4CHAN 2.1e

THE ‘ADVANCED’ UPDATE

4chan chess is back, with some intriguing improvements. I’ve been at work trying all sorts of new things with 4chan chess, and I hope this update brings new challenges to confuse and interest those of you who want to try something a little different. OK, very different. So, if 4chan is ‘back and better than ever,’ what’s changed?

• The back row has undergone serious renovating. For one, there is no more /diy/ or /vip/, and respectively in their places stand /v/ and /sci/. • The /diy/ was removed for the reason that it caused a bunch of complications relating to the /b/ piece. Stuff about traits, moving, , etc. - test games OTB showed me that people were quick to forget what squares the /diy/ was controlling due to the fact that it constantly inherits and loses the moves of the pieces around it. The same could be said for the /b/, but without the /diy/ it’s not so bad. It was either it or /diy/, in the end I chose the latter. Its replacement, the /v/, is a piece that should remind you very much of Advance Wars or TF2. • I removed the /vip/ for no other reason than in a zero-sum game where you weaken the enemy by removing their pieces via displacement, a piece with the potential to be rendered immune to capture from all pieces unless a condition is met is fucking bullshit. Out of every test game I did OTB, most of them were won by me promoting the /vip/ away from the /pol/s and pursuing the admin into a corner. This makes it a very over-centralising piece and for that reason, it had to go. Its replacement, the /sci/, is a master of science… fiction. • The second row has also seen some changes. For one, /pol/s have been replaced by the /n/. They do not ignore traits like the /pol/; instead, they have a trait that leans more towards support. /pol/s were altered because I wanted to give the /k/s a buff. Their trait has been transferred to the admin and anons, to make it more memorable. • Second, the /a/ has been replaced by the /tg/, a piece that also does not ignore traits but has a defensive trait. • Admins no longer possess the defensive traits prior to 2.1; it can castle, and it cannot be frozen by an /x/ or forcefully moved by a /tg/. Admins also cannot make use of the /n/’s trait. • Anons possess the same trait as the admin with the exception that they can make use of the /n/’s trait. • The /mlp/’s trait has been altered slightly – instead of threatening capture on the squares diagonal to it, it now threatens the squares orthogonal to it. This reduces their attacking potency on the front and focuses more on the sides. • The /b/’s trait has been altered slightly – it may now inherit traits that involve a special form of capture, i.e. the traits of the /mlp/ and /v/. It inherits no other traits. • Traits now have names. This changes nothing about them, but hopefully this should make them easier to remember. • Oh, and just one more thing... /qst/ MODE

Do you find 4chan chess not up to snuff, despite all the insane pieces available at your disposal? Do you like to self-harm with elements of chance? Do you desire more discord on the ? Well, dust off that d20 and get rolling. /qst/ Mode offers an alternative ruleset to the game, and all you need is a set of GM dice! In /qst/ Mode, a d20 is rolled twice before the game begins, triggering one of 20 random events: 1. Critical Failure – All traits that do not involve a special form of capture are disabled. This leaves you with the traits of the /b/, /mlp/, /v/ still enabled. 2. Big Empty – The centre squares are voided, and cannot be occupied during the game. 3. Capture the Flag – When one of your pieces reaches your opponent’s back row, it receives a flag. Returning this piece to your own back row wins you the game. If a flagged piece is captured, the flag is dropped, and you will have to move another piece onto the backrow to try again. 4. Deck Shuffle – The pieces on the back rows are shuffled à la Fischerrandom chess. Doing the maths, there are millions of combinations that can be made. the devlog for my method of creating a position using a set of GM dice. 5. HEART OF THE CARDS – Once per game, players can bring a piece back from their opponent’s capture pile, and place it on a square it could have occupied at the start of the game. 6. Sniper Alley – All pieces that can move and capture an unlimited number of squares diagonally can now capture without having to move. 7. Lucky Seven – A random backrow piece begins the game promoted! 8. BING BING WAHOOOOOOOOOO – Generate two springboard squares outside each player’s camp. While a piece occpuies a springboard, it may jump 2 or 3 squares in any direction. 9. Missing in Action – 5 random pieces are removed from the board before the game begins. 10. Lethargy – Any piece that can move an unlimited number of squares in a given direction has this movement restricted to 2 squares. 11. You’re not Always Anonymous – Pieces can move through anons from their own side. 12. Demotion Party – Promotions are disabled. Event #7 overrides this (so 1 promoted piece per game). 13. Portal Combat – Two teleporters are spawned outside each player’s camp before the game begins. 14. Mine Works (and it’s Bigger) – When you make a capture, your piece explodes, capturing all non-anon pieces with it. 15. GET OFF OF MY BOARD – If your admin is able to safely cross the middle of the board, you win. 16. The Wall – A wall is placed in-between the e-f files on the 4th-7th ranks. No piece, except those that can jump, can cross this wall. 17. Battle for No-Man’s Land – Both players’ camps are expanded to the 4th rank of their side. 18. The Fort – Generate 4 camp squares outside each player’s camp. These squares can be moved through by any other piece, but only anons may occupy them. 19. Running in the 90s – Both players make 2 moves in one turn. 20. Perfect 20 – Roll for 2 more events. If this is rolled again, re-roll.

