Seirawan chess on chess.com

I created a topic in the forums about chess.com adding Seirawan Chess like it's added Chess960, and unfortunately the response I got back from the staff was that it would likely never happen.  I think that if more people showed interest it would be far more likely to happen.  People kept asking for Chess960 and low and behold they added it.  So basically I'm posting this here as a call to action, saying let's tell our friends on this site to join this group, and everyone in this group should go comment on my forum post and show support and desire for Seirawan chess being added to the site.  I understand their first priority is the functionality of regular chess and live chess, but I think there's lots of interest out there in playing variants.  Playing chess variants is like a breath of fresh air and lots of fun.

Here's my original post:

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/suggestions/seirawan-chess

I'm on board......I actually wrote the chess.com creator to ask, and he gave me the same response that stagger received...boooooo.....Rob, if you give me Yaz's contact info, I'll write him as well......I wish I was a good enough web design scripter, I'd write the damn thing and send them the code myself for free! It really shouldn't be more than a couple of extra lines of code for the new pieces, and an option to "double click" the vacant back rank square to promote a new piece, etc. In some ways, it seems like it would be easier than chess960 code.....

Yeah it doesn't seem like it would be hard to do, but I hate saying so or telling them that since really I don't know anything about how to do it.  Maybe it is hard.  I think the hardest part might be making the separate rating systems, at least I think I remember them saying that about chess960 before they did it.

And don't forget Whiskeyshelf, (and everyone else) the most important thing to do if you agree with this is to go say so in the forum post I linked to, which is in the "Site Suggestions" section of the site forums, then tell more people about Seirawan Chess, get them to join this group and also to post in the "Site Suggestions" forum.  I doubt the chess.com team will go to a big effort and take time away from working on other things for the site just to create the functionality for a variant that will please a dozen people.  We need to show that there's really decently widespread interest in this if it's to happen.

All that being said, I think if they received a letter or email from Yasser himself that might help too, so we should also continue efforts on that front.  This may seem like a long shot but honestly no other chess variant I've ever played has been nearly as fun as Seirawan Chess.  It's close enough to chess while still adding some really exciting elements that being able to play online would just be awesome.

I quite like S-chess and agree with you guys.

I used to play Grand Chess at mindsport.nl.  I also played a few games of Capablanca Chess at BrainKing.com & both Capablanca Chess & Grand Chess have the Hawk & the Elephant -- though both call them something different.

Perhaps if chess.com is not that willing, we should try those other web sites??  My thinking is that perhaps it is the 2 new pieces that could be the tricky part ..... by that I mean, I have a Chess Computer that I could play Chess960 with by simply using the setup feature. I would have no idea how to play S-chess with it -- or Grand Chess for that matter.

BrainKing .com enables one to play Grand Chess (10 x 10 board & the extra pieces) as well as Capablanca Chess (10 x 8 board & the extra pieces) as well as regular Chess. I am thinking it would be child's play for them to simply add the H & E to a regular chess board.

I disagree with one small part of these blogged comments .... that no other Chess variant comes close. I like Grand Chess's rule that a Pawn can promote on the 8th row -- without having to get right to the end (10th row) of the board. Why do I like it so much? Because a pawn advantage in the endgame almost certainly guarantees victory and that fact guarantees that the opponent who is behind by the P will fight harder before complete piece attrition, as he realizes he cannot simply steer the game to well-known draw.

However, that is off the topic. Again I really do like s-chess and hope chess.com (or somebody) sets something up for us s-chess enthusiasts. If you think it is a possibility, I could try to contact BrainKing.com ..... good idea? Would somebody else volunteer to contact mindsport.nl???

Your thoughts?

Oops ............ I think the website for I refer to above is really

mindsports.nl ............ not mindsport.nl

I wonder just how motivated Yasser Seirawan is to popularize this variant, because Chess.com obviously has an interest in recruiting titled players to use the site, do vote chess games, make video lectures and chess mentor courses.  So it seems like a perfect marriage, they create the online app to let millions play Seirawan's variant, and he makes some videos for the site, plays a vote chess game against the members, etc.  Seems like a win-win situation.

I started writing a s-chess board (coding it) but then got super busy, funeral, new job and moved back to AZ....hope one day to start it up again....keep me posted....would love to play more S-chess on an interactive board

new job and no vacation time saved up means no coding for me for awhile :(

Keep us up-to-date if you get any response.  I think if he made a personal appeal to the staff there could be a very good possibility they could work out some kind of deal that would benefit everyone.

I would still love to call it Tusks and Talons Chess (TNT Chess) :)....I long for more free time....so I can play more of it and start coding the board again....please keep me in the loop...just so busy right now but will settle down soon

Kirk

I've started a Facebook group for players to play correspondence games of Seirawan Chess by posting their moves to the group.

Search for "Seirawan Chess - Correspondence" and request to be added.

Thank you,

Jason

the group no longer exist lightbug

Yes, I deleted it. Too cumbersome to play like that. The board has to be setup over and over again. Hopefully Chess.com can support it one day.