RicOlie_2

Let me know when you make room in your inbox for my PM... :P

No, I'm entirely unbiased! You're just used to American and Mormon bias, which is skewing your perspective. ;)

The site went down just as I submitted my post yesterday. :(

Before we start, we should make sure we're on the same page...

While looking for Tenjiku Shogi software (which I didn't find, so I'll have to use excel unless you can link me to a ShogiVar download), I discovered that there are old and new rules. I believe ShogiVar uses the old rules, but I'm not sure. I'll have to use the rules found on Wikipedia, which would be the new moves. Some pieces have English and Japanese moves, so if the Japanese moves are the old moves, then I should be OK.

We might be better off just skipping this variant, since this is all so complicated. If you remember where you downloaded ShogiVar from (if the page is still up), then I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me find it. If not, and ShogiVar does indeed use the old rules, then we're probably better off just skipping to Tori Shogi.

I finished my Ito Shogi variants and off-shoots last night, so I'll be sending that to you in a PM shortly.

Pxe4

I think you're right about the Zillions' estimate. I don't think I should have made that trade with my bishop. It wasn't worth it. Besides, values are subjective anyway, depending on a person's personal strategy, the relative positioning of all the pieces, the pieces on either side, etc.

The snow is almost gone and it's still only mid-April!!

I can't wait till the grass turns green and the leaves start growing....

April 13:

A.D. 1250: Crusaders on the Seventh Crusade are defeated in Egypt and King St. Louis IX is captured.

A.D. 1598: French Huguenots are granted political rights under the Edict of Nantes.

A.D. 1640: The Short Parliament forms in England.

A.D. 1959: A Catholic edict forbids Catholics from voting for Communists.

f5

Tack said:

Dune Messiah (1969)

I'm digging this writing style! It's compelling, eloquent, and surprisingly easy to follow.

 So far I've only read Dune. It's been a while, so I'll probably read it again when I'm able to read the rest of the series.... They're good books though.

Bxb5

Maybe this should go in the Star Trek thread (hint, hint. ;))?

He is in the prequels.

Now that you've really built us up for it, the theory is (probably) going to be really anticlimactic if you share it with us. :)

Nf4

That's fair enough. I can understand why you wouldn't be as interested in the large variants, and since my dad likes the large variants far more than the small ones, so I'll just play him sometime. :)

I wouldn't mind a game of Tenjiku Shogi. There are a lot of interesting pieces and I can see how it could be faster than the other large variants. After that, we could play Tori Shogi if that suits you.

N-h5

And have him kill both Biggs and Porkins?

Do you mean WAFFLE-a2?

I can't believe what some people are like. A spammer called earlier today, and my dad asked him what it was like to cheat people like that. The guy replied that it was "fun." Why do people have to be like that?

April 12:

A.D. 1204: Constantinople is occupied and plundered by crusaders.

A.D. 1931: Spanish voters reject the monarchy.

A.D. 1980: Terry Fox begins his marathon.

No, I had several plans anyway, accounting for several of your different options, so you would have only delayed checkmate by a few turns, unless you had done something unexpected.

I kind of want to work up through the larger variants, beginning with Heian Dai Shogi, then moving on to Dai Shogi, Tenjiku Shogi, Dai-Dai Shogi, Maka-Dai-Dai Shogi, and finishing with Tai Shogi.

It could take a while to play them all, and I know you're less of a fan of the long and big game than I am, so if you don't want to do that, that's OK with me too. We don't have to play them all, either, unless you want to (which would be great ;)). We can also alternate between large and small variants if you wish.

If someone wants to play a three player game, I'd be OK with playing simultaneous games, or taking a break from the large variant to play that.

a3

No problem:

R---K---
---B-P-P
-P-P-NP-
--PpP---
P-p-p---
-p-fwp--
w-----pp
-----b[ede]k-

Not quite. You make that move (which is your worst option out of several), then I drop my rook on 3b, then you drop a piece (let's say your gold general) on 2b, then I take it with my rook, which promotes, and then it's checkmate.

April 11:

A.D. 1814: Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates unconditionally and is exiled to Elba.

A.D. 1868: The shogunate is abolished in Japan.

A.D. 1906: Albert Einstein introduces his Theory of Relativity.

Yes, there are much less messy ways to kill yourself. ;)