Chess Masters Reveal Which New Game Piece They'd Add To Elevate The Game
[rebelmouse-image 18347001 is_animated_gif=Adding a twist to any classic game gets interesting, but how would a revised version of chess look? People were wondering what chess would be like with an additional piece and what would the rules be for it. This could get very interesting.
iWest625 asks:
An official Chess 2 is being made with a 16x16 board. What piece do you add, and how does it work?
A blocking option
[rebelmouse-image 18347002 is_animated_gif=The Bureaucrat. It can move to any unoccupied position on the board, but cannot capture pieces.
It's just there to get in the way and slow things down.
a copy cat piece
[rebelmouse-image 18347003 is_animated_gif=Jester.
Moves in the same way as the last piece your opponent moved.
A sneaky piece
[rebelmouse-image 18347005 is_animated_gif=A reflector piece.
Basically, other pieces can bounce of it. So your bishops can now move in Vs and your rooks can move in Ls, with the reflector piece as the point. This would work well on the larger board.
What would they be called
[rebelmouse-image 18347006 is_animated_gif=Worth noting that a lot of thought has gone into this. There are a whole bunch of chess variants with extra pieces. Generally non-standard pieces are called fairy chess pieces. Prominent examples often come from combining two standard pieces. For example the Archbishop, Princess, Cardinal are names that have been given to the knight+bishop combination; my favorite name for this piece is the "Paladin" since it combines the knight with a religious piece. In general, the entire linked article on fairy chess pieces is very worth reading.
A prisoner of war piece
[rebelmouse-image 18347007 is_animated_gif=Mercenary.
Can move 2 spaces in any direction. Upon capturing this piece, it becomes your piece and placed anywhere on your home 2 rows.
A limited queen
[rebelmouse-image 18347008 is_animated_gif=Princess - moves in all directions like a queen, but is limited to a maximum distance of 4 squares per move.
Double damage via projectiles
[rebelmouse-image 18347009 is_animated_gif=The Archer : he can move by one case like a king, and take out a piece in a 2 cases radius
Extra guards
[rebelmouse-image 18347011 is_animated_gif=Ghetto option: each side gets a row of checkers in front of their pawns
Wow, that's a lot to think about
[rebelmouse-image 18347012 is_animated_gif=Whore. Chess pieces that neither player may move. They are made of chocolate that the player may eat if the player captures it, but serves no actual purpose in-game. Lots of mindgames would occur... Would you sacrifice eating chocolate for a win?
A Chameleon piece
[rebelmouse-image 18347013 is_animated_gif=Spy. Starts out with the same moves as a pawn, but as you capture pieces you take on their abillities. They reset when you take another piece out, gaining their abilities and so on.
The brick
[rebelmouse-image 18347014 is_animated_gif=Can't think of a good name for it; a piece that can only move one space at a time, but can't take pieces and can't be taken.
Money dosen't buy happiness, just clutter
[rebelmouse-image 18347016 is_animated_gif=It has microtransactions. For $0.99, you can add an extra pawn to the board.
Here's an idea!
[rebelmouse-image 18347017 is_animated_gif=Lots of jokes but I would like to take a shot at this:
-16 pawns. They can open by moving 1, 2 or 4 spots. En passant works the same with the capturing piece moving diagonally one square. Pawns then move forward one square per turn and capture diagonally.
-4 Bishops (2 dark and 2 light) same movement as before.
-2 Knights same movement as before.
-2 Elephants. They work very similar to a knight but without the "L." Meaning they move two squares left/right, two square forward/back, two squares diagonally and can hop over pieces. Basically an elephant can jump to every square that a knight cannot. If an elephant and a kight were combined they would be able to hit every square two squares away.
-4 Rooks. Same movement as before.
-King and two queens. Same movement as before.
-Promotion same as before.
