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Game Reviews (and other rated comments on Game pages)

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Ultima. Game where each type of piece has a different capturing ability. Also called Baroque. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jesse Plymale wrote on Wed, May 1, 2002 05:38 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
<p>Thanks for your good treatment of Ultima. It seems like this game is a common assignment for computer science students in AI classes. My programming class just had to make a 'Baroque Chess' program, and I put mine on my web page as an applet, just in case you want to link to it.</p> <p><a href='http://people.tamu.edu/~jwp2654'>http://people.tamu.edu/~jwp2654</a></p> <p>Thanks again for the help your site offered in designing the program. BTW, I did cite your website in my program report. :-)</p> <p> Jesse Plymale <br> [email protected] <br> http://people.tamu.edu/~jwp2654/ </p>

3D Chess, a Different Way of Looking at It. A scheme for a geometric translation of 2d piece moves into 3d.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Howe wrote on Wed, May 1, 2002 09:02 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
This is an interesting idea. Here's a logical extension of it: <p>In 2d chess (thinking in the abstract), pieces are 0 dimensional (ie. points) that move in a line (1 dimensional movement). <p>Perhaps in 3d chess, pieces could be 1 dimensional (ie. line segments) that move (as suggested) in a 2 dimensional plane. Their direction of movement would be constant, it would simply be their area of movement that would cover a two dimensions. <p>In the diagram below, the 3d Rook piece at [a1,d1] could move to [a2,d2] or [a3,d3]. It would be blocked by the 3d Bishop piece at [c4,d4]. It could, however move to [a1,d1] on the next level up, assuming no friendly pieces are blocking it. However for the 3d Rook to move to the other half of the board (ie. files e-h) it might have to rotate. Or then again, perhaps in that direction it only covers a single rank instead of a plane. <pre> +---+---+---+---+ | | | | | 6 +---+---+---+---+ | | | | | 5 +---+---+---+---+ | | |---B---| 4 +---+---+---+---+ | | | | | 3 +---+---+---+---+ | | | | | 2 +---+---+---+---+ |-------R-------| 1 +---+---+---+---+ a b c d </pre>

Chess. The rules of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
ian wrote on Fri, May 3, 2002 04:07 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

Tandem Chess. 4 player variant where pieces taken from your opponent are given to your partner. (2x(8x8), Cells: 128) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Theycontrolus wrote on Fri, May 3, 2002 06:54 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
In Spain is called 'vicio' that mean vicious because when you start to play you can´t give up. If you need any other information about can look for me in ICC

Warp Point Chess. Knights are replaced by Warp Points that other pieces can move between. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Dane Hoffstadt wrote on Fri, May 3, 2002 09:50 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Very well explained rules! I played it with a good friend of mine and can't get over how the pieces move through the warps. Fun!

Chess. The rules of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jake Steinberg wrote on Sat, May 4, 2002 01:58 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Thanks i didn't know which way the king could move thank you so much

Jake Hodgetts wrote on Sat, May 4, 2002 06:42 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I think you should be able to have a mini game of chess

ICBM Chess. I(inter)-C(hess)B(oard) M(issle) Chess, where you can throw a piece to capture as well as make normal moves. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Stephen Cieply wrote on Mon, May 6, 2002 12:58 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Must have noted my play :)

Chaturanga. The first known variant of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Anonymous wrote on Tue, May 7, 2002 02:14 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
give more history?

Invasion. A military inspired Chess variant played on an 84-squares board. (10x10, Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
TW wrote on Tue, May 7, 2002 02:15 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
I wanted something in between Poor and Good here actually. I like the game
and the movement but I would have liked a bigger board. This feels more
like a tabletop wargame then a chessvariant but I guess that it's a
chessvariant in the aspect that pieces have preset moves on a squared board
(something not all chessvariants follow even ;)
I watched Zillions play this game for a while and realised that the
powerful strategies behind a great played game is way above normal chess.
It is a bit complicated for my mind and a bit defensive for my taste.
Still, the idea is wonderful and I would love to see it come back with a
bigger board variant *smile* This is a game I want to have at the table at
home to play with my friends rather then playing it over the net or with
the computer. Adding two more players would also increase the fun level
since tactics would increase and you could help eachother out, if rules
allowed it....I'm now changing from poor to good actually *smile*

Chaturanga. The first known variant of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Anonymous wrote on Wed, Mar 20, 2002 12:00 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

Anonymous wrote on Mon, Mar 11, 2002 12:00 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
the page gives good information but when you show the games you sould be aloud to play a mini version of the game and see if it is intresting because from what i read i thought these games look fun and i would like to play a number of them before i download it. thanks for you time.

Anonymous wrote on Tue, Feb 12, 2002 12:00 AM UTC:Poor ★
this is completely in error, chataranga is a four player game pre-dating crist, you dopes.

