Chess - Revision history

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131.96.221.188 at 20:10, 13 April 2022

2022-04-13T20:10:18Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:10, 13 April 2022
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	The most famous tabletop game in all of human history. According to /tg/, '''chess''' is just a cheap western knockoff of the ancient Chinese game of <strike>[[go]]</strike> ''Wei Qi'' despite the game being invented in India during the 7th century. The game was altered and refined until the late 15th century, which gave rise to the ''Chess'' version used to this day.		The most famous tabletop game in all of human history. According to /tg/, '''chess''' is just a cheap western knockoff of the ancient Chinese game of <strike>[[go]]</strike> ''Wei Qi'' despite the game being invented in India during the 7th century. The game was altered and refined until the late 15th century, which gave rise to the ''Chess'' version used to this day.

	Despite its rampant popularity and how it is associated with geniuses, it is obvious it fails in every way to simulate war, tactics, combat or anything else it has been hyped over for centuries about. Common complaints include the lack of army list and deployment options, the Knight's plain weird movement and the fact that the King is both the most important piece and completely useless (though that could just be a political statement).		Despite its rampant popularity and how it is associated with geniuses, it is obvious it fails in every way to simulate war, tactics, combat, or anything else it has been hyped over for centuries about. Common complaints include the lack of army list and deployment options, the Knight's plain weird movement, and the fact that the King is both the most important piece and completely useless (though that could just be a political statement).

	Being one of the, if not the, most popular games without a luck component (rivaled only by [[Go]]), Chess has been the center of most AI player research. While Chess has not been solved, and likely won’t for some time, chess AI is good enough that even weak machines (a phone from 2009!) can make top level players work for their victory, and champions have been beaten by top of the line AI. In fact, it's almost literally impossible for the best player in the world to beat a top of the line AI, and they will even struggle to draw under favourable circumstances.		Being one of the, if not the, most popular games without a luck component (rivaled only by [[Go]]), Chess has been the center of most AI player research. While Chess has not been solved, and likely won’t for some time, chess AI is good enough that even weak machines (a phone from 2009!) can make top-level players work for their victory, and champions have been beaten by top-of-the-line AIs. In fact, it's almost literally impossible for the best player in the world to beat a top-of-the-line AI, and they will even struggle to draw under favourable circumstances.
	==Rules==		==Rules==
	;Basic rules		;Basic rules
	* Two players play this game.		* Two players play this game.
	* [[Image:Checkmate.png\|thumb\|<del>[[Just as planned]]</del>. [[Derp\|That's not even a legal move!]]]]The players' goal is to <strike>kill the King of the opponent</strike> put the opposition King in a situation that would result in his death next turn, without a way to escape. This is called a checkmate; the Persian "Shāh Māt" literally means "The king is dead" with some changes in Arabic. If the king is threatened, we call it check and - because of the Brutality Rule (below) (and because you would immediately lose after it) - you cannot allow him to be killed. You have to:		* [[Image:Checkmate.png\|thumb\|<del>[[Just as planned]]</del>. [[Derp\|That's not even a legal move!]]]]The players' goal is to <strike>kill the King of the opponent</strike> put the opposition King in a situation that would result in his death next turn, without a way to escape. This is called a checkmate; the Persian "Shāh Māt" literally means "The king is dead" with some changes in Arabic. If the king is threatened, we call it check, and - because of the Brutality Rule (below) (and because you would immediately lose after it) - you cannot allow him to be killed. You have to:
	** move the King away,		** move the King away,
	** get a piece of your own between the King and the piece threatening to provide cover or		** get a piece of your own between the King and the piece threatening to provide cover or

140.198.76.254: /* Modern variants */

2021-11-24T22:16:16Z

Modern variants

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	* '''Chess Boxing''', which alternates rounds of boxing with rounds of Blitz Chess (that is, chess with very aggressive timer).		* '''Chess Boxing''', which alternates rounds of boxing with rounds of Blitz Chess (that is, chess with very aggressive timer).
	* '''[[The Duke]]''': Shogi crossed with Concentration of all things, pieces flip on move changing their moves. Actually a pretty clever game but absurdly complex to actually play.		* '''[[The Duke]]''': Shogi crossed with Concentration of all things, pieces flip on move changing their moves. Actually a pretty clever game but absurdly complex to actually play.
			* '''5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel''', An evil sadistic version of chess in which pieces can be sent back in time creating multiple timelines that are all played on simultaneously.