Order of major and minor pieces (for white):
A1 (Dark): Rook
B1 (Light): Knight
C1 (Dark): Bishop
D1 (Light): Elephant
E1 (Dark): Rook
F1 (Light): Bishop
G1 (Dark): Queen
H1 (Light): King
I1 (Dark): Queen
J1 (Light): Bishop
K1 (Dark): Rook
L1 (Light): Elephant
M1 (Dark): Bishop
N1 (Light): Knight
O1 (Dark): Rook
As with 8x8 chess black would mirror (not reflect) whites pieces meaning that its king would be on a dark square.
Castling is pretty interesting in this situation:
-Both** rooks (on the castling side) and the king have not moved, king cannot move through or out of check, and B1 (O1), C1(N1), D1(M1), F1(L1), and G1(I1) are all empty.
-Kingside the king would move to C1 and the rook on A1 would move to F1. So the 1st rank would look like:
A1:
B1:
C1: King
D1: Rook (from A1)
E1: Rook
-Queenside the king would move to M1 and the rook on O1 would move to L1. So the 1st rank would look like:
K1: Rook
L1: Rook (from O1)
M1: King
N1:
O1
**EDIT: ?It might make sense to allow the K1 and E1 rooks to move and still castle that side?
Other than that all rules remain the same. One interesting note is that the board is now symmetrical so a king side castle will be no different from a queen side castle.
I actually think chess strategy would not change much. Control over the middle would be important. Elephants could "flank" instead of fork pieces. Checkmates, fundamentally, would not change. The only difference is a huge increase in the number of possible lines for any given position. I would love to see Alpha Zero play herself in this mode! What do you guys think? I might actually build this in java and play a friend.
Intimidating name
[rebelmouse-image 18347018 is_animated_gif=The Executioner. It can move like the Queen but only 2 spaces max, and it can't move unless it is to take another piece. It's stationed between the bishop and the knight.
A new small piece
[rebelmouse-image 18347020 is_animated_gif=Advisor: similar to a pawn, though can only attack forwards, and move 1 space diagonally either way.
Interactive!
[rebelmouse-image 18347022 is_animated_gif=The Drunk
If you opt to move them, you press button on their hat. A random arrow appears. They stumble in that direction. If another piece is there, from either side, that piece is killed.
Here's a whole new hilarious set
[rebelmouse-image 18347002 is_animated_gif=Twice as many pieces? Then we should have a second set!
- Crook -- Moves like a Rook. You can steal your opponent's snacks when they're not looking
- Drag Queen -- Moves like a Queen. captures like a King
- Modern Bishop -- Moves like a Bishop. Doesn't capture Pawns, but instead rubs their shoulders sensually during mass
- White Knight -- Moves like a knight. When the Queen is attacked, the White Knight must move to a space that would intercept the attack.
- Stephen King -- Moves like a King. That's it.
- Backwards pawn -- Moves like a Pawn. Don't exist at the start of the game, but is created through positional errors.
Another interesting twist on a rook
[rebelmouse-image 18347025 is_animated_gif=The Cannon: Movement type of a King. Can capture like a rook. Attacking with the cannon doesn't end your turn, but after attacking with the cannon remove cannon from game.
A strategy piece
[rebelmouse-image 18347026 is_animated_gif=The Sacrifant. Its only purpose is to switch places with another piece on the board.
This would be a game changer
[rebelmouse-image 18346804 is_animated_gif=The Necromancer. Can bring any piece back to life, but you must sacrifice 2 other pieces.
People Divulge The Most Unsettling Data They Discovered That Google Stored About Them
"Big Brother is watching you..."
The famous words from George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, which tells the story of a world governed by omnipresent surveillance.
Today, however, many people are under increased paranoia that their every step is being monitored by the government, or by the world's largest corporations.
Not helping their fears, is when people look back on information collected by their Google data, and see that virtually every step they've taken has been documented.
Even things some people might not remember doing themselves.
"People who downloaded their Google data and went through it, what were the most unsettling things you found out they had stored about you?"
