Comments by GlennOverby

The finals judges are playing a bunch of games, concentrating especially on
those each judge did not judge in round one.  I wouldn't be surprised to
see a final decision in a few weeks.

I expect to modify several features of the Luotuoqi process in Luotuoqi II,
although the basic concept is still people making suggestions and voting
on what gets in.  :)

If the Luotuoqi games wind up only being marginally playable, that's not
necessarily all bad.  Then they live up to their name, and the original
inspiring quotation.  But it's fascinating to see what ideas people have,
and what ideas people like.  And it lets some folks participate in a
'contest' who might not take part in a contest to design a whole
variant.  Here, if you have just one cool idea you want to throw in, you
can do it.

There is a character spoken in Mandarin as chóu which means prepare or plan (also chip or counter). The most common character with that sound and tone is the one that means enemy or foe.

So chóuqí is workable. 'Planning game' is surely OK, and even the homonym meaning 'game of foes' is not beyond the pale. But all that other ugliness Ivan describes is just a matter of tones.

Thank you to Ivan for a very quick and on-point reply, and to Peter for the interesting suggestion.

I second Eric's comment.  At the time Los Alamos chess was invented,
computing power was at a premium.  :)  A 16 2/3% reduction in piece types
to factor in, a 25% reduction in pieces on the board, a 40+% reduction in
number of places to move...taken together, that's a huge savings. 
Combine this with the likelihood that the early algorithms were nothing
more than brute force calculations...

I have more games, from more designers, to post tonight.

Glenn

Thanks for the comments about the Gunne.  The manner in which I try to keep
it in balance is twofold...

1) The Gunne is not very mobile, unless it uses the Pao-style capture
(instead of shooting) and leaps out into possible danger.

2) The grid in Panal doesn't run straight from player to player, as it
does in most hex-games.  Shot lines are affected.

This will be hard.  Five of these six are excellent.  And the other one,
although not at all my cup of tea, has a clear following.

Go ahead and send problems to me now.  The more time I have to edit the
entries, the less chance there will be of a backlog.  :)

The last game of Omega Chess has ended in an agreed draw.  Congratulations
to champion Mike Howe, 5.5 from 6, and runner-up John Lawson.

Players have 30 days to submit annotations they wish to see considered for
the annotation prize, and to nominate potential brilliancy prize winners.

I have commenced surveying the players about what list of games to include
in a future multivariant tournament.  They have some interesting ideas,
which will likely be placed on public view soon in compiled form.

Well, I could wait until 2004, but I probably shouldn't.  :)

We ran one of the largest Scouting events in the United States last
weekend...about 4,400 participants for the 2nd Illini Jamboree at Rantoul,
Illinois.  As an employee of the host council, I've been busy.  My
apologies.

The winners are known...please give me a week or two to sort out the
prizes you'll be able to pick from.

First: Duel Chess
Second: Voidrider Chess
Third: Diminuendo Chess 
Fourth: Opposition Chess
Fifth: Rook Mania

Congratulations to the winners and finalists, and thank you to all the
entrants and voters.

John, I suppose I could palm off the Halberdier reference as an
advertisement for my next design...which does use them.  But it's simply
a testimony to the malevolent powers of cut-and-paste.