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On Designing Good Chess Variants. Design goals and design principles for creating Chess variants.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
M Winther wrote on Mon, Jan 31, 2011 02:47 PM UTC:
I downloaded your implementation of Spartan Chess, and it looks like great fun. But it is very unlikely that its author has actually managed to find an asymmetric variant that would hold up to the scrutiny of an opening theorist. I am willing to bet a full barrel of manure that either party can force a clear advantage from the opening position (probably Black). Obviously, the author didn't use a computer when creating this variant. It is hard enough to make it work in symmetric variants, but asymmetric variants demand much analysis before one can declare that it is a balanced game. I think asymmetric variants could work if the pieces are decidedly weaker, but with such powers on the board, either party is likely to get the upper hand, either in terms of strategical initiative, or a clear positional advantage. (On the other hand, chess variants don't need to be scientifically sound.)
/Mats