John Lawson wrote on Wed, Apr 3, 2002 07:26 AM UTC:
Peter, I've recently been playing Grand Camelot in another venue. Grand
Camelot is a four-player version of Parker Brothers Camelot game. (To the
peanut gallery: Yes, I know it's not a chess variant; let me finish.)
Grand Camelot has two unusual features for a four-player game:
1 - Partners sit side by side. Translating to this game, Red and Green
would be partners against Yellow and Black.
2 - The turn sequence is a 'figure-8'. Translated to Chaturanga 4-84, that
would be Red - Yellow - Green - Black (repeat)
This small change works surprisingly well, and I've wondered if it would be
as successful in a 4-player CV like this. I generally find 4-player
abstract strategy board games annoying, but Grand Camelot is lots of fun
and very exciting.
Also, the comment about the ZRF being double-dummy brought an idea to mind.
Has there been a CV (e.g. Bridge Chess or Whist Chess) where the players
bid to achieve a certain outcome? The partner of the 'declarer' sits out,
and the defenders play without communication. This might be a possible
thing to design. One could even play a Feeback version with ones
physician, attorney, and accountant.