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Ramayana Chess. Chess variant inspired by the Ramayana epic. (Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
George Duke wrote on Fri, Feb 27, 2009 07:51 PM UTC:
So there is the three-way correspondence: Buddha : Rook = Bison : Falcon = Rakshasa : Bishop. What about Knight? Buddha : Rook = Knight : (Mao+Moa). Why do we prefer by far the left term only in case of Knight? The answer has several parts for follow-up and has to do with the Pawns. Staying with the artistic CV for now, the main Ramayana board is 64 squares. In earlier Melee and later Ender's, whoever occupies the opposite one-square castle or gate wins, but Ramayana provides only for strengthening Rajah to (Alfil plus King) there instead, and has usual checkmate (Melee too has its capture-mate alternate win condition). Can Rajah get to the Archipelago to escape trouble? Only once promoted and that by way of his Alfil jump once acquired. Same for the other seven -- without having promotion -- who all have at least one leap component built into their move definition suitable for island hopping. Each piece-type is different behind the Untouchables, eight of them counting Rajah-King. One more, the evil brilliant Rakshasa starts in the Indic Ocean. Okay, it works, make your first move, Yellow. It can be any of Pawn/Untouchable, or Giraffe, or Shikari, but it cannot be Rakshasa until there is a piece adjacent: and Rakshasa is the only ''neutral'' belonging to both. Two Rakshasas owned jointly are like Blue Queen's belonging to the two sides at once. Unlike Rakshasa, however, the Blue Queen is moved mandatorily each turn. Any one of these artworks in and of themselves would take a lifetime to appreciate the beauty of them: Ramayana, Melee, Ender's, Maxima, Bombalot, Thronschach, Blue Queen.