What was new in April - June 2001

• Week of June 24 - June 30, 2001:
  • Cavalry Chess. A once popular variant from the 1920's where every piece has additional jumping moves. Also with ZRF for playing this game with Zillions of Games. By Peter Aronson.
  • ZRF for Double Diamond. Irregular board with diagonal orientation. Game by Jim Aikin; ZRF by Peter Aronson.
  • Fifo Chess. Each square acts as a First-In-First-Out queue. By Ralph Betza.
  • Interview with David Li: The Beauty of Kriegspiel. David Li is author of several books, two on Kriegspiel.
  • Troll chess. When taken, pieces lose part of their strenght with they regenerate during successive turns. By Ralph Betza.
  • New piece for the Piececlopedia:
    • Barc. Jumps as knight but only `narrow backwords' or `wide forwards'.
  • Four Towers. Irregular board with special tower squares upon which pieces can combine with each other or detach from each other. By Jim Aikin.
  • Double Diamond. Irregular board with diagonal orientation. By Jim Aikin.
  • Five Up. An improved version of Raumschach. By Jim Aikin.
  • Stones & Relays. An extended version of Eight-Stone Chess. By Jim Aikin.
  • Leaping/Missing Bat Chess. Large variant on a 16x12 board with many fairy pieces. By John Savard.
  • Pawn promotion rule modified in Yáng Qí. Rule modification made to Western edition of Yáng Qí ZRF. New Oriental edition of Yáng Qí ZRF added.
  • Traditional Chinese Pieces for Chinese Chess and Variants added to graphics section.
  • National Standard Chinese Pieces for Chinese Chess and Variants added to graphics section.
• Week of June 17 - June 23, 2001:
  • Trap Chess. Pieces can only be taken when they are trapped. By Ralph Betza.
  • All the Way Chess. Pieces must move as far as they can when moved. By Doug Chatham.
  • ZRF for All the Way Chess. By Doug Chatham.
  • Tetra. Old commercial four player chess variant. Photo and request for information.
  • Cannons and Crabs. A variant on a 7x6 board with Crabs (improved Pawns), and Cannons (leapers). 42-Square contest entry. By David Short.
  • ZRF for Cannons and Crabs. Game of David Short, ZRF by Peter Aronson.
  • Mulligan Stew Chess. 42-Square Swapping-Mage Teleporting-Assassin Dual-Color-Bound-King Limited-Double-Move Leaping-Pawn Chess. By Peter Aronson.
  • ZRF for Mulligan Stew Chess. By Peter Aronson.
  • Announcement: The competition to design a chess variant on a board with 42 squares. Participate, and submit a game before March 31, 2002, and win a prize!
  • Chess'3. Variant on 10 by 10 board with pieces that can move like queen or knight but only defend. By Redzo Kolakovic. (Extended description.)
  • Elbow Room. Usual set of pieces and eight additional pawns per player on 8 by 16 board. By David Short.
  • ZRF for Elbow Room. By Peter Aronson.
  • Interview with Peter Leko. Chess grandmaster comments on upcoming match of Fischer Random Chess.
  • Interview with Michael Adams. A brief interview with chess grandmaster Adams on his upcoming match in Fischer Random Chess with Leko.
• Week of June 10 - June 16, 2001:
  • Field Chess. On an 8x12 board with 8 extra pieces per side (Archers). By Peter E. Leyva.
  • Horse Chess-Nut. Horse statue with two chess problems painted on it. Posted by David Howe.
  • Pillar Chess. Variant with elements from the Russian game of Pillar Checkers. Captured pieces are stacked beneath the capturing piece, stacks can be split. By Sergey Sirotkin.
  • Ki Shogi. Variant of Shogi played without a board, and pieces are cubes. By L. Lynn Smith.
  • Java Chess Playing Application (Link.)
  • ZRF for Mage. Uncapturable and uncapturing Rooks, and a Mage that swap places with any piece. Modest variant, ZRF by Peter Aronson.
  • Snake Chess. A variant played on a 2 by 12 cyclindrical board. By Sergey Sirotkin.
  • ZRF for Snake Chess. Game of Sergey Sirotking; ZRF by Peter Aronson.
  • Yáng Qí, Yankee ingenuity adds new power to Chinese Chess. By Fergus Duniho. ZRF for playing Yáng Qí with Zillions of Games.
