    Laser Chess (c) 1994-95 Peter Venable

    Lost in the mists of time, wise men of old developed the world's
    greatest game of all time : Chess. Now, as a new era dawns, The Game
    of Kings has graduated to a new level...

    Deeply rooted in tradition, yet infused with the hottest modern
    technology, LASER CHESS gives its players the best of both worlds.

    As in Chess, the goal of each contender is to capture the opposing
    King - check mate. But now a new weapon has arrived, revolutionizing
    the entire game! The Laser has the power to wield destruction from
    across the board. But there's more! To accommodate this new ability,
    each of the other pieces has been equipped with mirrors and other
    tools to help control the Laser's deadly power.

    If you are unfamiliar with Chess, you may find it easier to learn
    it before moving up to Laser Chess. However, knowledge of Chess is
    not required. A little experimentation and practice will get you
    playing in no time. Before your first real game, you may want to
    try moving pieces around and firing the Laser, just to get a feel
    for the game. Then start a new game using the Load Game icon, which
    looks like a disk with an arrow pointing away from it.

    Pieces in Laser Chess move just as in Chess. Many pieces have
    reflective surfaces which cause the laser to bounce. Others have
    even more special properties. For a demonstration of each piece's
    mobility and response under Laser fire, see the demonstration
    labeled `Piece Demo' in the Help menu. It allows you to select a
    piece, then shows which spaces it may move to, followed by a
    demonstration of its response to Laser fire.

    There are, however, a few even more special pieces. The knight,
    for example, is a beam splitter. When it is fired upon, it can
    split the beam into two. Combining these can let you destroy many
    pieces with a single shot. Another special piece is the queen.
    If her eyes are facing in the direction from which a Laser beam
    hits her, the beam skips beyond her and any piece right behind her.

    As in Chess, during a player's turn he or she may move a piece. If
    he/she has a Laser, he/she may fire instead. But, there is one more
    action that can be taken. Before moving or firing, a player may
    rotate one of his/her pieces. This is important because each piece's
    orientation determines which way a Laser beam will bounce (or if it
    will destroy the piece) when the piece is hit. Rotation does not
    affect a piece's motion, however.

    In Laser Chess, there are three different types of pawn. Each acts
    like a pawn, moving forward only, being able to move two squares
    on the first move, capturing diagonally, capturing En Passant style,
    and being promoted to a better piece when it makes its way across
    the board. However, each type reacts differently to Laser fire. One
    type, the triangle pawn, reflects at a 90ø angle when hit from either
    of two sides, and dies when hit from any of the other sides. The
    shield pawn, which looks like a man, cannot reflect the Laser, but
    can defend himself with his shield, if it points in the proper
    direction. If shot from any other direction, he dies. The third type
    of pawn, the `super pawn,' reflects Lasers from three directions,
    and is vulnerable from only one. As previously mentioned, if any pawn
    reaches the far side of the board, it is transformed into the piece
    of the player's choice. Also as in Chess, pawns may move two spaces
    on their first move. If one does this and passes an opposing pawn in
    the process, the opposing pawn may capture it on the next move just
    as if it had moved out only one space. This is called En Passant,
    which is French for `in passing.'

    If, when a pawn advances to the far side of the board, the player
    chooses to promote it to a Laser, that player may have more than one
    Laser. Normally, the Laser is fired by pressing the Fire button on
    the side of the screen. However, if there is an additional Laser,
    the player must select the Laser he/she wishes to use, and then
    press the Fire button.

    As in Chess, a player may castle by moving his/her King two spaces to
    the side, and the Rook (also called a Castle) will move to the other
    side of the King. This may only be done if there are no pieces between
    the King and Rook, and neither has moved yet. Also, the King must never
    move from, through, or into check. Check means that an enemy piece is
    poised to attack the King. However, Laser fire is not counted when the
    program determines Check.

    As in Chess, if a player cannot make a legal move, Stale Mate is
    declared and the game is a tie. Stale Mate (technically a draw, in this
    case) is also declared when nothing is left but the two Kings. Other
    situations may be practical draws not detected by the program, in which
    case the players may just agree that no win is possible. If a player is
    reduced to a single piece, the King, the opponent has only 20 moves
    with which to Check Mate that King. After 20 moves, a draw is declared.

    In Chess, one player normally has black pieces, and the other white.
    Since Laser Chess has full color pieces, they are identified by
    small pink or green marks in the corner of the square the piece
    occupies.

    If you want to save a game in progress, select the button that looks
    like a disk with an arrow pointing toward it. Type a name for the game
    and press Enter. Or, you can select a game from the list shown, and it
    will be replaced by the current game. To load a saved game, select the
    button that looks like an arrow pointing away from a disk, then select
    the file you wish to load.

    The actual mechanics of moving are very simple. A piece may be selected
    by moving the mouse onto it and clicking. Then, if you want to rotate
    the piece, click the rotation buttons until the piece is properly
    oriented. If the piece you want to move is different from the one you
    rotated, select that piece. Then click on the spot you want to move to.
    If you wish, you can fire your Laser (if you still have one) instead of
    moving a piece. Just click on the Fire button. You can fire after
    rotating. If you don't have a mouse, or prefer not to use one, just use
    the arrow keys and press Enter instead of clicking the mouse.

    Strategy hints:

	Use your Laser carefully. Before firing, make sure you aren't about
	to destroy your own piece! Also, check that you don't destroy a piece
	that indirectly protects you from hostile fire.

		Use the enemy pieces as well as your own in planning your shots. But
	be careful, because your opponent can move them unexpectedly.

	Use all your pieces, not just the Laser. Pieces can capture each
	other, and you never know when you might lose your Laser.

	Try to get control of the center of the board. Move out some pawns.
	Develop your position.

	Here's a sneaky trick: Rotate a piece and then fire, in the same turn.
	This can be a good trick because you can make your shot go in a
	different direction than your opponent expects. Rotating your Laser
	works for this, too.

    System requirements: EGA or VGA graphics. Mouse recommended.

    Files:    LASERCHESS.EXE - main program
	      LASER.PXL - main graphics file
	       LOGO.PXL - title graphics
	   LASERANM.PXL - animation graphics
	      LASER.ICO - icon for Windows (optional)
		  *.SAV - saved games (optional)


    This version of LASER CHESS is licensed through:

	DesertSoft Publishing, Inc.
	Technical Support (602) 926-5964

	To contact the author, write to:

	Peter Venable
	Seattle Pacific University
	Mailstop 2162
	Seattle, WA 98119-1997

	Or by electronic mail: pvenable@spu.edu




    Have fun!

