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Rules can not be substituted for ALL games: it can be subsituated to any game in wich pieces starts on different halfs of board (for example, i can't imagine, how to play Chaturanga for 4 players and Tafl, using such rules), also there are probably many things, wich don't allow to play some games, using such rules. But, i think, most of games CAN be played in this way, and it's a very good idea. Also i can suggest game for any EVEN number of players: half of players starts on halfs of boards, wich have ranks 1-4, another half starts on halfs of boards, wich have ranks 5-8, and all boards of 1-4 are coupled with boards of 5-8, when moving piece to another half, player may choose either. Also i have one small question about original game: i suppose, it's not important, who have left king and right queen, and who have right king and left queen :) ?
As I understand it, Pawns on any halfboard but the one they started on move away from the join. This after all is a continuation of the direction in which they joined that halfboard. A small point of correction: 'any two-player game' should be qualified by 'with an even number of ranks', ruling out Shogi. This is a pity given the advantages for one-Bishop games generally through the use of three-point turns. Shogi would need a neutral one-rank strip, with two 4-rank part-boards added in each move.
This is in my opinion a very interesent variant. But how about movement of pawns, I mean, which direction is *forward* ? Could pawn promotes to queen ? If two players make an aliance, could they let each other's pawns to promote ? - PS : I'm french, and my english is not as good as I would like to ; I apologize for that :o)
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Joining by reflecting is not so contrived. Imagine constructing the half-boards out of stiff cardstock or plastic, checkered on both sides so that the bottom-right square from each perspective is light. Use magnetic chess pieces in pairs so that they attract each other through the material. Bind several of these half-boards together with loops of string along the joining edge in an arrangement just like the illustration that opens the article. Now you join half-boards by flipping to two pages and ignoring whatever happens to lie in between.
But I said I was 'about to suggest'. That's because this arrangement causes the act of moving a bishop from the Green half-board to Orange, and then later to Blue, and then back to Green, to have the consequence of changing the Bishop's colorbinding because it has effectively been reflected an odd number of times. I still like the idea somewhat, but I think it is more important to have colorbound bishops than a symmetrical royalty-seating arrangement.