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Comments by ChessShogi

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Pyramid Chase. Chase on a pyramid, 561 hexagons.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Sat, Feb 24, 2024 06:36 PM UTC in reply to Florin Lupusoru from 06:03 PM:

I revised the page to make the Knight move clearer.


A. M. DeWitt wrote on Sun, Feb 25, 2024 03:41 AM UTC in reply to Florin Lupusoru from 02:15 AM:

Everything else looks good.


Play Chess Variants with Jocly. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Sun, Feb 25, 2024 08:45 PM UTC in reply to François Houdebert from 04:50 PM:

Perhaps. Ideally, each piece should be easily distinguishable from the others.


XBetza Quick Reference. Members-Only A simple quick reference for XBetza moves.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Since this comment is for a page that has not been published yet, you must be signed in to read it.

Play Chess Variants with Jocly. Missing description[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Tue, Feb 27, 2024 03:47 PM UTC in reply to H. G. Muller from 11:06 AM:

Well, as I pointed out, it is not a matter of opinion. What is a better representation for playing a game is a verifyable fact, measurable by the average rating drop or raise people would get when having to play with one representation or another. E.g. representing all pieces by empty squares (aka blindfold chess) usually greatly degrades the rating of non-GM players, and can thus be considered an unsuitable representation for playing Chess.

And 'disagreeing with facts' is also known as 'being wrong'.

The pictograms are better at distinguishing the sides visually (e.g. the Mnemonic pieces for the large variants). However, Shogi uses Kanji pieces by tradition, and it has been this way even before the drop rule was added. Most Japanese players use this system, and even Western players (such as myself) have a tendency to use the kanji system as well. It doesn't take that long to learn and recognize the Kanji pieces.

The idea that Shogi and Chess would have different needs does seem rather inconsistent, as they are practically the same game. I have difficulty identifying any aspect of either game that would cause such a difference.

In theory they would be the same, but Shogi uses the drop rule, which by its nature necessitates a way to distinguish pieces that is not dependent on color.


A. M. DeWitt wrote on Tue, Feb 27, 2024 09:26 PM UTC:

I think the best answer to this whole debate is that there is no right or wrong answer as to whether color-based pictograms or orientation-based kanji are better for Shogi variants.

However, I would never EVER recommend using orientation-based pictograms, unless they either:

  • all have some universal defining feature that makes it easier to tell each side apart, like the wedge shape with the kanji Shogi sets.
  • are mnemonic representations of the piece moves and are also color-based, like with the mnemonic Shogi variant sets.

Yangsi. A very playable chess variant with 12 different pieces on a 10x10 board.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝A. M. DeWitt wrote on Tue, Feb 27, 2024 09:32 PM UTC in reply to Jean-Louis Cazaux from 10:43 AM:

Whoopsie.

Should be fixed now.


Heavy Shako. 10x10 variant inspired by Yangsi, made by Eric Silverman. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝A. M. DeWitt wrote on Wed, Feb 28, 2024 12:35 AM UTC in reply to Jean-Louis Cazaux from Tue Feb 27 09:50 PM:

@Adam: it is strange to say "Heavy Shako is a 100 square variant inspired by Adam DeWitt's Yangsi." I think this game was more inspired by Shako, as the initial setup and the name of the game say.

A link to Shako would be nice to have here.

Eric Silverman explicitly said in this comment that this game was at least partially inspired by Yangsi. I have included a link to Shako.

It would be nice if I could update the description of the game on the site, but I can't.

For the GC, would it be possible to use the wildebeest icon, and not the ram icon, for the Buffalo. This would be consistent with other games that use this piece and also with the page presenting Heavy Shako itself.

Unfortunately not for this page's diagram of the game, as the set that is being used does not have a Wildebeest icon. However, I could rig a custom set for the preset, which I have done successfully.


Chu Seireigi. Variant of Chu Shogi playable with drops. (12x12, Cells: 144) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝A. M. DeWitt wrote on Wed, Feb 28, 2024 05:15 PM UTC:

I have decided to rename the Free Pup to Whale, to include a marine animal and balance out the number of dog and cat piece types (bears are dog-like).

This change also applies to Dai Seireigi.


Heavy Shako. 10x10 variant inspired by Yangsi, made by Eric Silverman. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝A. M. DeWitt wrote on Wed, Feb 28, 2024 05:31 PM UTC in reply to Jean-Louis Cazaux from 04:20 PM:

Challenge accepted.


Home page of The Chess Variant Pages. Homepage of The Chess Variant Pages.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Thu, Feb 29, 2024 02:05 PM UTC in reply to Fergus Duniho from 01:53 PM:

You haven't turned off all the changes though (transparent menu background). May I suggest you work on this in the .org site to not affect users until you're ready with the changes?

Yeah, the current transparent background for the top menus looks terrible. Doing these tests on the .org site would be way better.


Fearsome Chess. Fear is the main rule. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Fri, Mar 1, 2024 12:07 AM UTC:
  • If these pieces still have natural predators on the board but they are unable to reach these red squares

It feels like there is something missing here.


