{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1", "title": "Cyril Kato's blog", "home_page_url": "https://blog.cyril.email/", "feed_url": "https://blog.cyril.email/feed.json", "description": "Articles on abstract strategy board games, notation systems, and open-source development.", "language": "en", "icon": "https://blog.cyril.email/favicon/web-app-manifest-512x512.png", "favicon": "https://blog.cyril.email/favicon/favicon-96x96.png", "author": { "name": "Cyril Kato", "url": "https://cyril.email/", "avatar": "https://cyril.email/img/cyril-kato,w_384.webp" }, "authors": [ { "name": "Cyril Kato", "url": "https://cyril.email/", "avatar": "https://cyril.email/img/cyril-kato,w_384.webp" } ], "items": [ { "id": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2026-08-29/eight-pawns.html", "url": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2026-08-29/eight-pawns.html", "title": "Eight Pawns", "summary": "Philidor called the pawns the soul of chess. A reincarnation: keep the world and almost all of the body, exchange the soul—and treat balance as a question that never closes.", "content_text": "Philidor called the pawns the soul of chess. A reincarnation: keep the world and almost all of the body, exchange the soul—and treat balance as a question that never closes.", "date_published": "2026-08-29T00:00:00Z", "tags": [ "Game Culture", "chess", "shōgi", "xiàngqí", "Philidor" ], "language": "en" }, { "id": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2026-01-29/just-a-dot.html", "url": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2026-01-29/just-a-dot.html", "title": "Just a Dot", "summary": "In shōgi, a single dot separates the King from the Jeweled King. A mark with no effect on the rules—yet one that has endured for centuries.", "content_text": "In shōgi, a single dot separates the King from the Jeweled King. A mark with no effect on the rules—yet one that has endured for centuries.", "date_published": "2026-01-29T00:00:00Z", "tags": [ "Game Culture", "shōgi", "tradition", "Japanese culture" ], "language": "en" }, { "id": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2026-01-21/a-linguistic-fingerprint.html", "url": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2026-01-21/a-linguistic-fingerprint.html", "title": "A Linguistic Fingerprint", "summary": "The Accept-Language HTTP header as a linguistic fingerprint—a trace of where you've lived, what you've studied, and what you refuse to read.", "content_text": "The Accept-Language HTTP header as a linguistic fingerprint—a trace of where you've lived, what you've studied, and what you refuse to read.", "date_published": "2026-01-21T00:00:00Z", "tags": [ "Web Development", "Accept-Language", "HTTP", "i18n", "Ruby" ], "language": "en" }, { "id": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2026-01-16/a-coordinate-format-for-multi-dimensional-boards.html", "url": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2026-01-16/a-coordinate-format-for-multi-dimensional-boards.html", "title": "A Coordinate Format for Multi-Dimensional Boards", "summary": "CELL (Coordinate Encoding for Layered Locations): a coordinate format for multi-dimensional board games, isolating and extending the coordinate system developed by Philip Stamma in the 1730s.", "content_text": "CELL (Coordinate Encoding for Layered Locations): a coordinate format for multi-dimensional board games, isolating and extending the coordinate system developed by Philip Stamma in the 1730s.", "date_published": "2026-01-16T00:00:00Z", "tags": [ "Game Development", "CELL", "algebraic notation", "coordinates", "board games" ], "language": "en" }, { "id": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2026-01-12/free-svg-assets-for-abstract-strategy-board-games.html", "url": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2026-01-12/free-svg-assets-for-abstract-strategy-board-games.html", "title": "Free SVG Assets for Abstract Strategy Board Games", "summary": "Free, public domain SVG assets for abstract strategy board games—pieces and boards for chess, ogi, and xiongqi traditions.", "content_text": "Free, public domain SVG assets for abstract strategy board games—pieces and boards for chess, ogi, and xiongqi traditions.", "date_published": "2026-01-12T00:00:00Z", "tags": [ "Game Development", "SVG", "chess", "ogi", "xiongqi", "game assets" ], "language": "en" }, { "id": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2025-11-08/the-gentle-threat.html", "url": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2025-11-08/the-gentle-threat.html", "title": "The