	==Fictional versions of Chess==		==Fictional versions of Chess==

219.89.83.243 at 02:34, 27 September 2021

2021-09-27T02:34:29Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:34, 27 September 2021
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	Despite its rampant popularity and how it is associated with geniuses, it is obvious it fails in every way to simulate war, tactics, combat or anything else it has been hyped over for centuries about. Common complaints include the lack of army list and deployment options, the Knight's plain weird movement and the fact that the King is both the most important piece and completely useless (though that could just be a political statement).		Despite its rampant popularity and how it is associated with geniuses, it is obvious it fails in every way to simulate war, tactics, combat or anything else it has been hyped over for centuries about. Common complaints include the lack of army list and deployment options, the Knight's plain weird movement and the fact that the King is both the most important piece and completely useless (though that could just be a political statement).

	Being one of the, if not the, most popular games without a luck component (rivaled only by [[Go]]), Chess has been the center of most AI player research. While Chess has not been solved, and likely won’t for some time, chess AI is good enough that even weak machines (a phone from 2009!) can make top level players work for their victory, and champions have been beaten by top of the line AI.		Being one of the, if not the, most popular games without a luck component (rivaled only by [[Go]]), Chess has been the center of most AI player research. While Chess has not been solved, and likely won’t for some time, chess AI is good enough that even weak machines (a phone from 2009!) can make top level players work for their victory, and champions have been beaten by top of the line AI. In fact, it's almost literally impossible for the best player in the world to beat a top of the line AI, and they will even struggle to draw under favourable circumstances.

	==Rules==		==Rules==
	;Basic rules		;Basic rules

219.89.83.243: /* The Pieces */

2021-09-21T21:09:12Z

The Pieces

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:09, 21 September 2021
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	'''Knight:''' {DEFFCOPTAS} <big>♘ ♞</big> This is the most controversial piece of the Chess army. People will tell you that it's difficult to keep in mind how they can attack. Lies! It's very easy: a Knight is basically a character with a reach weapon. He can't attack squares next to him and he can attack all the squares 10 feet of him, except the ones which the Queen would be able to (most likely balance reasons, and everything about chess is a giant commentary on feudal hierarchy, i.e., the Queen<the Knight). This leaves 8 targetable squares, arranged in L-shapes around him. He is also the only piece able to attack pieces behind cover. Still, for their limited range and mobility, the are considered as valuable as a bishop unit at 3 points.		'''Knight:''' {DEFFCOPTAS} <big>♘ ♞</big> This is the most controversial piece of the Chess army. People will tell you that it's difficult to keep in mind how they can attack. Lies! It's very easy: a Knight is basically a character with a reach weapon. He can't attack squares next to him and he can attack all the squares 10 feet of him, except the ones which the Queen would be able to (most likely balance reasons, and everything about chess is a giant commentary on feudal hierarchy, i.e., the Queen<the Knight). This leaves 8 targetable squares, arranged in L-shapes around him. He is also the only piece able to attack pieces behind cover. Still, for their limited range and mobility, the are considered as valuable as a bishop unit at 3 points.

