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Lemniscate Chess. Chess played on a Lemniscate board (in the shape of an infinity symbol). (18x4, Cells: 72) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝David Cannon wrote on Sun, Dec 27, 2009 09:42 AM UTC:
Thank you Charles, for explaining the movement of your Red and Green Pawns.

The question you have just asked turned out to be my single most difficult programming problem when writing the Zillions file. I solved the problem by dividing the Pawns into four 'classes', depending on what quadrant of the board they originate from. White has 'southwest' and 'northwest' pawns; Black has 'southeast' and 'northeast' pawns.

If a Pawn makes a capture, and in doing so, ends up back in its own territory in the way you described, it simply turns around. A southwest pawn thereby converts to a northwest pawn, and thereafter behaves as such.

Thanks for raising the issue as it is not merely hypothetical - in playtesting with Zillions, I found that it really happens!

Cheers, David.


Charles Gilman wrote on Sun, Dec 27, 2009 07:47 AM UTC:
Regarding Fivequarters, Red and Green Pawns can move only within the long orthogonals a-d. Thus they can capture from b to a or c, and from c to b or d, but from a only to b and from d only to c. Likewise Yellow and Blue Pawns as regards long orthogonals e to h.

So what happens when Lemniscate Pawns go 'off-track'? From what you've said, if the Pawn starting on f1 captures from l4 to t2 it gets fast-tracked to promotion to Steward, but what if the one starting on b4 captures from l1 to g3? It ends back on its own player's part of the board! Does it flip over and start behaving as if it had started on f3?

💡📝David Cannon wrote on Wed, Dec 23, 2009 08:25 AM UTC:
Hi Charles! Thank you for alerting me to the fact that I neglected to put in some very important information.

1. Mark Colebank's INFINITE CHESS website has the original game.

2. I don't think I fully understand the movement of the pawns in your Fivequarters game. If I may summarize the pawn movement in a nutshell, each pawn moves in the direction indicated by its positioning - i.e. those shown 'right side up' move 'north' while those 'upside down' move 'south.' On reaching the so-called 'enemy zone' (the first rank reached beyond the diamond where the two circles intersect), a Pawn morphs into a Steward and can move passively in any orthogonal direction, and can capture in any diagonal direction. But to answer your question, no. No matter where on the board a Pawn may be, it may capture on either of the diagonals adjacent to the cell on which it would move orthogonally.

3. I would suggest downloading the link to the zillions file I programmed and play one or two games with it. You'll see the Pawn movement very clearly.

Cheers!

David Cannon.


Charles Gilman wrote on Wed, Dec 23, 2009 07:59 AM UTC:
Saying that this variant is derived from 'Infinite Chess' without a link is unhelpful. It means that the reader has to look under I in the index and discover that the ones here and here aren't the one. Unfortunately when they get here and try the link from it they will discover that this page cannot be dsisplayed. Do you know where the last has been moved to, and if so is there any chance of a link?

You say that you have changed the Pawns anyway, compared to the elusive original. So each player has two lots that cross each other. Are each lot barred from capturing outside the line of four orthogonals along which they make their noncapturing moves, as the ones in my Fivequarters are? If not, what happens if they turn onto off it? Does it make a difference whether they do so in the enemy loop or their own?


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