Sam Trenholme wrote on Fri, Aug 31, 2007 09:18 PM UTC:
I've updated the Wiki page to improve its formatting. My next project: How much are each of these 31 atoms worth; naturally, this will be a rough guess but good enough so people playing a short-range chess variant will have some idea what to do.
As an aside, the most successful are ones where we don't even known who invented the variant. FIDE chess was invented somewhere in Italy or Spain between 1400 and 1500; we can't place it more closely than that. We don't know who invented modern Shogi nor Chinese chess. And, Bughouse chess, which is the only chess variant I have actually seen other people play over the board [1], is also a variant where we do not know who invented it or where.
Interesting thought: The most successful chess variants were invented by people who did not care if they would become rich or famous with their variant; they just wanted to have some fun with the chess pieces. Something to think about.
- Sam
[1] I myself have occasionally played a variant with a FIDE board, such as Berolina pawn chess or 'Knights move as Squirrels' chess.
As an aside, the most successful are ones where we don't even known who invented the variant. FIDE chess was invented somewhere in Italy or Spain between 1400 and 1500; we can't place it more closely than that. We don't know who invented modern Shogi nor Chinese chess. And, Bughouse chess, which is the only chess variant I have actually seen other people play over the board [1], is also a variant where we do not know who invented it or where.
Interesting thought: The most successful chess variants were invented by people who did not care if they would become rich or famous with their variant; they just wanted to have some fun with the chess pieces. Something to think about.
- Sam
[1] I myself have occasionally played a variant with a FIDE board, such as Berolina pawn chess or 'Knights move as Squirrels' chess.