Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

Concept OK, but adding powerful combo pieces may tend to slow things up!  

One alternative proposal: with a standard set-up, have RNBQs that are
OBSERVED by other RNBQs temporarily gain move types they intrinsically
lack and lose move types they intrinsically have. So (for example) Qd1,
Bb3, Rf3 and Nf2 temporarily results in d1=R+N, b3=R, f3=B, f2=R+N. 

A second alternative proposal: reverse the flow -- RNBQs temporarily gain
new move types or lose intrinsic move types based on the RNBQs that are
OBSERVED BY the piece. In the example, the temporary powers would be
d1=frozen, b3=R, f3=B+N, f2=R+B.

Oops. 
In my previous comment on 'Anti-Relay', the example for the second
alternative should have both the f3 and f2 pieces temporarily =R+N+B.

Of course there are also some other options (gain/lose power only due to
friendly units, gain/lose only from hostile units; gain powers only due
friendly units, lose power only due to hostile units, etc.).

Tony,

Thank you for your comments--you've given me food for thought.  I was
thinking of using Grand Chess rather than FIDE chess as the basis--the
extra combo pieces will slow things down, but Grand is faster than FIDE. 
I also like the symmetry of move types that results from using all the
combos. But a FIDE based game would certainly be playable.

One variant: friendly pieces add, enemy pieces take away.

Another variant: enemy pieces add, friendly pieces take away. This will be
strange and it will be hard to get an attack going--say you pin an enemy
Knight with your Rook--his Knight is now a temporary Chancellor and will
capture your Rook! Pinning the Knight with your Queen is worse.

For anyone who might find the approach helpful, a very rough try at a
'faceted definition' of a movement rule for 'an Extended Relay Chess
Family' might look something like this. Pick one from each bracketed
category to get a CV (design new options that fit the structure; design a
new structure ...).


'Chessmen have intrinsic movement patterns: [intrinsic movement rules].
The movement powers of [affected group] are temporarily modified by the
intrinsic movement patterns of other chessmen. Chessmen affected by this
rule temporarily gain the unshared intrinsic movements of [gain source]
when [gain condition]; they temporarily lose the intrinsic movement
patterns shared with [loss source] when [loss condition].'


Some sample category options:

[intrinsic movement rules]   
  these patterns are the same as in standard chess, ...
[affected group]
  RNBQ, ... 
[gain source]
  friendly affected class units, 
  hostile affected class units, 
  any affected class units, ...
[gain condition]
  intrinsically observed by the source,  
  intrinsically observing the source,
  on a space adjacent to the source, ...
[loss source] 
  friendly affected class units, 
  hostile affected class units, 
  any affected class units, ...
[loss condition]
  intrinsically observed by the source, 
  intrinsically observing the source,
  on a space adjacent to the source, ...

To extend Tony's analysis somewhat:  Let's limit this dicussion to
non-divergent pieces.  We could, of course define a piece that makes a
non-capturing Knight move, captures as a Bishop, and observes as a Rook,
but relays are compicated enough.

Piece below means non-royal, non-Pawn piece.  

There are four types of interaction:

1. Relay: the unshared move powers are added to the target piece.
2. Anti-relay:  the shared move powers are taken away from the target
piece.
3. Contra-relay: the unshared move powers are taken away from the target
piece.

Relay and Anti-relay can be combined.  Anti-relay and contra-relay
combined make an immobilizer. Relay and contra-relay would cancel out.

The interaction may be:
1. Direct:  the observed piece is the target.
2. Indirect: the observer piece is the target.

Direct is the default.

The interactions may apply to 
1. Enemy:  only enemy pieces affect each other.
2. Friendly: only friendly pieces affect each other.
3. Bilateral: all pieces are affected.

Friendly is the default for relay, and enemy is the default for anti-relay
and contra-relay.

A piece might have both indirect and indirect effects, and mioght have
different effects on friends and enemies.

Effect are not recursive--in bilateral direct relay, for example, if a
Knight relays a Knight move to a Rook the Rook does not relay Knight
powers.

Only powers the piece does not have intrinsically can be added, only
intrinsic powers can be taken away. So in friendly direct relay, enemy
direct anti-relay, if a Queen is observed by both a friendly Bishop and an
enemy Bishop, the enemy Bishop takes away the Queen's Bishop move and the
friendly Bishop cannot add it back.

I have hacked together a ZRF for my first game in this genre. It is Enemy
Indirect Anti-relay Grand Chess.  This is a strange but playable game.  A
piece can only capture another piece if they share a move type by using a
shared move type (Queen can capture a Rook with a Rook move but not a
Bishop move). Attacking a piece with a move you can't use to capture
results in the loss of that move type.  Interesting levelling effect--a
Knight can move into the path of a Queen and the Queen is immobilized.

I am considering adding friendly direct relay to the game.

So, as long as we're on the topic of mutators, how about applying this
concept to Mulligan Stew Chess?  We could have '42-Square Indirect
Extrinsic Anti-relay Tutti-Fruiti Swapping-Mage Teleporting-Assassin
Dual-Color-Bound-King Limited-Double-Move Leaping-Pawn Chess'.  Anybody
for a kriegspiel version?

An extension that might also be considered is the use of [gain-type] or
[loss-type]. Up to this point, the discussion has focused on adding or
subtracting the power to move or capture, but the relayed power added or
subtracted might be movement to a vacant space, movement to an
opponent-occupied space, movement to a vacant or opponent-occupied space,
etc..
(the possibilities might also include interchange powers -- the right to
switch places with a friendly piece).

I would also consider a piece observed by or a piece observing as only two
options in defining the 'source'. A relay-type relationship might also
be triggered by an absolute relationship (e.g., piece a K-move away,
N-move away, B-move away, etc.) -- essentially the [gain-condition] or
[loss-condition] could be defined by any rule that, when applied to a
potential source, temporarily evaluates to true. 

Obviously we don't have to use all the facets of 'generalized relay
chess' to define a CV in the family. A broader framework does allow some
curious family members.

A simple example might be called 'Channel Chess' -- Any RNBQ may move to
a vacant space with the movement power of the last friendly piece
captured.