Feb 23, 2006

Different kinds of rules

Not all rules of a game are equal. Some define the essence of the game (like the existence of a royal piece in chess), others are just adaptations in search of better dynamics and subtler positions (like the queen's move range).

Even in abstract games, I tend to favor very short rules, acknowledging the fact that some fixing may be needed to create a proper rule set. I prefer games that focus on one sort of interaction instead of several ones and exploit it elegant ways. Using this criterion, Hex should be the most simple and deep game there is. The case of Go comes near but... e.g., the KO rule is a kind of second-order rule. It is a needed fix for a nasty consequence of the capture rule and it would be hard to come up with a better replacement but, nonetheless, KO is not the essence of Go. KO also implies extra information besides the one in the board (like castling in chess players must have memory of previous moves or positions) which, personally, I find unaesthetic.

We may try to look to all the rules of a game and partition them into the following (arbitrary) classification. First-order rules are the essence of the game (and, possibly, are the criteria to define if a variant belongs to the family of the standard or 'essential' game). Second-order rules are those in order to make the game playable and its dynamics as enjoyable as possible. Rules like these, if well chosen, are a good pathway to create a fine abstract game (but, at this moment, starts a new business: make all those rules interact properly which is much more difficult than joining some unrelated good ideas in the same pot). There are also third-order rules: extra rules that provide little to nothing for the game essence except to contribute artificially to the game dynamics.

I would say, for FIDE chess, castling and e.p. are 3rd order rules. The piece movement of the FIDE army is 2nd order (remember Betza's different armies for other instances of chess soldiers) and also the one piece per turn move sequence (progressive variants still use the knowledge and instinct from chess experience). The concept of royal piece and capture by replacement would be first-order.

Feb 21, 2006

SAFE PROGRESSIVE CHESS

Standard progressive, but mate may not be given except against a bared king.

. . . . . . . .     |  1. Nf3
. p k . . p . p     |  2. Nc6 d5
. . . . . . . .     |  3. Ne5:c6:d8
. . . . . . . .     |  4. Be5:c2:d1 R:d8
. B . . . . . .     |  5. e4:d5 d6:c7:d8Q+
O . . O . . . .     |  6. K:d8 Be2:f1:g2:h1f3
. . . . . O . N     |  7. h456:7:h8Q:g8:f8+
. . . . K . . .     |  8. Kc7 a543:b2:a1Qh8:f8
____________________'  9. Ba3:e7:f8b4 a3 d3 Nd2:f3h2
                      10. resigns


In this variant, both players can focus on destroying the enemy army without concerning against premature mates (I'm not saying this is better, just that is different).

Feb 16, 2006

CHICKEN GOMOKU (another sample game)

Black must make a 5-in-a-row, White must prevent him.
Both players play black moves until one declares to be black, simultaneously passing.
Then alternation as usual starting with white.

a b c d e f g h i  0. B:  e5,h1,f2,h9  B takes black.
. . . . . . . x .  1. f4:J B:e3
. . . . o x o . .  2. d4     e4
. . x . x x . . .  3. e2     e6
. . . o x o . . .  4. e7     d5
. . . x x o . . .  5. f5     f3
. . x . x . . . .  6. g2     f7
. o . . o x . . .  7. g8     c6
. . . . . . o . .  8. b7     c3
. . . . . . . x .  9. resign 0-1

Feb 14, 2006

SUICIDE BOMBER CHESS

Same as FIDE chess except: Moves are only to empty squares, after which all opponent pieces kingwise adjacent to the new position are destroyed; and if there are any of those, the moving piece is also destroyed.  Win by killing the king, who may not suicide.

. r . . k . . .|  1. b4   h5    10. Ne2  Nf6   19. Rh1  Bh6
. . . . p . . .|  2. e3   b5:   11. a5   g6    20. Ng3  f6
. . . . . . . .|  3. Ba3  d6    12. a6:  Bg7   21. Nh5: Kf7
. . . O . . . .|  4. Nc3  Na6   13. d4   Qc1:  22. Rg1  Ke8
. . . . . . . .|  5. Nb5: Ba6   14. d5   O-O   23. Rg7: resigns
. . . . O . . .|  6. Bb5: Rb8   15. h4:  bh6
. . . . . . . .|  7. Bb4  c5:   16. g4   g5:    1-0
R . . . K . . .|  8. a4   Qc8   17. Rg1  Ng4
                  9. c4   d5:   18. f3:  Bg7

Feb 10, 2006

DIABALLEX

[rules]

abcdefghijklm       Bx                  Jo
   x x x .    1.  h1-f3            h7-i6  j7-h5^
  . J o . .   2.  f3-e4  d1-d5^^   g6-i4^ d7-h3
 . . . o o .  3.  j1-h1  e4-c6^    i6-i2  h5-f3
. . . . . . . 4.  h1-j1  g2-h1     i2-e2^^ h3-g2
 . x . . . .  5.  h1-d1  j1-h1     i4-j3  f3-h3
  B . . . .   6.  resign!
   . o . .    7


The position of J's soldiers can win, no matter what B moves. Can you see how?

Feb 8, 2006

WEAPON CHESS

FIDE chess moves but to empty cells only. Castling is legal if neither
piece has moved. Object of the game is to kill the enemy king.

First player makes one move, then players make series of two moves until a capture is made, whereupon the series become of length three until the next capture, then four and so on.

Captures may be made as a series of one move only. The first capture may be of either type, hand-grenade or machine-gun, (both of which make the maximum number of takes available for that particular move); and after that each player's capture types must alternate.

During a series of non-captures it is permissible to play a piece into a position where it could make either sort of capture but does not do so, at the mover's choice, (declaration of capture type unnecessary).

. . k r . . . r     |  1. e4
p p p . p . . p     |  2. Nf6:(mg)e4                  
. . . . . . p b     |  3. g4g5 Nc3
. . . : . q : .     |  4. g6:(g)g5                  
. . . . . . . .     |  5. d4d5 Qe2 Bg2
. . . . . : . .     |  6. Ne4:(mg)c3f2
O O : . . . B O     |  7. Qf3:(mg)e4f7
. . K . R . . .     |  8. d6 Be6 Nc6 Qd7 Bh6 O-O-O
____________________'  9. Bg5 0-0-0 Ne2g3f5 Rhe1
                      10. Ne5:(g)d5f5
                      11. Rd5:(g)de6e5
                      12. Qf5:(mg)d5g5c2f3
                      13. resigns

Feb 3, 2006

PAINT-GUN CHESS

1. The FIDE rules apply, except:
2. Captures by machine-gun or grenade, at mover's choice.
    (The capture type includes all multiple hits of the type.)
  2.1 Machine-gun captures all pieces that could be captured using FIDE rules
  2.2 Grenade captures all adjacent (kingwise) pieces at the destination square.
3. Capture REDUCES the capturing piece by a rank: Q>R>B>N>P
    Pawns that capture are also removed.
    Kings capture without reduction of power.


. . k . r . n r | 1. Nc3    g5
p p . p . p . p | 2. b4     Bg7
. . : . . . . . | 3. Nd5::  Ba2::::
. . . N . . . . | 4. Qc1::  Nc6:d5
. . . . . . . . | 5. h4:    Qh4:::
. . . . . . . . | 6. g3:    O-O-O
. . . O O . . . | 7. Bg2    Re8??
. . R . K . N . | 8. Bd5:   resigns

Feb 1, 2006

A master move


addendum: This is a game of Turkish Checkers.

Trabsact Sagme Diaries

Always look into the paths of defeat. [T.Sagme, Proverbs]