	'''Pawn:''' {BOYZ}<big>♙ ♟</big> The backbone of your army. You've got 8 of them, and they can move only forward one step in a turn. If they haven't moved or attacked yet, they can move two squares to give them a head start. However, unlike most pieces, they can't attack forward, only diagonally, forward-left or forward-right, and they can't attack empty squares. They seem quite weak and indeed, they are the unit against which others are measured, being worth only a single point, but this changes when they reach the opponent's end of the battlefield. When they are there, they don't become unusable, they get special powers instead: They will become a queen, a rook, a bishop or a knight (your choice). No you cannot make your pawn into another king, as much sense as it would make to have a backup (or not, given that doubling your opponent's chances for a checkmate or Brutality rule shenanigans is effin' stupid). This doesn't even take a turn, at the moment they reach the end of the battlefield, you can switch the pieces. In professional play, the arbiter can provide you with the extra piece, in casual play, you can just use counters. If your opponent claims that you can only use previously captured pieces, either he lies or I do right now, and it's not a bad idea to just agree on this sort of thing in advance. Pawns also have a special skill called "En passant", which you can use when one of your Pawns stands on any square of the fourth line from your enemy's view and one of his Pawns tries crossing a square that your Pawn could attack (i.e. the enemy Pawn doing the aforementioned 2-square move). When using the skill, your Pawn moves to that attackable square while killing the enemy Pawn who was trying to sneak across.		'''Pawn:''' {BOYZ}<big>♙ ♟</big> The backbone of your army. You've got 8 of them, and they can move only forward one step in a turn. If they haven't moved or attacked yet, they can move two squares to give them a head start. However, unlike most pieces, they can't attack forward, only diagonally, forward-left or forward-right, and they can't attack empty squares. They seem quite weak and indeed, they are the unit against which others are measured, being worth only a single point, but this changes when they reach the opponent's end of the battlefield. When they are there, they don't become unusable, they get special powers instead: They will become a queen, a rook, a bishop or a knight (your choice). No you cannot make your pawn into another king, as much sense as it would make to have a backup (or not, given that doubling your opponent's chances for a checkmate or Brutality rule shenanigans is effin' stupid). This doesn't even take a turn, at the moment they reach the end of the battlefield, you can switch the pieces. In professional play, the arbiter can provide you with the extra piece, in casual play, you can just use counters. If your opponent claims that you can only use previously captured pieces, either he lies or I do right now, and it's not a bad idea to just agree on this sort of thing in advance. Pawns also have a special skill called "En passant" (holy hell), which you can use when one of your Pawns stands on any square of the fourth line from your enemy's view and one of his Pawns tries crossing a square that your Pawn could attack (i.e. the enemy Pawn doing the aforementioned 2-square move). When using the skill, your Pawn moves to that attackable square while killing the enemy Pawn who was trying to sneak across.

	=== Army setup ===		=== Army setup ===

219.89.83.243: /* The Pieces */

2021-09-21T21:08:29Z

The Pieces

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:08, 21 September 2021
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	'''Rook:''' {TRUKK} <big>♖ ♜</big> You have two of these powerful pieces. They are basically castles with cannons on them so they can attack everything in the row and column they are on(but watch out, Cover rules apply for them too). Just like everyone else, they can only attack once per turn. Funnily enough, they too have to move to the square they attacked. Capable of "Castling," a complex maneuver outlined below. They are said to be worth 5 points.		'''Rook:''' {TRUKK} <big>♖ ♜</big> You have two of these powerful pieces. They are basically castles with cannons on them so they can attack everything in the row and column they are on(but watch out, Cover rules apply for them too). Just like everyone else, they can only attack once per turn. Funnily enough, they too have to move to the square they attacked. Capable of "Castling," a complex maneuver outlined below. They are said to be worth 5 points.

	'''Bishop:''' {MEKBOYZ} <big>♗ ♝</big> People will tell you that they have similar powers to the Rook. Don't believe them! Basically, they can do everything the Rook can, but only diagonally, which means that half of the battlefield is simply as unreachable as another continent. This is why you get two of them, one for the white squares, and another for the black. Due to this limitation, they are considered worth less than the Rooks at 3 points. And no, you aren't allowed to ask why <s> [[Sisters of Battle\|the king brought fucking preachers to a battlefield]]</s> the clergy is taking sides in a mortal conflict since they are just supposed to fund those.		'''Bishop:''' {MEKBOYZ} <big>♗ ♝</big> People will tell you that they have similar powers to the Rook. Don't believe them! Basically, they can do everything the Rook can, but only diagonally, which means that half of the battlefield is simply as unreachable as another continent. This is why you get two of them, one for the white squares, and another for the black. Due to this limitation, they are considered worth less than the Rooks at 3 points. And no, you aren't allowed to ask why <s> [[Sisters of Battle\|the king brought fucking preachers to a battlefield]]</s> the clergy is taking sides in a mortal conflict since they are just supposed to fund those. While both the Knight and Bishop are nominally rated 3 points each, the Bishops are considered slightly stronger due to having greater range, though this is dependant on board state - when the position is closed and Bishops movements are restricted, Knights are generally superior.

