H. G. Muller wrote on Wed, Apr 26, 2023 08:55 PM UTC:
I wonder if there would still be market for an even larger chess variant. After all, Dai Dai and Maka Dai Dai Shogi have 2x96 pieces, which still surpasses the 2x80 of Megalomachy. (But 18th-century Buddhist Monks might have been much more patient than modern westerners...) On an 18x18 board, maintaining the 6-rank distance between the armies, there would be room for 6 x 18 = 108 pieces in each camp. But with so many ranks in the camp there is ample room for 12 empty squares in it without making it too easy to avert the danger of a suffocated mate. E.g. put the empty squares only on the 3rd and 4th rank, in the wings. That would bring the piece density to 60%, which I think is acceptable. The 5th rank, directly behind the Pawns, would remain fully filled, so the slow minors could be placed there to give them optimally fast access to the battle.
Compared to Megalomachy I could put two copies of all super-pieces other than Amazon (which then symmetrically pairs with the King). That would give an extra Lion, Queen, Griffon, Rhino, Marshall and Archbishop, while there would of course also be 2 extra Pawns. So that already makes 8 extra pieces. I think with so many pieces it would require an extra pair of ultra-powerful pieces (Terrorinos or Terrorissimos) protected by anti-trading rules to keep the game fluid . With so many super-pieces there would have to be a wider shield against flying attacks to shelter behind. (Just placing the shield more forward would make it too easy to slip behind it from the wings.) This would need an extra pair of pieces that block flying captures. The WD (which was not in Megalomachy but replaced by the Omega Champion WAD there) could be given this role. That leaves room for two more piece pairs. A good choice would be the Omega Wizard (as we already have the Champion) as a rook-class piece, and perhaps two extra Warriors.
The Terrorino could be a Queen that could also capture as a limited-range Locust: on the 1st or 2nd square in each direction, by landing directly behind it (i.e. a tuned-down version of the Teaching King from Maka Dai Dai Shogi). Or, if that makes it too strong, just on the 2nd square, and then also a non-destructive jump to that.
I wonder if there would still be market for an even larger chess variant. After all, Dai Dai and Maka Dai Dai Shogi have 2x96 pieces, which still surpasses the 2x80 of Megalomachy. (But 18th-century Buddhist Monks might have been much more patient than modern westerners...) On an 18x18 board, maintaining the 6-rank distance between the armies, there would be room for 6 x 18 = 108 pieces in each camp. But with so many ranks in the camp there is ample room for 12 empty squares in it without making it too easy to avert the danger of a suffocated mate. E.g. put the empty squares only on the 3rd and 4th rank, in the wings. That would bring the piece density to 60%, which I think is acceptable. The 5th rank, directly behind the Pawns, would remain fully filled, so the slow minors could be placed there to give them optimally fast access to the battle.
Compared to Megalomachy I could put two copies of all super-pieces other than Amazon (which then symmetrically pairs with the King). That would give an extra Lion, Queen, Griffon, Rhino, Marshall and Archbishop, while there would of course also be 2 extra Pawns. So that already makes 8 extra pieces. I think with so many pieces it would require an extra pair of ultra-powerful pieces (Terrorinos or Terrorissimos) protected by anti-trading rules to keep the game fluid . With so many super-pieces there would have to be a wider shield against flying attacks to shelter behind. (Just placing the shield more forward would make it too easy to slip behind it from the wings.) This would need an extra pair of pieces that block flying captures. The WD (which was not in Megalomachy but replaced by the Omega Champion WAD there) could be given this role. That leaves room for two more piece pairs. A good choice would be the Omega Wizard (as we already have the Champion) as a rook-class piece, and perhaps two extra Warriors.
The Terrorino could be a Queen that could also capture as a limited-range Locust: on the 1st or 2nd square in each direction, by landing directly behind it (i.e. a tuned-down version of the Teaching King from Maka Dai Dai Shogi). Or, if that makes it too strong, just on the 2nd square, and then also a non-destructive jump to that.