GM Yasser Seirawan Introduces Seirawan Chess

[docoftheworld]

Yasser Seirawan is a genius and a pride to the Syrian people

[evergtp]

stupid gay fucker

[MrBluntNose]

Call it Harpawan then, Yasser. And I hope to be a GM like you one day.

[capricious71]

It's a nice idea but not sure about the elephant. Surely, it's the wrong continent from the rest of the pieces. The hawk fits nicely, though. :)

[MisterBoneman]

I have enough trouble learning the present game of chess, along with the 271 billion opening possibilities in the first four moves. Just bought two of your books (Play Winning Chess for my brother, and Chess Brilliancies for me) and, at a young sixty years old, am neck deep in learning.

Love chess, and thank you for your book.

[thezimboman]

I am interested in the complete fianchetto...

pawns on f2, g3, h2

elephant on e1, rook on f1

king on g1, hawk on h1

WOW thats power

[thezimboman]

@thezimboman and bishop on g2 XD

[waffensspopn]

a very interesting game !!!where can i but the pieces which are needed for seirawan chess?

[PabloDPena]

A hawk would be able to mate a lone king with no cover that seems weird (Hawk on f6 enemy k on h8)

[PabloDPena]

Millions of games have been recorded , lol. Chess has 10 ^ 128 possible variations, atoms in all of the known universe (10^82)

[muhideen]

Greetings Yasser. I've still got the autograph you gave me at the Salonika Olympiad ... back in 1988!

[pielx0xcanela]

gay

[chessmastery]

Hi SonjaElen,

I have never played Xiangqi so I can't comment.

Regards,

Yasser

[SonjaElen]

What are your thoughts on Xiangqi?

[goblinman7]

Just a question but, lets say you have developed either your elephant or hawk and the piece is still on its origin square. If you develop the elephant to another square, can you put the Hawk on the board on the square the elephant originated? Or is it only legal to develop the 2 bonus pieces from the basic chess pieces???

[chessmastery]

@goblinman7

The Hawk and Elephant can only replace the original chess pieces, and not themselves.

[misterkefir]

Please grow a moustache again GM Seirawan !!!

and also Good Luck in future ;)

[Cerebralator]

I would absolutely love to learn to play this game!

Is there anyway I could learn?

[paolofanderson]

I enjoyed the variant playing it with Zillions Mr Seirawan. It's still chess but with more variety. The only thing that I don't like about the game is that with two more jumping pieces, the pawn cover protects the king way less , only pieces cover matters. This means that the game is more brutal and blunt: a slightly exposed king is dead meat and the game loses some of his IMO former harmony and subtelty. In a certain sense the queen is the tamest among the compound pieces

Regards

[paolofanderson]

@paolofanderson Of course an amateur ( as me) is not able to capitalize on it, but the increase in offensive power in S-chess on the same 8x8 board could give a stronger first-move advantage to White than in classical chess ...

[Apjooz]

To add: The chess board is "too" crowded in some positions as it is. This variation might make it even worse? Also, chess is incredibly deep game, humans just can't even scratch the surface of it. The reason for the big number of draws might be that the top players are so close to each other, and play conservatively. 

[seirawan]

@Apjooz Dear Apjooz,

Have you tried playing S-Chess? Personally, I’ve played hundreds of games and have yet to experience a “crowded” board. Furthermore, the number of drawn games in S-Chess is far lower than in regular chess.

Have fun!

GM Yasser Seirawan



[thezimboman]

@seirawan my friend and I have come up with an idea like you and mr. harper - I would like to keep it silent to the public until we can perfect it. Would it be possible to do a correspondence? because I have played S-Chess and am amazed at the possibilities and the complicated lines it both creates and eliminates (i.e. Berlin defense). I would really love to discuss our ideas with you and see what you think.

[thezimboman]

@Apjooz have you ever seen kasparov or albert play? In no way are they conservative. The reason there are so many draws is because they are equally matched in tactics and calculation and all that noise. I think chess needs more complications because the damned computers are making it so scientific that imagination is becoming less of a factor with each passing week. I do agree that chess is deep and that some positions can be crowded, but then you should not play conservatively

[Apjooz]

I don't know how the animal pieces fit with our western chess variation...

[LuxusOhr]

Nice idea, but only top level chess will die. For all others it will stay the greatest game ever.

[leejh27]

I just introduced the pieces to many people at a chess tournament today in Taipei, and the kids were all over the pieces and the game got a lot of attention. After playing a few games with people, I realized the pieces do work well and fit into the game making it much more dangerous. The additional jumping pieces make it much easier to open up positions.

