I realized chess pieces can be redesigned to be geometric attack directions • Hacker News Board

Re: I realized chess pieces can be redesigned to be geometric attack directions

#21

Post by PopAlongKid » Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 8:44 PM UTC

I still have a set which was sold as "Visual Chess", and you can still find it on eBay for example. The pieces were mostly like traditional design (but kind of "modernized" in 1960s style) but when viewed from the top (i.e. as you play), there was an indication of the allowed move. You can see some examples in the image link below.

Even the pawns had a nice design which clearly indicated that movement of one square forward (normally), or attacking on the diagonal, were both allowed.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Yx4AAOSwTY9i7XeC/s-l960.jpg

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/AZUAAOSwuABi7XeE/s-l960.jpg

Re: I realized chess pieces can be redesigned to be geometric attack directions

#22

Post by sleeplessworld » Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 8:44 PM UTC

lemmsjid wrote: post #5

It would be interesting to do an experiment on people playing one another (online) with these pieces vs regular pieces (e.g. one player with a regular set and one player with this set). Because I do feel like I can visualize the state of the board more easily with this approach--but would that translate across people into better play, or is there some point where a more expert player (I don't play very often, though…

The knight shape does seem off. But it avoids the piece being a sun symbol / fascist tribute piece :-)

Re: I realized chess pieces can be redesigned to be geometric attack directions

#23

Post by punyearthling » Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 8:44 PM UTC

the rook and bishop are the same shapes tho

Re: I realized chess pieces can be redesigned to be geometric attack directions

#24

Post by zdragnar » Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 8:45 PM UTC

morepork wrote: post #19

If made into a physical set, I could see the bishops and rooks getting confused

Maybe it's just the top down view, but the white king and queen are practically indistinguishable to me.

Re: I realized chess pieces can be redesigned to be geometric attack directions

#25

Post by DaveSchmindel » Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 8:45 PM UTC

Now do 3d chess!

Re: I realized chess pieces can be redesigned to be geometric attack directions

#26

Post by LeegleechN » Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 8:46 PM UTC

This idea is common in Shogi piece designs for those who can't read the traditional Kanji designs.

Re: I realized chess pieces can be redesigned to be geometric attack directions

#27

Post by notfed » Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 8:46 PM UTC

This would be awesome for teaching beginners.

I'd probably go with circle for the king, and maybe an L or a sideways H for the knight, even though they break the original design rule. Otherwise K/Q/N just look too similar.

Re: I realized chess pieces can be redesigned to be geometric attack directions

#28

Post by 2024throwaway » Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 8:49 PM UTC

Off topic, but does anyone know a browser extension that lets you block certain domains from the HN list? I've blocked twitter/x from my DNS, and don't want links to it cluttering the feed.

Re: I realized chess pieces can be redesigned to be geometric attack directions

#29

Post by jerf » Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 8:51 PM UTC

drojas wrote: post #16

Interesting, it seems like we can "dissect" each piece into independent properties like possible directions and possible distances. Then one could generate chess set spaces randomly and have a lot of fun.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-variants/all-30-piece...

Not that that's an exclusive list either,

Re: I realized chess pieces can be redesigned to be geometric attack directions

#30

Post by excalibur » Thu, Jan 25, 2024, 8:53 PM UTC

notfed wrote: post #27

This would be awesome for teaching beginners. I'd probably go with circle for the king, and maybe an L or a sideways H for the knight, even though they break the original design rule. Otherwise K/Q/N just look too similar.

+1 for making the knights an L. The way it is, the pawns sort of look like knights