Single Comment

10x10 Multiple Knot Chess
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I admit, I have not played this variant, though I say with the utmost
certainty that there is no reasonable way to play it.  Whether if someone
is trying to make a preset or a homemade board, it would seem almost
impossible to do so.  The only way to make a board for this would to make
it extremely large, or find some pieces that are extremely small.  This
would be to compensate for the 10 celled rows that are squeezed into this
jumbled mess.  Maybe if he lowered the cell size, but I don't even think a
regular 8x8 would fit well enough.

I have contemplated for some time as to why Missoum would create this board
and offer it for play.  Why would this be better than to play chess with
the same setup on a 10x10 board?  After some thought, the best that I can
come up with would be to have a new perspective on the board without
changing the play. However, when he changed the board, he sacrificed the
play.  

I have looked through all of his boards, and I think this is the best
looking one with the most chance of playability, by far; however, it would
be more trouble than its worth to make the board instead of moving onto
something else.  The time and resources are not worth it, in my opinion,
nor is the enjoyment of playing a game when you finish the board.  

If this board were somehow created, the thrill that I believe he has hoped
to achieve by making this board can be neutralized when a 'Play By Email'
environment is utilized.  A person can just as easily pull up a 10x10 board
with the setup and gain the advantage of not having to deal with the twists
and turns.  This would only be a feasible play in person OTB.  

Though I do not care for the board, the other aspect of the game is the
setup of pieces that he chose for it.  I do not pretend to be an expert on
variants, pieces, and their piece values.  What I write is in my own
opinion and knowledge that I have gained from experience in play of certain
games.  What Missoum has done with this game is simply add an extra knight
and a pawn to each side.  With a bigger board, he has added two pieces that
are much weaker on a 10x10 board than on an 8x8 and kept the power players
(whose value raises on a bigger board) the same.  Personally, I would
prefer maybe changing a knight for a bishop, but I think that is relative
to who is playing.  I think that is a matter of opinion and I cannot
criticize for that. 

Despite my negative statements, I see where Missoum's heart lies, however
it doesn't make this board playable with a reasonably sized board.  If
anyone could prove me wrong, I would LOVE to see the board and recant what
I have said.  With all of this being said, I rate this variant, on Nick's
personal scale out of 10, a 1.  I have given him a point for the thought
provocation that he has given me for looking at chess a different way.