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Game Reviews by RobertoLavieri

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Pocket Mutation Chess. Take one of your pieces off the board, maybe change it, keep it in reserve, and drop it on the board later. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Tue, May 10, 2005 12:27 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Yes, this game is excellent, as usual Mike Nelson´s standards as games designer. I have to make an (perhaps unexpected) appretiation: I think this game, at high level of play, is not easy for a victory. Played by 'Masters', this game may be at least as drawish than FIDE-Chess. The reason is because promotions don´t add much power, and material advantage is less decisive than in Chess. In Chess, the potential danger of material advantage is its convertibility in Pawns, which can poromote to Queens or other valious pieces if necessary. In PMC, material convertibility is not as strong, and its decisiveness is less clear or slower. But Mastering this game must be much more difficult than mastering Chess, this game is much more rich in possibilities.

Odin's Rune Chess. A game inspired by Carl Jung's concept of synchronicity, runes, and Nordic Mythology. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Sun, May 8, 2005 12:45 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Is there a ZRF available for this game?. I think Mike Nelson was doing some related work, but I don`t know if it is finished.

Countdown. Ten player game with sf-theme. (10x(), Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Sat, May 7, 2005 03:49 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Another very original idea. I have to play it to see the game play details.

Hexa Decimal. Larger hexagonal chess variant. (11x11, Cells: 90) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Sat, May 7, 2005 03:44 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Well, this game is at least very original and it seeems really interesting at first view. I`m anxious to see the ZRF and game example, to take a better idea. Good job, Joost.

Yagbap. A decimal Chess/Amazons hybrid. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Sun, May 1, 2005 10:55 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
Interesting. I like it. I have not tried this game yet, so the 'Good' rating may vary to 'Excellent'. It seems to be more difficult to play well than Amazons or Chess, at least at first view.

Caïssa Britannia. British themed variant with Lions, Unicorns, Dragons, Anglican Bishops, and a royal Queen. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Tue, Apr 19, 2005 06:15 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
'Since this game is British in theme, the Bishops are Anglican instead of Catholic. Unlike the Catholic Bishops, who took a vow to remain on one color, the Anglican Bishops didn't make this vow'. Not of good taste this description of the piece, but, as a related notice, the new Pope is the ultra-conservator Joseph Ratzinger, from Germany.

Pocket Mutation Chess. Take one of your pieces off the board, maybe change it, keep it in reserve, and drop it on the board later. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Tue, Apr 19, 2005 02:46 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
This is a very interesting game, far from easy to play in a good manner.
Material advantage should be good, but it is much less important than in
FIDE-Chess. Defensive schemes can be good for a team in a slight
disdvantage, because the superior team, if wants a victory, must attack,
and always some weaknesses can appear, because pieces used in attacks
can´t defend weak positions in many cases. The superior team can´t
construct easely the victory positionally step by step as in FIDE-Chess.
In Chess, the main mennace is the convertibility of the advantage in Pawns
which can promote to Queens, here it is not the case, promotions add a bit
more power, but not enough for a victory in many cases. Openings must be
played carefully, conversions to Nightriders can cause serious damages to
the enemy if he plays with some ingenuity about these pieces. isolated
pieces are not good, and unprotected Kings are worse. Positions must
change dinamically and mantaining reasonable solid structures, don´t stay
with the same structure and pieces types all the time, some structures are
more sensitive to some piece types, and other structures to other pieces.
Every player must try to cover his weak points before attacks, or
counter-attacks can be devasting... I have launched the idea of redefining
the Super Cardinal as a class 6 piece, but it seems there is not consense.
This is not only the most powerful piece in its class, but its power is
almost the same as the class 6 Super-Chancellor. Super-Cardinals can cause
demolishing effects in many ends, due the usual sparsity of the pieces, and
a Queen is not equally comparable with it, because it is not only the
mobility in consideration, but the potential attacks against the enemy
King, considering that this piece can be dropped. Classes 7 and 8 seems to
be unnecessary, in my opinion. I know that many players are not gained with
the idea of re-defining the classes, but I want hear more opinions about
it.

