Jeremy Good wrote on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 04:36 AM UTC:
The Can(n)on is similar to the Warlock in that it changes into a somewhat related piece but also has the ability to morph as an option, as a move in itself. Unlike Warlocks, the Can(n)ons change / switch automatically at the end of every move.
In the notes to Jacks and Witches 84, Antoine Fourriere mentions (in a different context) David Howe's delightful Chess on a Longer Board with a Few Pieces Added, which has the changeling pieces, a halfling bishop that changes into a halfling rook at the end of every turn and vice versa. There is no option to change there. It is entirely automatic.
David Howe in his notes to his changeling variant cites John William Brown's Flip Chess which has pieces that can optionally flip back and forth - pawns/berolina pawns, ferzes/knights, rooks/bishops and after being captured can optionally be dropped back in as their flip sides.
I like the idea of a piece that has the option of turning into a completely dissimilar piece. 'Warlock' is a good name for a piece that transmogrifies but the Winther rook/cannon flip piece seems like a conservative implementation of a 'warlock'. A good piece though.
A piece that is somehow compelled to turn into a dissimilar piece - a werewolf piece - is a nice idea too.
Regards and advance happy Halloween!
[Updated: Gary Gifford deserves some mention here too, I think. Another variant with automatic flipping is Gary Gifford's Bishop Knight Morph Factor. I seem to recall some other variants where a piece morphed depending on what color square it rested on, but can't think which ones at the moment...In Gifford's Pillars of Medusa, the Morphs change into the pieces they capture, an idea he takes further in his remote sensing variants...]
[Updated again: See this comment David Paulowich made about his idea for a piece that automatically changes from Rook to Knight to Bishop and back to Rook again (if I understand it correctly). He calls this piece the Rotator and has a mate in three problem at the link above, using the Rotator.]
[Update 3, See Proteus a game where each piece is on a dice on the face of which is a piece, each dice containing a piece for all eight of its sides (Gifford mentions it above Paulowich's comment.). There are other such variants...
The Can(n)on is similar to the Warlock in that it changes into a somewhat related piece but also has the ability to morph as an option, as a move in itself. Unlike Warlocks, the Can(n)ons change / switch automatically at the end of every move.
In the notes to Jacks and Witches 84, Antoine Fourriere mentions (in a different context) David Howe's delightful Chess on a Longer Board with a Few Pieces Added, which has the changeling pieces, a halfling bishop that changes into a halfling rook at the end of every turn and vice versa. There is no option to change there. It is entirely automatic.
David Howe in his notes to his changeling variant cites John William Brown's Flip Chess which has pieces that can optionally flip back and forth - pawns/berolina pawns, ferzes/knights, rooks/bishops and after being captured can optionally be dropped back in as their flip sides.
I like the idea of a piece that has the option of turning into a completely dissimilar piece. 'Warlock' is a good name for a piece that transmogrifies but the Winther rook/cannon flip piece seems like a conservative implementation of a 'warlock'. A good piece though.
A piece that is somehow compelled to turn into a dissimilar piece - a werewolf piece - is a nice idea too.
Regards and advance happy Halloween!
[Updated: Gary Gifford deserves some mention here too, I think. Another variant with automatic flipping is Gary Gifford's Bishop Knight Morph Factor. I seem to recall some other variants where a piece morphed depending on what color square it rested on, but can't think which ones at the moment...In Gifford's Pillars of Medusa, the Morphs change into the pieces they capture, an idea he takes further in his remote sensing variants...]
[Updated again: See this comment David Paulowich made about his idea for a piece that automatically changes from Rook to Knight to Bishop and back to Rook again (if I understand it correctly). He calls this piece the Rotator and has a mate in three problem at the link above, using the Rotator.]
[Update 3, See Proteus a game where each piece is on a dice on the face of which is a piece, each dice containing a piece for all eight of its sides (Gifford mentions it above Paulowich's comment.). There are other such variants...