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Comments by CharlesGilman
Once More, with Deans. Subvariants of River-with-university-and-cathedral series with extra piece type.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]It was the same problem of a missing slash in closing a table, and I have now fixed it.
In terms of the Man and Beast series of piece articles the pieces are a General, Rook, Rookranker, Rookfiler, Sennight, and row of Migrants. As the orientation in Glinsky/McCooey it is the Rookranker that is bound to its file and the Rookfiler unbound - in the Wellisch orientation the Rookranker would be unbound and the Rookfiler bound to its file. The Migrant was invented by Glinsky for his game, and use of the Rookranker and Rookfiler may well be based on this piece. Certainly the Migrant's noncapturing move is one step in the Rookranker's most forward direction and its capturing move one step in the Rookfiler's most forward directions - exactly as the Pawn's moves are as regards the Rook and Bishop.
It is also logical to follow the usual convention for small variants and dispense with the double-step move.
I am hesitant to criticise a variant by one of the Polgar family, but a talent for playing on square-cell boards does not necessarily imply one for designing games for hex ones. This does look very muvch like a game by someone who has not made a great study of hex variants, as it addresses several issues of the hex board less well than variants on these pages do.
A severely bound Rookranker is really a very poor analogue to the Rook. A better piece to complement the Rookfiler here (or the Rookranker in the Wellisch orientation) would be the Moorhen - a hex piece moving straight forward/backward/left/right regardless of which two are orthogonal and which hex-diagonal. This is bound to alternate files here and alternate ranks on Wellisch boards. However it would then be logical for the Queen analogue to also include the straight sideways directions. As regards subdividing of just Rook directions, my own approach to this in Altorth Hex Chess avoided severe bindings and was also Migrant-based.
It is also odd that Migrants line up with their own edge of the board rather than - as in Glinsky's game - the far edge to which they are aiming. It would make more sense on a star-shaped board to arrange a row of Pawn analogues with the middle one furthest back rather than further forward, as in my own Flatstar. At first I thought that a 37-cell might be too small for that, but it could be done with six spaces behind to fill, in two blocks of three - rather than a single back row of five. Ther weakest piece would be doubled in number - the Rookfiler in the case of Mr. Polgar's own choice of pieces. The array prior to placing the back pieces would be (excuse the crude colouring):
Alternate Promotion Chess. Pieces promoted at one end of the board are promoted further at the other. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Thanks for pointing that out. I have fixed it.
Once More, with Deans. Subvariants of River-with-university-and-cathedral series with extra piece type.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]No, the Dean has no single-step move. This is why it is colourbound. It moves at least two staps diagonally or exactly two orthogonally. The piece that moves at least two orthogonally or exactly two diagonally I term the Mansion, and its own cubic extrapolations are the Outpost and Estate. The Outpost can also exist as a hex piece.
Now that I think about it I haven't devised names for pieces moving at least two staps along one kind of radial and at most two along another, but I can see that they are interesting pieces. Pieces that could be seen as Mansion+Ferz and Dean+Wazir are intermediate between the Mansion and Dean and corresponnding enhancements of full linepieces such as the Infanta and Inquisitor - whicvh could be seen as Mansion+Wazir and Dean+Ferz. If this inspires any ideas for names I would be interested to hear them.
I've just been having a think about this and it occurs to me that you've come up with a huge family of new pieces that can move n or fewer moves as one linepiece and n or more as another. Another family can move n or fewer as one and n+1 or more as the other. In both cases I have already given those with n=1 distinctive names. I am adding ones with n>1 by use of suitable prefixes.
Charles Gilman Modest Variants. Missing description (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The 'Voyager' label on the index pages is a glitch in the system, just as the 'Shogi 59' one for what is now Khis is. The Voyager variant has been withdrawn and the page recycled, but unfortunately the label is stuck. I had hoped that my update text (and the last comment on Voyager itself) made this clear.
Relativistic Chess. Squares attacked by the opponent are considered not to exist. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Surely the rule is that if a square is guarded, according to the rules of FIDE Chess, by the player who has just moved, the player who is about to move cannot move to that square but just passes through it. A square need not be guarded according to the rules of Relativistic Chess itself. Therefore there is no ambiguity. It is the player about to move who cannot move their piece to that square.
