Comment by V-2 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by V-2 | Hacker News Reader

Fun as it may be as a thought/UX experiment, I don't think it's a good design, because half-truth is usually the worst compromise.

This design doesn't account for many special qualities and behaviors pieces exhibit. It doesn't indicate that

* while pawns do capture diagonally (forward), they are pushed forward in straight line

* they can capture en passant

* they can move by 2 squares from their initial file, and only from the initial file

* they can be promoted to another piece

* Knight moves are not inhibited by the presence of other pieces (unlike any other piece, a Knight can "jump over" pieces)

* castling

* special status of the King (unless it's conveyed by that circle in the middle, but it's not nearly as readable a symbol as a crown)

So this design kind of works if you already have complete information from elsewhere, but isn't that great if it were your first source of info.

It also loses the poetic aesthetics of the traditional pieces, with queens and kings and bishops etc.

I have a fair amount of experience teaching children and adults how to play chess.

I've almost never seen a beginner mess up the basics of how the pieces move(what this piece set displays). Probably 95% of confusion about rules in new players is about the things you mention. Especially en passant and castling rules.

The rule on castling through check is especially confusing, and I've seen even master strength players believe that you can't castle long if b1 or b8 is attacked. Another common mistake is forgetting the rook or king has previously moved.

En passant is also very confusing for beginners because there's no indication of it being possible in the current board state. It depends on the previous ply.

Repetition is also a major footgun in tournament play. It's often referred to as repetition of moves, but it's actually repetition of the position(which is typically reached via repetition of moves, but doesn't have to). And there's a very specific procedure in tournament chess for claiming a repetition. You have to write down your move, stop the clock and call the arbiter without making the move. If you make the move and hit the clock, now your opponent has every right to make another move, creating a new position. The repetition no longer counts when that happens(so you can't claim e.g oh the position repeated a 3rd time 15 moves ago, gimme a draw).

I actually lost a game this way when I had a repetition in a losing position.

> * they can move by 2 squares from their initial file, and only from the initial file

Obviously I meant a rank (horizontal), not a file (vertical), sorry. Cannot edit the comment anymore

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