What would Chess be like if it had been developed by the computer industry?

[Lone Wolf]

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/7/13/02752/5668

We'd like to thank all our fans for making Chess the success it is - can't do it without you, guys! Anyway, we're having a few game balance issues, so we're issuing another patch to Chess. Please see details inside.



Patch 1.01

Most high-level Chess players online recently are using the "center pawn rush" every single game! In order to restore game balance, we're revoking the ability of King Pawns and Queen Pawns to move 2 squares on the first move - from now on, they will only move 1 square per move. All other pawns can move 2 squares as before, which should hopefully end the "center pawn rush" from now on.

Patch 1.04

The Rook units are severly underused, only coming into the game late or, in some games, never. In order to rectify this, we have given the Rooks a special ability. From now on, given that a Rook and the corresponding Rook Pawn have not yet been moved, a player may simultaneously play P-R4 and R-R3. This should get the Rooks into play and restore balance to the Chess units.

Patch 1.05

Nobody is using the new Fast Advance ability of the Rook units, due to problems with the Bishop fields of fire blocking the Rook entry points! In order to rectify this imbalance, positions of Bishops and Knights will be reversed at start. This small change should not interfere with the strategies of experienced players, and will provide a much better game.

Patch 1.07

The Queen is overly powerful, being able to move like a Bishop or a Rook. This is redundant - why would anyone use a Bishop instead of a Queen! Furthermore, we have observed that loss of a Queen usually leads to loss of the game, a level of importance which should only be granted to the King! From now on, the Queen may only move 4 squares in any direction, reducing her strength to an amount closer to that of a Rook.

Patch 1.11

We have noticed that many games tend to slow down near the end, as Pawn formations lock against each other. In order to prevent this and ensure a more dynamic game, Pawns now promote on the 7th rank rather than the 8th. Also, when a Pawn cannot move forward due to another piece obstructing it's motion, it may move sideways one square.

Patch 1.12

Pawns have become too powerful, so we have altered the behavior of the Knight. From now on a Knight may capture a Pawn belonging to the opponent by jumping over it, as well as by landing upon it. This new ability may be used to allow a Knight to capture 2 pieces per turn. Jump Captures may only be performed on Pawns, and no other piece, and cannot be used to place the opponent's King in Check.

Patch 1.14

The strength of the Bishop, which should be roughly the same as that of the Knight, has fallen behind after recent alterations of the Knight's abilities. Therefore we have given the Bishop a new Butterfly move where it can jump from one side of the board to another, left to right or vice versa, as if the board was wrapped around itself on a cylinder. For example, a Bishop on F1 can currently move to H3 - with the new Butterfly move, it could also move to A4, B5, C6, etc. The Butterfly move may not be used to capture an enemy piece, nor to place the Opponent's King in Check.

Patch 1.18

The full-range Queen moves are restored, in the special case where they are directed at capture of an Opponent's Bishop or Knight. This should improve game balance.

Patch 1.25

Thank you all for playing Blizzard Chess! We thank you for staying with us during this turbulent year where we've worked out all these issues with game balance, and only have one more patch to even things out before we consider Chess to be finished. The asymmetry where a King can Castle and a Queen cannot has been removed - from now on, a Queen can Castle too, so for instance you can have a King castling Queenside, a King castling Kingside, a Queen castling Queenside, or a Queen castling Kingside! Hope you enjoy this parting gift. We are currently working on an expansion pack for Chess which should be available next Christmas. Thanks so much!

 

[lutzj]

There would be a huge modding community due to its simplicity and addictiveness...

 

[Narz]

Well there are a lot of variants out there.

 

[GenMarshall]

I only have three chess programs. Two based on a Mac OS Classic format and one Shogi game for Windows 3.1 (I use DOSBox to run Windows 3.1)

 

[againsttheflow]

Ever played Chinese chess? It's actually quite fun.

 

[Narz]

Never have. I'd be curious to try it someday.

 

[againsttheflow]

We got a copy in a China kit for school years ago. Not sure how popular it is over there but I certainly didn't mind playing chess in school hours.

 

[JonathanStrange]

Heh. Reminds me of that "Chess review" parody a few years back in which the reviewer faults chess' simplistic rules, poor economy, terrible diplomacy, mediocre graphics, limited troop types.

 

[Agent327]

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/7/13/02752/5668

Might be more interesting if it had been developed by game designers.

Anyway, for one there'd be more colour definitions than just black and white and, perhaps, the squares might be invisible (so you're just playing on one huge square). Might be more fun, actually.

BTW, there's no such thing as "Chinese chess". There is go, ofcourse, which is a classic game.

 

[WhiteEagle22]

I have got to admit, I have read it elsewhere. It's quite though!

 

[Tomoyo]

BTW, there's no such thing as "Chinese chess". There is go, ofcourse, which is a classic game.

Uh, yes there is. It's called Xiangqi, but lots of westerners cringe when they see that because they can't pronounce it so it's also called Chinese chess.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangqi

I learned to play when I was four or so, but only played it against my grandfather. I managed to beat a high school classmate from Taiwan last year though, who played it somewhat regularly, but not very seriously.

 

[PiMan]

I quite like Chinese chess. I have a Chinese Chess computer game from the early 90s sitting above my computer right now.

 

[DaveShack]

There is also Shogi, which is a little like a "Japanese Chess". The Xianggi page references it.

 

[Bowsling]

gosh, I've tried shogi before. got creamed, I couldn't remember the symbols. And reusing a captured piece screwed me up too.

 

[Tee Kay]

I like Chinese chess better than Western Chess actually. Usually the game is faster too.

 

[JonathanStrange]

It's always intrigued me too. Another game to lose at!