Decimal Quadruple Besiege. Army based on Échecs De L'Escalier arranged on enlarged Quadruple Besiege board. (20x20, Cells: 200) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Well most of my Quadruple Besiege variants have at least twice as many pieces with a Rook move, so that will help Checkmate to happen. Remember that the minimum to Checkmate on a board with edges is a Rook plus one's own King, so an extra Rook to effect a virtual edge should allow the same on this board. The geometry is not quite Moebius, it's a bit more complex than that. A single orthogonal step across a horizontal join appears as a 10:9 leap. Bishops really are colourbound and, as I say in the text, each visible 10-cell diagonal loops round dircetly on itself.
12 Sharp Chess. 4-player versions of 10-or-more-file variants on cross-shaped boards. (12x12, Cells: 108) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Yes, it looks right, assuming that you're basing the Shoxiang one on the centrewise variant.
Teutonic Knight's Chess. Played on an oblong board with rarely used pieces: The teutonic knight, the archchancellor and the crown princess. (8x10, Cells: 80) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]So many of your variants are an education far beyond the realm of board games, and this page is no exception. Before reading this page I was unaware that the title of Archchancellor had existed in real life, although I knew about, and have mentioned elsewhere on the site, its use in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. What exactly was the rôle of archchancellors among Teutonic Knights, and did they have ordinary chancellors under them? Interesting that you interpret the name for a piece in the same way that I would have done. Did you notice my view on the intuitive piece for the name and take inspiration, or is it coincidence?
Since my last post on this thread I have devised a name for the compound of the Moorhen and the G/McC Rookfiler or Wellisch Rookranker - Superrook - and added it to my article Man and Beast 12: Alternative Fronts. I also have a Superunicorn - Moorhen plus either G/McC Unicoranker or Wellisch Unicofiler. Unlike the ordinary Unicorn or the Moorhen it is unbound.
Man and Beast Overview and Glossary. Table summarising what piece characteristics Man and Beast articles cover, with glossary of terms used to describe pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Questions of 'what if' interest me in general - what if the Romans hadn't declined, or if Philip and Mary had had children, or if Cromwell had established a lasting republic, or if the Weimar Republic had developed nuclear weapons. The question of what if there were no pre-existing piece names, however, does no seem to appeal to me. Chess comes to us with the piece names, and anyone with an interest in the game associated the pieces' names strongly with their moves. Well nearly everyone, anyway! Without the existing names - be they in historic and regional games (Ferz, Camel, Picket, Cannon, Goldgeneral), 3d extensions (Unicorn, Sexton), or inventions of other CVP members (Arrow, Kangaroo) I wouldn't have been able to devise all my own piece names here.
Nimrod Chess. All the same moves as FIDE Chess, but not NECESSARILY on the same pieces. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The point is that the Huntsman and Hawksman are defined on a corner orientation. In this context the forward diagonal is toward the opponent's corner and the backward one toward one's own corner. The directions at right angles to these I term sideways diagonals. There are also two forward and two backward orthogonals in this orientation. Thus to sum up the differences between linepieces with 5-6 directions they divide into: Goldrider (face-to-face) - 4 orthogonal and 2 diagonal; Goldrider (corner) - 4 orthogonal and 1 diagonal; Silverider (face-to-face) - 4 diagonal and 1 orthogonal; Silverider (corner) - 4 diagonal and 2 orthogonal; Huntress and Hawkress (face-to-face) - 3 orthogonal and 2 diagonal; Huntsman and Hawksman (corner) - 3 diagonal and 2 orthogonal. Would diagrams help? If so I will endeavour to add them when I have more time.
Rhino. A set of pieces which combine the movements of the Mao with that of the Wazir.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]None of this page's long-range pieces are switching. The Rhino's first three destinations are those of the Wazir, Knight, and Camel. Knight plus Camel equals famously triangulating Gnu. Likewise the even destinations (exactly as with the Mirror Rhino) are destination of the Nightrider - a straight linepiece like the Bishop and Rook and so able to make two moves in the same direction and return in a single move the same length as the two together. Indeed not even a Waverer, a Rhino restricted to moves of odd numbers of steps, is switching as a Camel move can be reversed in four Wazir ones. Nor is a Feverer, a Mirror Rhino so restricted, as a Ferz move can be reversed in two Zebra ones. It may be more difficult when what I am for short calling Camel/Zebra moves are stepping ones here, but it is posible.
Bowman. 
Moves as knight, and takes a piece that is an additional knightsmove in same direction away.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Thanks for drawing my attention to the fact that the Bowman does not leap. I will correct my piece article Man and Beast 21: Lords High Everything-Else to take this into account when I have more time. I would still hold that Equiadvancer is the logical generic term for a piece that goes exactly halfway to the piece that it captures.
Amazon. Can move as queen or as knight.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]It does mention the name Maharaja, in the third row of the usage table.
