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Almost chess. One queen has combined rook and knight moves. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Matthew Paul wrote on Thu, Aug 19, 2004 10:15 AM UTC:

I think the diagrams are wrong. The Queen's (Marshall's) Knight and Bishop are switched. I don't believe this was the intention, as only the queen is changed.

Derek Nalls wrote on Sun, Feb 13, 2005 05:52 PM UTC:

[Comment voluntarily deleted.]

George Duke wrote on Wed, Oct 3, 2007 04:16 PM UTC:

In 1994 David Pritchard 'ECV' (Introduction) and in 1995 Ralph Betza email(whether Betza first thought of it or not), Almost Chess is 'radical'. Clearly, we are generally talking two-track about new rules sets. One of our tracks is standard mad-Queen FIDE replacements: Black Ghost, Fischer Random, 'bring back free castling' and a hundred, or even five hundred, others. Probably the 'Car-Caps' belong with this first group even though requiring 8x10. The second track is Chess Variant free-form with anywhere from 10,000 to some countless 10 to the 50th or 100th forms. More interesting right here is 'Sort of Almost Chess', a different armies variate with only one of the Queens as Marshall(RN). That would follow reviewed-lately Black Ghost in creating more-than-usual asymmetry. Presumably, from the brief exchange, RBetza invented SoAC in 1994.

Joe Joyce wrote on Wed, Oct 3, 2007 06:34 PM UTC:

It is interesting that Betza states the Marshall is worth the same as the queen, but when there's only one Marshall on the board, it goes to white. With the Marshall actually being worth fractionally less that the queen, does this arrangement eliminate white's first move advantage? Conversely, if black is the only one to have the Marshall, how does this affect the win-lose ratio? It seems on first glance that white would gain a greater advantage, for knowing the opening lines with a queen, and black would need to figure out a new opening. Does such a result mean the queen is better than the Marshall, or much of anything?

Gary Gifford wrote on Wed, Oct 3, 2007 10:34 PM UTC:

I agree with Matthew Paul's 2004 comment. He stated, 'I think the diagrams are wrong....' Black has two dark-squared bishops and White has two light-squared ones. If it was supposed to be that way I imagine they would have discussed that in the rules.

Ben Reiniger wrote on Thu, Aug 2, 2018 11:34 PM UTC:

I came across this page and the comments about initial setup. I agree, and have updated the images. While I was at it, I changed the first image to use the Diagram Designer. (I left the second; I guess I have a soft spot for those ffen->diagram scripts.)

For the record, the old diagrams put bishops on file b rather than c. It may be worth mentioning, that setup does guard the vulnerable c pawns, so it might be a worthwhile alternative setup, if same-color bishops don't bother you or if you adopt a bishop conversion rule.

🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Fri, Aug 3, 2018 12:00 AM UTC:

I plan on removing the scripts for creating FFEN diagrams once they are all converted to single images with the Diagram Designer. I have already removed the scripts for FFEN Xiangqi diagrams.

David Paulowich wrote on Sat, Feb 25, 2023 09:06 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Sort of Almost Chess - with a White Chancellor and a Black Queen - is kind of the best chess game ever invented on less than 81 squares. Skipping the usual long speech about making opening books obsolete and adding new tactics, I will simply state that the dreaded First Move Advantage is completely cancelled. Possibly "more than cancelled" - computer testing may prove interesting.

In the near future I will be promoting this variant to join the list of Featured Games. Maybe we could give Sort Of Almost Chess a more interesting name, like Carrera's Revenge?

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