• Week of June 3 - June 9, 2001:
  • Torus Chess. Large chess variant on torus shaped board. By Köksal Karakus.
  • The winners of the contest to design a chess variant on a board with 41 squares are known! Read the Report on 41-square Chess Variant Competition by David B. Pritchard. Congratulations to all winners, and all with a special mention!
  • Triune Chess. Three player variant played with a regular Chess Set with rotating play. By Sergey Sirotkin.
  • Toe-to-Toe Chess. A variant of Sittuyin (Burmese Chess) with alternating setup, and powerful, short-range pieces. By Peter Aronson.
  • ZRF for Toe-to-Toe Chess, to play this game with Zillions-of-Games. By Peter Aronson.
  • Lene Hau Chess. Pieces take several turns for doing one move, going only one square per turn. By Ralph Betza.
  • ZRF for Version of Chess with Different Armies for 1st Email Championship Chess with Different Armies. By Peter Aronson.
  • Clairvoyant Chess. Players predict what opponent will do to gain advantages. By Jim Aikin.
  • Variant Chess Issue 37 update. Extracts from Problem columns added.
• Week of May 27 - June 2, 2001
  • Not-Particularly-New Chess. A fairly restrainted variant on a 9x8 board, with Cardinals, Unicorns and Jesters. By Peter Aronson. Also with ZRF file for this game.
  • Match of Fischer Random Chess by Adams and Leko in Mainz, June 26 - June 28, 2001. (News item.)
  • The birth of Fischer Random Chess. By Eric van Reem.
  • Mind Sports Olympiad 5. News of this year's Mind Sports Olympiad event.
  • Falling Off. `Captured' pieces do not disappear, but get momentum, and can fall off the edge of the board. By Ralph Betza.
  • Announcement: Chess with Different Armies competition. Email competition, where chess with different armies is played. Sign up before June 15, 2001.
  • New webaddress for Stan Goldovski's Losing Chess pages. (Link.)
  • Improved ZRF for Chessence. By Alfred Pfeiffer.
  • Rental chess. You must pay rent for the squares where your pieces are: centre squares are more expensive. By Ralph Betza.
  • Website of the First Unofficial Losing Chess World Championship July 26-29 2001, Utrecht, The Netherlands. (Link.)
  • ChessMage (tm): A Living Fantasy Chessworld (Link.)
• Week of May 20 - May 26, 2001
  • Zillions of Games 1.3 Upgrade. Zillions Development announces an upgrade to their Zillions of Games product!
  • One or two. Make a normal move, or denote two pieces for which your opponent chooses how they must be moved. By Ralph Betza.
  • Closing Time. During certain turns, you must move pieces out of a central area of the board (`the pub'). By Ralph Betza.
  • 3-D Chess Discussion Group (Link.)
  • New, Used, Rare and Collectible Books and Games (Link.)
  • New addition to Modest Variants section. Pawns can merge with friendly Pawns to form DoublePawns, which can move twice in a turn. With ZRF for this variant.
  • Rank-behind-Rank. 30 pieces on a side with two Kings each on a 6 by 12 board. By Sergey Sirotkin.
  • ZRF for Rank-behind-Rank. Game of Sergey Sirotkin; ZRF by Peter Aronson.
  • Chess³. Chess-Cubed, a commercial, three level chess game.
  • Chess Cards. Cardgame with chess flavor, by E. Lovett. Based on game by G. Capellen from 1915.
  • ZRF for Fun-in-a-box Chess. Based on the Dr. Seuss Book: The Cat in the Hat. ZRF by Peter Aronson; game of David Howe.
• Week of May 13 - May 19, 2001
  • Variant Chess Issue 37. Excerpts from the Spring 2001 issue of Variant Chess, the journal of the British Chess Variant Society!
  • Chess 2000 (Review). Review of a large (12x13) commercial, chess-like game.
  • Review on Pritchard's book Popular Chess Variants on The Chess Cafe. (Link.)
  • Continuous Chess. There are no 'squares' on the board, and pieces are not restricted to moving discrete distances. By David Howe.
  • Chessence. Variant on a 9 x 6 board with 8 missing squares, immobile Kings, and 9 pieces whose movement depends on their spatial relation to other friendly pieces. Game of Jim Winslow.
