Single Comment

Charles Gilman wrote:

I have NEVER mentioned the Lion in my comments on this variant, so your accusation of anti-Scottish prejudice is unfounded abuse, and it happens to be untrue. Changing their relative powers would not help.

Then I apologize for that much. My memories must have gotten messed up.

have you had any positive British response to this variant?

Aside from harrassment from you, I'm not aware of any British response.

It may be a perfectly playable game, but its theme does not work well enough to warrant the name British Chess.

I'm glad you think well enough of the game. But the theme of the game is Britain. You're not going to find a more British theme than that. The name was never an afterthought to the game. The theme came first, and the game grew out of the theme.

In every historic real British variant that I can think of, Bishop means what it means in FIDE Chess.

So what? It is not a historic variant. It is not a regional variant. It is a thematic variant.

There must be dozens of possible names that would suit it better and have the advantage of being offensive.

I have only one other name for it that would suit it well, and that name is Elizabethan Chess. Your notion that being offensive would be an advantage for the name is completely puzzling.

American Revolutionary Chess - highlights origin in nation founded in move away from being British, but has disadvantage of no connection with French Revolutionary Chess.

I don't follow that last part. Why would a connection with the French Revolution, with which the game has no connection at all, be an advantage for the name?

Botched Chess - alphabetically close to original for ease of finding, reflects at least one British opinion of it, ties in with my coinage 'Botched Bishop' for a Bishop relying on an exclusively non-capturing move for unbinding.

That's just abuse on your part.

Brutish Chess - alphabetically close to original for ease of finding, only one letter different for recognition, and the three heraldic-based pieces could be considered 'brutish'.

How on earth could that be considered brutish? You are just making no good sense at all.

Hollywood Chess - after the world's most famous faux-Britain factory.

The game has nothing to do with Hollywood.

Supporter Chess - describes the heraldic role common to the three exotic pieces, and the only one in which the Lion is specifically English.

Is supporter a technical term in heraldry? I'm not familiar with the meaning of the word you seem to be using.

Unbritish Chess - accurately describes both the game's origin and its failure to 'pass' as British.

Not quite. By descent, I am part English, Scottish, and Irish. Where I live was once a British colony, and people here still speak the same language as people in Britain do. So I am not unbritish. Besides that, I am a big fan of Dr. Who, Monty Python, British comedy, British rock groups (including U.K.), British operatic singers, and British literature from Shakespeare to Emily Bronte. Culturally speaking, I am much more British than I am French, Dutch, or American Indian -- even though those are also part of my ancestry. Culturally speaking, I am even more British than I am Canadian, and Canada is just a short drive from where I live. So don't tell me I am not British.

There is more to being British than living in Britain or being a citizen of the U.K., and just because you live in Britain and were born there, it doesn't make you an authority on all things British. Your opinion of the game's name is the opinion of one very opinionated man who seems to have an obsession about naming things. You do not speak for anyone but yourself, and you do not speak with any degree of authority. I find your opinions on names, not only for this game, but also for piece names, most unwelcome. I normally just ignore your piece name articles, which I feel have no proper place on this website, but when you continue hounding me like Javert to Jean Valjean, I am going to speak my mind about you.