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Comments by John Smith
What I think would be a good rating system would be to have every user that wants to judge, including those that are competing, view every contest entry, and rate the entry on a scale of 1 to 10, in multiple categories, e.g. Creativity, Playability, Analytical Interest, and Overall Enjoyability. Those that score the highest amount of points in one category compared to others will be first, second highest second, etc. within that category. If prizes cannot be equal or someone thinks they should not be equal, I think the Overall category winner should receive the main prize. If a limited judge system is chosen, however, I would be happy to be one of the judges, as long as I don't come up with a ridiculous amount of entries first, as I did with the upcoming contest! ;)
Super Asian Chess. An aggressive take on the Asian variants of Chess. (9x10, Cells: 90) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating] Indistinguishable Chess. Player pieces indistinguishable from each other. Board squares are indistinguishable. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]This could be played Apocalypse-style, also, where the squares don't have an outline either.
This thread is for ideas for themed Chess variants. With Halloween just around the corner, I've been thinking of creating a Halloween-themed variant. Here are the pieces I have so far: Witch - Moves as Queen, but can jump any number of pieces and cannot capture. Can also turn adjacent pieces into Frogs (0,3 or 3,3 leapers) . Ghost - Moves to any empty square on the board and immobilizes adjacent pieces. Frankenstein's Monster / Zombie - Moves as Wazir, but can be revived after the captor leaves its square.
I'm thinking of a piece called a Headless Horseman, which would move as a Gryphon or Aanca, but cannot capture when moving 2 steps or more: m . m . m . m . . m . m m . m m . . m . m . m . m m m m x x x m . . . . x H x . m m m m x x x m . . m . m . m . . m . m m . m m I would estimate it to be worth about 7 Pawns. Does anyone have other value suggestions, with reasons or playtesting?
Perhaps I could do that, if it's only for one move. I'd have to playtest it.
I guess you're right, Joe. I just based my assumptions of capturing move values on a theoretical piece that moves as a Shogi Pawn, but can only capture, being more valuable than a piece that moves as a Shogi Pawn, but can only not capture. I'll try to have the correct value up.
It should be worth 6, I estimate, to apply the 12 (value of the Gryphon + Aanca)/ 9 (value of the Queen) ratio to the Keen, which is worth 4.5 . I have also come up with a new piece, the Unicorn, which moves as an Advancing Mao-rider. Does anyone know the value of an Advancer? I estimate it to be about 10 or 11, being more than a Queen because it takes 8 pieces to be able to fully defend a piece from it. A Mao is worth about 2.5, I think, so we can apply the 2.5 (Mao) / 3 (Knight) ratio to the Nightrider, which is worth about 5 or 6, to make 10 (a bit less than an Advancer, as it only attacks 4 squares) / 9 * 2.5 /3 * 5.5 = about 5, same as a Rook.
ximeracak.. A leaper-heavy fantasy variant designed for play with a standard set. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]It would be nice to have a piece that moves 3, 4, or 5 squares orthogonally to make a nice diamond shape with the major pieces' combined movement diagram.
Ziggurat. Mesopotamian-themed variant on a 43-square board. (13x5, Cells: 43) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]It is strange that the Horse is more powerful than the Chariot, and that there is only one of them, which would imbalance the game if you thought is was worth less. What are your justifications?
Halloween Chess. Chess with 5 new, Halloween-themed pieces! (13x13, Cells: 169) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Zombie dropping does not count as a turn, and is automatic.
I've been thinking about this variant for a while: Fool Chess (not to be confused with Graeme Neatham's Fool's Chess) . It would incorporate all kinds of Fool, Jester, or similarly named piece in Chess variants. For example, it could have the Courier Chess Fool, which moves as a Wazir, the FIDE Chess Fool, which moves as a Bishop, and even the Jester from Jester Chess, which imitates the last moved enemy piece. Does anyone know of any other Fools?
Actually, I might try to 'combine' these pieces into a sort of average, or use all of them in one piece, like my Super Asian Chess Elephant. Imagine a new kind of Falcon, which moves N spaces backwards as a Hunter Falcon Falcon, then N spaces forwards as a Hunter Falcon Falcon, then repeats either of those, and can move in any order of the moves I've said, thus resembling a Sissa, but with a Falcon name also somewhat resembling a Falcon Chess Falcon. I hope that George Duke is OK with me using a multi-path piece named a Falcon in a variant without credit, although it is not the same piece.
And another combination piece!: The Lion, which is a WFDAN + Omnidirectional English Draughts King. It has the abilities of every piece bar the Crocodile from Congo, and whose range is the same as the Chu Shogi Lion!
In my variant, I could have the aforementioned falcon, a piece called a fool which moves as a Wazir or Renniassance Chess Duke, and an elephant which moves as a Wazir, then Alfil, or Alfil, then Wazir, or as a Waffle, which makes altogether a bent-path bonanza!
How about this Falcon? : Moves as Hunter Falcon Falcon , but after capturing moves at a 135 degree angle off of the piece. It is what Mats Winther would call bifurcating, and mimics the hunting style of a real falcon.
I don't know what to say, but that seems like a really weak piece, according to Betza's magic number. The awkwardness explodes exponentially, making it probably worth a maximum of 1/8 of a Pawn. Have you tested this piece? To quote David Paulowich, it strikes me as almost as bad an idea as the original Shatranj Elephant. Only worse. Much, much worse.
Elephant Hunt. Ituri Forest Pygmi traditional game with chess-like elements. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I'm thinking of making a 3-player variant with a piece called a Roc, which is a giant mythical bird thought to eat elephants.
Tournoy. Pieces have orientation that can be rotated. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Pat does not exist? I assume you forgot to translate stalemate, correct?
Yeah, I guess my old Falcon is more creative. I've never seen any piece other than a Sissa that is a multipath that can move an unlimited amount of spaces. You seem to have misunderstood my piece, which can only capture on the square it finishes its move on, but your version is great because then it can swoop like a real Falcon. Well, that leaves at one more piece for my next variant. I think it could be an Elephant (any ideas?) , and I could rename the Falcon as the Hawk, so to fit in nicely with a Seirawan chess set. ;) (And no, I'm not H. G. Muller.)
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