Message board topic:

I watched a master play a few games of "Fog Of War" chess and I just thought...nope.  Bobby Fischer before he died, was advocating variations of chess, but then he had already mastered standard chess.  I don't think I'll ever get to the point where I need to change the rules to make it harder.  It's hard enough now!  There's probably a lot of stuff online about tri-level chess now, where there wasn't when I first got interested, but again, I have too much to learn about standard chess.

I played both nights last weekend.  Lots of work for about average money and I didn't have time to get anything else done, I was gone so much.

If did finally warm up here.  Supposed to be around 60 today and it's already a big swamp   There's still a little snow left but it should be gone in a day or 2.  The break in the weather meant I got out yesterday and got a few things doneI should get more done today.  Van Gogh was maybe a couple of days from being out of food but now she and Piggy have plenty.  John

Chess where you cannot see the opposing pieces? Sounds like battle ship!

Never knew the rules of 3 level chess. And 3 or 4 people chess seems hard.

Did it warm up there yet? It sure did here, about 50f today and the hills are a slushy/icy/muddy mess now.

I've seen some wild chess variations, but I have enough trouble with standard chess!  One is "Fog Of War", where you can't see any of the enemy pieces until you come into contact with them.  (Obviously, that can only be played over a computer.)  There's another that combines the Knight with either a Rook or a Bishop, so the Knight can move either way.  I've also seen one that has 2 new pieces, called Chancellors.  The board is still 8 squares deep, but 10 squares wide.  Then there are variations with standard pieces, but placed in different arrangements.  There's also 3 and 4 person chess.  But again, I need to get a lot better at standard chess before I tackle anything like that!

About 25 years ago or so, I did buy a tri-level chess set.  In those days there was nothing on the internet about it but I wanted to learn the rules, so I bought the set just for the instructions.  I did learn how to play it, but with no one to play against, I had no idea how to develop any strategies.  It was all tactics and I figured I'd be terrible if I ever did find anyone to play with.  So, it just gathers dust now.

I was gone 14 hours last night, playing about an hour and a half away.  Was not happy about that.  It was a lot busier than on New Year's day but that isn't saying much.  The place is right next to Bagnell Dam, which you drive across to get to it.  The Lake Of The Ozarks is a good sized lake, and that's the first time I'd ever seen it completely froze over.  I wouldn't have walked across it as I doubt it was that thick, but looking across it was stunning.  It's a big dam with enormous hydro-electric generators inside, but it was built I think, during the Franklin Roosevelt administration, and is barely wide enough for 2 modern cars to pass each other on.  It's a little spooky.

Piggy has plenty of hay and vegetables and at the moment, he's attacking an apple slice.  Van Gogh is very nearly out of food and I won't be anywhere to get more for a couple of days, but she won't go hungry.  I have to play again tonight, but much closer to home.  Still, I won't have time to do any food shopping for Van Gogh.  I slept about 7 hours last night but didn't get up until about 11:30 AM!  Not feeling very rested but I did need the sleep.  At least I've got a lot more time to get things done today than I had yesterday.  John

John wrote:

I looked over a couple of your games last night and I came across one where you had some of the computer's pieces and it had some of yours! Experimenting, or had you done that before?  John

 I made a variant I called trators where I swapped a knight, bishop and castle with his. I hd no idea how it would work and it surprised me that he forced my had very quickly. I have been playing all my games on level 2 now and still winning. Again the computer keeps not wanting to swap what I consider major pieces, queen for queen and such. I'll likly try level 3 very soon. :)

Have fun playing today! Get a bunch of new fans!

Oh, I guess it did post!  John

I had a post all typed up but my internet dropped twice and it gave me an error and wouldn't post.  My internet is terrible!  John