
Really Bad Chess makes chess fun even if you’re really bad - Swifty
http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/13/13262994/really-bad-chess-zach-gage-iphone-ipad
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dbcurtis
When my daughter was little, we played "turn around chess". She could, at any
time, start her turn by turning the board around and taking over my position.
I simply played my best chess (which isn't all that great, frankly) and when
she felt cornered she would turn the board around and get the opportunity to
attack from a superior position while I would try to fight my way out.

We both had a lot of fun, and I didn't have to do anything fake to make it fun
for her.

~~~
breadbox
That is a _great_ idea, and I wish I had had it in my back pocket about ten
years ago.

My daughter invented "coin flip chess" when she was little. I had showed her
how to flip a coin to pick between two choices, and she wanted to add it to
the game. So before you moved you had to flip a coin, and if you guessed wrong
you lost your turn.

On move four she took my queen.

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breadbox
Martin Gardner noted in one of his Mathematical Games columns that chess
variants are great for evening the playing field between players of different
skill levels. There are so many variants out there. I like how this one works
well with a computer-run game (a physical Really Bad Chess would require lots
of extra pieces).

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chrisbennet
My first college roommate* and I played chess a couple of times. He beat me
within a few moves both games. After winning the 2nd game he said to me (in
jest): "That's called the Fools Mate. You know why it works on you?"

I haven't play since. This Really Bad Chess looks like it could be fun
though...

(*) Bob P.: If you read this, I miss ya buddy!

~~~
ghaff
I don't remember if he was a roommate or just a suite mate but I played a few
times with a friend at school and he could beat me when he was blindfolded. I
was "barely passable" at one point but I haven't played in years.

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v1tyaz
> This gulf in skill and experience meant that the two couldn’t play together
> in a meaningful way; if they tried, Gage would get crushed, and the match
> wouldn’t be much fun. So he decided to fix the problem.

This problem has already been solved for hundreds of years.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_handicap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_handicap)

~~~
eth0up
In my opinion, there is no acceptable handicap system for chess; its symmetry
isn't conducive. It is also something that is almost never done - I've never
seen a handicap (beyond time and color) used in any chess club. Allotting more
time to the weaker (and less to the stronger) player is probably the best
method of balancing skill discrepancy. This is one of the reasons I abandoned
chess for go (baduk, weichi, igo, etc.), where the handicap system is fully
functional up to 9 additional stones (pieces) for the weaker player. The
gameboard sizes can range from 19x19 to 5x5 (refers to the intersecting lines
within grid). While this system is almost perfect in go, it is at best a
blemish to the game in chess. However, loser's chess can be quite
entertaining.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Losing_chess](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Losing_chess)

~~~
Razengan
I think a good handicap system for chess would be too allow [unlimited] undos
to the weaker player but no undos to the stronger player.

That would allow the newb to quickly try different strategies and see their
outcomes right away, enabling them to learn faster.

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FilterSweep
There used to be a game online (that was popular in my childhood) called Kung
Fu Chess[0] -

This removed the "Turn Based" application of Chess and instead made it real-
time online - with only a period of 1-5 seconds of waiting to be able to move
a piece again, depending on your settings.

The other "novel" feature was the introduction of a 4 player chessboard - it
added to the strategy having three other opponents all looking to get the jump
on you.

The game unfortunately shut down in 2008 - not sure where it ended up.

[0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung-
Fu_Chess](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung-Fu_Chess)

~~~
quantumpotato_
Kung Fu Chess was fantastic! If you're looking for a modern strategy game,
Check out Arimma - designed to be difficult for computers, easy for humans

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partycoder
Anti-chess is fun.

1\. You win if you get rid of all your pieces

2\. The king is just any other piece. No castling, no check/checkmate. A pawn
can promote to king.

3\. If you can capture you must capture. You can only decide if you have more
than one capture option.

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PaulHoule
I like chess960 but I like to go further and randomize the positions of the
hind row completely and do it differently. I havent tried varying the
composition of the pieces or messing with the pawns, but once I started
learning opening books plain ordinary chess became depressing for me.

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quantumpotato_
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess960](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess960)
\- by Bobby Fischer

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throwaway2016a
I'd be interested to see how the poster in this article compares to the same
poster but with a QR code instead of a tag to tear off.

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syphilis2
This looks like such fun, I wish there was a website I could play against
others on instead of an iOS app.

The idea feels fresh, challenging, curious. It has me thinking about other
ways to add variety to old games, similar to the flood of creativity board
games have experienced the past couple decades.

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pella
Wikipedia: List of chess variants

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chess_variants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chess_variants)

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k3v1n
usually when I want to play someone at about my skill level I go to one of any
number of free chess servers where there are literally hundreds or even
thousands of players of nearly every playing level. And if I want to play a
game where the pieces are shuffled I play fischer random on said server. But I
guess if you're clueless about chess but know how to write an app this is what
you end up with.

~~~
oh_sigh
This is different from FRC, and different from just playing against someone as
your own skill level.

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SimeVidas
They’re advertising an URL that shows an “Download iOS app” button. This is so
dumb, I will gladly take all your down-votes. What were they thinking?!

P.S. Progressive Web Apps.