Followed My Every Step...
"That there is a map of everywhere I went in the last couple of years that's accurate to the hour."- Crank05
Context Is Everything...
"There's an audio recording of me saying 'check the Jewish boy's penis',"
"I don't remember ever saying that but ok."- MrPingeee
They Don't Always Get It Right...
"I'm the vice-president of a company that I've never heard of, and can't find any other info on it."- leavingdirtyashes
"Apparently I sleepwalk thousands of kilometers and then manage to get back home in time for work."
"Also a bunch of recordings of my computer's fan spinning."
"Ah, Google."
"Hyped up Google."
"Incompetent Google. "
"I know my data is in good hands."- Carkudo
You Can't Erase Everything...
"If you use Google Photos and allow Maps to track your location:"
"I took photos that I didn't like, deleted them."
"Weeks later I am just browsing my timeline in Google Maps and those deleted photos are there, tagged to the location."
"Nothing incriminating, just thought you should know that a delete isn't a delete."- kinobe
They Don't Miss A Thing...
"It's not unsettling but I found out that Google can tell when I'm driving a car vs my motorcycle by using the gyroscopes in my phone."- Xtremegulp
It's Not Just Google
"It wasn’t google data that shocked me, I am kind of expecting it to know everything about me."
"This came from instagram."
"My period was very late, so naturally, I told my husband in our very private and quiet home setting, and bought a Clearblue pregnancy test."
"We don’t own tv, Amazon Alexa , google voice or similar."
"I just have reddit and Instagram on my smartphone."
"My period was just late, but the very next day I got bombarded by ads on Instagram about Clearblue and other pregnancy sticks and some other baby sh*t."
"There is no way that it was a coincidence since it was the second time getting a very, very specific ad."
"So the app is listening, and showing me ads accordingly."- lagattaca
Selective Storage
"Recordings of conversations with my boss over two years."
"I don't know why it only had recordings of us talking and no one else."- FiveOhFive91
Careful What You Say...
"Definitely the voice recordings."
"That should be turned off by default instead of needing to be changed by the user."- mahoujosei100
They Waste No Time...
"All phone activity, opened app, closed app etc, from the very first day I owned my phone, constant check of my GPS, constant check of my device orientation."
"If someone steals your google account, they basically can found out everything there is to find out about you."- linecraftman
It is helpful to have an online cloud to store things, saving you paper and stress of remembering where you put it.
What's a bit frightening is that Google and other services are starting to get one step ahead of us when it comes to what they document.
Leaving one to wonder if Big Brother is, in fact, watching us…
Even if they sometimes appear less than excited to go to school, children are always eager to learn.
As they will encounter new experiences with each passing year, resulting in parents and other adults being bombarded by new questions regularly.
Most frequently, if not necessarily intentionally, as a delay tactic before going to bed.
Which is when it's important for the parent, grandparent, or babysitter who's in charge of bedtime to come up with one, exceptionally satisfying fact which will give them plenty to think about, or dream about, after the lights are turned off.
"What mind-blowing (but simple) facts would satisfy a 4-year old daughter’s daily request for 1 fact before bedtime?"
They Miss You When You're Gone...
"Dogs can tell when you're coming home by how much of your scent is left in the house if you have a daily routine."- babiferari
Even Bigger Hugs!
"Most people have more than the average number of arms."- Lord_AdGnalDiv
The Longest Days...
"A day on Venus takes longer to complete than a year on Venus."
"How?"
"It simply takes longer for Venus to do one complete rotation around its own axis than it does for the planet to rotate around the sun."
"From my memory I believe it’s only like 10-15 days difference."
"But still an interesting fact."
"Another fun fact is Aluminum used to be such a precious metal, and so expensive, that the top point of the Washington Monument is made of pure aluminum."
"At the time of construction, that aluminum would be about like capping it with platinum today."- AmerisaurausRex
Otters Are Avid Collectors!