  • ZRF for Chessence. By Peter Aronson.
  • Triss. Hexagonal chess variant for three players. By Hans Mikelson.
  • Crowd Chess 2: All Go Together. More pieces can occupy the same square and `share the same fate'. By Ralph Betza. (Corrected Link.)
  • A Chess Variant Survey. David Moeser asks who would be interested in a chess variant meeting in North America.
  • Twenty-First Century Chess. An updating of Chess for the video game generation, on a 10x8 board with Barons and Jesters. By Karl P. Munzlinger.
  • ZRF for Twenty-First Century Chess. Game of Karl P. Munzlinger, ZRF by Peter Aronson. An updating of Chess for the video game generation, on a 10x8 board with Barons and Jesters.
• Week of May 6 - May 12, 2001
  • Online PGN Viewer: pgnviewer.html (Link.)
  • Patrol chess. Updated description. Taking is only allowed with guarded pieces. Description by Hans Bodlaender.
  • Maniac: Chess and Chess Variants Program: maniac.html (Link.)
  • Triss. Hexagonal chess variant for three players. (Link.)
  • Many rules in one game. List chess and related chess variants. By Ralph Betza.
  • Destiny Chess. Each turn before you move, flip a coin to see if you switch pieces with your opponent. By Sergey Sirotkin.
  • Modest Chess Variant Proposals. New addition.
• Week of April 29 - May 5, 2001
  • Modest Proposals. Overhauled and updated. Tons of 'modest' chess variants playable with normal equipment!
  • Transactional Chess. Moves are grouped into transactions, which are not visible to your opponent until committed. By Peter Aronson.
  • Chosen Chess. Move a piece you chose last turn, then choose a piece to move next turn. By Gianni Cottogni.
  • Chosen Chess ZRF. Zillions of games implementation of Chosen Chess. Implemented by Peter Aronson.
  • Cost Progressive Chess Pieces cost varing amounts of movement points to move, and each turn you get more movement points to move them with. By Sergey Sirotkin.
  • Leandro's Chess. Updated rules and ZRF and sample game added.
  • Leandro's Chess ZRF. Zillions of games implementation of Leandro's Chess. Implemented by Tony Quintanilla.
  • Kamikaze Chess ZRF. Zillions of games implementation of Kamikaze Chess. Implemented by Doug Chatham.
  • Imperial Dragon Chess. A variant of Xiangqi designed to appeal to western players. By Paul Fredrix.
  • Imperial Dragon ZRF. Zillions of games implementation of Imperial Dragon. Implemented by Peter Aronson.
  • Hexmate. Updated rules.
• Week of April 22 - April 28, 2001
  • Kings Court (commercial site): kingscourt.html (Link.)
  • Preannouncement: Chess with Different Armies competition. Email competition, where chess with different armies is played.
  • Finding ways to spin your games. After having moved, pieces change type in rotating order. By Joao Pedro Neto and Bill Taylor.
  • Bifold Halfgi. A variant of Halfgi, but with half-sized pieces. By David Howe.
  • Circular Chess Society information:
    • Circular Chess Society information page
    • Circular Chess Society membership form
  • Mad Elephant Chess. Pawns can be turned into Elephants; Elephants can promote to Mad Elephants, and Mad Elephants can trample lines of pieces. By Peter Aronson.
  • Chess Morality II: Revelation. A poem on Falcon chess. By George William Duke.
  • Crowd Chess 1: Safety in Numbers. More pieces can occupy the same square - you can only form or move to a crowd by a non-capturing move. By Ralph Betza.
  • Space Chess. Three dimensional commercial chess variant.
  • Exchequer. Commercial 3d chess variant on 4 by 4 by 4 board. (Link.)
  • Kung Fu Chess. On a 14x10 board, the pieces in this variant are based on Kung Fu martial arts styles of combat. By Tim Bostick.
  • New files for Zillions of Games:
    • ZRF for Mad Elephant Chess. By Peter Aronson.
    • ZRF for Atlantis chess. By Doug Chatham.
    • ZRF for Kung Fu Chess. By Tim Bostick.
    • ZRF for Kings and Pawns. By Peter Aronson.
    • ZRF for Moon Chess. By Peter Aronson.
