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Message #2255 in the 'Chess Variants' Yahoo group described 'a game with no name' by Derek Nalls that was, in retrospect, merely a flawed precursor of the game that became Optimized Chess by OmegaMan [my pen name for games I invent but do not recommend playing]. So, thank you but I doubt it is worthy of mention.
I like setup 4 best. Thought : Wouldn't the Queen better be replaced by a Marshall ?
Sam, you didn't include my variant, Teutonic Chess, RNBQAKMBNR. http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/capablanca.htm I think that Capa 1 (which suffers from 1.Mh3 mating threat) is playable. 1.Mh3 is, arguably, a weak move that achieves nothing, except putting the Minister on the same diagonal as the enemy bishop. Although there may be better alternatives than Capa 1, it's not certain that a position suffering from an initial weakness is inferior. A mutual weakness in the opening position may create possibilities of seizing the initiative, something which enlivens the game (but I haven't analysed this position). /Mats
QRNBKABNRM Paulovich 3mirrors my [2004-09-21] comment in Carrera's Chess, a game published in 1617 by D. Pietro Carrera (not related to Capablanca).
David Paulowich
(not related to Paulovich or Paulovits)
Thanks everyone for the corrections.
Here is an updated list of known proposed Capa chess setups:
RANBQKBNMR Aberg RMNBQKBNAR Carrera RNBMQKABNR Bird RNBAQKMBNR Capa 1 (Suffers from 1.Mh3 mating threat) RNABQKBMNR Capa 2 RBQNKMNABR Grotesque RBNMQKANBR Univers RBQNKANMBR Landorean RNBQKMABNR Embassy RQNBAKBNMR Schoolbook NRMBQKBARN Optimized MRNBQKBNRA Paulowich 1 link ARNBQKBNRM Paulowich 2 link QRNBKABNRM Paulowich RNMBQKBANR Nalls link RNBQAKMBNR Teutonic link (1. Mh3 mating threat)Any without a link here are listed on on the Capablanca Chess Wiki page (I think I will add Teutonic to this page--sorry about the omission, Mats). And some more proposed opening setups, since not nearly enough Capa opening setups have been proposed :)
RNBQKAMBNR Consulate RNQBKMBANR Finesse RQNBKABNMR Notebook QRNBAKBNRM Closebook RNQBMKBANR Blackbook NRABQKBMRN Nightwink RQNBKMBNAR NarcoticSetups which suffer from white being able to threaten mate on the first move:
RQNBMKBNAR Md3 QRNBMKBNRA Md3 RBNQKMANBR Mg3 BRNQKMANRB Mg3 QRNBKMBNRA Mg3 BRNAQKMNRB Mh3 (Capa 1) RNBQAKMBNR Mh3 (Teutonic) BRNQAKMNRB Mh3 RABNQKNBMR Mh3 RQBNAKNBMR Mh3So, for aspiring Chess variant inventors, that leaves us with the following possible Capa opening setups:
QRBNAKNBRM RQBNMKNBAR NRBQAKMBRN RBNQAKMNBR NRBMQKABRN BRNMQKANRB RBNMQKANBR QRBNMKNBRA NRBQKMABRN RMBNQKNBAR ARBNQKNBRM RQBNKMNBAR BRQNMKNARB RBQNMKNABR NRQBMKBARN NRQBKABMRN RNQBKABMNR NRBAQKMBRN BRQNKANMRB BRANQKNMRB RBANQKNMBR BRNAQKMNRB RBNAQKMNBR MRBNQKNBRA QRBNKMNBRA RQBNKANBMR BRMNQKNARB RBMNQKNABR QRBNKANBRM NRBQKAMBRN NRQBAKBMRN BRNQKAMNRB RBNQKAMNBR RNQBAKBMNR BRQNAKNMRB RBQNAKNMBR NRBQMKABRN NRQBKMBARN BRQNKMNARB BRNQMKANRB RBNQMKANBR
So, aspiring inventors, don't miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime claim to be a Capa chess variant inventor. There are only 41 Capa setups left for you to claim! Get yours before it is too late!
Joe Joyce wrote on Thu, Jun 21, 2007 08:10 PM UTC:Hey, Sam! I can hardly wait! Do they come with a Certificate of Authenticity? For those unable to get in on Sam's generous offer, I propose Great Shatranj, which is actually a Capa variant. This fine and highly-luminous game, made with only the finest and most carefully-crafted synthetic pieces, has ALL the starting setups available [except for the single posted version - V#1, which I am keeping]. In fact, this is so new and these synthetic pieces are so different, that even the rare Gothic variant is available. That variant alone will go to the highest bidder. The others are all currently available at the low, low price of GUE $49.95 Zm.
I have already invented my Capablanca variant:
Energizer Chess, which actually adds the two pieces to the 8x8 board.
I found it better in the game I am playing to NOT develop the Knights, but
to develop the other pieces from around them, since developing the Knights
blocked the Bishop's squares.
