Innovations In Chess

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Date: 31 Mar 2008 06:12:49
From: RookHouse
Subject: Innovations In Chess

The REAL inventor of the Gothic Chess piece, the "Chancellor".

http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=164

Thanks,
Morphy
www.rookhouse.com

Date: 13 Apr 2008 22:03:17
From: Quadibloc
Subject: Re: Innovations In Chess

On 31, 10:16 am, Offramp <[email protected] > wrote:

> As someone said at the time, most players would rather have larger
> brains than larger boards.

The trouble is, of course, that a larger brain isn't something that's
easy to obtain. There are no Brain-Gro pills at your local pharmacy.

It's easy enough to make a larger chessboard.

But what's the point?

The obvious result is that a larger board with more pieces would make
Chess more complicated, and so a larger brain would be needed to play
it well. Doesn't this make it a step in the wrong direction, then, and
perhaps what we need is Chess on a smaller board, more to a human
scale?

But a larger board has other results, only slightly less obvious.
Dumping opening theory overboard helps relieve our small brains of a
pile of memorization. Applying general positional principles of
strategy, and carrying out the tactics of piece encounters, shouldn't
get all that much more complicated on a slightly larger board, and
we'll be playing against other humans anyways.

John Savard

Date: 15 Apr 2008 02:31:44
From: David Richerby
Subject: Re: Innovations In Chess

Quadibloc <[email protected] > wrote:
> There are no Brain-Gro pills at your local pharmacy.

Thanks for the heads-up. I was going to collect my prescription but
I'll go next week instead -- I guess they'll have them in stock by
then.

Dave.

--
David Richerby Chocolate Ghost (TM): it's like
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ a haunting spirit that's made of
chocolate!

Date: 15 Apr 2008 11:33:00
From: John Savard
Subject: Re: Innovations In Chess

On 15 Apr 2008 02:31:44 +0100 (BST), David Richerby
<[email protected] > wrote, in part:
>Quadibloc <[email protected]> wrote:

>> There are no Brain-Gro pills at your local pharmacy.

>Thanks for the heads-up. I was going to collect my prescription but
>I'll go next week instead -- I guess they'll have them in stock by
>then.

LOL!

John Savard
http://www.quadibloc.com/index.html

Date: 06 Apr 2008 12:53:19
From:
Subject: Re: Innovations In Chess

On Apr 6, 2:46 pm, Quadibloc <[email protected] > wrote:
> On 31, 9:35 am, David Richerby <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> > RookHouse <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > The REAL inventor of theGothicChess piece, the "Chancellor".
>
> > >http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=164
>
> > Well, I sincerely hope that the inventors ofGothicChess don't go
> > around claiming that they invented the piece. GothicChess is just
> > Capablancachess with a different initial position.
>
> It's worse than that.
>
> Capablanca Chess is just a game invented by Carrera in 1617 with a
> different initial position!

This has been played around with a lot of times. The nature of chess
makes one wonder why the Knight isn't combined with other pieces.
Carrera is one of the first to record this, and others built on it,
including several top chess players, with Capablanca being the latest
in a long line. There is even attempts to get them on an 8x8 board,
all the way back to the 1970s by shifting the knights and their pawns
up one space, and sticking them there. I actually dabbled with
configuration, and it makes for an interesting game. People have used
pocket pieces in the past, including gating recently. It can be
argued that the Knight mixed with rook, bishop and queen is the top
pieces for this.

Anyhow, all this discussion is moot, if people can't get the pieces
and board to play on them. You could go after the Gothic pieces, but
I would wager you risk lawsuits if you deviate. Without pieces being
readily available, there isn't much of a chance of mass adoption.
People can wish me luck here as I attempt to try to get generic
Capablanca type pieces available to the public.

- Rich

Date: 06 Apr 2008 11:46:23
From: Quadibloc
Subject: Re: Innovations In Chess

On 31, 9:35 am, David Richerby <[email protected] >
wrote:
> RookHouse <[email protected]> wrote:
> > The REAL inventor of theGothicChess piece, the "Chancellor".
>
> >http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=164
>
> Well, I sincerely hope that the inventors ofGothicChess don't go
> around claiming that they invented the piece. GothicChess is just
> Capablancachess with a different initial position.

It's worse than that.

Capablanca Chess is just a game invented by Carrera in 1617 with a
different initial position!

Carerra's version from 1617:
R Pr Kt B Q K B Kt Em R

The Princess was called a Centaur, and the Empress was called a
Campione. The board was 10 by 8, not 10 by 10.

While the location of the Princess and Empress keeps the defense of
the squares in front of the King and Queen the same, the fashion in
Chess with added pieces has instead been to keep the King's castled
position, with the Knight in a compact corner setup, unaltered.

