The captureMatrix parameter in principle allows the Interactive Diagram to implement these rules,
by allowing friendly capture, and specifying promotion to the combination pieces.
As long as the pieces never split up again this works,
and in the Diagram below I implemented it for R, B and N merging with each other to A, C or Q.
([Edit] And now for all pairs of mid-range pieces.)
Problem is the enormous number of combination pieces that you would have to introduce
to allow arbitrary combination of all 6 basic types.
Each basic type has at least one move that none of the others has,
so all 2^6 - 1 = 63 combinations are different.
(But 6 of those are just a single basic piece type, so 57 new combinations.)
It is a pity the article doesn't specify names for all of those,
and you would quickly run out of sensible symbols to represent them.
Even if you would only allow combinations of two, you would still have 6x5/2 = 15 combination pieces.
The game itself offers a very interesting strategic dilemma.
Combining two pieces creates additional value through synergy.
But if you combine too many, you run into the leveling effect,
because you have too many high-valued pieces,
which are all severely hindered by the much larger number of light pieces the opponent has.
Like in Charge of the Light Brigade,
where the Queens are crushed by the army of Knights.
[Edit] The merging is now forbidden on the first three ranks,
by an = in the morph parameter for the basic pieces.
The captureMatrix parameter in principle allows the Interactive Diagram to implement these rules, by allowing friendly capture, and specifying promotion to the combination pieces. As long as the pieces never split up again this works, and in the Diagram below I implemented it for R, B and N merging with each other to A, C or Q. ([Edit] And now for all pairs of mid-range pieces.)
Problem is the enormous number of combination pieces that you would have to introduce to allow arbitrary combination of all 6 basic types. Each basic type has at least one move that none of the others has, so all 2^6 - 1 = 63 combinations are different. (But 6 of those are just a single basic piece type, so 57 new combinations.)
It is a pity the article doesn't specify names for all of those, and you would quickly run out of sensible symbols to represent them. Even if you would only allow combinations of two, you would still have 6x5/2 = 15 combination pieces.
The game itself offers a very interesting strategic dilemma. Combining two pieces creates additional value through synergy. But if you combine too many, you run into the leveling effect, because you have too many high-valued pieces, which are all severely hindered by the much larger number of light pieces the opponent has. Like in Charge of the Light Brigade, where the Queens are crushed by the army of Knights.
[Edit] The merging is now forbidden on the first three ranks, by an = in the morph parameter for the basic pieces.