Exilian
Off-topic and Chatter: The Jolly Boar Inn => Tabletop Games - The Game Room => Topic started by: Jubal on November 04, 2013, 11:36:32 PM
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http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-03-chess-2-the-sequel-how-a-street-fightin-man-fixed-the-worlds-most-famous-game
Chess has problems.
Not for most of us, perhaps - not for the bluffers and the fudgers and the seat-of-the-pants players who prod a path through matchups in which each side's strategy is a winsome, wobbling comedy of errors. No, chess has problems at the grandmaster level. Those people who really love chess, that devoted few who have given their lives to it and for whom chess really should be a great game? They're not getting a great game - and they haven't been getting one for a while.
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Viable options, strategic interest, years and years of expert play. Put it like that and it's not surprising that a few years back Sirlin turned his attention to chess. The end result? Chess 2: The Sequel, a comprehensive rebuilding of a centuries old pursuit, which Burns is currently in the process of turning into a video game. "Chess 1 was a hit, no doubt about it," Sirlin writes in the introduction to his ruleset. Quite.
What do people think? I'd certainly give it a go, it sounds pretty interesting. :)
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Looks interesting indeed. Winning if you get your king across the middle of the board sounds like it would be fun to have a go at definitely. The first game between Anand and Carlsen for the world title was something like an 18 move draw so it definitely can be a bit of a disappointment.
Unless you have dynamic chess which creates the asymmetry which the article mentions then yeah it can be dull, top players often go for safe options and so won't even go for asymmetrical pawns. Starting off with different pieces probably is the most interesting prospect for me. If the armies are balanced then it would be a really fun game. I think people should be awarded points for flair. :P
I do fear that these armies would not be fair at the top level, which this modification is designed to combat. One mistake with equal pieces is enough to lose a game and so if you already have a weakness it may well be that you can't win unless they make a mistake.