Here is a suggestion for making the game more fun and less predictable. Instead of having each piece worth a standard number of points, a random value will be assigned to each piece at the start of the game, a number between 1 and 8, and this number will be shown inside the piece (like currently the number 1 is shown inside promoted queens). By "piece" I mean all pieces and pawns, including the king. Each army will have 2 pieces valued 1 point, 2 valued 2 points, 2 valued 3 points, ..., 2 valued 8 points. The total value of all pieces of an army will be 72. The total value of the pawns alone will be 36 (half the value of the army). So your leftmost pawn may have a value of 8 points, your left rook 4 points, your right rook 1 point etc. Each game will be different, value-wise.
The pawns will get a different value after promotion. The formula will be 9 - [value before promotion]. So a pawn(1) will promote to a queen(8), a pawn(2) will promote to a queen(7), a pawn(3) will promote to a queen(6), ..., a pawn(8) will promote to a queen(1).
Checkmating a king will have the effect of kicking the owner of the king out of the game. All his pieces will become gray, and their value will be halved (rounding up). The player who delivered the first check will get the kings's points (a random value between 1 and 8 as described earlier). Players resigning or losing on time will have their pieces grayed and value-halved instantly.
The objective of the suggestion is to force players to make tough decisions about what is more important, points or mobility. Would you sacrifice a rook(1) for a pawn(8)? Is a pawn(1) worth pushing to be promoted to a queen(8)? Is it better to kill an opponent and then grab his pieces for half of their value, or to let him stay alive and get the full value of his army?
Here is a suggestion for making the game more fun and less predictable. Instead of having each piece worth a standard number of points, a random value will be assigned to each piece at the start of the game, a number between 1 and 8, and this number will be shown inside the piece (like currently the number 1 is shown inside promoted queens). By "piece" I mean all pieces and pawns, including the king. Each army will have 2 pieces valued 1 point, 2 valued 2 points, 2 valued 3 points, ..., 2 valued 8 points. The total value of all pieces of an army will be 72. The total value of the pawns alone will be 36 (half the value of the army). So your leftmost pawn may have a value of 8 points, your left rook 4 points, your right rook 1 point etc. Each game will be different, value-wise.
The pawns will get a different value after promotion. The formula will be 9 - [value before promotion]. So a pawn(1) will promote to a queen(8), a pawn(2) will promote to a queen(7), a pawn(3) will promote to a queen(6), ..., a pawn(8) will promote to a queen(1).
Checkmating a king will have the effect of kicking the owner of the king out of the game. All his pieces will become gray, and their value will be halved (rounding up). The player who delivered the first check will get the kings's points (a random value between 1 and 8 as described earlier). Players resigning or losing on time will have their pieces grayed and value-halved instantly.
The objective of the suggestion is to force players to make tough decisions about what is more important, points or mobility. Would you sacrifice a rook(1) for a pawn(8)? Is a pawn(1) worth pushing to be promoted to a queen(8)? Is it better to kill an opponent and then grab his pieces for half of their value, or to let him stay alive and get the full value of his army?
Opinions are welcome!