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The idea of an asymmetric Chess starting position is very interesting, although it does introduce more risk of one side starting with a big advantage (perhaps t

The idea of an asymmetric Chess starting position is very interesting, although it does introduce more risk of one side starting with a big advantage (perhaps this has been analyzed). I also like that in this variant, castling works like normal -- that is one of the most unintuitive aspects of Chess960.

philsnow 2y ago
> one side starting with a big advantage I have never played this variant of chess, but on the surface it seems that having both bishops on the same color would be a sizeable disadvantage. The other randomized pieces (queens and knights) can get to any square, so having two knights start on dark squares, for instance, doesn't seem to really matter.
- anamexis 2y ago
  The bishops are required to be on different colors.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
IvanChess744v3 2y ago
We fixed the castling issue with Chess 744. Thoughts? https://sites.google.com/view/chess-744/todays-744-game https://sites.google.com/view/chess-744/todays-744-game
- ActivePattern 2y ago
  Yes, that appears to be another good solution to the castling trickiness! And probably how you assume castling works in Chess960 if you weren't given the rules.
  - IvanChess744v3 2y ago
    But that's the problem with Chess 960 - that's not how you castle at all in that variant.
orthoxerox 2y ago
One option is bidding with points: player A looks at the position and bids X<0.5 points for the privilege of picking the color. Player B either accepts or raises the bid, the process repeats until one of them accepts or bids 0.5 points. The match is then played for the remaining 1-X points. Or, more simply, player A is shown N random positions, picks one of them and lets player B pick the color.
- bsder 2y ago
  Or you just run things like duplicate bridge. Everybody plays the same set of randomized boards.
- ActivePattern 2y ago
  I don't think that bidding system really works. If one side is strongly favored in the opening, the optimal bid would be essentially 0.4999999999... so that you can pick the color and win the game by a slim margin. Players then increase the bid with tiny steps ad infinitum. The other idea works but is essentially just discarding all of the lopsided starting positions, in which case they might as well not be in the game.

philsnow 2y ago

> one side starting with a big advantage I have never played this variant of chess, but on the surface it seems that having both bishops on the same color would be a sizeable disadvantage. The other randomized pieces (queens and knights) can get to any square, so having two knights start on dark squares, for instance, doesn't seem to really matter.

anamexis 2y ago
The bishops are required to be on different colors.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

IvanChess744v3 2y ago

We fixed the castling issue with Chess 744. Thoughts? https://sites.google.com/view/chess-744/todays-744-game https://sites.google.com/view/chess-744/todays-744-game

ActivePattern 2y ago
Yes, that appears to be another good solution to the castling trickiness! And probably how you assume castling works in Chess960 if you weren't given the rules.
- IvanChess744v3 2y ago
  But that's the problem with Chess 960 - that's not how you castle at all in that variant.

orthoxerox 2y ago

One option is bidding with points: player A looks at the position and bids X<0.5 points for the privilege of picking the color. Player B either accepts or raises the bid, the process repeats until one of them accepts or bids 0.5 points. The match is then played for the remaining 1-X points. Or, more simply, player A is shown N random positions, picks one of them and lets player B pick the color.

bsder 2y ago
Or you just run things like duplicate bridge. Everybody plays the same set of randomized boards.
ActivePattern 2y ago
I don't think that bidding system really works. If one side is strongly favored in the opening, the optimal bid would be essentially 0.4999999999... so that you can pick the color and win the game by a slim margin. Players then increase the bid with tiny steps ad infinitum. The other idea works but is essentially just discarding all of the lopsided starting positions, in which case they might as well not be in the game.