 3.Fi5-f5+ if Black had chosen to move his e-pawn two squares forward. Yet another possibility is for Black to move his f-pawn at move one.