H. G. Muller wrote on Sat, Jun 3, 2023 11:56 AM UTC:
Well, many people would say that the object of chess in general is to capture the enemy king. So I don't think such a statement in the description of Ultima necessarily means anything other than that it is similar to chess in terms of goal, rather than to eliminate all opponent pieces, reach a certain goal square, etc.
The thing of practical interest is whether there is a checking rule, which would make this king capture a hypothetical event one move after checkmate. Note that Shogi is generally considered a king-capture game, and that the rules still refer to checkmate (in the context that this should not result from a Pawn drop).
In cases where stalemate is a win, it is a moot point anyway. The only practical issue is what should happen on an unforced king sacrifice: does the player lose through having made an illegal move, or should he take the move back and play another? It seems that Abbot suggests the latter.
Well, many people would say that the object of chess in general is to capture the enemy king. So I don't think such a statement in the description of Ultima necessarily means anything other than that it is similar to chess in terms of goal, rather than to eliminate all opponent pieces, reach a certain goal square, etc.
The thing of practical interest is whether there is a checking rule, which would make this king capture a hypothetical event one move after checkmate. Note that Shogi is generally considered a king-capture game, and that the rules still refer to checkmate (in the context that this should not result from a Pawn drop).
In cases where stalemate is a win, it is a moot point anyway. The only practical issue is what should happen on an unforced king sacrifice: does the player lose through having made an illegal move, or should he take the move back and play another? It seems that Abbot suggests the latter.