message 3 of 17
by John » Sat Feb 20, 2021 06:44 pm
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