Larry Smith wrote on Fri, Apr 30, 2004 08:37 PM UTC:
To resurrect a discussion line and continue the topic of pattern pieces:
In those games which have promote-able 'Pawns' restricted to pieces
which have been previously captured, pattern pieces can offer a further
restriction.
If the game contains pieces bound to specific patterns, such promotions
could be limited when promoting to these. In other words, if a player has
lost a Bishop and brought a Pawn into the promotion zone, the promotion to
this captured Bishop could be predicated on whether there presently exists
another Bishop within that specific diagonal pattern.
And with those pattern pieces which do not occupy every one of their
specific patterns, a Pawn might be denied promotion to that particular
piece unless it was in the necessary pattern.
These rules would be at the discretion of the developer, and could impact
the over-all strategy of the game.