From: Colin Paul Adams <colin <at> COLINA <dot> DEMON <dot> CO <dot> UK>
Date: 7 feb 1999
Subject: Re: The larger Shogi variants

>>>>> "Luke" == Luke Merritt <clearobscurity <at> HOTMAIL <dot> COM> writes:

    Luke> way. Or any of the really really huge wargames which
    Luke> sacrifice playability for historical accuracy. I would

I don't find they sacrifice playability at all (you just have to find
a space where you can set them up for a month or three) - for
instance, I have played the Europa series extensively in the past. My
point is these games are interesting from the start, unlike Tai.

    Luke> I'd have to have a physical set of these large shogi
    Luke> variants to actually decide if I could play them or not (I
    Luke> plan on buying a tenjiku and maybe a tai set soon), but I

I'm thinking of buying a Tai set, to investigate it. I'm looking round
to see where I'd put it. I guess I'll have to re-arrange the
furniture.

    Luke> think that the larger the chess-type game, the more playable
    Luke> it would be if lots of faerie powers were thrown in. I've
    Luke> been toying with the idea of a 100x100 shogi variant, and I
    Luke> feel that it would be necessary to include several pieces
    Luke> with very bizarre movements, like capturing from a distance
    Luke> or range jumping hook movers in order to make the game even
    Luke> appear to be playable. Of course, maybe all that is because
    Luke> I'm rather eccentric.

No - I'm sure you're right. The difficulty is to get the balance just
right. Tenjiku, for instance, totters on the edge of a win for Black
(just avoiding it). Lots of experimentation would be needed to get it
right. Good luck!

    Luke> Anyone can see that the smaller the shogi game, the more
    Luke> strategic, while the larger you get, things break down into

I can't.

    Luke> even allow a mating situation. It seems to be that taikyoku
    Luke> is more of a huge tenjiku than a step up from tai, as pieces
    Luke> promote the more standard way instead of on capture (aye,
    Luke> they even promote to more powerful pieces, not the annoying
    Luke> hook mover-gold general situation). I think the game would

That sounds good.

--
Colin Paul Adams
Preston Lancashire