When to use (and not use) a piece

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Avatar of imchesspro0930

I will go in aphabetical order, and I will add more details to it as time passes.

For now, I will only write this down to G, and further questions are for yourself to answer, although we can help.

Amazon: This is a general tabooed piece to use, and I generally only advise to use it for bounties, or as pieces where if you collect it, you instantly win. Or, use it as an absolutely ruling piece in a wacky board, like Battle of Castles.

Bishop: One of the more versatile pieces, mainly used to be a colorblind but strong piece across all board sizes. Although, polarity can sometimes be a problem, or if you're andrew, call it a feature. Although you may need to sometimes add or remove walls for it to have the right power, it is overall a recommended piece to use across many variants.

Camel: First of all, don't use this in pocket chess unless you are 1000% sure of what you're doing. Otherwise, I think it is a fine piece to use as a colorblind army, or sometimes if you know what you're doing, as a royal piece! Also, be careful of the polarity of the camel, because it is also a colorblind piece and can effectively traverse through most kinds of boards, although if the board is large I sometimes recommend you a camel-rider.

1-point queen: First of all, this can be used to make point spread more interesting and dynamic (Limited Life), or as decorational purposes. You basically use it in a GoP game where you want the queen to matter less in terms of point spread, like in Blast Processing, as a 9 pointer queen will sometimes get players >30 points, but other than that not much uses. 

Chancellor: This is the piece you use when you want a clunky, or a slow developing but still a strong piece. I recommend you to use this instead of a rook as a better substitution. I mean, look at my creations for how I use them. I strongly advise this piece in atomic variants trust me. It is one of those filler pieces you use when you need something strong.

Ferz: This is one of those pieces that should really only be used for Pocket-Chess sized creations. ANYTHING bigger than a 10x10 should never have a ferz unless you are 1200% sure of what you're doing. It is also colorblind so polarity stuff matters but not as much. It is also a piece I strongly advise for Crazyhouse variants. For 8x8 variants? Try, but if it doesnt work probably just remove it.

Grasshopper: This is one of the hardest pieces to use correctly. If crazyhouse is there in a grasshopper-included variant, make sure the board is always atleast semi-closed. (I mean this also applies outside of crazyhouse but still), and PLEASE make sure there are always mounts that can make the grasshopper useful for atelast some time. a good implementation of this is Saturn's Rings, with those rings that can always be used for grasshopper mobility, and a not-so-good implementation is Alfarracks, where grasshoppers had nothing to hop for most times, and cannot be used effectively as much.

Archbishop: A very versatile yet strong piece, and a very strong checker. It absolutely reigns in a cramped board, but can sometimes be tradey. 

Yeah even this took me way too long

Avatar of asthebird

grasshopper is my favorite piece for absolutely no reason

Avatar of imchesspro0930

SAME

Avatar of asthebird

XD omg

Avatar of imchesspro0930

thats why my newest ncv project has 4 of them per side

Avatar of VishTheFish771

My favorite piece is wildebeest because it's V!
(Nah but honestly it is a great piece)

Avatar of Anonymous_M-01

ABCDEFG.then H,but Δ seems use more

Avatar of 2bHNST

My favourite piece is Θ

Avatar of OMISGOAT
VishTheFish771 wrote:

My favorite piece is wildebeest because it's V!
(Nah but honestly it is a great piece)

same

Avatar of Asaphmoo
asthebird wrote:

grasshopper is my favorite piece for absolutely no reason

I like it too

Avatar of VishTheFish771
2bHNST wrote:

My favourite piece is Θ

Lets guess why lol

Avatar of OMISGOAT

I'm pretty sure a Ferz should only be put if the position has more open spaces.

Avatar of Ugnis54

meh

Avatar of Rattles-the-Snake
imchesspro0930 wrote:

... Ferz: This is one of those pieces that shoudl really only be used for Pocket-Chess sized creations. ANYTHING behind a 10x10 should never have a ferz unless you...

I spotted a few mistakes and highlighted them with bold and italic. I think you meant "beyond" instead of "behind" and you probably meant "should" instead of "shoudl". I'm trying to help u I'm not trying to be mean I'm sorry if this seems mean or something

Avatar of imchesspro0930

it's just typos, I am a very fluent English speaker, although I agree with JK.

Avatar of TimeVeteran

I mean I agree with everything else other than the grasshopper. Grasshoppers in fatal, petrified, and wacky boards (grasshopper arena) are extremely fitting, but that's my opinion, really.

also shoutout to icp again for the 1p queen in Limited Life, it fits so GOOD

Avatar of Tomato_LSN

was the variant name blast processing based on my example of when to use a gd name for a variant

Avatar of ilO_OIi
asthebird wrote:

grasshopper is my favorite piece for absolutely no reason

You just read my mind

Avatar of asthebird

real

Avatar of OMISGOAT

Generals: Don't use them in open spaced 14x14 positions.