Btw, Sam, I sent a reply to your letter. But since I have a terribly stupid computer I will never know if it was actually sent. Please let me know.
Greg, the zorkmid is also the official currency of Variantstown . See csipgs Chess, Introducing Economy in CVs and The Hitchhiker's Guide to Chess.
Sam. the fact that a variant 'suffers from a 1st move mating threat' is of no consequence. In Teutonic Chess this is no problem at all. It is advantageous to the opponent should white threaten mate in the opening. This form of analysis is too simplistic. It makes an amateurish impression to list which variants suffer from a 1st move mating threat. /Mats
I partially agree with M Winther. I have two points to say in this regard: 1. White forcing black to react from move 1 can give White a HUGE advantage in the game. An example of this, since White's advantage in Atomic Chess (which is played quite regularly in FICS,) is very well established that you are not required to give a rematch if you win with black!! 2. However, this factor didn't prevent Atomic Chess from being one of the most fun playable chess variants.
Well, I have discovered one more Mats Winther Capa chess variants last night. These are Capa opening setups where white can threaten mate on the first move. As per the official rules of ChessVariants.org, only Mats Winther is allowed to Christen (give names to) any Capa setup with a first-move mating threat.
Here it is:
QRBNKANBRM 1. Ag3 mating threatSo, this is good news for Mats and bad news for the rest of us. The good news is that Mats now has 11, count them, 11 opening setups he can make Capa variants out of:
RQNBMKBNAR Md3 QRNBMKBNRA Md3 RBNQKMANBR Mg3 BRNQKMANRB Mg3 QRNBKMBNRA Mg3 BRNAQKMNRB Mh3 (Capa 1) RNBQAKMBNR Mh3 (Teutonic) BRNQAKMNRB Mh3 RABNQKNBMR Mh3 RQBNAKNBMR Mh3 QRBNKANBRM Ag3The bad news is that only 40 Capa setups are left for the rest of us.
Sibahi: I did not get your reply. Did you get Jeremy's message?
Sam, what are you talking about? Am only I allowed to label variants with initial mating threat? I don't get it! /Mats
Exactly, Mats. You are now our Official labeler of Capa setups with initial mating threats. I, in accordance with the editorial policies of Chessvariants.org, hereby give you an official seal that you can use to label any Capa 8x10 setup where white can threaten mate on the first move. You, and no one else, can label these particular Capa setups.
I have talked with my legal department, and they inform me that I must make a prominent notice in 6-point text that this entire posting is a joke. Failure to see that this is a joke immediately causes the person reading this to forefit their entire lifetime savings to me. Please make you PayPal donation here
And, oh, I have updated the Capa wiki page to list Teutonic and Energizer.
Sam, I still don't understand what you're on about. Anyway, I'm glad that you've stopped judging variants as inferior on the grounds that there is an initial mating threat. I removed my 'Teutonic Chess' from the Capa Wiki page, and from my homepage, because I think that this all is rather silly. Like I say on my homepage: 'It might seem superfluous to give it a new proper name when it is only a rearrangement of the initial position, but this is what people do.' Please don't insert the variant again. Even in a chess variants community there must be some limits to silliness. /Mats
When Carrera's was invented, Shakespeare was still writing plays and Newton was not yet born(1642). M. Winther writes, 'It is advantageous to the opponent should White threaten mate in the opening,' in Teutonic Chess, a new array of Carrera's Chess. There's hardly a large Chess without conceivable Fool's Mate in three, call it a threat or not. For example, Falcon Chess 8x10. There, if White moves Ni1-h3, then -i5, it threatens checkmate on the third move with the third move of that self-same Knight. However, Black's simple reply Ni8-j6 stops the attack and faces White with fork-mate threat in reverse, worsened by the i1-Knight's not being in place any more to thwart. So, exactly the same words of Winther apply, 'It is advantageous to the opponent...'
I don't want to get in to an extended discussion about whether a first move mating threat really makes a given variant worse. I feel it often times does, and, should I point out, Capa seems to have agreed since he changed the initial array of Capa chess from RNBAQKMBNR (1st move mating threat) to RNABQKBMNR (no 1st move mating threat). Speaking of first move mating threats, it seems the Sage (Camel + Bishop) is a little too powerful for an 8x10 board. All 12 sage 8x10 opening setups that I proposed suffer from white being able to threaten mate as his first move. It's a little more difficult to come up with an opening setup where both sides have a pair of sages, but white can not threaten mate on the first move. Here is one such setup:
SRNSQKBNRBHowever, I think Sage chess works better on a 10x10 board. One possible 10x10 opening setup is:
PPPPPPPPPP .RNBQKBNR. S........SWhere '.' is an empty square, and 'S' is Camel (colorbound 1,3 leaper) + Bishop.
And yes, Sage chess also works very nicely if we replace the queen by the Marshall (Rook + Knight).