	'''Queen:''' {Battlewagon} <big>♕ ♛</big> This is easy. She gets to do everything the Rook AND the Bishop can. She is the strongest piece in your army, she '''''really''''' doesn't get [[-4 STR]]. Tournament rules only permit fielding one Queen per army, but an army can airdrop the equipment to turn a Pawn into another Queen as reinforcements in the late game if they can get far enough into enemy territory. The Queen became a powerful piece when the game came to Europe, back in India she and the king were almost equally incompetent with the Queen being slightly better. Today, the Queen is globally accepted as the most powerful single piece on the board, but because pieces insta-die if attacked this also means you have to be very cautious when playing her. Point value is 9, and worth every one.		'''Queen:''' {Battlewagon} <big>♕ ♛</big> This is easy. She gets to do everything the Rook AND the Bishop can. She is the strongest piece in your army, she '''''really''''' doesn't get [[-4 STR]]. Tournament rules only permit fielding one Queen per army, but an army can airdrop the equipment to turn a Pawn into another Queen as reinforcements in the late game if they can get far enough into enemy territory. The Queen became a powerful piece when the game came to Europe, back in India she and the king were almost equally incompetent with the Queen being slightly better. Today, the Queen is globally accepted as the most powerful single piece on the board, but because pieces insta-die if attacked this also means you have to be very cautious when playing her. Point value is 9, and worth every one.

1d4chan>Piroko: /* Variants */

2021-08-04T19:19:49Z

Variants

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:19, 4 August 2021
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	There are also a variety of 3D chess versions but only [[Star Trek\|Trekkies]] know how to play them, so nobody cares. An interesting (in a mind-bendingly weird sort of way) variant is [[Timecube Chess]], in which chess is played in the past, future, and four simultaneous presents.		There are also a variety of 3D chess versions but only [[Star Trek\|Trekkies]] know how to play them, so nobody cares. An interesting (in a mind-bendingly weird sort of way) variant is [[Timecube Chess]], in which chess is played in the past, future, and four simultaneous presents.

	Now if you paid attention to what you just read, you may have guessed that western chess came from a much older (and very different) indian version. And that indian version did not just spawn a few variants in Europe but in eastern Asia as well. One well-known version is Shogi or japanese chess. It has two-sided pieces, a promotion system that [[FAIL\|arguably makes some pieces less interesting once promoted]], a supply/capture system and some more subtleties that make [[weeaboo\|some]] say that it is superior to all other versions of chess, but all in all, it's not really that exciting. Like most things in Japan, especially [[mahjong\|overly complicated games that are not role-playing games]], it is considered [[serious business]]. As in, dedicated cable TV channels, public tournaments and scouting for players in elementary school serious business. Unlike most classic board games without luck, including normal chess and [[Go]] for all but the largest board sizes, Shogi has not yet been "solved": It is still possible for (the best) human players to beat AI players. The ability to return captured pieces to play means that shogi victories tend to build to a steamroll ending. The outcome of the game hinges on coming out ahead on a string of tactical exchanges in order to achieve overall strategic advantage in pieces.		Now if you paid attention to what you just read, you may have guessed that western chess came from a much older (and very different) indian version. And that indian version did not just spawn a few variants in Europe but in eastern Asia as well. One well-known version is '''Shogi''' or japanese chess. It has two-sided pieces, a promotion system that [[FAIL\|arguably makes some pieces less interesting once promoted]], a supply/capture system and some more subtleties that make [[weeaboo\|some]] say that it is superior to all other versions of chess, but all in all, it's not really that exciting. Like most things in Japan, especially [[mahjong\|overly complicated games that are not role-playing games]], it is considered [[serious business]]. As in, dedicated cable TV channels, public tournaments and scouting for players in elementary school serious business. Unlike most classic board games without luck, including normal chess and [[Go]] for all but the largest board sizes, Shogi has not yet been "solved": It is still possible for (the best) human players to beat AI players. The ability to return captured pieces to play means that shogi victories tend to build to a steamroll ending. The outcome of the game hinges on coming out ahead on a string of tactical exchanges in order to achieve overall strategic advantage in pieces.

