Comments by Ilya Yudovski

Dear editorial team!

I think my submission is ready for publication, I'll be glad to get it approved or to get the feedback for the needed changes or improvements.

Thank you and best regards

Ilya

Interesting variant, definitely looks wild and very dynamic.

There is a good and very clear explanation of rules and gameplay routines - on the Triple S games YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyft7UQsQRM

Astounding. I don't think I'll ever play something so complex, but the concept and work are awesome. The case, when reading about game rules and design, is almost as exciting, as the play itself.

It is a very nice and creative take on the chess labyrinth kind of game. I tend to agree, that digital implementation could be the best way to make this game playable - cause it needs some algorithm that ensures that every starting position is solvable. Overall, I think it's a great minimalistic game that can be used in school tactical games clubs or as support material to teach the basics of chess.

Dear Ben, thank you very much for the observation - I'll change the first exception to "if the moved piece puts the enemy king in check" - so there would be no mistake. Originally, it was like you proposed, but in the playtest, we found that the second exception as it is makes the play more dynamic and, more importantly, gives more tactical planning possibilities.

Of course, in the tag and formatting part, I totally rely on your judgment as an editor.

Thank you for your help and approvement!

I think it could be good for the publication process, except I doubt that regular members or novice inventors (like myself) should have a voting right on submissions. I think it would be better to save the voting right (or duty) for the senior members of the community - they have a better understanding of the chess variation subject, experience in writing (and reading) good submissions and, what is also important - have seen a lot of variants and could easily spot repetitions or occasional plagiarisms.

I love it. There are a lot of nice, sophisticated and interesting chess variants out there, but not many variants that I see myself actually playing. But Lighthouse will definitely be in my collection of mini-chess games I play with friends and colleagues. This game perfectly blends fast pace, simple and understandable rules, accessibility and an opportunity to enjoy the special spirit of Shogi.

Great work, Lev.

Thank you very much!

Hello.

I think it's a very nice take on the mini-chess, that feels different from Diana, Mallett, or Los Alamos variants. I believe that the closest relative of this variant is 5x6 chess, with the same feel of all possibilities of orthodox chess, but faster and less complex. This variant is definitely going to take its place in my game library. Thank you for sharing!