Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

Maybe Kyoto Shogi?

If Symmetric Chess qualifies, I'll nominate that CV.

It does, and I've added your nomination to the page.

In the meantime, I've been considering Marseillais Chess. I fixed up the sample games to work with Game Courier's new JavaScript-aided way of navigating through the moves of a game, and I think these would be good for drawing attention to what Game Courier can do now.

I'll wait until morning in case our European members, who may be asleep now, want to add some nominations or seconds.

If Symmetric Chess qualifies, I'll nominate that CV.

Among the games that have been seconded, none qualify for being featured. Would someone like to nominate or second some qualified games?

Opulent Lemurian Shatranj has only been programmed as an interactive diagram. It has not been programmed for online correspondence play.

I found the Game Courier preset for OLS here, by the way, with logs for past games here.

I didn't say there wasn't a preset for it. I said it hasn't been programmed for online correspondence play. This preset is unprogrammed.

Opulent Lemurian Shatranj has only been programmed as an interactive diagram. It has not been programmed for online correspondence play.

I found the Game Courier preset for OLS here, by the way, with logs for past games here.

This leaves Ultima, which has now been seconded, as the most eligible game with a nomination and a second. So, I will feature Ultima for January, 2024.

If it’s featured, it should have a banner image:

The problem is that a written description of the rules for Tenjiku Shogi would be so long that it would only be accessible through extensive scrolling.

The Game Courier preset has an illustrated piece-by-piece guide that spans four screens on my HD monitor. But it wastes a lot of space using only two columns when many piece descriptions are short. Using flex or grid, it could fit the information into more columns. In fact, the first screen is mainly pieces that don't promote, and these could be handled more compactly as a group of pieces without promoted versions.

Western players would probably best play with a pictogram representation rather than kanji.

Certainly. I normally play Shogi with the Motif or Symbolic pieces, which use pictographic images from sets for Chess on Shogi wedges. Large Shogi variants like this one would benefit from a set with Alfaerie images on wedges.

The problem is that a written description of the rules for Tenjiku Shogi would be so long that it would only be accessible through extensive scrolling. And it that case having it on the same page is worse than having it on a separate page to which you can easily switch back and forth.

Mind you, I don't want to argue that the Jocly presentation of Tenjiku Shogi cannot be improved. But it is just not in the same class as 8x8 variants with 6 piece types. It has 37 piece types, many with unusual moves (double captures and such). To be of any use an aid for the uninitiated should be a lot more advanced than a conventional cheat sheet.

Western players would probably best play with a pictogram representation rather than kanji. (And the 2d representation in Jocly will have to be fixed to provide that opportunity.) And the Tenjiku article should have an Interactive Diagram that can be switched between several piece representations, including a 2-kanji representation. And perhaps there should be a Jocly 3d representation with mnemonic pieces.

The Jocly page on Cavalier Chess does not have that... Or Grand Cavalier Chess. Or Grotesque Chess. Or Univers Chess

These do all have a written description of the rules, which Tenjiku Shogi does not have. They also have fewer pieces, and they use a more familiar piece design that makes it easier to tell what is what. With a bunch of unfamiliar pieces in Kanji, a western player will normally need an illustrated piece-by-piece guide to the pieces.

My iPad is not letting me copy the rest. But one of the ways of studying the rules of a game is to consult a cheat sheet while playing a computer opponent like the one on Jocly.

The pages for Kyoto Shogi and Paco Shako have no information on online play or any record of past games.

Kyoto Shogi has recorded history of play at least here.

It helps to have a reference on hand that uses the same graphics as the person is playing with. Providing this is a common practice for both Game Courier and other Jocly games, and the article on the game does not do this.

The Jocly page on Cavalier Chess does not have that... Or Grand Cavalier Chess. Or Grotesque Chess. Or Univers Chess...

It might be fine for a modest variant with only one or two regular fairy pieces, such as Capablanca Chess. But it is an illusion that anyone would be able to play a game as complex as Tenjiku Shogi without first thoroughly studying the rules, just by having a 'cheat sheet' at hand.

There is an article on Tenjiku Shogi that describes how the pieces move. What would be the point of duplicating that information?