	Another variant is Xiangqi or chinese chess. There is a promotion system as well, plus the game has elephants, chariots that player call cars or tanks nowadays, catapults or cannons, your <s>king</s> {{BLAM\|'''BLAM!'''None shall taint the name of the Holy Emperor by putting him in a game!}} {{BLAM\|'''RE-BLAM!'''The emperor is a coward and is holding the glorious revolution of the people back!}} general has two personal guards, each side has a fortress and there is a river in the middle of the battlefield. Much like western chess, all these elements are not enough to make it awesome because all of them are held back by the rules and by some logical flaws. The elephants cannot cross the river and have a stupid movement pattern so they can only be used in defense and have only seven possible positions on the board making them easy to threaten. At the end of the day, your two elephants are just trying to protect each other. The two guards cannot leave the fortress, meaning that they have only five possible positions on the board and are pretty useless. Firing the catapult [[derp\|moves it to the destination of the projectile]] [[wat\|and you can only fire it if there is something between it and its target.]] The promotion system only applies to pawns and the horse has the same movement pattern as the knight but cannot jump over other units. Since there is no equivalent of the bishop and queen (which means in modern terms, the 'king' would be called a 'monarch' or the 'chief executive', democratically, the 'President' or 'Prime Minister' or for extremes, the Supreme Soviet or Duce) the car (which moves exactly like the rook) and the catapult (that has a pretty retarded movement pattern) are the only pieces that can really help you control the board. Xiangqi also has loads of variants including one with four players, supplies and no river (meaning that the elephants can finally be useful), a version played mostly in Hong Kong that is pretty similar to [[Stratego]], one based on the Three Kingdoms war for three players... Xiangqi is not that different from western chess in that the game is not as awesome as it sounds, and the general is the central piece of the game and is completely useless unless you are a manly man and decide to move your general out of the fortres and checkmate with him. That tactic is called feijiang and contrary to popular belief, does not translate to "flying general" but is chinese for "fuck you".		Another variant is Xiangqi or chinese chess. There is a promotion system as well, plus the game has elephants, chariots that player call cars or tanks nowadays, catapults or cannons, your <s>king</s> {{BLAM\|'''BLAM!'''None shall taint the name of the Holy Emperor by putting him in a game!}} {{BLAM\|'''RE-BLAM!'''The emperor is a coward and is holding the glorious revolution of the people back!}} general has two personal guards, each side has a fortress and there is a river in the middle of the battlefield. Much like western chess, all these elements are not enough to make it awesome because all of them are held back by the rules and by some logical flaws. The elephants cannot cross the river and have a stupid movement pattern so they can only be used in defense and have only seven possible positions on the board making them easy to threaten. At the end of the day, your two elephants are just trying to protect each other. The two guards cannot leave the fortress, meaning that they have only five possible positions on the board and are pretty useless. Firing the catapult [[derp\|moves it to the destination of the projectile]] [[wat\|and you can only fire it if there is something between it and its target.]] The promotion system only applies to pawns and the horse has the same movement pattern as the knight but cannot jump over other units. Since there is no equivalent of the bishop and queen (which means in modern terms, the 'king' would be called a 'monarch' or the 'chief executive', democratically, the 'President' or 'Prime Minister' or for extremes, the Supreme Soviet or Duce) the car (which moves exactly like the rook) and the catapult (that has a pretty retarded movement pattern) are the only pieces that can really help you control the board. Xiangqi also has loads of variants including one with four players, supplies and no river (meaning that the elephants can finally be useful), a version played mostly in Hong Kong that is pretty similar to [[Stratego]], one based on the Three Kingdoms war for three players... Xiangqi is not that different from western chess in that the game is not as awesome as it sounds, and the general is the central piece of the game and is completely useless unless you are a manly man and decide to move your general out of the fortres and checkmate with him. That tactic is called feijiang and contrary to popular belief, does not translate to "flying general" but is chinese for "fuck you".

2600:1700:9756:490:ED5C:E6F:3BB5:E008: /* Fictional versions of Chess */

2021-06-12T03:22:27Z

Fictional versions of Chess

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:22, 12 June 2021
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	;Regicide ([[Warhammer 40,000]])		;Regicide ([[Warhammer 40,000]])
	A 40K IP-licensed game named after 40k's equivalent of Chess. If you're hearing about it only now, that was pretty much the game's reception in a nutshell. It's essentially Chess set up as Orks vs. Space Marines, but with [[Rip and tear\|blood soaked animations]] and the option to use guns and psychic powers to wear down pieces rather than capturing them the old way. The game itself was actually pretty mediocre, but still better than regular chess.		A 40K IP-licensed game named after 40k's equivalent of Chess. If you're hearing about it only now, that was pretty much the game's reception in a nutshell. It's essentially Chess set up as Orks vs. Space Marines, but with [[Rip and tear\|blood soaked animations]] and the option to use guns and psychic powers to wear down pieces rather than capturing them the old way. The game itself was actually pretty mediocre, but still better than regular chess. According to the [[Ciaphas Cain]] books, Regicide also exists in-universe, and Cain is pretty good at it ([[Hero of the Imperium\|because of course he is]]).