A. M. DeWitt wrote on Sat, Mar 2, 2024 02:13 AM UTC in reply to Florin Lupusoru from Fri Mar 1 03:15 AM:

Pieces can be blocked from reaching a certain square, don't they?

Being blocked doesn't necessarily mean that a piece is unable to reach a square.

Now that I think about it, I guess the inability to reach a square part refers to the predators, and not the moving piece.


Home page of The Chess Variant Pages. Homepage of The Chess Variant Pages.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Mon, Mar 4, 2024 05:13 PM UTC:

The Review new submissions seems to have losts its style sheet for the text fonts. All the last action text has the same color.


Torus Chess (The Shape of Space). Chess on a torus from the book "The Shape of Space". (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Fri, Mar 8, 2024 04:08 PM UTC:

What if you turned the one bishop into an Anglican Bishop, which moves as a Bishop or moves without capturing one step orthogonally? This allows it to reach all squares on the board while keeping its attacking range the same.


Tenjiku Shogi. Fire Demons burn surrounding enemies, Generals capture jumping many pieces. (16x16, Cells: 256) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Mon, Mar 11, 2024 03:18 PM UTC in reply to H. G. Muller from Sat Mar 9 09:43 PM:

I think the new system is much better, but some instructions at the top would also help (e.g. "Click on icon of piece of choice" for the current system).

It may also help to have a unique highlight color for the promotions in the current system, such as magenta or the blue you use for Chess-style promotions.


A. M. DeWitt wrote on Wed, Mar 13, 2024 05:31 PM UTC in reply to H. G. Muller from 12:52 PM:

Hmm...I think simply showing the promotion options with a highlighted background is better. The plus and minus don't really tell me what my choices are (they are basically covering up the images), but do better at showing that a promotion option exists.

Personally, I'd omit the markers and highlight the background with the same color that is used for Chess-style promotions (#8080FF), while also showing instructions at the top (e.g. "Click icon of piece of choice").

Perhaps the color for promotion highlights could even be set with a parameter (e.g. promoHighlight=#8080FF) in case the selected board shades are too similar to the default color.

P.S. Also, it would be really nice to be able to deselect a piece in the holdings like you can with pieces on the board. Currently, this is not possible.


A. M. DeWitt wrote on Thu, Mar 14, 2024 01:20 AM UTC in reply to H. G. Muller from Wed Mar 13 08:24 PM:

Much better.

However, I did notice a bug that causes the promotion choices to replace pieces on the squares they are shown on if you select something other than a promotion choice.

Replication Example: Have a Rook General capture the opposing Rook General, and then when the promotion options show up click on any occupied space other than the highlighted squares.


Interactive diagrams. (Updated!) Diagrams that interactively show piece moves.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Thu, Mar 14, 2024 07:25 PM UTC:

It would be really nice if you could deselect a piece that you have just selected in the holdings. Currently this is not possible without selecting another piece in the holdings or dropping the selected piece on the board.


A. M. DeWitt wrote on Thu, Mar 14, 2024 09:18 PM UTC in reply to H. G. Muller from 08:15 PM:

Let's not forget about betzaNewer.js (the one with the experimental Shogi promotion system).


HnefaChess. The best combination of Chess and Hnefatafl. (Cells: 228) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Sat, Mar 16, 2024 12:50 AM UTC in reply to Florin Lupusoru from Thu Mar 14 11:30 PM:

Both Berolina and Chinese Pawns are omnidirectional Pawns. They move orthogonally (one square only) but capture diagonally.

If these two Pawn types are essentially the same, you might as well replace both with Stewards, which have the same move (move without capturing one square orthogonally, capture one square diagonally).

The Kings can not move into check or be checkmated. 

Does that last part (or be checkmated) mean that other pieces cannot put the King in check?

Guards move one square orthogonally and diagonally in any direction. . 

I assume here you mean "Guards move one square in any orthogonal or diagonal direction, akin to a non-royal King."


Sacrificial Chess. Missing description (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Sat, Mar 16, 2024 12:59 AM UTC:

What happens in mutual stalemate, where a player makes a move that leaves both sides unable to move?


Fergana. The clash of empires on Fergana Valley. (Cells: 168) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Sat, Mar 16, 2024 01:11 AM UTC in reply to Florin Lupusoru from Tue Mar 12 03:41 PM:

Is the double/triple move of the back row of Pawns also subject to en passant capture?


Zen Zebras. A team for Chess with Different Armies based around the moves of the Zebra. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Sat, Mar 16, 2024 01:19 AM UTC:

This page would greatly benefit from having a setup image, as well as actual diagrams in place of the ASCII Art. Here are some tools to help with that:

Diagram Designer for Chessvariants.com

Musketeer Chess Board Painter

H. G. Muller's Interactive Diagrams (Has the bonus of being able to move the pieces)

ASCII Art is considered outdated by most.


Equalized Shatranj. Basic weak moves of ancient pieces are compensated by their numbers. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
A. M. DeWitt wrote on Sat, Mar 16, 2024 01:22 AM UTC:

What happened to the Knights and Rooks (more accurately their Shatranj equivalents)? Those were in the original, not the Dabbabah or Wazir.

Regardless, the page is good enough to be approved.


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