Re: Nightmare chess: was: The "swap rule" in chess...

"Greg Aleknevicus" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> I believe he's referring to "Knightmare Chess" designed by Bruno
> Faidutti and published by Steve Jackson Games. (There is also the
> original French language version published by another company who's
> name escapes me.)
>
> Essentially, the game adds card play to a regular game of Chess.
Some
> cards have moderate effects while others are drastic.
>
> I quite like the game (the fabulous artwork and production helps a
> lot) but I think this depends largely on your view of Chess. I
suspect
> that the more you like the proper game the LESS you'll like
Knightmare
> Chess. The introduced chaos and uncertainty will likely turn off
> purists. Casual players are more likely to be accepting of this, I
> would suspect.
>
> -Greg Aleknevicus
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.pacificcoast.net/~greg

Yep...played quite a bit of this game this summer. I like the game
quite a bit, but it does have one interesting effect: The game becomes
more tactical. The long term strategy in chess tends to be blunted by
the cards.

Also, in the Knightmare Chess 2, there is one VERY unbalanced card:
The Warlord. This card gives your King the ability to move two spaces
at once, rather than one. Furthermore, the two spaces don't have to be
in a straight line. The only conceit to balance is the fact that a
Warlord must stop the minute it captures.

At first, I didn't think that this was so strong a card. However, it
does have the following effects...

1) A Warlord becomes VERY hard to checkmate. It can be done, but
requires a great deal of effort.
2) The Warlord is the only piece that can checkmate the opponent by
itself (and it isn't that hard to do...just drive the opponent to the
back row.


Still, I like playing this game, especially against weaker players,
because much of the advantage a stronger player has can be blunted by
means of the cards...
2)