So --
here, at long last. First, however, let me sincerely thank both David Howe and Guilherme S. Tows. Their works on similar subjects -- A Chess-like Variant Construction Set and the Generic Chess Piece Creation System, respectively -- were very, very helpful when organizing the VCC’s. Both their works may be found on the Chess Variant Pages web site under the listed titles, with a more in depth look at their particular methods of creating custom pieces for use in the various chesses. I have also taken the liberty of including their calculations in the VCC’s (in the appropriate columns) for all entries that our works have in common as a point of reference. Let me also, again, thank David B. Pritchard (God Bless and good rest, Sir. 7/4/06) for his outstanding work the Encyclopedia of Chess Variants, without which the VCC’s would not have been possible.
As those of you already familiar with the world of variants know, (and as those of you new to this fascinating family of games will quickly discover) there is very little new under this particular sun. Saying that, I just want to reiterate that Shogessi and the VCC’s are not meant to be a new reinvention of its progenitors so much as it is a system with which these many disparate pieces may be combined in one setting. The VCC’s are an aggregate of some of the more common variant ideas translated into a point system that allows them to share a single board/game. But even though they are being expressed in a common environment, it is true to the nature of the idea that different players will very probably arrive at the same practical results by wholly different methods. For the sake of Shogessi this is by no means a drawback, in my opinion. If, for example, two or more players all end up creating what is effectively the same Variant (card) for use in the game, but each Variant has a different CC, the strategic importance of each different Variant becomes all the more enhanced.
Well, I guess that’s enough of the sales-pitch.
For the sake of bandwidth I’m only including a few of the VCC’s pages and the addenda, but the download version includes the whole of the charts. Because of layout considerations the charts weren’t changed to accommodate the newer rules regarding certain aspects of the Variants, but the addenda deal with these.
Finally, the CyberBoard gamebox for Shogessi currently available to download is still the same, and the Variants included in it also do not reflect the values represented in the charts. An update for that will be made available as soon as possible, with new graphics and the correct casting costs inserted. However, the original gamebox is still viable until then.
To all of you that have managed to sustain your interest in Shogessi, my most heartfelt gratitude, and
appreciation. It is my hope that the VCC’s will provide you all with newer and continuing challenges.
Thanks. Best Regards. Good Gaming.
-EW-
