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Office Block Chess

Playing chess with office blocks
  (+34, -4)(+34, -4)(+34, -4)
(+34, -4)
  [vote for,

A large plaza is built with 32 moveable buildings, each of represents a chess piece. Each night one move is played in a chess game (or the board is reset) so every morning the layout of the buildings will be different and people enjoy a different juxtaposition of architecture and views.

All mail is addressed to a post office at the edge of the plaza and plaza staff deliver it to the correct building. A fleet of small buggies drive people who have not been following the chess game to the correct building to prevent people getting lost unduely.

Different companies can choose different pieces depending on the personality of their company. Lateral thinkers can chose knights, self-important ones can be kings and companies that see themselves as powerful and flexible can be queens. Companies that need more than one building can choose adjacent pawns as these are likely to be moderately close to each other for most of a game.

Aristotle, Jul 22 2002

the magnificent Gaudi http://www.op.net/~jmeltzer/gaudi.html
what can I add? [po, Jul 24 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Architectural Chess http://ecoethics.ne...2-Feb/chessdiag.JPG
Buildings form large chess set in Boston. [LeBain, Jul 25 2002, last modified Oct 17 2004]


       what happens when a piece is taken?
po, Jul 22 2002

       It is moved to a side of the plaza until the current game is over, arranged by the colour of the piece and the order in which it was taken.
Aristotle, Jul 22 2002

       and the self-important ones get knocked down at the end of a game?
po, Jul 22 2002

       oooh I do like this idea Aristotle, though I can see the people who decide on the moves making tactical decisions based not on chess, but on how close they can get their building to the Dohnut stall/Pub/Metro Station/modelling agency building, which in itself would make for very random chess :P
have a steaming bun of a Crispy Croissant nature
The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 22 2002

       If you've got movable buildings, a la Monty Python, why do you need to play chess as an excuse to move them? I, for one, would be off raiding Wall Street, cutlass in hand.
DrCurry, Jul 22 2002

       There is a definite Piratical undercurrent in the HB recently and I Cant say I dissaprove at all!
The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 22 2002

       yes - why only chess? why not multi-player snakes and ladders? This would mean, if you put the top of snakes on all the last six spaces, that the game would never need to end. I would suggest having the dice thrown and the move made at noon each day: in their lunch break, everyone would watch the building shuffle along a few square plots.. and come to rest on one.. which, if it had a snake or a ladder, would engage a heavy-duty monorail, and the building would WHIZZ over to a completely different spot on the board. Ah, there were plenty of people who had forgotten to put their pens away in their desks. Chaos. Hurrah.
sappho, Jul 23 2002

       I'd imagine that moving office buildings isn't good to do. One, how? And two, when? Three-- what about plumbing and wiring? Thanks.
watermelancholy, Jul 23 2002

       You would need to have large cranes strategically stationed to allow buildings designated as knights to "jump" over other buildings. Be fun being in one of those as it moves over lunch (I think your lunch'd move too..)
TwoSheds, Jul 23 2002

       Each building would be detatchable from the foundations to the ground floor and equiped with standardised water, electronics, sewage and doughnut supplies. You uncouple the building, move it along rails and recouple it back to the fundemental services.   

       The simplest way to move buildings between other buildings (although not possibly the most fun) is to have two sets of intersecting tracks - one that dissects each square and one that lie on the square's borders. To do this each square would have to be at least twice the size of each building but, as I said, this would have to be a very large plaza.   

       The knocking over of the king building at the end of the game is a problem, [po]. Prehaps gearing will tilt the building to a slant of 30 degrees on the day of a victory or a resignation.
Aristotle, Jul 23 2002

       My construction crew will be standing by should any 'pawn' buildings need promoting to 'queen' buildings.
hippo, Jul 23 2002

       surely all you need to do is wrap a pink feather boa round them to achieve that?
sappho, Jul 23 2002

       Prehaps the pawn to queen enchancement is inflatable or achieved by hydraulic upper floors ...
Aristotle, Jul 23 2002

       I imagine a new take on the idea of castling.
waugsqueke, Jul 23 2002

       Are you crazy? Moving entire buildings around town?! Just cuz?! I can't imagine this would go over well with the occupants of these buildings.
XSarenkaX, Jul 23 2002

       dear, there's a hook over there on the wall marked 'disbelief'. That's for you to suspend it from.
sappho, Jul 23 2002

       The benefit for the occupants would be the reward of working in such an interesting office complex. Chess fans would have a special interest and people not interested in the game can amaze themselves at the complexity of the permutations in terms of differing views, changing neighbours and varying walks to their office block.
Aristotle, Jul 23 2002

       The general concept of moving buildings is interesting. They could be built on a large platform with catepillar tracks, like those used to move the space shuttles to the launch pad. They would necessarily need to move very slowly, less than 1 mph, but if they moved nonstop, they could wander all over the place. Go to work in a different location every day.   

       Mail delivery would be a hassle, though.
waugsqueke, Jul 23 2002

       I had a feeling that this idea would reasonate well with the Halfbakery. Giant functional chess pieces with all the consequences they would have - from the [The_Englishman_Abroad]'s getting closer to the choice eateries to the practicalities of gigantic chess.   

       As for mail, the core idea states that it would be delivered to a fixed office and distributed from there by plaza staff who are clued to the current state of play. The same fixed office could offer directions to couriers for things that require signatures.
Aristotle, Jul 23 2002

       This idea rules. Whoever voted against it gets the finger.
iuvare, Jul 24 2002

       It would be neat if you built moveable gardens, water features etc so that the unused spaces didn't just consist of open foundations and pipes. The workers could have lunch in a different park each day.   

