Christian Freeling
Christian Freeling (born 1 February 1947 in Enschede, the Netherlands) is a Dutch game designer and inventor of abstract strategy games, notably Grand Chess, Havannah, Hexdame and Dameo."Christian's games often embody a desire to get to the heart of the concepts used in abstract games. This is most clearly displayed by his minimalist chess variant, Chad, and his version of column checkers, Emergo." (Handscomb 2002 Spring:7)Freeling's designs cover a range of game types. Several are endeavors to improve on established games that he concluded are flawed or limited in some way. Some introduce familiar game mechanics into uncommon settings. He regularly translates rules for his orthogonal board games to the hexagonal grid, resulting in new versions with altered properties – usually enhanced strategy and tactics options, and fewer draws.