And so, much later, but decades before Capablanca, H. E. Bird took the
same complement of pieces, again on a 10 by 8 board, with this
arrangement:

H. E. Bird's version from 1874:
R Kt B Em Q K Pr B Kt R

He called the Princess a Guard, and the Empress an Equerry. Note that
he puts the weaker Princess on the Kingside, and the stronger Empress
on the Queenside, the opposite of what was done by Carrera and
Capablanca.

And this is Capablanca Chess, from around 1921:
R Kt Pr B Q K B Em Kt R

I would tend to lean towards going with Bird's version, but exchanging
the Guard and the Equerry, as the canonical version of the game with
this piece complement, with Capablanca's and Carrera's layouts as
possible alternates.

John Savard

Date: 12 Apr 2008 22:53:18
From: David Richerby
Subject: Re: Innovations In Chess

Quadibloc <[email protected] > wrote:
> David Richerby <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Well, I sincerely hope that the inventors ofGothicChess don't go
>> around claiming that they invented the piece. GothicChess is just
>> Capablancachess with a different initial position.
>
> It's worse than that.
>
> Capablanca Chess is just a game invented by Carrera in 1617 with a
> different initial position!

Hehe. Good job I didn't claim that Capablanca chess was any sort of
stunning innovation, then. ;-)

Thanks for the info.

Dave.

--
David Richerby Flammable Cheese (TM): it's like a
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ lump of cheese but it burns really
easily!

Date: 06 Apr 2008 09:22:45
From: Quadibloc
Subject: Re: Innovations In Chess

Date: 01 Apr 2008 10:18:52
From: Rob
Subject: Re: Innovations In Chess

On 31, 5:50=A0pm, "Chess One" <[email protected] > wrote:
> "Offramp" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> news:8c1ed799-383f-48ac-9d07-d067b0b0e534@i29g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>
> > On 31, 2:12 pm, RookHouse <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> The REAL inventor of the Gothic Chess piece, the "Chancellor".
>
> >>http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=3D164
>
> > As someone said at the time, most players would rather have larger
> > brains than larger boards.
>
> Is this reference to the guy who is trying to sell real-estate on s? [n=
o
> joke]
>
> Phil Innes

LOL... too funny! Guess his backers(?) wanted him to raise some of the
cash himself for his plans. Good thing he hasn't tried to sell the
Brooklyn Bridge yet.

Date: 01 Apr 2008 18:43:14
From: Chess One
Subject: Re: Innovations In Chess

"Rob" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:ce0f5d38-d1fb-4d66-854a-ee8937cf84e7@n58g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
On 31, 5:50 pm, "Chess One" <[email protected] > wrote:
> "Offramp" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> news:8c1ed799-383f-48ac-9d07-d067b0b0e534@i29g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>
> > On 31, 2:12 pm, RookHouse <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> The REAL inventor of the Gothic Chess piece, the "Chancellor".
>
> >>http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=164
>
> > As someone said at the time, most players would rather have larger
> > brains than larger boards.
>
> Is this reference to the guy who is trying to sell real-estate on s?
> [no
> joke]
>
> Phil Innes

LOL... too funny!

**But real! I mean, I am not making an April Fool's joke. This is what he
was up to.

> Guess his backers(?) wanted him to raise some of the
cash himself for his plans. Good thing he hasn't tried to sell the
Brooklyn Bridge yet.

**More chance in resurrecting Fischer. Ken Burns already resold the bridge.
PI

Date: 31 Mar 2008 09:16:24
From: Offramp
Subject: Re: Innovations In Chess

On 31, 2:12 pm, RookHouse <[email protected] > wrote:
> The REAL inventor of the Gothic Chess piece, the "Chancellor".
>
> http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=164

As someone said at the time, most players would rather have larger
brains than larger boards.

Date: 31 Mar 2008 18:50:06
From: Chess One
Subject: Re: Innovations In Chess

"Offramp" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:8c1ed799-383f-48ac-9d07-d067b0b0e534@i29g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> On 31, 2:12 pm, RookHouse <[email protected]> wrote:
>> The REAL inventor of the Gothic Chess piece, the "Chancellor".
>>
>> http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=164
>
> As someone said at the time, most players would rather have larger
> brains than larger boards.

Is this reference to the guy who is trying to sell real-estate on s? [no
joke]

Phil Innes

Date: 31 Mar 2008 15:35:23
From: David Richerby
Subject: Re: Innovations In Chess

RookHouse <[email protected] > wrote:
> The REAL inventor of the Gothic Chess piece, the "Chancellor".
>
> http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=164

Well, I sincerely hope that the inventors of Gothic Chess don't go
around claiming that they invented the piece. Gothic Chess is just
Capablanca chess with a different initial position.

Dave.

--
David Richerby Incredible Shack (TM): it's like a
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ house in the woods but it'll blow
your mind!