Again, these are just proposed ideas. I'm not formalizing a variant yet. I'm waiting to see if Greg can add the Sage to ChessV. I also need to study the opening in Schoolbook more. :)
There's a bug difference between a checkmate THREAT, and a Fool's Mate. By definition, a Threat is : 'if you don't react accordingly, you're lost'. In RNBAQKMBNR , after 1.Mh3, which threatens mate, black is FORCED to react. There are many ways, like moving a pawn around the King, which is absurd; or advancing the King's bishop's pawn, which hardly a developing move; or by 1.. Nh6 which gives white a very early pin, or 1..Mh6 which leads to a very early exchange of Marshalls. In Falcon Chess and Omega Chess, the threatened mate is a mate in 3, which is less forcing than a mate in 2. It's easily refutable by very natural developing moves that don't offend the sense of a chess player. In chess, there's the famous Scholar's mate, which actually, with white playing it, probably gives a weak position for white. While white moves his queen around, black is developing, leading to a (=+) position. Responding to 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 doesn't offend the sense of the chess player the way the above-mentioned Capa variant does. A Fool's mate is hardly worth discussion at all.
In Falcon Chess we call '1 Ni1-h3; 2 -i5; 3 -h7' Fool's Mate because Queen or Bishop cannot checkmate in three like that with full help of Black. 'Helpmates' are Chess problems, started it says in 1854 by Max Lange in Deutscheschachzeitung, and of course perfected by Sam Loyd 1860 on. Both sides cooperate to checkmate Black. That's what a trivial Foolsmate entails from the opening, called a Helpmate if pieces already developed, but any win in fewer than 6 moves is surely a blunder. CVariantists are already admonished to avoid channeling openings to just few lines, on account of there being no net disadvantage to making mating threat from Move 1, by one (or maybe two)specific moves, in some of the ridiculous or overused initial set-ups and piece mixes ever under consideration.
When I searched-out Opti Chess, I expediently focused-in upon a select set of only 24 CRC variants where the king & queen occupied the center files. 1. Indisputably, the queen is the most valuable piece in the game (after the king). 2. I consider the queen the most capable piece at protecting the king since the chancellor and archbishop can be threatened without reciprocity from a large distance by sliders that move differently. Specifically, the chancellor can be threatened by the bishop and the archbishop can be threatened by the rook. Nonetheless, I was intrigued by your assertion that the 2 other composite pieces (chancellor and archbishop) are worthy escorts for the king. So, I have been examining your select set of 72 CRC variants for a few days now. Using more stringent criteria, I determined all 24 CRC variants centered by the king & archbishop to have a minor fault due to the impossibility of placing BOTH the queen and the chancellor on opposite-colored spaces than the archbishop for balance. So, I felt no need to examine them in further detail. The reasons? 1. Composite pieces containing color-bound bishops (i.e., the queen & archbishop) should be on opposite (light-dark) spaces for balance. 2. Composite pieces containing color-changing knights (i.e., the chancellor & archbishop) should be on opposite (light-dark) spaces for balance. This left me with a select set of only 48 CRC variants (24 king & queen centered and 24 king & chancellor centered) that needed to be explored in detail- half of which I had examined long ago. Accordingly, I created a *.zrf to chart my results visually and when finished, conveniently share with others: Select CRC Analysis Tool http://www.symmetryperfect.com/shots/crc I hope you find it interesting.
Select CRC Analysis Tool http://www.symmetryperfect.com/shots/crc The documentation has been expanded and revised so that the Zillions Of Games program is no longer needed to view all of this information in detail. Description http://www.symmetryperfect.com/shots/crc/descript.pdf Faults http://www.symmetryperfect.com/shots/crc/faults.pdf Ratings http://www.symmetryperfect.com/shots/crc/ratings.pdf Report http://www.symmetryperfect.com/shots/crc/report.pdf Summary- 48 Games http://www.symmetryperfect.com/shots/crc/summary.pdf Presentation- 48 Games http://www.symmetryperfect.com/shots/crc/48-games.pdf
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- All of the opening setups have the king and a powerful (R+N,B+N, or Queen) piece in the center files
- All of the proposed opening setups are symmetrical with the rooks, knights, and bishops
- All of the proposed opening setups have the rooks either in the corners, or one file closer to the center than the corners.
As it turns out, there are only 72 possible Capablanca opening setups that follow all of the above rules. Of these 72 opening setups, I find that only 15 have been formally proposed as starting setups: All of these, should I note, are perfectly playable, with the exception of Capa 1, and all of these have not had their openings explored nearly enough. Doing some slightly creative math, that leaves us with 56 possible starting setups. Here are some interesting ones, with names that I propose for them: Here are three openings setups that are unplayable: Now, if instead of a R+N and B+N piece, we add two colorbound Camel + Bishop (Sage) pieces, and have an 8x10 board, we have 36,000 total possible opening setups (Sages and Bishops on opposite colors, queen to the left of the king). Of those, all of 12 meet the requirements above: Of these 12 setups, I find 1, 4, and 12 the most interesting.No, I'm not proposing a new variant. I first need to fully explore the opening in Schoolbook. :)