George Duke recently mentioned Centennial Chess Rotating Spearsman's absence from Man and Beast. This piece illustrates how an piece can have several unusual aspects, each of which needs cataloguing to fit it properly into so organised a series of articles. The Rotating Spearsman has three such aspects, none of them as yet covered.
Man And Beast 12 extends names for forward-only pieces to rectilinear pieces moving in any one orthogonal, any two neighbouring diagonal, or either two opposite orthogonal, directions in the face-to-face orientation - or any one diagonal, any two neighbouring orthogonal, or either two opposite diagonal, ones in the corner orientation - but none of the other six combinations. Yet two of this piece's rotations are of a piece moving along two opposite diagonals, capturing as one moving along a single diagonal, in the face-to-face orientation. Of course this is also true of the Delta of Omega Chess, which though mentioned in Man And Beast 15 could be considered inadequately described. This brings me to the next aspect.
Man And Beast 15 does not mention pieces that can be rotated only to face in forward directions, but this piece in each of its rotations has a well-defined forward move, the one in which it can capture. Even were it able to capture in both directions, it still cannot be rotated to move along a rank, but as it is, that brings me to the final aspect.
Man And Beast 16 does not cover pieces whose capturing moves are restricted to forward directions. For that matter nor does it cover pieces whose only capturing moves are in opposite directions to their only noncapturing ones, of which I do not recall any examples in variants.
I have some hazy ideas for terms for these piece aspects, but am not very satisified with them and would like to hear if anyone else has any. At first I considered terming a given forward-only or backward-only piece's compound with its Dexter the Dextered piece, the compound with its Sinister the Sinistered piece, the piece making only moves common to the piece and its Dexter the Desinistered piece, and the piece making only moves common to the piece and its Sinister the Dedextered piece, but that did not cover oblique pieces. What about a piece with only the two forward-right moves of the Knight, for example? My current thinking is to generalise the Larboard and Starboard to make a piece rotated 45° right and adjusted the original piece's Starboard Dual and rotated 45° left and adjusted its Larboard Dual - so the current Starboard and Larboard would be the Knave's Starboard and Larboard Duals respectively. I am looking at a Spearsman piece to mean one to which the noncapturing move in the opposite direction(s) has been added. For a piece that cannot rotate to or past the same-rank orthogonals I have as yet no ideas.
Man And Beast 12 extends names for forward-only pieces to rectilinear pieces moving in any one orthogonal, any two neighbouring diagonal, or either two opposite orthogonal, directions in the face-to-face orientation - or any one diagonal, any two neighbouring orthogonal, or either two opposite diagonal, ones in the corner orientation - but none of the other six combinations. Yet two of this piece's rotations are of a piece moving along two opposite diagonals, capturing as one moving along a single diagonal, in the face-to-face orientation. Of course this is also true of the Delta of Omega Chess, which though mentioned in Man And Beast 15 could be considered inadequately described. This brings me to the next aspect.
Man And Beast 15 does not mention pieces that can be rotated only to face in forward directions, but this piece in each of its rotations has a well-defined forward move, the one in which it can capture. Even were it able to capture in both directions, it still cannot be rotated to move along a rank, but as it is, that brings me to the final aspect.
Man And Beast 16 does not cover pieces whose capturing moves are restricted to forward directions. For that matter nor does it cover pieces whose only capturing moves are in opposite directions to their only noncapturing ones, of which I do not recall any examples in variants.
I have some hazy ideas for terms for these piece aspects, but am not very satisified with them and would like to hear if anyone else has any. At first I considered terming a given forward-only or backward-only piece's compound with its Dexter the Dextered piece, the compound with its Sinister the Sinistered piece, the piece making only moves common to the piece and its Dexter the Desinistered piece, and the piece making only moves common to the piece and its Sinister the Dedextered piece, but that did not cover oblique pieces. What about a piece with only the two forward-right moves of the Knight, for example? My current thinking is to generalise the Larboard and Starboard to make a piece rotated 45° right and adjusted the original piece's Starboard Dual and rotated 45° left and adjusted its Larboard Dual - so the current Starboard and Larboard would be the Knave's Starboard and Larboard Duals respectively. I am looking at a Spearsman piece to mean one to which the noncapturing move in the opposite direction(s) has been added. For a piece that cannot rotate to or past the same-rank orthogonals I have as yet no ideas.