Anonymous wrote on Thu, Aug 23, 2001 12:00 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

Anonymous wrote on Tue, Mar 13, 2001 12:00 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Great! I have to try Chaturanga with my friends. Very interesting!

Anonymous wrote on Wed, Dec 6, 2000 12:00 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
At least pople are agreeing that India had some form of chess from the earliest of times Thanx for the info.

Anonymous wrote on Thu, Nov 2, 2000 12:00 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Holly crap I've never been to a site with so much info on chess....i mean wow this is a really good site and im a huge chess fan

Anonymous wrote on Tue, Sep 26, 2000 12:00 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
This site is o.k. but you should let people play chess on it!

The One Ring. White wants to get the Ring to the far side and destroy it. (5x8, Cells: 42) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Tomas Forsman wrote on Tue, May 7, 2002 11:57 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I must say that I have fell in love with this game. You say in your
description that you don't like the setup of the pieces but I enjoy them
very much.
The consept of the one ring is wonderful and really adds to the game. I am
just about to download the bigger version as well and find out why you like
that even more then the smaller one.

Congrats on a wonderful variant.

Tomas Forsman

The Fellowship of the Ring. White may win by carrying a 'ring' to the other side of the board. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Tomas Forsman wrote on Wed, May 8, 2002 12:15 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Just as I loved the smaller version I fell in love with the bigger one.
I have just watched the white side crush the black side again. I'm using a
slightly slower computer then you (450 Mhz) wich might indicate that the
black has some advantage but has to think things through more.
Anyways, I love this game very much and I am very greatful that you
invented it.
I enjoy variants that doesn't change to much on the original rules. Just
enough to make it interesting.
Simple changes are often more enginous, this one certenly were.

With regards

Tomas Forsman

Ruddigore Chess. Chessgi variant where you can capture your own pieces, and every other turn you must capture or sacrifice a piece. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Thu, May 9, 2002 04:55 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Hey! I'm as innocent as a kitten! I wasn't even there! And if I was there, I didn't do it! And if I did it, I was lead astray by evil men!

Zelig Chess. Game where the power of the pieces varies based on their position. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jianying Ji wrote on Fri, May 10, 2002 12:33 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
This game is highly remaniscent of Capriccio described by Mark Thompson
at
http://home.flash.net/~markthom/html/capriccio.html. though maybe arguably

better since the goal is better defined.

Ruddigore Chess. Chessgi variant where you can capture your own pieces, and every other turn you must capture or sacrifice a piece. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
gnohmon wrote on Sat, May 11, 2002 02:36 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
The fault is mine but the credit yours. It's easy, and it's fun, to toss
out a 'brilliant' idea for a strange CV in an offhand remark, but to
actually make it work, that can sometimes be hard work. 

One criticism. and one only: Basingstoke. Where is it in the rules? I
suggest that in order to offer a draw one must say 'Basingstoke'.

In the same vein, should one wish to announce check (not required by the
current laws of FIDE Chess), one should say 'Beware! Beware! Beware!'

(((((((((((((( it just occurred to me in a 17th level digression tat the
actor who delivers this line is usually anything but gaunt. ))))...)))

'Inky clouds like funeral shrouds sail over the midnight skies' -- isn't
that some of the finest poetry in musical theater (second only to 'svani'
per sempre un sogno d'amore')? 

Just like the chessboard in my head, I have a record player in my head, and
Ruddigore Chess has moved me to put that platter onto the turntable of my
mind; and for this if nothing else it would deserve an excellent rating. It
is said that one's favorite G-and-S opereta is always the one most recently
attended (exception being perhaps the overperformed but excellent Pirates
-- NYGASP recently gave my lifetime best Pirates, far exceeding DC in
London (and please note: if you know Pirates you gotta see Il
Trovatore!!)).

Listening to Ruddigore again, what a pleasure, and the theme of G-and-S
Chess, well, hey, what's next? I once hitchhiked to Penzance from
Stonehenge, and although of pirates I saw not one there, yet I wait in
breathless anticipation for

Pirates Chess. With different armies, no less. Instead of Bishops, the
Pirates have a Pair of Docs, Doctor Einstein and Doctor Schweitzer (unless
you despise Marxism), the Q is a nursemaid, and Frederick is a semi-neutral
piece who, being the Slave of Duty, can belong to either side according to
the argument most recently presented.

gnohmon wrote on Sat, May 11, 2002 02:40 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Two 'excellents' because i love the way it's written up.

The idea of going back to the source of the play to justify the
alternate-move requirement is excellent as well. Perhaps I should have made
this line a separate comment for 3 'excellent's.

Primitive Chess. Short-range major pieces and no pawns, but a piece like an apprentice for each major piece. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Jianying Ji wrote on Sat, May 11, 2002 09:58 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
Since the major pieces in the back row are weak, it might make sense for
the following variant:

No apprentices, Just the backrow pieces. and have the pieces promote to
full strength when they reach the backrow. With the same object of
checkmating the king.

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