Gentle Threat: From Capture to Convention", "summary": "Why differences between Chess, Shogi, and Xiangqi are mostly matters of style rather than rules—from capture to convention, resignation to inevitability.", "content_text": "Why differences between Chess, Shogi, and Xiangqi are mostly matters of style rather than rules—from capture to convention, resignation to inevitability.", "date_published": "2025-11-08T00:00:00Z", "tags": [ "Game Development", "chess theory", "Sashité", "CGSN", "abstract strategy", "board games" ], "language": "en" }, { "id": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2025-10-14/beyond-checkmate-king-lexicon.html", "url": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2025-10-14/beyond-checkmate-king-lexicon.html", "title": "Beyond Checkmate: A Lexicon for the King's Fate", "summary": "A rule-agnostic lexicon for naming observable king states across chess traditions, with a tri-lingual mapping (Persian, Old French, English) and a pointer to the CGSN status spec.", "content_text": "A rule-agnostic lexicon for naming observable king states across chess traditions, with a tri-lingual mapping (Persian, Old French, English) and a pointer to the CGSN status spec.", "date_published": "2025-10-14T00:00:00Z", "tags": [ "Game Development", "chess history", "Sashité", "CGSN", "notation", "board games" ], "language": "en" }, { "id": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2025-10-07/pcn-and-pgn-complementary-notation.html", "url": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2025-10-07/pcn-and-pgn-complementary-notation.html", "title": "PCN and PGN: Complementary Approaches to Game Notation", "summary": "PCN: A format-agnostic game notation supporting TOML and JSON, designed for cross-variant abstract strategy games.", "content_text": "PCN: A format-agnostic game notation supporting TOML and JSON, designed for cross-variant abstract strategy games.", "date_published": "2025-10-07T00:00:00Z", "tags": [ "Game Development", "PCN", "PGN", "chess notation", "board games", "game development" ], "language": "en" }, { "id": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2025-05-01/introducing-feen-notation.html", "url": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2025-05-01/introducing-feen-notation.html", "title": "Introducing FEEN: A Simple, Canonical Notation for Board Positions", "summary": "FEEN (Field Expression Encoding Notation): a minimalistic, rule-agnostic format for representing board positions in chess variants and other board games, designed for canonicity and flexibility.", "content_text": "FEEN (Field Expression Encoding Notation): a minimalistic, rule-agnostic format for representing board positions in chess variants and other board games, designed for canonicity and flexibility.", "date_published": "2025-05-01T00:00:00Z", "tags": [ "Game Development", "FEEN", "chess notation", "board games", "game development" ], "language": "en" }, { "id": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2025-03-12/url-protection-through-hmac.html", "url": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2025-03-12/url-protection-through-hmac.html", "title": "URL Protection Through HMAC: A Practical Approach", "summary": "A practical approach to URL protection using HMAC for secure, tamper-proof links, with applications in CSRF protection and passwordless authentication.", "content_text": "A practical approach to URL protection using HMAC for secure, tamper-proof links, with applications in CSRF protection and passwordless authentication.", "date_published": "2025-03-12T00:00:00Z", "tags": [ "Web Security", "HMAC", "URL security", "CSRF protection", "authentication" ], "language": "en" }, { "id": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2025-02-22/a-minimal-hash-based-symmetric-encryption-protocol.html", "url": "https://blog.cyril.email/posts/2025-02-22/a-minimal-hash-based-symmetric-encryption-protocol.html", "title": "A Minimal Hash-Based Symmetric Encryption Protocol", "summary": "A minimal symmetric encryption protocol using hash functions for message confidentiality, focusing on simplicity and fundamental cryptographic principles.", "content_text": "A minimal symmetric encryption protocol using hash functions for message confidentiality, focusing on simplicity and fundamental cryptographic principles.", "date_published": "2025-02-22T00:00:00Z", "tags": [ "Cryptography", "encryption", "hash functions", "security" ], "language": "en" } ] }