Comments/Ratings for a Single Item
This would seem to be for preset pages that members have made through the new system David Howe set up. This page reads the URL field to get the URL to the preset page, but this does not appear to be the field that the URL is stored in for the member-created pages. David, how can I find the URL for a member-created page from the database?
Jeremy, Since this page just reads the database, any presets added to the site before it's over will be automatically added to the poll. I don't have to do anything extra to make this happen.
I have a special proposal for this tournament.
I propose that Gary Gifford, since he won the last one, should be allowed to sit out as the 'reigning Chess Variants Champion' so to speak, and that this tournament be a qualifying tournament for the chance to play a 'Chess Variants Championship' match against Gary.
I suggest that the challenger (winner of this tournament) and the current champion (Gary Gifford) each select one variant and they play eight games of each, 4 with white and 4 with black. Of course, the compensatory point system shouldn't be used if one of them chooses a game like Balanced Marseillais which takes away the theoretical first move advantage of white. Most variants do not.
The 'Compensatory Point System'discussed here awards 4 points to a win for Black, 3 points for a win with White, 2 points for a draw with black and 1 point for a draw with white. Or perhaps a different point system for the drawing aspect than the one I mention here, such as zero points for a draw.
So what do people think about my idea?
Eric Greenwood's Archabbott Chess has just been added to the list of available games, so if you have already voted, please consider adding this one. I think it is a very good game. Since there are no rules listed, the arch-abbott is a Bishop + Wazir + Dababbah. And the Arrow-looking piece is a Cavalier, a pretty interesting peice. The Cavalier moves one square diagonally, and then slides orthogonally outward (like a Griffon in Grand Accatrix) OR slides orthogonally and then one square diagonally outward. It can never move to an adjacent square, and it has exactly two different paths to any square to which it can move. I will post more about other games later, but I am very pleased at the top vote-getters so far.
I've fixed the label for Shatranj of Troy. The game I would most like to see make it into this tournament is Storm the Ivory Tower. This is my synthesis of Smess and Chinese Chess. It borrows the board, pieces, and setup of Chinese Chess, adding arrows to each space of the board, and modifying the powers of the pieces to be affected by the arrows. It's an improvement on Smess, because it includes more types of pieces. And it is at least an interesting twist on Chinese Chess with much of the same appeal.
Thank you, Fergus, for fixing the label on Shatranj of Troy. I hope more will vote for it now. I admit to prejudice; I think this is a Gary Gifford gem. It takes the concept of openings to a whole new level. That overstuffed Trojan Horse piece feels like having a full candy dispenser in your pocket when you were a kid. [Now, for Jared. ;-) ] The tactical and strategic possibilities are immense. It's a definite chess-player's game. Another game I would like to see in the tournament is Jeremy Good's Royal Pawn Chess. That single change does amazing things to the game, and to my chess instincts at least. The Royal Pawn can literally eat itself to death: a series of sacrifices can force the RP across the board into the opposing army. Opening strategy is turned on its head; what you need is more of a Closing strategy, to wall off and protect the RP. Armies are very self-blocked, and players have to work through the flanks rather than coming up the middle. As for STIT, I didn't originally vote for it, but you convinced me to vote to include it [even though if given a choice I will avoid it, as I am not very good at Chinese Chess]. It's hard to argue with a good, established designer who says: 'This is good'. And I've enjoyed your games before, so... As for the 2 designs of mine that are currently [I think] in, they're the 2 best choices in my opinion. I lean toward the Dabbabah versions over the Rook versions as the games were always intended to be short range, but there are obviously people who prefer the rooks. [And saying this for real is a fantasy come true. Thanks to all the voters.] I assume the specific setup will be similar to last time, in that we will have a choice of games to play within the finalists; the goal being that all players have at least half their games in common. I thought that was excellent last time. Whatever, it's beginning to look interesting.
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