Kevin Pacey wrote on Thu, Oct 26, 2017 02:45 AM UTC:
I'm not really satisfied with the latest version of my Gamma Chess variant idea, either, but tonight I've thought of three other somewhat similar variant ideas that I'll diagram for my own leisurely examination, at least. The first variant idea here I'd guess might have the best chance of being successful; for now I'll dub the idea Hannibal Chess (the name 'Elephant Chess' was taken already). Hannibal Chess is sort of a much simpler version of Courier-Spiel, with a smaller board and less piece types. The pieces all move as in standard chess, except for the Elephant piece type, which leaps 1 or 2 squares diagonally; otherwise the game would be played like Capablanca Chess (I wasn't sure if I should switch the bishops and elephants in the setup, but I kind of like the way it is at the moment [edit: after consideration I switched the B's to the c and h files, as the other way there might often be very early trades involving them] [further edit: I cannot submit this idea because apparently an almost identical form of it (i.e. except for my last-minute switch of the Bs & Es) has already been invented - see my next post in this thread {edit: as Mr. Will pointed out, the Elephants in Hannibal Chess have rather different powers than for the variant in question, so I may yet find a use for Hannibal Chess}] [additional edit: this idea for a variant might not be quite satisfying, as in a wide open endgame an E may be all but clearly inferior to a B, and also there may be relatively few good opening variations, e.g. 1.f4 f6 2.e4 e5 3. f5 might be bad for Black, unless 3...h5 is more or less playable (seemingly similar slightly suspect structures like this for Black can arise in Dutch Defence sidelines in FIDE chess)]):
My second new variant idea would be the same as for in my unedited original post on my Archer (or Gamma) Chess variant idea, except that Berolina pawns would be used instead of standard chess pawns. I'm hoping this just might make the idea feasible, but I'll have to study it more. The Archer would be the old version of the piece type, i.e. a Vao+Guard compound, while the Boat would be the old version of that piece type, i.e. Cannon+Guard, and as before the game would otherwise be played like Capablanca Chess; for now I'll dub this idea Gamma2 Chess [edit: it seems this variant idea may be infeasible as at the least a Boat might still harass a castled king by a lift to the third rank, then using another piece to take a doubled Berolina pawn on the same file as the castled king and the lifted Boat; not only that but e.g. 1.j2-i3 attacks the opposing j-pawn at once. edit2: the arguments vs. this variant idea, in this whole last sentence, seem less likely to be real concerns, in hindsight.]:
The third and final new variant idea of this post is simply Capablanca Chess played with Berolina pawns. Not sure this would be accepted if ever submitted, as countless variants could be created by simply replacing standard chess pawns in existing variants with Berolina pawns, for better or for worse. In the database I've seen just one variant with Berolina pawns so far, besides Berolina Chess itself. Anyway, for now I'd dub this last new variant idea Berolina Capablanca Chess [edit: this variant idea may be infeasible as at the least trying to develop one's Chancellor and/or kingside knight might frequently produce undesirable effects]:
I'm not really satisfied with the latest version of my Gamma Chess variant idea, either, but tonight I've thought of three other somewhat similar variant ideas that I'll diagram for my own leisurely examination, at least. The first variant idea here I'd guess might have the best chance of being successful; for now I'll dub the idea Hannibal Chess (the name 'Elephant Chess' was taken already). Hannibal Chess is sort of a much simpler version of Courier-Spiel, with a smaller board and less piece types. The pieces all move as in standard chess, except for the Elephant piece type, which leaps 1 or 2 squares diagonally; otherwise the game would be played like Capablanca Chess (I wasn't sure if I should switch the bishops and elephants in the setup, but I kind of like the way it is at the moment [edit: after consideration I switched the B's to the c and h files, as the other way there might often be very early trades involving them] [further edit: I cannot submit this idea because apparently an almost identical form of it (i.e. except for my last-minute switch of the Bs & Es) has already been invented - see my next post in this thread {edit: as Mr. Will pointed out, the Elephants in Hannibal Chess have rather different powers than for the variant in question, so I may yet find a use for Hannibal Chess}] [additional edit: this idea for a variant might not be quite satisfying, as in a wide open endgame an E may be all but clearly inferior to a B, and also there may be relatively few good opening variations, e.g. 1.f4 f6 2.e4 e5 3. f5 might be bad for Black, unless 3...h5 is more or less playable (seemingly similar slightly suspect structures like this for Black can arise in Dutch Defence sidelines in FIDE chess)]):
My second new variant idea would be the same as for in my unedited original post on my Archer (or Gamma) Chess variant idea, except that Berolina pawns would be used instead of standard chess pawns. I'm hoping this just might make the idea feasible, but I'll have to study it more. The Archer would be the old version of the piece type, i.e. a Vao+Guard compound, while the Boat would be the old version of that piece type, i.e. Cannon+Guard, and as before the game would otherwise be played like Capablanca Chess; for now I'll dub this idea Gamma2 Chess [edit: it seems this variant idea may be infeasible as at the least a Boat might still harass a castled king by a lift to the third rank, then using another piece to take a doubled Berolina pawn on the same file as the castled king and the lifted Boat; not only that but e.g. 1.j2-i3 attacks the opposing j-pawn at once. edit2: the arguments vs. this variant idea, in this whole last sentence, seem less likely to be real concerns, in hindsight.]:
The third and final new variant idea of this post is simply Capablanca Chess played with Berolina pawns. Not sure this would be accepted if ever submitted, as countless variants could be created by simply replacing standard chess pawns in existing variants with Berolina pawns, for better or for worse. In the database I've seen just one variant with Berolina pawns so far, besides Berolina Chess itself. Anyway, for now I'd dub this last new variant idea Berolina Capablanca Chess [edit: this variant idea may be infeasible as at the least trying to develop one's Chancellor and/or kingside knight might frequently produce undesirable effects]:
Berolina Pawn:
Archer:
Ship: