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Rules of Fusion Chess
The pieces of Fusion Chess are of two classes, simple and compound. Pawns don't belong to either class. Fusion Chess also has four different royal pieces. Besides the King, there are three compound royal pieces. Royal and non-Royal pieces are displayed in different colors in the following diagram.
| Simple Pieces | Compound Pieces | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
King [K] |
 Rook [R] |
Bishop [B] |
Knight [N] |
 Queen [RB] |
 Marshall [RN] |
 Paladin [BN] |
 Dragon King [KR] |
 Pontiff [KB] |
 Cavalier King [KN] |
Pawn [P] |
Fusion Chess is played like regular Chess except as follows:
Fusion
One simple piece can combine with another simple piece of a different type but belonging to the same side to form a compound piece. It does this by moving to the same space as the other simple piece. They combine into the compound piece that can move as either of them. The only restriction on fusion is that the King may not initiate fusion with another piece. When a King combines with another piece, it must be the other piece's move.
Fission
So long as it is not attacked, a compound piece may split into its components by moving one of its components to an empty square. The piece that moves away must move as the sort of piece it is. The other component of the compound piece stays behind.
Castling
Any fission or fusion move involving a King or Rook counts as a move by that piece for castling purposes. Other than that, the usual rules for castling apply.
Promotion
On reaching the last rank, a Pawn may promote to a Knight, Bishop, or Rook, but not to any compound piece. There is no castling.
Object
The object is to checkmate your opponent's current royal piece, which may be a King, Pontiff, Dragon King, or Cavalier King. Note that no royal piece may move through check. A Knight leap must pass through one of two paths to its destination, and one of these must be unchecked for the Cavalier King to leap as a Knight.
Notation
This preset is not automated, and it requires you to do everthing manually. When you fuse two pieces together, you should follow the move by adding the new piece type to the space. For example, "R a1-b1; M-b1". When you do fission, put the the moving piece back on the space you moved one component from. For example, assuming that a Marshall is on b1, "b1-c3; R-b1". Note that "N b1-c4; R-b1" will not work, because it expects you to be moving an M from b1. If you want to specify the piece that is splitting away during a fission, you can do it instead by adding both components, as in "N-c4; R-b1".
How to Move Pieces
Full Algebraic Notation
Algebraic notation identifies each space by a coordinate that begins with its file label and ends with its rank label. On the Chess board, files go up and down from one player to the other, and ranks go from left to right. In most games, files are represented by letters, and ranks are represented by numbers, but there is no fixed rule requiring this for all games, and some games, such as Shogi, reverse this convention. If you look at the diagram, you will usually see the file labels going from left to right and the file labels going up and down. And if you hover your mouse over a space, you will normally see the name of the coordinate appear in a tooltip.
It is not uncommon to see algebraic notation being used for Chess, but it is often in an abbreviated format that requires you to know both the rules of the game and the current position to know exactly which piece moves where. For example, the notation "Ne6" indicates that a Knight is moving to e6, but it doesn't indicate which Knight, and it doesn't specify where the Knight is coming from. To figure this out, you need to know how a Knight moves and which Knight on the board can make a legal move to e6.
Although rules may be programmed for individual games, Game Courier itself does not know the rules of any game, and it is unable to parse abbreviated algebraic notation. Therefore, it relies on full algebraic notation, which completely specifies the move without requiring any knowledge of the game's rules or the current position. The most usual type of full algebraic notation indicates the piece that is moving by its label, the space it is moving from, and the space it moving to. In Chess, a typical first move might be written as "P e2-e4". When you hover your mouse over a piece, you will normally see the piece label followed by the coordinate for the space, and when you hover it over an empty space, you will normally see the coordinate label. Including the piece label in your notation allows Game Courier to check that the piece you're moving is the right one, and it makes game notation easier to follow, but it is not mandatory.
You may promote a piece by including a promotion move after your regular move. A promotion move has a piece go directly to a coordinate. Here is an example: "p e7-e8; q-e8".
You may remove a piece from a space by adding an @ to the space or by omitting the destination coordinate. For example, both "@-e4" and "e4-" would remove the piece on "e4". This is useful for en passant when you are playing a game that does not handle this automatically. For example, "P d5-e6; e5-" removes the Pawn on e5 after a Pawn moves from d5 to e6.
You will not need to remove spaces for most games, but if you should need to, you can do this by omitting the first coordinate in a move. For example, "-e4" would remove e4 from the board. To add or return a space to the board, you may add an @ or any other piece to it.
Available Pieces
Pieces are represented by labels, usually using uppercase letters for White and lowercase letter for Black. When you enter a move or specify the starting position for a game, you should remember that piece labels are case-sensitive. Many piece sets are available for use with Game Courier, and this table shows you which pieces belong to the piece set you are currently using.
The inclusion of a piece does not indicate that it is used in the game you are playing. But if your game uses pieces not included here, you should choose a different piece set.
Credits
Game Courier was created, programmed and written by Fergus Duniho.
Game Courier, Copyright © Fergus Duniho, 2001-2017
WWW Page Created: 15 August 2001
Kibbitzing Etiquette
Kibbitzing is the practice of commenting on a game you are not playing. In commenting on a game, please follow these rules of etiquette.
(1) If you notice that someone has made an illegal move, please mention it. Some Game Courier presets cannot enforce rules, but Game Courier does enable players to take back any previous move. Details on how to take back a move are provided in the User's Guide, linked to above the board.
(2) Unless otherwise specifically asked to, do not offer hints or suggestions to players on what moves they should make. In general, avoid coaching comments.
(3) Once a game is over, it should be alright to offer your analysis of the game and your specific comments on what moves players should have made. If some players don't want this, they may mention it in the Kibbitzing section, and you should honor this request by not commenting on the game.
(4) Be polite. At the appropriate time, offer any criticism you have in a constructive manner. Avoid heckling players for bad moves.
(5) Don't spam this space with irrelevant comments. If you have a comment about Game Courier, rather than about the specific game you're viewing, please post it on Game Courier's Index page to give it.