Bachelor Kamil. Combines ideas from Bachelor Chess and Wildebeest Chess. (9x8, Cells: 72) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
I notice that this still has the incorrect array from when I accidentally used the letter C for the Camel. The correct arrays are:
I would grateful if some editor could make the correction - and correct 'aranged' to 'arranged' while we're at it.
As I understand it there were royal and non-royal caliphs, just as there are royal and non-royal governors. Caliph has the advantages that it can be extrapolated, giving along with Bishop+Knight=Cardinal names for all Bishop compounds with all coprime oblique leapers. Thus Zebra gives Zerdinal, Giraffe Girdinal, Antelope Nardinal, Zemel Zeliph, Satyr Sardinal, Gimel Giliph, Rector Rerdinal... If anyone can think of a better alternative that can be extrapolated as obviously I'm eager to know it. Likewise for the Rook compounds Canvasser gives Rook+Zemel=Zenvasser, rook+Gimel=Ginvasser...
Perleberger Bridge Chess. Missing description (8x9, Cells: 66) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Are the Berolina Pawns restricted ones that have to move toward or within the middle two files until they cross the bridge? If not, what happens if they get trapped on their own side of the bridge? Likewise, what happens if they capture so many times on their own side of the bridge that they get trapped?
Were George Duke to substitute 'with much success' for 'as such' he would be nearer the truth. As far as I can see the first variant to use the Bison was Herd, and I have added two variants of my own building on it but these have not been received well.
Great Herd. Large variant with Camel, Zebra, Bison, Gnu and Gazelle pieces. (10x8, Cells: 80) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]If you look at my previous comment on this variant you will notice that I gave the same answer myself. As Great Herd is not one of my best efforts I have not put much effort into getting it updated. In any case editors seem to have stopped posting updates to this kind of entry - see my recent comments on Bachelor Kamil and Honeycomb Chess.
Saint Pancras Shogi. double-set Sainted Shogi variant with half the pieces starting promoted. (11x12, Cells: 132) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Answering your questions in the same order:
(i) Yes, Rook+Arrow I term a SPARROW. This piece does not turn up here as the Arrow is neither a Shogi nor a Xiang piece.
(ii) Wazir+Dabbaba+Cross I term GOLDWAZBABA - Wazbaba is the same piece without the Cross move, just as Fearful is the Silverfearful without the Point move. The nearest name I use to Goldfearful is GOLDFEARLESS for Wazir+Cross+Tusk, Fearless being the FO form of the plain Fearful.
(ii) Yes, but not on this board. On a corner-orientation square board a Supercross would be a Ferz minus the move directly toward the player's own corner. On a face-to-face cubic board it would make the four forward Ferz moves plus the four same-rank ones.
(i) Yes, Rook+Arrow I term a SPARROW. This piece does not turn up here as the Arrow is neither a Shogi nor a Xiang piece.
(ii) Wazir+Dabbaba+Cross I term GOLDWAZBABA - Wazbaba is the same piece without the Cross move, just as Fearful is the Silverfearful without the Point move. The nearest name I use to Goldfearful is GOLDFEARLESS for Wazir+Cross+Tusk, Fearless being the FO form of the plain Fearful.
(ii) Yes, but not on this board. On a corner-orientation square board a Supercross would be a Ferz minus the move directly toward the player's own corner. On a face-to-face cubic board it would make the four forward Ferz moves plus the four same-rank ones.
Trampoline Chess. Each player has a Trampoline that allows friendly pieces to make a second move. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I agree with Garth Wallace's view on the Queen. The Trampoline adds to an increasing number of 'non-pieces' that should perhaps warrant their own article. So far I can list the Ferry from Ferry Xiang Qi, Fortress/Palace of standard Xiang Qi, Halter of VeCoTha, Pole or Pole Chess, River of standard Xiang Qi, Tardis of Tardis Taijitu, and Trampoline of this variant. There are certainly others that have slipped my mind. Can anyone think of them off hand?
HiveQueen. Missing description (Cells: 61) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I notice that now the Setup section shows a preset, its piece images no longer correspond to those on the Pieces section. This makes an already complex game (in terms of difference from standard forms of Chess) even harder to analyse.
12 Sharp Chess. 4-player versions of 10-or-more-file variants on cross-shaped boards. (12x12, Cells: 108) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Yes, it does. This is the case in all Wildeurasian variants. Conversely, however, note that all Wildeurasian variants also have the Bare Facing rule, that two Kings cannot face each other along an orthogonal or diagonal - in this case through the central 6x6 area.
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