-p.boxed TODO
+p.boxed
+ | "Capturing" a piece creates an union,
+ | which your opponent can still use on his turn.
+ | Enter an union to release your piece.
-p WARNING 1: totally buggish right now.
-
-p WARNING 2: this variant may in the end not be playable here at all - will depend on the author decision.
+p.
+ The variant's name means "Chess of Peace" in Esperanto.
+ Paco-Sako was invented by Felix Albers in 2017, and further developped
+ also by Rolf Kreibaum and Raimond Fluijt.
p
- a(href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ2JLsFvfxI") Video
- | showing gameplay. See also
- a(href="http://pacosako.com/") the main website
- | , and the associated
- a(href="http://pacoplay.com/") playing area
+ | You can learn more about the variant's history and buy nice dedicated
+ | pieces (and boards) on the official website
+ a(href="http://pacosako.com/") pacosako.com
+ | . The variant is playable online at
+ a(href="http://pacoplay.com/") pacoplay.com
| .
+ br
+ | Consequently, Paco-Sako is
+ span.warning not garanteed to remain playable on vchess.club.
+ br
+ | You're invited to play over there instead :-)
+ | Besides, they have cuter unions' drawings.
+
+h3 Basic rules
+
+p.
+ There are no captures in this game: only unions of pieces,
+ which are released when replaced by another friendly piece.
+ The goal is to create an union with the enemy king.
+ I like to think of unions as "pieces dancing together", so both
+ terms will be used on this page.
+
+figure.showPieces.text-center
+ img(src="/images/pieces/Pacosako/wc.png")
+ img(src="/images/pieces/Pacosako/bc.png")
+ img(src="/images/pieces/Pacosako/bt.png")
+ img(src="/images/pieces/Pacosako/wv.png")
+ figcaption Some union pieces.
+
+p.
+ At each turn, a player chooses either one of his pieces or an union piece;
+ let's write this piece A.
+ul
+ li.
+ Case 1: A is a dancing piece. Then, it's only allowed to move
+ to a vacant square according to our piece's type.
+ li.
+ Case 2: A is a standard piece.
+ It can then be moved anywhere but on our own (normal) pieces.
+ "Capturing" an enemy piece creates an union composed of both pieces.
+ "Capturing" an union releases our piece formerly in union,
+ which has to be moved immediately by the same player. It can in turn
+ release another piece, thus following a chain of unions.
+
+p
+ | This may appear confusing at first reading, but is simpler than it seems.
+ | See for example this
+ a(href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ2JLsFvfxI") gameplay video
+ | , or another one from the same YouTube channel.
+
+figure.diagram-container
+ .diagram.diag12
+ | fen:4k3/8/2q5/8/4O3/2w2B2/8/5K2:
+ .diagram.diag22
+ | fen:4k3/8/2Y5/8/4s3/2S5/8/5K2:
+ figcaption Before and after the chaining move Bxe4, Ne4xc3, Qc3xc6.
+
+h3 Special moves, additional notes
+
+p.
+ "Capturing" an union en passant releases our dancing piece from the
+ intermediate square.
+
+p Promotion occur when any pawn (in union or not) reaches its final rank.
+
+p.
+ Attacks on the king are ignored in this implementation: you can run
+ or remain into "check". So, castling conditions are quite permissive.
+ Also, if you form an union with your king but end dancing with the
+ other king on the other end of the chain, the game is a draw.
+ span.warning This does not follow (at all) the official rules.
+
+figure.diagram-container
+ .diagram.diag12
+ | fen:rnbq1r2/1ppppp1k/p6p/4P1OP/1PPP3c/3B4/P2V1PP1/R2QK1N1:
+ .diagram.diag22
+ | fen:rnbq1r2/1ppppp1k/p7/4P1dP/1PPPn2c/3B4/P2V1PP1/R2QK1N1:
+ figcaption.
+ Left: Bd3(+) can be covered by Right: h6xg5 (releasing the knight), Ne4.
+
+p.
+ Canceling an union move is forbidden. For example if a bishop is
+ dancing with a queen, and makes the move e5 to g3, the other player cannot
+ move it back to e5 just after. This is also non-official.
+
+h3 More information
+
+p
+ | The authors wrote
+ a(href="/variants/Pacosako/manual.pdf") a manual
+ | with many more diagrams and explanations.