It helps to have a reference on hand that uses the same graphics as the person is playing with. Providing this is a common practice for both Game Courier and other Jocly games, and the article on the game does not do this. That article features mnemonic pieces with Betza code describing how they move, followed by descriptions of some pieces without any pictures of them.

I just noticed that in Firefox, it was letting me move the pieces on the far side of the board. Then I rotated it.

I think this is a general Jocly bug. Sometimes the board starts reversed for no apparent reason, or the white pieces might look in the wrong direction. Flipping the view twice usually cures that.

In Shogi variants this is of course very non-obvious, as white and black pieces look identical there.

But in each game I played on Jocly, it quickly beat me by moving out a piece that checks the King along a diagonal with four of my pieces between the King and the enemy piece.

That is no bug, just implementation of the rules. Tenjiku Shogi has some pieces pieces that can jump over arbitrary many others to capture. By moving a Pawn out of the way such a piece (the 'Vice General') immediately threatens a smothered mate. There is only one way to prevent that mate, covering the mating square with your Soaring Eagle.

There is an article on Tenjiku Shogi that describes how the pieces move. What would be the point of duplicating that information? Knowing how the pieces move might be a necessary condition, but it is not a sufficient one to become a good Tenjiku-Shogi player. If you don't know any opening theory, you will be slaughtered in a few moves by someone that does.

Anyway, Ultima largely deserves it. I take the point on Grant Acedrex, you are right.

I have added the new seconds to the list. The three games with the most support are not currently eligible. Although Grant Acedrex has a Game Courier preset, it has not yet been used to play it. Perhaps the people in support of it could start playing games of it together. The pages for Kyoto Shogi and Paco Shako have no information on online play or any record of past games.

Among games that just got one second, Elven Chess and Odin's Rune Chess are not eligible, because their Game Courier presets are not programmed. This leaves Ultima, which has now been seconded, as the most eligible game with a nomination and a second. So, I will feature Ultima for January, 2024.

Since I don't know how pieces move in Tenjiku Shogi, I don't know if this is a bug. But in each game I played on Jocly, it quickly beat me by moving out a piece that checks the King along a diagonal with four of my pieces between the King and the enemy piece. The piece has a General character in the lower part, but I'm not sure what the upper character is. It looks like it was originally two ranks ahead of its King in the same file. It would be helpful to include a description of the pieces for Tenjiku Shogi so that players have a better idea of what is going on.

I just noticed that in Firefox, it was letting me move the pieces on the far side of the board. Then I rotated it.

What about it is not working?

When I click on a piece in Firefox, it doesn't show me its legal moves or allow me to move. It does work in Edge, though it responds slowly.

AFAIK it’s playable on not only pychess.org with not big audience, but also on chess.com with very large community. There’re many games played already.

That’s my understanding too. But I have not found any record of past games on either site.

How many games can I second?

We haven’t put a limit on that.

you should wait until you have a complete set of bare-kanji pieces and dedicated fairy icon set ( and/or a Mnemonic set) before promoting the game, it will make a better first impression for new players.

• Duck Chess doesn't have a recorded history of play.

AFAIK it’s playable on not only pychess.org with not big audience, but also on chess.com with very large community. There’re many games played already.

I also second Kyoto Shogi. It's a unique game with mechanics not seen very often in Chess variants.

I also second it. Btw it’s playable on lishogi.org since this June.

UPD: I second Grant Acedrex and Ultima as well as Kyoto. How many games can I second?

The Jocly version of Tenjiku Shogi is not working, and the 2D images for it are not complete.

What about it is not working? It is working for me, both on my own website and on CVP. It participated in last year's Tenjiku Shogi correspondence championship, and even won a game there.

You are right about the 2D images; at the time I implemented it Jocly just did not have enough different 2D images to satisfy the need of Tenjiku Shogi. But it is not difficult to fix that. I could either create a complete set of bare-kanji pieces (of the same type I used for regular Shogi), or use the fairy-sprites file from the latest version of Jocly, which has many more pieces, some very suitable. (Dedicated images for the jumping and normal generals.)