Kriegspiel. With help of a referee, two players move without knowing the moves of the opponent. (3x(8x8), Cells: 192) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Sat, Apr 2, 2005 01:24 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Top Grand-Masters are playing a Kriegspel Tournament in Amber!!!.
Bareev beats Anand 2-0 in first round Kriegspiel, today... He may have
finished at the bottom of the table in the Amber Blindfold and Rapid
tournament, but Russian GM Evgeny Bareev started with a stunning 2-0
victory over Vishy Anand in the Kriegspiel section which started today in
Monaco. He and Peter Leko (2-0 against Svidler) are expected to dominate.
Bareev is a Kriegspel specialist, and for Anand this is his first contact
with this variant. Gelfand is also playing Kriegspel at his first time,
but he has shown a natural talent, he beated Topalov in the first round,
but blundered in the second after consolidate a demolishing position
against his rival. Almost all the rest of players have played Kriegspel at
least once!.

Decima. Variant on 10 by 10 board where you win when you have 10 points on the 10th row. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Sat, Apr 2, 2005 01:02 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
This game is really interesting. it should be good a Preset in Game Courier.

Whale Shogi. Shogi variant. (6x6, Cells: 36) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Fri, Apr 1, 2005 12:56 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
Yes, it can be good in 7x7, and Grey Whale Calf is a possibility, but adding a bit more power can be tested too, by example: allowing a two-squares-sliding forward movement for this piece. Some tests are needed. In the future, if I have some free time, I´ll try a ZRF, to see.

Ladder Shogi. Shogi variant on 10 by 10 board where pieces climb the social ladder by multiple promotions. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Wed, Mar 9, 2005 01:32 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
I haave tried another test game, and I´m understanding it better. Interesting and somewhat intriging. Burakumin is a strange piece in this game, it is more an obstacle for both bands than a piece for adding activity. The game is extremely positional, and not very easy to play in a good manner, I insist, it would be better with less piece types. Some refinements should be good, but the game, as is, is interesting enough. I encourage another people to try it. Mason: Have you played your game?. Tell us about your experieces with it. You are a good designer, go ahead!.

Roberto Lavieri wrote on Mon, Mar 7, 2005 02:45 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
Well, I have tried a brief test using hand-made paper pieces in a 10x10 board. My impression is that the game is playable, although complicated and, definitely, different. There is not great clarity in the game, at least this is my impression, and it is possible there are too many pieces, I would simplify it. Instead of 1´s. 2´s, etc, I would use only one kind of 'Pawns', perhaps two, but not more, Merchant and Craftsman seeem to be sufficient. Burakumin is not a bad piece, it is interesting in the game, but it is the need of refine a bit the rules of movement, re-thinking the piece once the author make some tests until convinced about what he really wants to see and feel in the game play. This game needs some mastery to be played in a good manner, but it is not necessarily a bad characteristic, it is only a characteristic of the game, being different and relatively complex. Someone can try to code a ZRF, me included, once clarified enterely the game in base of the author´s entire satisfaction with it, but there are some complexities in the implementation, as I can see.

Roberto Lavieri wrote on Sun, Mar 6, 2005 12:16 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
It seems to be interesting. I have a question: Can the Burakumin CAPTURE a
piece ending on a square adjacent to other piece? . If not, I don`t
understand well the other untouchability rule. This is the most strange
piece in this game, and it is the need of some clarification about it. I
wonder if the game play is better or not with this piece in scene, some
tests are needed, but, by now, I like the fundamental ideas behind this
game, as the promotion rules.

10 Minute Melee. Score as many points during 10 minutes of time with regular chessset. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Sun, Mar 6, 2005 11:57 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
Really nice!, the only objection is about the TEN minutes rule (well, I know this is a 'ten' game for the contest), because this game should be better allowing a bit more amount of time, say 30 minutes at least. I`ll play a quick test this morning to see, I suppose it is going to be funny.

Decima. Variant on 10 by 10 board where you win when you have 10 points on the 10th row. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Sun, Mar 6, 2005 11:32 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I have tested it playing a couple of games against Zillions, and the game play is very nice, strategy and tactics are -sui generis- , adapted to the rules of this excellent game.

