H. G. Muller wrote on Fri, Nov 10, 2017 08:26 PM UTC:
I am currently running a test with Fairy-Max where I started the Frogs on d1 and g1. (Because I adapted the game definition for Falcon Chess by changing the move of the Falcon, and the Falcons happened to start there.) This does not seem to pose any problems. The d- or g-Pawn you have to push to hold off the Frog are useful moves. They don't wreck your King-side castle, and liberate your Bishop (now on c8 and h8). Also, you can fianchetto the Bishops in the normal way. I don't think it would be very good to develop the Frogs that way; it helps black more than white. At least, Fairy-Max did not do it very often, and mostly preferred to develop the Frogs to 2nd rank.
My test consists of playing 200 games, from positions where I replaced one Frog of one side by a third Knight, and a one Knight of the other side by a third Frog, so that an imbalance of 2N vs 2F ensues. This can be done in 4 ways. I play 25 games from each of those 4 positions (and then again 25 with the reversed-color positions. The tentative results suggest that the Frog at least is not weaker than the Knight.
I am currently running a test with Fairy-Max where I started the Frogs on d1 and g1. (Because I adapted the game definition for Falcon Chess by changing the move of the Falcon, and the Falcons happened to start there.) This does not seem to pose any problems. The d- or g-Pawn you have to push to hold off the Frog are useful moves. They don't wreck your King-side castle, and liberate your Bishop (now on c8 and h8). Also, you can fianchetto the Bishops in the normal way. I don't think it would be very good to develop the Frogs that way; it helps black more than white. At least, Fairy-Max did not do it very often, and mostly preferred to develop the Frogs to 2nd rank.
My test consists of playing 200 games, from positions where I replaced one Frog of one side by a third Knight, and a one Knight of the other side by a third Frog, so that an imbalance of 2N vs 2F ensues. This can be done in 4 ways. I play 25 games from each of those 4 positions (and then again 25 with the reversed-color positions. The tentative results suggest that the Frog at least is not weaker than the Knight.