I can't wait to set up some small tourney's with these pieces over here.

[nomindbeats]

I like the idea but chess is too old and ancient. Too try and change it just doesn't make much sense. I have trouble taking it serious. Not trying to down it just being honest.

[markmoth]

Just ordered Seirawan chess pieces from the House of Staunton- aesthetically appealing to me is that there are three distinctive "animal figures" to play alongside four more abstract ones and the pawns- I can see a patzer like myself improving my game from both s-chess/Sharper (suggested alternate names) and traditional...

Also, it appears that introducing the "new" pieces into play seems unforced and natural-

[SeirupDK]

Hello!

I heard you say that you believe anyone can become GM, without nature skills, if one work hard 10 years. Is this true?

[ArrogantJew]

@SeirupDK I work hard 2 years I went from 1800ish player to 2100ish. 7 hours a da7

[eatsleep3D]

Has this game taken off? been played by some of the GMs?

[seirawan]

Currently, the site is hosting Jack Yoos against the Rest of the World game which has expanded interest in our variation. We have failed to get a host server for the variation and that has weighed against us.

A week after the NH tournament in Amsterdam, Hikaru Nakamura came over for dinner and we blitzed the night away in S-Chess and had a lot of fun. Given a chance to have a high level GM tournament I think would be of much interest for the chess world. We shall see!

Yasser

[leejh27]

@seirawan Omega Chess has gotten a lot of attention but I think this game is easier to spread among the masses.

S-Chess or Sharper Chess are okay names, but how about "Chess36"? There are up to 36 pieces as opposed to 32. This name denotes what change has been made to the game.

I also think "Phoenix Chess" sounds cool and is cross cultural. However, the bird in this game is a hawk. But Hawk Chess doesn't sound good. Can we change the Hawk to a Phoenix and use "H" for its notation? :)

[rbeuck]

@rom16v18gal6v7 interesting and yet funny. Good point.

[rbeuck]

Does anyone remember a game that was for sale through the USCF catalog

that had a piece called ' The Wizard  '. It was for sale around 1998 - 2000.

[asherasator]

"The harmony" is exactly what Fischer wanted to eliminate in chess & go straight to creative thinking. Fischer was correct "chess is a dead game". Only evolving it would do what chess has always done: evolve. Orthodox chess is an evolution & it should not stop there. Chess enthusiasts should quit playing regular chess & go with Random/Fischer chess. Or the more extreme is to bring in new pieces with new powers.

[luke19631963]

@asherasator I don't see how chess is dead. There are only so many book moves so a player still has to calculate moves and play the game. The only way around this is if a person was able to study and remember every game and every position ever played and this is humanly impossible. Fisher, for whatever reason, left the game when he beat Spassky for world championship just like Morphy left the game in his prime. These two were geniuses on the verge of insanity, morphy did go insane.

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 It's not about remembering every game. It's about getting to a point where u understand principles & concepts of playing that it's no longer a real challenge. Every G.M. I've spoken with verified that that it's not about "lines", It's about types of positions, regardless of opening that develop: "structures". The better players simply kno how to exploit & capitalize on those structures. Chess has limitations that don't seem obvious to most.

[luke19631963]

@asherasator Bobby Fischer himself said chess is dead because its all about memorization and opening theorys and is why he created his random chess. Personally I think he went over the deep end, quit playing chess and turned on it like he turned on everything else. Of course the better players know how to exploit certain positions, that is why they are better. To say chess is dead because of that is silly to me.

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 Bobby was 1 of the most advanced chess players with a level quite distanced from himself & other GMs. He knew what he was talking about. I understand u like the game but at the pro level today they're all pretty close & a lot of it has to do with they have access to the same info & programs. Mathematically there r many possibilities but realistically in positions there r only a few good choices, Chess has been very exploited & studied, novelty lines r needed

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 But once those lines r published everybody can learn it. Only catching a GM off guard with novelty do most have a chance. I think there is truth to chess at the hi levels guys win & lose with agreement, to keep a job for themselves & have a career. Chess is just 1 game among many that offer mathematical challenges, it just became popular & that it's an intelligent game but most involved in it r goofy or weirdos, I kno many serious players. I realized ther r better games.

[luke19631963]

@asherasator Sure many lines exist with a certain outcome. That is why GMs study chess and make different moves at different times in a line to change the game. There is also the human factor of fatigue. Chess is not only a game of knowledge but of endurance. It certainly is not dead as some may suggest. I believe Fischer said it was dead because he turned on chess and grew a hatred for the game. Paul Morphy did the same thing.

