| The Naiad moves like a queen, any distance in any direction, but it cannot capture. The Naiad can repulse an enemy piece ahead and attract any piece to the rear. (1) The attracted piece is the nearest, of any colour, in the opposite movement direction. It is dragged the same number of squares that the Naiad moves. Thus, the distance between the two pieces will remain the same after the move. (2) An enemy piece can be repelled if the Naiad stops next to it. It is repelled the same number of squares that the Naiad moves, or as far as possible. The Naiad can be used for transporting friendly pieces, or dislocating enemy pieces. Friendly pawns can be brought nearer to the promotion square. Other rules are the same as in standard chess, except for the possible promotion to Naiad. The Naiad's value is 3, which corresponds to a knight or bishop (preliminary estimate).
Note: in an alternative variant the Naiad can only kidnap a piece if it moves one step. The 'weak' Naiad can better decide whether it wants to kidnap a piece. It can avoid dragging the piece along by moving farther than one step. |
