What are your favorite chess variants?
As for me, recently I paid attention to Capablanca Chess (and its Bird's variant), Grand Chess and Omega Chess, gradually shifting towards Grand Chess. I like the way the inventor decides "the castling problem" but only thing that slightly disturbs me is a disruption of symmetry (cardinal and marshal both are from right side of king-queen pair). Maybe it's just a force of habit - seeing king and queen as a central pair in starting rank?
If I'm short on time, or playing a beginner, I like some of the "Small Chess" variants.
I'd also like to see a variant with Dynamic Scoring. I think I'll start trying some of the bigger Chess variants. Maybe with fairy pieces.
There's a Kung-Fu variant I heard of that I'll have to find. Big Kung-Fu junkie here. But not the Kung-Fu variant where you both move at the same time, although that's cool, too. The pieces have different properties than the current ones. Bruce Lee better be the most powerful...
One crazy variant is Circe Parrain. After a capture, a piece is reborn on a square of same distance and direction from the capture square as the move of the 'other' piece.
Example:
White to move plays 1.Rxb7.
Black replies Nf3, so draw a vector from d4 to f3, and an identical vector starting at b7 (to d6). That's where the piece rebirths.
Position after Black's move 1...Nf3[+bQd6]
If d6 had been occupied before 1.Rxb7, then the Q does not rebirth after 1...Nf3. Same goes for rebirth vectors that are off the board.
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Originally posted by ZaklonI recommend Seirawan chess. It has the rook-knight and bishop-knight compounds of Capablanca chess, yet maintains the 8x8 board.
What are your favorite chess variants?
As for me, recently I paid attention to Capablanca Chess (and its Bird's variant), Grand Chess and Omega Chess, gradually shifting towards Grand Chess. I like the way the inventor decides "the castling problem" but only thing that slightly disturbs me is a disruption of symmetry (cardinal and marshal both are from rig ...[text shortened]... Maybe it's just a force of habit - seeing king and queen as a central pair in starting rank?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seirawan_chess
http://www.seirawanchess.com/
http://www.houseofstaunton.com/product_p/menseir.htm
http://hawkelephant.blogspot.com.au/
Fergus Duniho has created an interesting 12x12 variant he calls Gross Chess (144 of something is a gross). It has 32 pieces a side: 12 pawns, the standard FIDE array of pieces, and also two marshals, two cardinals, two cannons, two vaos, two wizards and two champions (wizards and champions are from omega chess). It's described here:
http://www.chessvariants.org/large.dir/gross.html
Games can take a long time, which is not to everyone's taste, but the interaction of so many different pieces is fascinating.
My name is mystery player on play.chessvariants.org if someone is interested in a game.