    • ZRF: Chaturanga-Shatranj-Senterej, by Tony Quintanilla.
• Week of April 15 - April 21, 2001
  • LaserChess DX: laserchessdx.html (Link.)
  • Fun-in-a-Box Chess. Featuring Thing One and Thing Two from The Cat in the Hat. By David Howe.
  • Refreshing Bubble Fizz Chess. When a piece moves, he can create a bubble. Pieces in bubbles cannot move for three turns, but may make two non-capturing moves afterwards. By Ralph Betza.
  • Various Size Chess Pieces. Growing and Shrinking: playing with the Size of chess pieces. By David Howe.
  • Photo's of Korean Chess set: pieces and board.
  • Photo's of Dice for Heraldic chess.
  • Turning and Churning. Ralph Betza's followup to his earlier text on Turning pieces, with pieces that make 1/16th of a turn.
  • Gothic Isles Chess. Fictional historic variant, with Dragons, Wizards and Champions. By Peter Aronson.
  • News: Tournaments being held this year.
  • Some new external links added:
    • Exchequer 3D Chess (Link.)
    • Go-Chess (tm) (Link.)
    • Edgechess (Link.)
    • Senterej (Link.)
  • File(s) for Zillions of Games:
    • ZRF for Chess on a Longer Board. By David Howe.
    • ZRF for Gothic Isles Chess. By Peter Aronson.
• Week of April 8 - April 14, 2001:
  • Piazza San Marco Chess. On random moments, the middle of the board gets flooded, meaning that pieces can get out only by using special walkways. By Ralph Betza.
  • Assimilation Chess rules and ZRF updated. Includes graphics, audio, and optimization updates as well. By Fergus Duniho.
  • Assimilation Fusion Chess rules and ZRF updated. Includes graphics, audio, and optimization updates as well. By Fergus Duniho.
  • Metamorphin' Assimilation Chess and ZRF. A hybrid of Metamorph Chess and Assimilation Chess. By Fergus Duniho.
  • Thunder Chess and ZRF. A hybrid of Metamorph Chess, Fusion Chess, and Assimilation Chess. By Fergus Duniho.
  • Potential/Demotion Chess. Pieces may move like lower-ranked piece, but when doing so, become that lower ranked piece. By Peter Aronson.
  • Turning chess. Pieces can turn after movement 45 degrees. By Ralph Betza.
  • What is wrong with Shou Dou Qi?. Comments on the rules of Shou Dou Qi - the Animal Game, by Ralf "Panther" Gering.
  • Chess on a Longer Board with a few Pieces Added. On a 10 row by 8 column board, with three new pieces. By David Howe.
  • New files for Zillions of Games:
    • ZRF for TheBridge41. Game on 41 squares board by Jeff `Cavebear' Stroud; ZRF by Peter Aronson.
    • ZRF for Wild Jokers. Game on 41 squares board by Hubert Lamontagne; ZRF by Peter Aronson.
    • ZRF for Fusion Chess updated with new graphics, new audio, and optimized code. By Fergus Duniho.
    • ZRF for Metamorph Chess updated with new graphics and new audio. By Fergus Duniho.
    • ZRF for Metamorphin' Fusion Chess updated with new graphics, new audio, and optimized. code. By Fergus Duniho.
    • ZRF for Fusion Chessgi updated with new graphics, new audio, and optimized code. By Fergus Duniho.
• Week of April 2 - April 8, 2001:
  • Piececlopedia: Rhino. A set of pieces which combine the movements of the Mao with that of the Wazir, or the Moa with that of the Ferz.
  • Rhino Chess ZRF. Play chess variants based on the Rhino piece.
  • Amontillado Chess. Pieces have combined `halfling' powers, going half the usual distance. By Ralph Betza.
  • Take Over Chess. Jump across pieces to take them over from your opponent. By Tony Quintanilla. Including ZRF-file for playing the game with Zillions-of-Games.
  • Wild Jokers. 7 by 7 board with 8 pits and various pieces, including jokers that can make successive jumps across pits. By Jeff `Cavebear' Stroud.
  • TheBridge41. 41 square board with bridge in the middle. By Hubert Lamontagne.
  • Not a chess variant. Rules of a chess variant on a board with 41 squares. By Alexandre Muñiz.

• Index to older `whatsnew' files.