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 It's not dead to online players to beat boredom or weak players looking for a hobby or a few physical places (clubs), but from the scientific point of view it's ran it's course.

[luke19631963]

@asherasator Super Computers have shown there are millions of different ways to win a game of chess. Perhaps it is human limitations that have caused the game to 'run its course" as you say and not the game itsself.

[Apjooz]

@asherasator

The end game tablebases have shown what chess can offer. Somebody said it to be like "playing against god". And I agree with that sentiment. Seeing a perfect 200 move pattern with only 5 or 6 pieces left on the board shows what chess can be like. It can be an eye opening revelation.

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 I kno alot of ppl who put too much time it & can't walk away bcus of that. If someone spends 10+ years & isn't at a 2300+ level, give it up. Or if ur not going to tournaments & making money at it ($1000+) give it up, sometimes ppl that suck at something don't kno when to quit. I kno ppl enjoy things for fun, but there is a whole world out there to be experienced especially in games or mental challenges. Also sometimes ppl spend precious time on wood pieces & not enuff with family.

[luke19631963]

@asherasator I agree people spend too much time not only at chess but other things instead of family. However to be really good at chess you basically have to give up your life for it. That said I am talking world title stuff and is why not too many achive this, not because they may not have the brain for it but because they don't want to give up their life for it.

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 & the U.S. thing is he realized the U.S. is an active aggressive repressive country & pretends it's not. The country is politically run with special interests (pharmaceuticals, oil, obsolete electricity generation & distribution, cars that aren't economical ON PURPOSE etc.) & not what's good for the whole. Also it goes around the world starting wars, dismantling countries, turns good & evil upside down, never presents facts correctly to it's public, it's quite startling.

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 Shell built the Opal P1 in 1973 it got 376 mpg! There is no reason why all cars don't do this other than it would kill oil profits. Tesla was gonna give free high frequency electricity thru the air & all appliances built would tune into it just like a radio no different, but when JP Morgan couldn't put a meter on it & charge for it he had the government tear down the Wardenclyffe tower. Rotary engines were 2 be the norm, have less parts, don't breakdown so kept out of marketplace.

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 Conservative Republicans r against universal health care only bcus it kills health care plans by insurance companies which r backed by banks. Ironically Israel (Christian paradise) has universal health care! Receives billions from the U.S. & insures its public. Yet U.S. cannot invest or protect its own ppl, but can pay for wars or give money to nations it destroys or CIA interests to start miniwars. Idiotic & insane. Seems most ppl care about sports, entertainment & food.

[luke19631963]

@asherasator Jew is not only a religion but an ethnicity according to the bible so being born of jew parents makes you a jew by birth. No country is perfect and the USA if far from it, however for an Amercian to go on Fillipino radio after an attck like 9/11 and say stuff like "death to the United States" and "we got what we deserved, ect is either insane or a very bitter person, which I think Fischer was both.

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 Ethnicity is a very loose word, DNA tests shows Jews are related to others from various nations & r very mixed genetically. Bobby was a bit insensitive about 9/11, I think he really means the government & not the ppl with the anger. His statement was more on the level of "what comes around goes around", since the U.S. brought war to many & also started a lot of CIA miniwars funding chaos in other countries he thought it was only natural for some to bring it home.

[luke19631963]

@asherasator A bit insensitive? C'mon dude the guy went on a half hour tirade about how the USA got what we deserved. Didn't he realize there were thousands of civilians who died that day that didn't do anything to him and whos only crime was being American? That is like having a beef with your neighbor and reveling in something terrible happening to said neighbors wife, kids ect.  Bobby Fisher went off the deep end plain and simple.

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 But anyways back to chess, I think he had a point about evolving chess & not keep it to just memorization. Don't forget lots ppl r crazy, & some just front it good or what's called Socially Adept Psychopath, those ppl r especially saturated in politics & business positions, in fact the more "normal" or "wholesome" ppl really try to act the more they're suppressing insanity behind the scenes. But with Bobby he was a genius & they say "there's a fine line between genius & madness.

[luke19631963]

@asherasator I can agree with you here. Many great chess players like Fischer, are or were geniuses. Both Fischer and Morphy went mad at the pennicle of their chess careers and quit playing chess. Fischer did do the rematch with Spassky in 92 but aside from that never played competative chess after winning world title. Morphy refused to play even friendly games when he gave it up and would get angry at anyone who asked him to play. It's sad we never got to see more of both.