Any and all possible future test games will test /qst/ Mode with a program I wrote in C# to randomly generate the events. THE NEW PIECES: /n/, /sci/, and /v/

/n/ is 4chan’s board for discussion of transportation. In 4chan chess, it plays a support role in greatly improving the mobility of your forces. The /n/’s move is the same as the /pol/’s so it shouldn’t need repeating. However, friendly pieces can occupy the same square as an /n/, and when they do, both pieces become impotent and cannot attack or promote. However, when you move the /n/, the piece on top will move with it. Moving off of the /n/ makes both pieces active again; what’s more, you can use this move to also promote the piece on top! /sci/ is 4chan’s board for discussion of science and mathematics. But fuck, do I look like a math guy? No, my IQ is just incredibly high from watching too much Rick and Morty. And if you can master the /sci/’s trait, your IQ will be very high too. It can move 1 square orthogonally, or jump 2 squares in any direction; when a /sci/ vacates a square, you can use your move to also lay down a teleporter on that square. This tile does nothing until you lay a second teleporter. When a piece, friendly or enemy, lands on a square with a teleporter on it, it will instantly be transported to the other teleporter square. If the exit is occupied, that piece will be telefragged no matter whose side it’s on, and will be treated as a normal capture. Both players can only have one connected pair of teleporters on the board during the game (except during /qst/ Mode). /v/ is 4chan’s board for discussion of video games – it’s also the board with 4chan’s third highest traffic. The /v/ piece is inspired from Advance Wars/TF2 – it may move 1 square orthogonally up to two times, or, with a trait similar to the /mlp/’s, shoot an enemy piece that is 2 squares away from it, without having to move! Its promoted side can move 1 square orthogonally up to 3 times. DEVLOG

My first iteration of 4chan chess on /tg/ proved to catch the interest of just a few anons, and some even participated in a test game with me. As someone who invests a lot of time in playing games, this audience is greatly appreciated. It’s not everyday that you get people interested in playing a game that you yourself created. 4chan chess is, as far as I’m aware, the first ever derivative of chess to be inspired primarily from internet culture. Shako combines the underlying internationalist tones of the Esperanto language with the ’ influence (adding an upgraded elephant from and the xiangqi cannon), and I think 4chan chess does the same in combining the Eastern and Western elements that 4chan is founded on. That was my target point since the beginning of 1e: the game combines game elements from chess, design elements from , and a bunch of stuff in-between. That’s not even mentioning the pandemonium created by the multitude and diverse traits that the pieces possess, which I think ties the whole thing together. It’s the elegance of chess but the daunting personality of some of the larger shogi variants with all sorts of weird and wonderful pieces. 4chan chess is unlikely to become popular overnight, and while it’d be nice to see it grow into something bigger I got enough satisfaction from the fact that people, if only a few, showed interest in it. The /vip/ though was fucking bullshit and an atrocious game design choice on my end. The /sci/ should hopefully play a bigger role and be balanced in its abilities.

OTB METHODS FOR DECK SHUFFLE/LUCKY SEVEN/MISSING IN ACTION

For Deck Shuffle: Roll a d6. Place the /d/ counting from the left in the initial setup, not counting the 4 squares that are empty. (e.g. if you roll a 4, place the /d/ on f1 for White, e10 for Black); then the /r9k/; then the /x/; then the /v/; then the /vp/; and finally, the /sci/.

For the second rank: Roll a d6, and place a /k/ on a dark square indicated by the roll, counting from the left. If you roll a 6, reroll. Do the same for light-squares, then reflect the position for Black. Then roll a d8, and place the /tg/ on the first empty square, counting from the left and skipping occupied squares. Roll a d8, do the same for the /mlp/ as you did with the /tg/. Re-roll on an 8. Roll a d8 again for the second /mlp/. Re-roll on an 8 or 7. Roll a d8 again for the first /b/. Re-roll on an 8, 7, or 6. Roll a d8 again for the second /b/. Re-roll on an 8, 7, 6, or 5. Place the first /n/ on the first empty square, counting from the left. Place the admin on the second empty square, counting from the left. Place the second /n/ on the last empty square.

For Lucky Seven/Missing in Action: Roll a d12: 1: /tg/ 7: /r9k/ 2: /k/ 8: /x/ 3: /mlp/ 9: /v/ 4: /b/ 10: /vp/ 5: /n/ 11: /sci/ 6: /d/ 12: re-roll

For pieces that are placed on more than 1 square at the start of the game (/k/, /mlp/, /b/, /n/), flip a coin. Heads = Left-hand piece, Tails = Right-hand piece.