       It would also be important to have large screens throughout the plaza and around the perimeter to indicate the current location of each building.   

       Who would get to play the chess game?
madradish, Jul 24 2002

       The players would be mainly invited so there would be city, coutry or worldwide interest in the game, therefore increasing the prestige of the plaza. However in the parks that [madradish] suggested facilities to play chess could be provided and prehaps a league could be set up for the plaza workers with the finals played out on the plaza itself. Presumably people could also pay for the chance to play there against their chosen opponent.
Aristotle, Jul 24 2002

       If done properly, this would be one of the biggest and coolest tourist attractions in the world. I think it's crazy enough to fit perfectly in Barcelona, which has a proud tradition of fascinating, whimsical, eccentric architecture and city planning. If I had thought of this idea (and I wish I had), I would have named the plaza Champs Duchamp, after the famous chess-obsessed modernist artist weirdo Marcel Duchamp. Croissant, and congratulations.
earl, Jul 24 2002

       link for earl et al.
po, Jul 24 2002

       Will knight buildings leap over others in a single bound? Or do you temporarily move other buildings out of the way? The squares should be hinged lids over flaming pits which open when the occupying piece is captured. Or have the buildings animate in choreographed battles.
ThotMouser, Jul 25 2002

       I personally like the idea of all the buildings being hauled by slaves "a la Pyramid creation" but of course that's inhumane and impractical, but it 'would' fit the grandiose nature that I believe Office Block Chess should aspire to!
ah sod it those two unbelievably silly people who slapped a Fishbone on the idea can be the first under the harness *Looming impressively*
The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 25 2002

       Well, this looks like a lot of fun, but it also looks really impractical considering that buildings have so many wires attached. Just have a bunch of motorhomes. Ah well, who gives a damn, I sent my office acroiss the street already.
polartomato, Jul 25 2002

       Hi, I'm migennes and have only recently discovered you all. Felt the need to comment though. Maybe this is a function of my being up way too late and too long, but I love this idea. Wires are not a problem - mandate for wireless electronics. Just water and electricity then, right? Have stationary restrooms on the edges - it's an excuse for more and longer breaks, as people walk from their own building to the restroom. For electricity, each building should have its own generator. Also, mail is not a problem - mandate for email only.   

       This would be GREAT!
migennes, Jul 25 2002

       Knight to 32nd and 3rd. Your move.
PeterSilly, Jul 25 2002


       Rather than have two sets of different coloured buildings, use two different architectural styles - one clean and modern (Foster?), one dark and gothic (H.R. Geiger? - not strictly speaking an architect but one of the few remaining designers with a gothic style).
calum, Jul 25 2002

       [bliss] - blast. I always forget about defence and get too focused on attack. I'll get back to you. What's the time limit?
PeterSilly, Jul 25 2002

       ... and the time limit?
PeterSilly, Jul 25 2002

       so, he's not a Sicilian then, bliss!
po, Jul 25 2002

       I hate playing chess with Australians. When they say check mate, I always get a shock thinking I've lost the game already.
FarmerJohn, Jul 25 2002

       I thought TEA said " Loomin *University* "   

       A possible tenant?
yamahito, Jul 25 2002

       deef, clearly this would incorporate the 'Lascivious Management Element' I mentioned above. Imagine a modeling agency got taken as a piece and was relegated to the section of the plaza where all the taken pieces go .. can you 'imagine' the scramble to get prime place next to them? it would be like kamikaze chess, this would lead the game to involve less tactics and more flair, random movement, and result in games that would swing wildly in influence as Managers attempted to get especially good placings. Other 'pieces of choice' to be sited next to would include Coffee houses, Universities, gyms, and any other building that would involve 'White Collar Droolage'.
I would be all for it, in fact I'm taking bets on the local Police Boulevard building being the first one taken after the Dohnut/Coffee shop goes.
The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 26 2002

       Perhaps to avoid the nightmare of a building simply *sitting there* (imagine!) during long periods of non-participation, such as those pieces that are captured early in the game, intersections could enable a building to rotate.
kluger, Jul 26 2002

       Great idea, but how would it be decided which buildings got to be what pieces? I mean, obviously the high power pieces like the queen would be taken later in the game than, say, the pawns and such. Would the rent be higher in the pieces with more power?
catfish25, Nov 11 2002

       Do I get to take the car in parking stall #126 under my new building location? What fun! New views on a daily basis, and a new ride to cruise around in...now, who's got my keys?
VuDuBlade, Sep 30 2003

       Something akin to this is mentioned in the latter part of Gravity's Rainbow - the Raketen-Stadt in which protagonist Slothrop moves has buildings which can be moved in two and three dimensions, the description of which ends with the single word "Chess."   

       Later: Found it.
"Travel here gets complicated - a system of buildings that move, by right angles, along the grooves of the Raketen-Stadt's street grid. ... Chess. Your objective is not the King - there is no King - but momentary targets such as the Radiant Hour."
calum, Aug 27 2004

       When one captures another, all the workers have to jump out and fight each other with cutlasses.   

       HB takes bun.
dbmag9, Apr 17 2006

       Yet another reason why I love this place! Thanks for churning this great idea [cloud 9].
MadnessInMyMethod, Jan 03 2009

       Bunned. If you give the pieces the ability to literally capture others, a.l.a Mortal Engines...   

       I think you could do it on a smaller size, though. Think more along the lines of houses, or small apartment blocks. Try to make them capable of their own waste disposal and possibly reproduction...   

Selky, Jan 10 2010


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