Greg Strong wrote on Wed, Mar 7, 2018 06:29 AM UTC:
I think it is important to have a well-maintained list of 'recognized variants'. This is not the same as a 'favorite'.
I completely agree. The "favorites" is a useful feature, and a great addition, but in my mind is something rather different than an official list of Recognized Variants, curated by the editoral staff, with the advice and concent of the members. The favorites list is more point-in-time. The number of participants of this website actively marking things as favorites is limited; the number of people who will go back and un-mark even moreso. The "most popular on game courier" is also a great feature, but again something different. I'm happy with the progress we are making in giving our users various metrics to help explore the universe of chess variants and cull out the hundreds of unremarked upon variants. I have some ideas about how we can further that process as well. But I think, for the forseeable future, the Recognized Variants list will still fill a unique role. Although it has not been updated for a long time, looking at it now as an editor and chess variant enthusiast, I still think it's pretty darn good, and I don't think you'll find a better short-list of variants with which to explore this space anywhere. To me, this demonstrates its utility.
In light of recent comments, though, there are a couple of omitions. I didn't realise that neither Circular Chess nor Byzantine Chess were listed until Kevin Pacey mentioned it. I had recently noticed Chu Shogi because of H. G. Muller's page submission and Game Courier activity, but never noticed that oversight before. And Kevin also mentioned Janus Chess. That is also an oversight as well.
There are, I'm sure, other games that could be included, and maybe some that should be removed. But I don't think we're yet in the place for a formal process on this. So, for now, I would propose that we add the following three items: Chu Shogi, in the Vintage category, and Circular Chess and Janus Chess in the Popular category. If any member of the community feels that one of these additions is not justified, please reply. Otherwise, in a week and a half, if no objection is raised, I will add them.
I completely agree. The "favorites" is a useful feature, and a great addition, but in my mind is something rather different than an official list of Recognized Variants, curated by the editoral staff, with the advice and concent of the members. The favorites list is more point-in-time. The number of participants of this website actively marking things as favorites is limited; the number of people who will go back and un-mark even moreso. The "most popular on game courier" is also a great feature, but again something different. I'm happy with the progress we are making in giving our users various metrics to help explore the universe of chess variants and cull out the hundreds of unremarked upon variants. I have some ideas about how we can further that process as well. But I think, for the forseeable future, the Recognized Variants list will still fill a unique role. Although it has not been updated for a long time, looking at it now as an editor and chess variant enthusiast, I still think it's pretty darn good, and I don't think you'll find a better short-list of variants with which to explore this space anywhere. To me, this demonstrates its utility.
In light of recent comments, though, there are a couple of omitions. I didn't realise that neither Circular Chess nor Byzantine Chess were listed until Kevin Pacey mentioned it. I had recently noticed Chu Shogi because of H. G. Muller's page submission and Game Courier activity, but never noticed that oversight before. And Kevin also mentioned Janus Chess. That is also an oversight as well.
There are, I'm sure, other games that could be included, and maybe some that should be removed. But I don't think we're yet in the place for a formal process on this. So, for now, I would propose that we add the following three items: Chu Shogi, in the Vintage category, and Circular Chess and Janus Chess in the Popular category. If any member of the community feels that one of these additions is not justified, please reply. Otherwise, in a week and a half, if no objection is raised, I will add them.