4 ms·

Show HN: Chess but you make your own starting position

1 points by chess39 11mo ago

chess39 11mo ago
Make any starting position with 39 points of material. When players are ready the setups are revealed and normal chess rules apply. Play against computer, with a friend, or multiplayer
- lavren1974 11mo ago
  Interesting! I launched the chess960v2.com project a couple of days ago! I'm actively working on the online game, and I think it'll be ready in a couple of days. Why 39 points of material?
  - chess39 11mo ago
    Looking forward to see! 39 is the total in standard chess - if you sum up values of a queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights, and 8 pawns the result is 39. King should be on board but doesn’t count towards the total since it’s basically infinite
Panzerschrek 11mo ago
It's pretty unbalanced. The computer opponent can decide which pieces it uses after I make my choice.
- chess39 11mo ago
  Each opponent sets up for themselves so by default computer makes its own setup In computer settings you can toggle manual setup for computer, which allows you to set up for computer You can also let computer play against itself! Make two setups and see which one is stronger
gus_massa 11mo ago
Super fun and brutal. I won one game (of a few) because I was very lucky. [1] Some feature requests: The material counter definetively needs a bar too. It's not clear when I selected a piece to move it, they need more highlighting. A visual icon for check and checkmate. When can I castle? When can I move a pawn two squares? Option to repeat my last starting position. The computer position too? It woud be interesting to see which starting positions are more popular. If you have alot of spare computing power to organize a tournament between starting positions. (I expect something complicated like a Nash equilibrium and optimal starting strategies that are a probablilistic mix of starting positions.) [1] spoiler alert: drop a few pawn and upgrade the knight and bishops to rook, double them on the side and hope the oposite king has not enougt protection for a frontal atack.
- gus_massa 11mo ago
  Bug report: The computer promoted a pawn to a rook and in at the same time I got check mated by the rook. The UI didn't detect the check mate, I just were unable to move. It would be nice to add the initial position to the transcript, and also a permalink to share the game.
  - chess39 11mo ago
    Thank you a lot for the review and great ideas, we’ll be working to add the suggested features! Castling is possible if king and rook were spawned on the standard chess positions and hadn’t moved (e.g. king on e1 and rook on a1) Pawns move two squares from the second row only. There is an option to save your setup (for registered users) and also option to set up for computer (in computer settings). Tournament is a super idea, neat way to make a theory of setups:) Awesome ideas with the initial position transcript and permalinks, we’ll work on the implementation!
    - gus_massa 11mo ago
      In Chess960, castling has some weird rules. I don't like them, but people would expect those rules. (I'm not sure about what happens when the rock and king are not in the last rank. Probably not castling is fine.) About pawns, it's strange because if it starts at the the first rank it can move 1-2-1-1-1-... What about no pawns in the first rank? Anyway, the game is fine as it is and I'm a professional chess player and I'm not sure if they can be added to the engine. PS: Another win and a few draws (and a lot of loses) with: 12 paws in the white squares in ranks 2,3,4 and 9 bishops in the black squares. I'm trying to swap a bishop for a rook or knight or a bishop of the other color, to avoid stupid draws. PS2: I guess 8 pawns in the second rank and 8 bishops in the third rank and something to complete would be nice, but I had not tried it.
      - gus_massa 11mo ago
        Too late to edit: > I'm a professional chess player I'm NOT a professional chess player

1 points by chess39 11mo ago

Make any starting position with 39 points of material. When players are ready the setups are revealed and normal chess rules apply. Play against computer, with a friend, or multiplayer

lavren1974 11mo ago
Interesting! I launched the chess960v2.com project a couple of days ago! I'm actively working on the online game, and I think it'll be ready in a couple of days. Why 39 points of material?
- chess39 11mo ago
  Looking forward to see! 39 is the total in standard chess - if you sum up values of a queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights, and 8 pawns the result is 39. King should be on board but doesn’t count towards the total since it’s basically infinite

Panzerschrek 11mo ago

It's pretty unbalanced. The computer opponent can decide which pieces it uses after I make my choice.

chess39 11mo ago
Each opponent sets up for themselves so by default computer makes its own setup In computer settings you can toggle manual setup for computer, which allows you to set up for computer You can also let computer play against itself! Make two setups and see which one is stronger

gus_massa 11mo ago

Super fun and brutal. I won one game (of a few) because I was very lucky. [1] Some feature requests: The material counter definetively needs a bar too. It's not clear when I selected a piece to move it, they need more highlighting. A visual icon for check and checkmate. When can I castle? When can I move a pawn two squares? Option to repeat my last starting position. The computer position too? It woud be interesting to see which starting positions are more popular. If you have alot of spare computing power to organize a tournament between starting positions. (I expect something complicated like a Nash equilibrium and optimal starting strategies that are a probablilistic mix of starting positions.) [1] spoiler alert: drop a few pawn and upgrade the knight and bishops to rook, double them on the side and hope the oposite king has not enougt protection for a frontal atack.

gus_massa 11mo ago
Bug report: The computer promoted a pawn to a rook and in at the same time I got check mated by the rook. The UI didn't detect the check mate, I just were unable to move. It would be nice to add the initial position to the transcript, and also a permalink to share the game.
- chess39 11mo ago
  Thank you a lot for the review and great ideas, we’ll be working to add the suggested features! Castling is possible if king and rook were spawned on the standard chess positions and hadn’t moved (e.g. king on e1 and rook on a1) Pawns move two squares from the second row only. There is an option to save your setup (for registered users) and also option to set up for computer (in computer settings). Tournament is a super idea, neat way to make a theory of setups:) Awesome ideas with the initial position transcript and permalinks, we’ll work on the implementation!
  - gus_massa 11mo ago
    In Chess960, castling has some weird rules. I don't like them, but people would expect those rules. (I'm not sure about what happens when the rock and king are not in the last rank. Probably not castling is fine.) About pawns, it's strange because if it starts at the the first rank it can move 1-2-1-1-1-... What about no pawns in the first rank? Anyway, the game is fine as it is and I'm a professional chess player and I'm not sure if they can be added to the engine. PS: Another win and a few draws (and a lot of loses) with: 12 paws in the white squares in ranks 2,3,4 and 9 bishops in the black squares. I'm trying to swap a bishop for a rook or knight or a bishop of the other color, to avoid stupid draws. PS2: I guess 8 pawns in the second rank and 8 bishops in the third rank and something to complete would be nice, but I had not tried it.
    - gus_massa 11mo ago
      Too late to edit: > I'm a professional chess player I'm NOT a professional chess player