Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

Bob, since you asked, here are a few more games, most mine, but starting with David Jagger's excellent PiRaTeKnIcS:

https://www.chessvariants.com/44.dir/pirateknics.html

https://www.chessvariants.com/rules/taxi-the-nuclear-cab-chess-game

https://www.chessvariants.com/rules/gochess

https://www.chessvariants.com/rules/chesimals-autonomous-multi-unit-pieces

After having a bit of fun with both Beast Chess and Scheherezade (despite having my butt soundly whipped every time), I'm thinking of trying to cobble together online playing for not only the main version of this, but also the first two Expansions. (I'm not sure I'd want to try it with any of the Cuisinart versions.)

That looks to me like what H.G.'s been describing.

I do think that an article somewhere on variants where the pieces merge and change would be cool.

This one seems at a cursory glance to more‐or‐less match what you guys are describing? (The comments section demonstrates that you've both seen it at any rate)

It does seem like an interesting game. It sounds like if someone had introduced it to me face-to-face without mentioning any connection with Chess, I might not have recognized it as such -- though here I can see it as a legitimate Variant.

Hopefully you, Ben, or someone else can track it down and post it somewhere.

What I recall is that there were 6 combinations of the rings L, M and S, (with LS invalid), and that these were mapped onto the 6 types of chess pieces. IIRC this decided how the outermost ring of the combination could move, leaving behind the others. You could move that outer ring only to a square with a friendly piece if the latter did not already comtain it, and you would not produce LS. You could always move it to a square occupied with an enemy, but if thar did already contain the ring, or produce LS, the enemy rings would disappear (i.e. get captured). Otherwise the would be 'recruited', i.e. become your own and merge with the capturing ring.

I have forgotten what the winning condition was, and how exactly combinations of rings were mapped onto moves. I think the game started witth only the first and last rank filled, with LMS, (and that this moved as pawn?).

Well, we do have the #Rules:Fusion and #Rules:Fission tags, so it's not too hard to find others with those rules. That's how I found Scheherezade just now, and once this game is live I (or someone) can add them here.

I think I remember the same game as H.G., and I would guess I saw it on the subreddit. Unfortunately that appears to be one that went private in the protest.

I once saw a chess variant where the pieces were rings of 3 different diameters, which could combine, and the 6 valid combinations would determine how the outer ring of  the combination could move. Combining with an enemy piece would convert it to your own side.

I have forgotten the name, and I don't think it is described here. But it was the most original chess variant I ever saw.

Thanks for the tip, Joe! I'll stick in a link to your variant as well.

These three plus Paco Shako could almost form the core of a whole new category of variants where pieces can merge.

Hi, Bob. I've got 1 more entry into this concept of chess pieces as parts, https://www.chessvariants.com/rules/fluid-chess. I'd leave your Blender version in place. It's actually fairly common for chess variants to more-or-less duplicate other and earlier versions. If someone offers a variant with a significant difference, I see no reason to reject it.

Or, I could just ditch this and replace it with something else that's been rattling around in my brain for half a century.

I was not aware of it; and this is basically a different application of the same concept.

At first glance, I thought they were basically the same game, but there are significant differences. For example, Fergus doesn't use the Amazon (or the Nightrider pieces), and allows the King to merge.

I'll put a link to Fusion Chess, including a note of the similarity and differences, in the Notes section.

Are you aware of Fusion Chess? ( https://www.chessvariants.com/other.dir/fusion.html )

I think, for now, and pending an editorial decision, I'll use Virtuoso.

Everyone may choose the names he/she likes. As far as I'm concerned, I won't support Elephant, even if I know the precedent, because I use it for FA. And I'm not the only one.

I have nothing against Virtuoso. As I like mythology, I would also think to Erinys or Furie as a dreadful female character. But, you will not get a lot of approbation, everyone has his own ideas.

Yeah, QotN doesn't quite work for me. Like Amazonrider, it's a little too close to the name of an existing piece for my own comfort.

If all else fails, I probably will go with Elephant; that also has another application, though at least there's precedent for calling the QNN that.

Or... how about Virtuoso?

(It doesn't help that Piececlopedia doesn't have an article on the QNN, at least that I can find.)

Sorcerer has been used by Charles Daniel (Sorcerer Chess, 2008) and by John Davis (Grand Tamerlane Chess, 2015) as WZ.

The piece moving as QNN has been called "Queen of the Night" by G.P.Jelliss. Raven for RNN and Banshee for BNN.

This is close to ready, but I could use some feedback on a couple of points:

1. Is the description clear on how pieces Merge and Separate?

2. Is there a better name for the Sorcerer?