Kevin Pacey wrote on Wed, Oct 28, 2020 12:05 AM UTC:
I've read here and there about the Amazon piece type having a bad rap because it's so powerful, which immediately gave me a soft spot for the lady - why does she not really deserve to exist? As David P. noted, Amazons were used in place of queens on 8x8 (chess otherwise), some centuries ago in parts of Russia (called Amazon Chess on this website).
Like Fergus noted elsewhere, powerful pieces are best used on large sized boards, and I think Amazons are best employed this way, too. A more recently invented game where they are used is in my own 10x10 Sac Chess, where each side in fact has two Amazons in the setup, besides many other powerful pieces, which goes against power density theory that I was unaware of when inventing it - luckily the game seems quite playable, and is currently in the top 30 of Game Courier (maybe thus deserving a mention in this Piececlopedia article, if it's eventually updated).
I've read here and there about the Amazon piece type having a bad rap because it's so powerful, which immediately gave me a soft spot for the lady - why does she not really deserve to exist? As David P. noted, Amazons were used in place of queens on 8x8 (chess otherwise), some centuries ago in parts of Russia (called Amazon Chess on this website).
Like Fergus noted elsewhere, powerful pieces are best used on large sized boards, and I think Amazons are best employed this way, too. A more recently invented game where they are used is in my own 10x10 Sac Chess, where each side in fact has two Amazons in the setup, besides many other powerful pieces, which goes against power density theory that I was unaware of when inventing it - luckily the game seems quite playable, and is currently in the top 30 of Game Courier (maybe thus deserving a mention in this Piececlopedia article, if it's eventually updated).