Falcon Chess. Game on an 8x10 board with a new piece: The Falcon. (10x8, Cells: 80) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Wed, Mar 2, 2005 12:17 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
Be honest, this game is at least good (in my opinion, it is very good). I don´t rate it 'excellent' because there is a little detail that is not so easy to solve, and it is a relative weakness in the setup in the c-Pawn and in the h-Pawn. It is also a bit incomodious the first moves of the Bishops, because the player must take some care on the own Rooks and a possible attack by the opposite Bishops. The possible solution I thought, augmenting the power of Bishops allowing the one-step orthogonal movement for Bishops, may alter the good balance and harmony you can see in the game play, powered Bishops are much more valious than a Knight, and the game play itself may change significatively, although I don´t know, I have not tested it. On other hand, Falcon movement is nice and it seems well adapted to this game. My impression is that this is not a 'random' game, but a well thought and tested game, and possible improvements are not obvious.

Odin's Rune Chess. A game inspired by Carl Jung's concept of synchronicity, runes, and Nordic Mythology. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Mon, Feb 28, 2005 07:11 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Beautiful!. I have to play a test game to take a better idea. Is it going to be a ZRF available?. If not, I can try codifying it, but I´ll need a couple of weeks, I have some other things to do at first.

Wildeursaian Qi. Variant on 10 by 10 board combining ideas of several existing variants. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Thu, Feb 24, 2005 09:10 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
Looks interesting, but King is e1, Gnu in f2 seems to be a better initial setup.

Suffocation Chess. FIDE setup with new capture. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Tue, Feb 8, 2005 03:23 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
Nice and interesting variant!. The only observation: In 'dense' games, it is always difficult to visualize all threatened squares in a good manner, making somwhat difficult the calculations. But the game play is incredibly rich. Try it and see!.

Jumping Chess. Pieces capture by jumping. Board has extra edge squares making it 10x10. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Mon, Jan 24, 2005 11:30 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
Jumping Chess is not a bad game, the game play is very interesting, although it is undoubtely biased to defensive schemes if you want to have good chances of winning, but it is very strategic, perhaps much more than FIDE-Chess. If a player tries to play it using Michael Tal´s or Bobby Fischer´s styles, it is very possible it is going to be in disadvantage quickly. This game must be played a-la- Tigran Petrossian, for better possibilities.

XYMYX. Players make their moves at the same time. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Sat, Jan 15, 2005 07:06 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
Well, I`m not going to add news to the controversy about the first. This game, and Syncronous Chess are both very interesting and somewhat strange in its fundamental essence, i.e. syncrony, but some rules need to be precisely clarified. In XYMYX, castling and Pawn captures can show some bizarre situations in which it is not clear the correct move. Promotions and Checking the King too. It should be good an exhaustive explanation on the exact rules that applies in such rare cases.

Warrior Chess. Game where pieces earn money so that you can buy Warriors and weapons to arm them with. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Thu, Jan 13, 2005 02:35 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
Interesting ideas

Marseillais Chess. Move twice per turn. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Thu, Dec 2, 2004 07:51 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
Greg, you are right, all pieces have rifle capture capabilities, but much more than this, power of pieces is not only extraordinary, it is augmented by the fact that you can move not only the same piece twice, but two consecutive moves with different pieces too. On an empty board, Queen and Rooks can reach ALL the rest of the squares (63!) from any initial position. Ends are a madness, and for this reason the games finish very soon, in very rare cases you can play a game which finishes in more than 25 moves!

Roberto Lavieri wrote on Thu, Dec 2, 2004 02:32 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
This game is not so easy to play in the opening!, tactics are enterely different than in FIDE-Chess, and it is very easy lose material if you try to develop fast your pieces looking for suposed 'positional advantage' that, in the majority of the cases, it is not advantage of any class, much times you fall in exposed positions, it seems better play it in a somewhat conservative way, being very careful with the support to all your major pieces in play. If you take not care, you can be checkmated very soon. The average number of moves to finish a game can be of no more than 20 moves. this game is extremely dynamic, and it must be balanced with the usual rule: in the first move, White plays only one move. If not, White advantage is notorious in the opening. Surprisingly, e2-e4 does not seem to be the best first move in this game.

Fugue. Based on Ultima and Rococo this game has pieces that capture in unusual ways. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Roberto Lavieri wrote on Fri, Nov 12, 2004 09:25 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Michael:
What happened with a PRESET in Courier for this nice game?. 
Can anybody help?

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