"Otters have skin pockets for their favorite rocks."- CryoWreck
Bears Are A Warm Source Of Inspiration
"The name for the Arctic comes from the ancient Greek word for bear - arktos."
"Named after one of the constellations Ursa Major (Big Bear) or Ursa Minor (Little Bear), but there are bears living there too."
"So basically, the Arctic is called 'Bear', and the Antarctic is called 'Not Bear'."- B3ximus
The Science Behind The Colors
"A Siamese cats fur color is dependent on its body temperature."
"That’s why the colder areas of the body such as the nose, paws, and tail are darker than the rest."- MudSlappers
You Think Elephants Are So Big...
"Most elephants weigh less than a blue whale’s tongue!."- Delica
Frogs Come To The Age Of Spiders
"Some species of burrowing spiders keep teeny tiny frogs in their burrows to keep it free of bugs too small for the spider to get that might try to eat the spider's eggs."
"This means that tiny frogs are spider cats."- The_First_Viking
There's A Reason They Decided It Wasn't A Planet
"From the time Pluto was discovered until the time it was demoted from planethood, it still hadn't made one complete revolution around the sun."- gruenoms
They're Meant To Come In Pairs
"In Switzerland, it's illegal to own just one guinea pig."
"If you have any, you have to have at least two."
"They get lonely!"- Dickcheese_McDoogles
Even the minds of grown-ups would be blown by most of these facts.
Though still best to proceed with caution, as some of these will likely be met with more questions, thus prolonging bedtime.
Or you might find yourselves needing to buy not one, but two guinea pigs...
Who would have predicted the endless source of entertainment and fascination the Internet provides.
With countless websites where one can shop, watch movies, catch up on news, play games... and do just about anything.
Of course, some of the better known websites, such as Amazon, YouTube, Facebook and Google are likely visited by just about everyone every so often.
But practical and entertaining as the world's most visited websites are, that doesn't necessarily make them the most interesting.
Should one find themselves going down an internet rabbit hole, as we all do every so often, we might discover a unique, truly fascinating website which might cater to our personal hobbies or interests, or simply catches our attention for inexplicable reasons.
"What is the coolest website you’ve visited that no one knows about?"
A Welcome Dilemma.
"https://ncase.me/trust/"
"It's an interactive website that showcases what makes the Prisoner's Dilemma cool."- Kinetic_Cucumber
United States Of Ham
"http://presidentialham.com/."
"My high school substitute's son is an artist who painted each US President holding a ham."
"I have no idea why, but I go there sometimes for a laugh."- 1fsh2fshRdtFshBluFsh
We're Watching YOU!
"Not sure if it's still maintained but Little Sis was 'an involuntary Facebook for the elite'."
"You click a politician, donor, celeb and it shows you who are they connected to and the strength of the connection."
"You can get an easy picture of what donors, think tanks, and politicians are really beholden to."
"Apparently it's thriving since I last saw it."
"Ever puzzled by a random pardon, an idiotic switch in foreign policy, or who a cabinet member is?"
"Try it out."
"https://littlesis.org/"- rationalconspiracist
A Break From Scammers!
"Temp Mail."
"This website instantly gives you a new, unused e-mail."- RidoKer
Before Gamers Catch On...
"The Candy Box 2 is one of the best websites out there."
"It's an RPG style quest, made completely of text and symbols."- Coolest_Cat_In_Town
Creating A Perfect World
"NationStates."
"Online nation simulator."
"The core of the game is pretty simple; answer multiple-choice issues that appear once every 6 hours."
"Depending on what you pick, the stats of your nation, everything from cheese exports to citizen rudeness, will change."
"The fun really starts on the forums, IMO."- somewhereoutinspace
Too Many To Name!
"ms paint emulator."
"free photoshop."
"kungfu chess."
"free sandbox."
"neal.fun." - Reddit
The Whole World At Your Ears
"radio.garden."
"Listen to radio stations from any country on the planet."
