Posted by MattDakka on 2020-03-30 19:01:35

I enjoy the positional side of BB and Chess, but what I don't like about Chess is that games after a while get boring due to the deterministic mechanism, many openings and positions are repetitive.
Even Blood Bowl has some common openings and many games have similar overall positioning but the random side greatly increase his replayability value.
Not to mention the possibility of player building, which adds another layer of differentiation amongst teams and matches.

Posted by Muff2n on 2020-03-30 19:09:10

I've played 7,891 games of chess online (not to mention over the board games), so I have to disagree with you about replayability ^^

What you can do to help break out of the opening book quickly (as I sense you don't like that aspect) is to play off beat openings. Your opponents will liked handle your lines in varied ways which gets you what you are looking for.

There's also fisher random chess which is becoming popular - the starting positions of the pieces are shuffled, and there are about 360 possible different starting positions.

Posted by SpecialOne on 2020-03-30 19:24:00

I played chess in a chess class after school as a kid. After I learned BB, I will never return to chess. Sorry man, but I do appreciate you effort to bring up the old valiant and noble game.

Posted by Coewolf on 2020-03-30 19:42:57

As active chess player for more than half of my three decades long life I have to say I that for me the similarity is just superficial. Yes, both games are about positioning, calculating possible scenarios, trying to see all counterplays etc. But even when I would say about myself, that I'm fairly good (on an amateur level) chess player, I wasn't able to use my knowledge in BB. Yes, chess is a lot about knowing openings and variants, but once you are off the opening and theory known to both players (on amateur level it can be quite soon) you are in a similar situation as in BB. Where I have problem in BB is the dice (I cannot guarantee my play is happening) and too many options. In chess you can fairly quickly (if you are more experienced player) eliminate bad variants and focus on going through those better ones and then it depends how far can you see. But in BB you have different plays with similar results, but once it's 2+,2+ and 3+ ad next time it's 4+ (just example). Which one is better? Hard to say compared to chess. Also I don't have the luxury of thinking 30 minutes about one move in BB. So BB might similar to blitz chess game where you often are guided by your "feelings" and try to quickly assess which move and variant is better.
And to be honest in both games you can have surprising tactics and strategy, but in BB you cannot actually force your opponent to play something. You can put some pressure on your opponent etc. but you don't have forced plays like in chess when you can force many moves and you know what your opponent has to do. So to sum it up, there are similarities, but then knowledge and experience is different and being good in one doesn't mean any success in the other one.

Posted by MenonaLoco on 2020-03-30 19:53:22

Corona impact much? Chess blog post, damn, whats next, stratego blog post? :-P

Chess is awesome for anybody who likes non probability moves, hence everybody who blames dice a lot in bb should try chess for a While.

Posted by Muff2n on 2020-03-30 20:02:36

@Coewolf
Indeed I agree with a lot of what you have to say. And I in now way claim that the two games are very similar. But coming from being a strong chess player it really helped me pick up BB quickly. And I think that is down to some shared concepts, and these are the type of things that I enjoy which is why I say that someone who likes BB may well like chess.

Here's where I see similarities:

- Having to calculate ahead and then 'evaluate' the resulting position
Yes it is harder to calculate further due to the randomness, but I still find myself calculating two deep lines and comparing between the two as I would in chess.
- Pattern recognition
What formation to adopt this turn
- Strategy concepts, such as 'the initiative'
For example I can 'sacrifice' some free hits on my players to tie up other players and get me a temporary good position with respect to the ball
- You can force opponents, assuming 'best play'.
Sending in a catcher deep should force your opponent to cover, as long as your 'odds of successfully passing to the catcher' are similar or better to your 'odds of scoring via running the ball carrier in'
- Disclipline
Don't reach for that player! Plan your turn.

Posted by spinball on 2020-03-31 05:51:54

As a decent amateur chess player and BB player I see the similarities but also the differences. You can describe BB badly by saying it is like a wild blitz chess variant with dice, but that doesn't cover it. I will say this. Playing blood bowl has helped my blitz chess and probably visa versa. If anyone here has the chess.com ap, hit me up and we might be able to get a few games in that way as well.