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 I kno it's hard to see thru it but I really believe Bobby didn't enjoy ppl getting killed, it's more on the governmental level bcus of foreign policy & civilian repression. I kno thru his passion & energy it's hard to see that, don't forget he is a chess player & the way he looked at things is U.S. did moves on a global chessboard & others did moves as well & in 911 there was a check mate. It's kinda like U.S. never thought the game would come to it's side of the board.

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 & Fischer was a chess monster who quite easily could beat any player in the U.S. in a match oe average game. He gave up on it bcus he realized the truth about it & was on the inside & saw what most don't, he also had the balls to speak the truth when it's politically incorrect, he was honest with himself & the world. Most cannot admit reality to themselves bcus it's very uncomfortable so they perpetuate pleasantries & delusion bcus of mental, emotional & social weakness. He grew up

[luke19631963]

@asherasator You and I have differing opinions on Fischer. He hated jews yet was a jew himself. He hated the USA for whatever reason. I agree he was a chess monster, but when he refused to defend his title against Karpov in 75 with rediculous demands for the match and quit playing chess altogether and started his crazy anti semetic anti USA tyrade I lost all respect for the man.

[asherasator]

@luke19631963 He was not a Jew bcus he didn't follow the faith. There is no special genetic difference in Jews today bcus they're made up of all genetic backgrounds. The mothers Jewish line is obsolete thinking & physically untrue. If my mother is Baptist & I don't practice it I'm not baptist. It's that simple. It's true Jewish bankers financed many evils, it's common knowledge, but that doesn't make all Jews bad. He was against active Talmud followers which promotes racism & pedophilia.

[NixxerJixxerWixxer]

Yasser is slightly better than me, we played blitz games together before

[ovi0912]

lol

[medra1980]

adds a whole new dimensions, very interesting

[whiskeyshelf1]

I would like to see a tournament or grandmaster match where each game is different.....they would have to play classic chess, blitz, fischer random, fischer double random, seirawan, seirawan random and seirawan double random in rotation ....sort of like the game HORSE in poker...some players may be better at different disciplines than others..if I was a gazillionaire, I'd fund it haha

[ridewave444]

Interesting

[YannickGuitarist]

I play this all the time with my friends. It is awesome. I was skeptical until I was forced to play it. I haven't turned back since. I just wish there was a way to play online though.

[CUB3FR34K]

You can chat online the moves and have the board with you on the table.

[goblinman7]

Any servers or some way to play this variant online?  It looks great and worth a go.

[Ikkarous]

This a man is a genius ... Standard chess just doesnt feed his intellectual appetite, so he invented S Chess ... The only descent successful try of modern chess variants that there is. I would never know how to play it, i am still stuck at classical chess, but this doenst diminishes the fact that This person is a pure genius ...

[Nixam84]

I think this is the first time checkmate can be done with only one piece, the hawk, with the opponent king in the corner. bad endgame.

[tijdlk]

nice, the elefant would be as valuable as the queen right? 9 pts? the hawk 7 pts?

i like it!

[BenNCM]

No, the elephant would be worth 8 points and the hawk would be worth 6 points.

[drewjovi]

cool concept

[pearwil]

Very nice

[btwgunz]

Nice

[medra1980]

this is a great idea, i love it, just to get players who study the first moves confused

[Fupper16]

I love his voice. (soft, villanous whisper: Hello...)

[mrm4xim4m]

great dude and exciting ideas.

[MangekyouRook]

I love the idea, think it needs alot of thinking through (speaking as a novice), lots of people will say it's unbalanced and that the peices are too powerful, etc. but i think it's a great idea, and tehre needs to be a new concept in chess, now about the most exciting thing its castling and promotion!

[harshvgaus]

this should help revive chess and make it a more attacking game. too many games are won mistakes and not skill.

[deadpoetic333]

very intersting, id like 2 c this game become more main stream..

[babynofomai]

cool!! yasser is my chess idol

[thezimboman]

I love the idea. Mainly, what intrigues me the most is that your basis for creating this game is to complicate combinations!!! Combinations in chess are beautiful and exotic already... In "Seirawan" chess, combinations are abounding!!!!!

Please, check out my chess games if you could - I'd appreciate your feedbacK!

[richardhutnik]

Your invention to add new pieces has opened up a new way to play. It is easy to add even more pieces to the game by this approach, to keep the game evolving. Kudos. As for the name, you could perhaps consider SHarper Chess. Take the first letter of your last name and combine it with Harper. At least your new move type could be called a SHarp or SHarper. Just an idea?

[nonfiction1]

I LVOE YOU YASSER MARRY ME