Single Comment

Fascinating concept, the idea of pieces of homogenous movement
differentiated only by their capture method.

Perhaps not strictly a chess variant, but a unique subgenre in its own
right, & one that I feel deserves more popularity.

As for the game itself, there are some strange imbalances which I find
surprising; why allocate 2 slots for the powerful long leaper but give
pride of place next to the king to the feeble withdrawer as an standalone
piece? This is the kind of imbalance one sees in older prechess variants
but would not expect in a newer variant...

Another issue is the overly defensive nature of the game, with current
setup. Having 2 chameleons with no mutual attack method tends to stagnate
and cluster gameplay in my experience.

Also an issue is the increasing irrelevance of the pawns in endgames. They
of course have no promotion ability, which is not feasible for such mobile
pieces, and offer minimal threat to the FIDE king, due to its residual
ability to capture adjacent pieces.

I propose the following alterations;

1. Replace king movement with that of a knight. This adds variation to the
dynamic of the game and allows the pawns to present a threat to the king,
as they can now be positioned adjacent to it without fear of capture. This
also increases their relevance in endgames.

2. Replace the spare long leaper and chameleon with 2 pieces of offensive
type; advancer/displacer(orthodox FIDE queen)/queen moving cannon etc.

3. Allow the chameleon to capture king and pawns in the manner of their own
capture, but without being restricted to their movement types. This, along
with the inclusion of new powerful offensive pieces, which the chameleon
the acts as a counterbalance to, makes it a much more important standalone
piece, and serves as an important leveller against the power inequity of
different piece types.

4. (optional) Allow the withdrawer to capture from 2 spaces of distance
(this might make it a little difficult to counterract in opening play, but
a far more respectable piece overall) OR merge the withdrawer and advancer,
freeing up another piece slot.

These alterations would, in my opinion, add a much more open, fluid,
balanced, dynamic, and varied mechanic to an already excellent concept...