	==TLDR==		==TLDR==

2600:1700:9756:490:ED5C:E6F:3BB5:E008: /* Special rules */

2021-06-12T03:15:42Z

Special rules

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:15, 12 June 2021
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	[[Image:Chess_Castle.jpg\|thumb\|right\|300px\|Pretty much this.]]		[[Image:Chess_Castle.jpg\|thumb\|right\|300px\|Pretty much this.]]
	;En Passant		;En Passant
	The foreign name is because this is a stupid rule from a previous edition buried right at the back where nobody reads it. It's clearly an attempt by chess's authors to imitate D&D's "attack of opportunity," proving that chess is really just a bad knock-off of 4th edition D&D. If ~~an enemy~~ pawn moves two squares on its first move, and it arrives right next to (1 step to the left or the right) a pawn ~~of yours~~, ~~you~~ can ~~take it as if it only moved 1 square; the~~ pawn is ~~moved~~ into the square ~~the enemy pawn~~ moved over (ie, where it would be if it had only moved one square) and ~~the enemy~~ pawn ~~removed~~. This is the only way to take a piece in chess without ever occupying the same square as it. Absolutely nobody knows this rule exists the first time they encounter it; in fact, one of the biggest challenges in writing grandmaster-level chess programs is programming them to argue for half an hour that you can't do that with a pawn.		The foreign name is because this is a stupid rule from a previous edition buried right at the back where nobody reads it. It's clearly an attempt by chess's authors to imitate D&D's "attack of opportunity," proving that chess is really just a bad knock-off of 4th edition D&D. If player A's pawn moves two squares on its first move, and it arrives right next to (1 step to the left or the right) player B's pawn, player B can capture player A's pawn: player A's pawn is ''pushed back'' into the square it moved over (ie, where it would be if it had only moved one square) and player B's pawn moves diagonal as normal. This is the only way to take a piece in chess without ever occupying the same square as it. Absolutely nobody knows this rule exists the first time they encounter it; in fact, one of the biggest challenges in writing grandmaster-level chess programs is programming them to argue for half an hour that you can't do that with a pawn.

	;Castling		;Castling

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:19, 4 August 2021
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	There are also a variety of 3D chess versions but only [[Star Trek\|Trekkies]] know how to play them, so nobody cares. An interesting (in a mind-bendingly weird sort of way) variant is [[Timecube Chess]], in which chess is played in the past, future, and four simultaneous presents.		There are also a variety of 3D chess versions but only [[Star Trek\|Trekkies]] know how to play them, so nobody cares. An interesting (in a mind-bendingly weird sort of way) variant is [[Timecube Chess]], in which chess is played in the past, future, and four simultaneous presents.

	Now if you paid attention to what you just read, you may have guessed that western chess came from a much older (and very different) indian version. And that indian version did not just spawn a few variants in Europe but in eastern Asia as well. One well-known version is Shogi or japanese chess. It has two-sided pieces, a promotion system that [[FAIL\|arguably makes some pieces less interesting once promoted]], a supply/capture system and some more subtleties that make [[weeaboo\|some]] say that it is superior to all other versions of chess, but all in all, it's not really that exciting. Like most things in Japan, especially [[mahjong\|overly complicated games that are not role-playing games]], it is considered [[serious business]]. As in, dedicated cable TV channels, public tournaments and scouting for players in elementary school serious business. Unlike most classic board games without luck, including normal chess and [[Go]] for all but the largest board sizes, Shogi has not yet been "solved": It is still possible for (the best) human players to beat AI players. The ability to return captured pieces to play means that shogi victories tend to build to a steamroll ending. The outcome of the game hinges on coming out ahead on a string of tactical exchanges in order to achieve overall strategic advantage in pieces.		Now if you paid attention to what you just read, you may have guessed that western chess came from a much older (and very different) indian version. And that indian version did not just spawn a few variants in Europe but in eastern Asia as well. One well-known version is '''Shogi''' or japanese chess. It has two-sided pieces, a promotion system that [[FAIL\|arguably makes some pieces less interesting once promoted]], a supply/capture system and some more subtleties that make [[weeaboo\|some]] say that it is superior to all other versions of chess, but all in all, it's not really that exciting. Like most things in Japan, especially [[mahjong\|overly complicated games that are not role-playing games]], it is considered [[serious business]]. As in, dedicated cable TV channels, public tournaments and scouting for players in elementary school serious business. Unlike most classic board games without luck, including normal chess and [[Go]] for all but the largest board sizes, Shogi has not yet been "solved": It is still possible for (the best) human players to beat AI players. The ability to return captured pieces to play means that shogi victories tend to build to a steamroll ending. The outcome of the game hinges on coming out ahead on a string of tactical exchanges in order to achieve overall strategic advantage in pieces.

