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Flying Bombers Grand Chess. The usual pieces in Chess are complimented by two Flying Bombers, which eliminate enemy pieces by flying over them! (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Gary Gifford wrote on Fri, Oct 19, 2007 07:37 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

I highly recommend this variant, especially for those who like games that are closer to traditional Fide Chess. The bigger board and cannon-like bomber pieces [with 2 modes of capture] make for a pretty exciting game. What would be a great pawn center in traditional chess can end up being a bombed target in this game... I realized this too late in my game with its inventor and had to fight hard to to escape the clutches of defeat and obtain a draw. Some players don't like draws; but I imagine draws will be rare in this game. The bombers have been modified -- so the ones we used in our game are more powerful than the ones that will be used from now on. The new bombers will make the task of defending from them a bit easier; but I did not mind the bombers the way they were. Great game.

💡📝Charles Daniel wrote on Fri, Oct 19, 2007 06:19 PM UTC:

The 'immediate landing' flying bombers are used for future games, but for this game I have left it the same as the main variation. In any case the choice is up to the player to choose the 'immediate' or 'extended' landing flying bomber.

Gary Gifford wrote on Sat, Oct 20, 2007 07:14 AM UTC:

Charles - Thanks for the clarification. But, I see where I got confused. In your updated rules it states:

Standard Move - first line :

* The flying bomber eliminates an enemy piece by flying over it, and landing on any empty square immediately after it on the same orthogonal line. It cannot fly over or capture a second piece.

So that aspect of 'immediately after it' is what threw me (being different from how we played). But,as I read it now, the 'Optional' variation is the same as the new 'Standard' one. Also, Diagram 3 is for the original bommber. I think the word 'immediately' needs removed from the Standard move.

Optional Variation:

'Immediate Landing' Flying Bomber A more limited version of the bomber can be used, instead. In this case, instead of landing on any square after the enemy piece, the bomber must land immediately on the first empty square after the enemy piece. The special Helicopter landing move remains unchanged.

Once again, I think this is a great variant. Best regards, g

💡📝Charles Daniel wrote on Sun, Oct 21, 2007 03:10 AM UTC:

Thanks - I did not see that..The word immediately was wrong in that context and has been removed.

George Duke wrote on Mon, Oct 22, 2007 03:58 PM UTC:

Average 6 out of 10. Good examples from actual game positions with a sense of having played it. How does the Flying Bomber relate to Wayne Schmittberger's Airplane from year 1981, the apparent precedent for this offshoot? Probably a hundred or a thousand combinations of differing modalities are conceiveable for the general idea of a new 'flying piece'. How? Just by varying the number of empty spaces, and whether both side's pieces may be flown over, and whether following Bishop lines, Rook lines or both; or wilder multiple captures. Besides Rook mentioned, it would be interesting to hear basic comparison to simple Cannon. In general, authors should do this, not leaving comparisons to players or reviewers. What class of piece is this? Not multi-path, not leaper, not rider. For starters, it is a combination piece. As for the second leg of the combination or 'piece within a piece', two or even three distinct modalities are really not so uncommon. Some are found in Havel's Jester Chess (1999), Mad Chess (2000), Insect Chess (2001), and Kung Fu(2001). The standard move(long-range) is piece enough different from Schmittberger's to warrant this write-up, and the second modality(short-range) added may very well be an improvement after that first spin-off. But it is not clear how over-all Flying Bombers would be a betterment of Schmittberger's, whence it came whether or not all unawares. The Flying Bomber is placed more or less where Omega Chess puts new pieces thus preserving a trace of Orthodoxy to the inside. Nothing wrong with this Rules Set, maturely offering variations, but extending somewhat prolix for just the one new piece not so unique. Other CVs of budding prolificist Charles Daniel look better.

💡📝Charles Daniel wrote on Mon, Oct 22, 2007 08:15 PM UTC:

In Airplane Chess, the airplane moves both diagonally and orthogonally. There seems to be no specification or limit to its long reach power - it can jump over pieces in-between to capture the last piece in the line. 
I got the idea from checkers not from airplane chess.
The whole reasoning between my choice for the 'immediate landing' bomber used in Birds and Ninjas rather than the extended landing bomber was that pawns are too vulnerable and easily attacked. It is not clear but I suspected that this *might* increase the number of draws. 
Airplane Chess will most certainly lead to higher number of draws since pawns are  *much* more vulnerable than either version of the flying bomber. The nature of airplane being so difficult to defend against would make game much wilder and very different from Flying Bombers as well. 

The other mode of the flying bomber is essentially the Dabbabah (from which the cannon might have derived) as noted.

H. G. Muller wrote on Thu, Sep 21, 2023 09:15 AM UTC in reply to Charles Daniel from Mon Oct 22 2007 08:15 PM:

The article mentions the Flying Bomber cannot force checkmate on a bare King. I am not sure this is correct. It is true that a pure Locust (mR[cR-mW]) cannot do it, because it cannot check the corner. But it can check on the edge, (parallel to it), and the D component in the helicopeter move can check the corner. This makes all the difference:

A Bomber confines the bare King just like a Rook would, except that it leaves an escape hole at the board edge. But if the bare King would try to make use of that it would voluntarily have to move towards the edge (the attacking King chasing it to stay close), and would immediately get trapped on that edge rank or file. Like

when it was so foolish to attempt crossing the e-file (sealed by a Bomber at e1) at e8. From here you could get 1... Kd8 2. Fh7 Ke8 3. Fa7 {to get the Bomber on the safe side} Kf8 (3... Ke8? 4. Fa8#) 4. Ke6 Kg8 5. Kf6.

After 5... Kh7 we get 6. Fa8 {covers g8} Kh8 (6... Kh6 7. Fh8#) 7. Fb8 Kh7 8. Ff8 {covers h8 with the D move} Kh6 9. Fh8#. So the escape hole h7 offers no solace, but the alternative (that doesn't get you mated immediately) isn't any better: 5... Kh8 6. Kg6 Kg8 7. Fa8+ Kh8 {with a Rook this would have been checkmate, but now the corner offers shelter} 8. Ff8# {but not for long!}.

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