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Aviary. New pieces with shogi elements and a bird theme. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Daniel Hollombe wrote on Thu, May 20, 2004 01:25 AM UTC:

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I'd like to answer a few of them: Re Michael Nelson's Suggestion. I would agree with you on that. A variation whereby one would have to re-enter a Sparrow on to the board immediately after capturing it might certainly be worth a try, but I would at least make an exception if the player who just captured it was having one of his/her other Sparrows placed in jeopardy by the opponent. Re Michael Howe's Suggestion. The option of constructing a set of pieces with little dots or arrows indicating which directions they move on them would be fine for beginners, just as it would for any chess variant. I would still maintain the colors in addition to that, so that eventually the player's would memorize the movements without the need of 'training wheels' so to speak. As for the two Kings (Sparrows), I would just like to testify that I have played this game many times, and on several occasions, a player has lost a Sparrow, later won it back, and gone on to win the game. But your suggestion of having the first person to checkmate a single Sparrow, would be a fine variation for anyone who is pressed for time, and wishes to play a shorter game. Of course, under those circumstances, you'd only need a black or white dot on one side of them. Re Jared McComb's Suggestion. I thorougly agree with you. I sent in a couple of pictures of a set I constructed using a regular wooden chess board, and I hope that Mr. Quintanilla will post them as thumbnails as soon as possible. I believe you'll find it quite pleasing to the eye. Re Moussambani's Suggestion. I thought about that, but there's a simple solution. Instead of thinking R for Robin or Rook, think C for Canary or Castle.