Chess Variant Creator, if you have questions.

I make chess variants (many are played on the internet.)  If you have any questions about any chess variant, or why people play chess varations, please ask.

I'm happy to answer your questions about games I've created or ones I haven't.

Are you the guy who invented Chess 960? That variant is genius.

No. I invented Chess480.  Chess960 was Bobby Fischer.

What is Chess480?

Chess480 is Chess960 (or Fischer Random Chess) with more intuative castling rules. It was born from an article I wrote critical of the overly complicated and unintuative castling rules in Chess960.  Simply put, to castle in Chess480 you move the King two spaces in the direction of the Rook.

But don't you then end up with situations where you are stuck castling into the center of the board, so that castling loses it's defensive utility?

What other variants have you made?

These situations are uncommon.  Normally there is only one reasonable direction to castle to, in either variant.  However there are several positions (16%) in Chess960 where the King doesn't even move.  Defensively speaking, a non-moving King is certainly less desirable than one that can move two spaces.

Too many to list... once you start it's hard to stop.  Probably best known for Lau Tzu Chess (Double Random Chess960 + Dark Chess + King Capture), but there are dozens.

 I've never heard of any of those. I assume king capture is when you can capture the king, and dark is when you cannot see enemy pieces that are far from yours?

It is essential to have the option of castling to either wing.  Castling into the center is ridiculous. 

It is not about the movement of the king.  It is about where the king winds up.  I find the Chess960 castling rules perfectly understandable.

That's not true, as hundreds of games of Chess480 prove.  And I think Fischer was off the mark in attempting to create a game where "learned" positions had an advantage because if you Castle into situations that are similar to FIDE chess then the player with more "learning" will have an advantage.

In any case it's rediculous to watch a King move 5 spaces or watch a rook "leap" a King and have the King remain stationary.  But these are common enough in Chess960.

 Maybe in normal chess, but in these variants the different starting positions of certain pieces mean that there is not always a problem castling to the centre- in some instances, going to either side would be suicide, for example because the queen and rook started on that side, on the g and h files.

King Capture means there is no Check and no restrictions on moving a King into Check (or revealing a threat.)  Dark Chess is where you may only see the parts of the board you could legally move to.  Obviously this was much harder to play before the internet. 

The combination of these three variants into one results in a very unique, very war like version of Chess.  Games are often brutally finished and bluffing can take place.  High level players battle back and forth for tempo and probe for weaknesses in the other player's defenses.  Counter-attacking is a very common method to gain an advantage.

 I'm not sure about the first part, but I would need to do some analysis before I came up with a substantive objection. As for the second part, I would say that a king that can get a rook between it and the center is more defensively desirable than a king that moves into the center.

I would suggest trying a few games of both before you come to conclusions.  As I've said, there have been thousands of games of Chess480 played and from people that have played the variant I do not hear these types of complaints.  What I often hear from programmers and neophytes is that the rules are easier to code and understand (respectively).

Let's not forget, though, that castling is not a purely defensive move -- it is also a developing move as it allows the rooks to be connected.  There may be times when the desire to develop and connect your rooks outweighs the drawbacks of centering your king.

How do you win in king capture?

also I know Double Random Chess 960 is Chess 960 except the two player's starting positions are different.

King capture is exactly as it sounds.  There is no Check announced and you simply capture the King given the opportunity (thus you win.)

Did you invent all three of those variants, or just Lau Tzu Chess?

and what other variants did you make?