"KPOP from Seoul? "
"JPOP from Tokyo?"
"Want to marvel at the fact that everyone and their dog has a radio station in the Netherlands and Belgium?"
"If you can wade through all the English-language stations in basically every country, language learners can find tons of stations to help their listening skills in their language of choice."
"Living in a different country from your home but want to listen to the radio from home?"
"Hop on and see if the station has been added."- h3lblad3
When You Gave Up Trying To Find That Game You Loved...
"This website has over 6000+ Old DOS/Windows and Console games preserved for future generations."
"The website is free to use and tuhe games can be played directly through the browser."
"I personally used the site to relive Warcraft 2 and had a blast."- MartinSKjoedt
The possibilities really do seem endless when it comes to what you can find on the internet.
For better or for worse.
Though for the first several months of 2020, one imagines each new unusual website discovery was like opening a present on Christmas morning.
And more are destined to come...
As a kid, it’s easy to make friends. You don’t need to do much. Just share your pudding snack pack or make mud pies, and you have a new best friend.
As an adult, it can seem harder. You can’t really make mud pies anymore (in fact, that may be a way to drive off friends), and adults are a lot less open than kids, so it can be difficult to develop a rapport.
However, it’s not as hard as it seems to make friends, even as an adult. If you’re struggling, or even just looking for new ways to meet people, Reddit has got you covered!
Redditor BLANK asked:
"How the F do you make friends as an adult if you don't drink?"
Common Interests
"If you like doing things with your hands(wood/metal work/fabrics, etc...), electronics, or programming, hacker/makerspaces are great, they usually have themed events and classes, as well as social events, that's where I made my current friends when I moved to a new city."
– worldspawn00
Hobbies
"I'm 35. In the last 10 years I can honestly say I have 1 or 2 friends that I've kept close contact with. I started getting back into collecting sports cards right before the pandemic hit. Thru sharing my passion thru IG I have made probably at least 20 (online) friends and a few local friends now that I talk to every day and not just about our favorite hobby. Sh*t is weird."
– TryMyBalut
Giving Back
"Volunteer!"
– mygrossassthrowaway
"Volunteering is a great way to make friends as an adult. I was an Alcoholic and one of the hardest parts about stopping drinking was this exact thing, I was worried I would forever be alone if I didn’t meet people in bars anymore. Then I found volunteering. Working in a career field with similar people is also amazing."
– McRibEater
Not Exactly A Hole In One
"Borrow tools and actually give them back"
– bspartz85
"Who am I borrowing tools from if I don't already have friends?"
– wiskeytf
"I've got to consider you a top tier friend before I'm lending you any tools."
– Noxious89123
Doggy Bro
"Step 1. Own or borrow a dog."
"Step 2. Go to a dog park."
"Step 3. Use dog as wingman to make friends at dog park."
– ilovelamp84
Let's Do An Activity
"In my experience, adults don't want friends. They want activity partners. Pick an activity that you enjoy doing, find some people to do it with. If you're lucky, some friendships will organically arise from that. If you're REALLY lucky, they'll even stay friends with you after one or both of you stop doing that activity."
"But mostly, people just want activity partners."
– MyPeeSacIsFull
Keep On Moving
"Sports.
Climbing, archery, martial arts, European Martial Arts. Historical re-enactment, book and theater clubs."
– Pakislav
Chill Clubs
"Coffee clubs, or book clubs"
– CrackTotHekidZ
Fan Favorites
"Honestly? Being a part of a fandom. Found most of my close friends through either work or fandoms. For me it's kpop, musicals, DnD, etc You just need to find your people :)"
– LemonJuuuuice
Yummy In My Tummy!
"I cook for people. Invite a few people you know for dinner or a bbq. Ive moved cities and countries several times and 1 thing i learnt is everyone loves good food!"
– electric_monk
It can be hard to make friends as an adult, but as long as you get out in the world and find those you vibe with, you’ll never be alone!