	Another variant is Xiangqi or chinese chess. There is a promotion system as well, plus the game has elephants, chariots that player call cars or tanks nowadays, catapults or cannons, your <s>king</s> {{BLAM\|'''BLAM!'''None shall taint the name of the Holy Emperor by putting him in a game!}} {{BLAM\|'''RE-BLAM!'''The emperor is a coward and is holding the glorious revolution of the people back!}} general has two personal guards, each side has a fortress and there is a river in the middle of the battlefield. Much like western chess, all these elements are not enough to make it awesome because all of them are held back by the rules and by some logical flaws. The elephants cannot cross the river and have a stupid movement pattern so they can only be used in defense and have only seven possible positions on the board making them easy to threaten. At the end of the day, your two elephants are just trying to protect each other. The two guards cannot leave the fortress, meaning that they have only five possible positions on the board and are pretty useless. Firing the catapult [[derp\|moves it to the destination of the projectile]] [[wat\|and you can only fire it if there is something between it and its target.]] The promotion system only applies to pawns and the horse has the same movement pattern as the knight but cannot jump over other units. Since there is no equivalent of the bishop and queen (which means in modern terms, the 'king' would be called a 'monarch' or the 'chief executive', democratically, the 'President' or 'Prime Minister' or for extremes, the Supreme Soviet or Duce) the car (which moves exactly like the rook) and the catapult (that has a pretty retarded movement pattern) are the only pieces that can really help you control the board. Xiangqi also has loads of variants including one with four players, supplies and no river (meaning that the elephants can finally be useful), a version played mostly in Hong Kong that is pretty similar to [[Stratego]], one based on the Three Kingdoms war for three players... Xiangqi is not that different from western chess in that the game is not as awesome as it sounds, and the general is the central piece of the game and is completely useless unless you are a manly man and decide to move your general out of the fortres and checkmate with him. That tactic is called feijiang and contrary to popular belief, does not translate to "flying general" but is chinese for "fuck you".		Another variant is Xiangqi or chinese chess. There is a promotion system as well, plus the game has elephants, chariots that player call cars or tanks nowadays, catapults or cannons, your <s>king</s> {{BLAM\|'''BLAM!'''None shall taint the name of the Holy Emperor by putting him in a game!}} {{BLAM\|'''RE-BLAM!'''The emperor is a coward and is holding the glorious revolution of the people back!}} general has two personal guards, each side has a fortress and there is a river in the middle of the battlefield. Much like western chess, all these elements are not enough to make it awesome because all of them are held back by the rules and by some logical flaws. The elephants cannot cross the river and have a stupid movement pattern so they can only be used in defense and have only seven possible positions on the board making them easy to threaten. At the end of the day, your two elephants are just trying to protect each other. The two guards cannot leave the fortress, meaning that they have only five possible positions on the board and are pretty useless. Firing the catapult [[derp\|moves it to the destination of the projectile]] [[wat\|and you can only fire it if there is something between it and its target.]] The promotion system only applies to pawns and the horse has the same movement pattern as the knight but cannot jump over other units. Since there is no equivalent of the bishop and queen (which means in modern terms, the 'king' would be called a 'monarch' or the 'chief executive', democratically, the 'President' or 'Prime Minister' or for extremes, the Supreme Soviet or Duce) the car (which moves exactly like the rook) and the catapult (that has a pretty retarded movement pattern) are the only pieces that can really help you control the board. Xiangqi also has loads of variants including one with four players, supplies and no river (meaning that the elephants can finally be useful), a version played mostly in Hong Kong that is pretty similar to [[Stratego]], one based on the Three Kingdoms war for three players... Xiangqi is not that different from western chess in that the game is not as awesome as it sounds, and the general is the central piece of the game and is completely useless unless you are a manly man and decide to move your general out of the fortres and checkmate with him. That tactic is called feijiang and contrary to popular belief, does not translate to "flying general" but is chinese for "fuck you".