Single Comment

At Aronson's Rhino piece description, Joe Joyce enunciates the doctrine of re-inventing the wheel in immediately preceeding Comment. ''I actually think it can be good that people re-invent the basics. How's that for putting a good spin on re-inventing the wheel?'' As for piece values, Aronson points out Rhino can reach twice the squares as Nightrider, but the latter is more valuable in our estimation. Ralph Betza is credited with inventing Rhino, Mirror Rhino, and Double Rhino. Obfuscation mentions Aronson and Friedlander as independently 'inventing' one or more of them, but we do not buy that. Betza invented them, unless someone comes up with examples or documentation of other earlier uses. That is because invention credit is determined, generally in all fields, by assumption that someone 'skilled in the art' is more or less omniscient of relevant prior uses, or should so be aware of them, or subject to them if unaware. Occasional actual simultaneity, or overlap in time before publication, is another matter (maybe like Newton and Leibnitz in Calculus). So many efforts are also why it becomes harder to invent chess variations and pieces for the time being. There is simply more to be studied first, although recent prolificists apparently choose to study less pre-existing CVs. Hence for now not so good quality as before. Double Rhino is multi-path, namely two-path beyond its first square. Charles Gilman's Comment April 2004 here adds at least four more pieces after these hippogonally-directed move directions.