Laser Chess

When is a board game a chess variant? Guess we can discuss this until the cows come home, and there are different opinions on the matter. Even so, no matter where you draw the line, there will always be a grey area ...

Enter Laser Chess. To me, this is still a chess variant, because (1) it has a number of different pieces, with different moves and/or powers, and (2) the capture of a single piece (the 'king') decides the game. Laser Chess fulfils those criteria, so ...

Besides a king, Laser Chess has 'switches', 'deflectors' and 'defenders', which can all move. Plus a 'laser', which is stationary. The 'switches', 'deflectors' and 'defenders' have different reflective (mirrors), blocking, and vulnerable surfaces, whereas the king only has vulnerable surfaces.

The stationary 'lasers' can be fired at the end of every move, with the aim of hitting the king, making use of the mirrors on its own pieces. The opposing pieces are moved such that they screen the king from being hit, but if they have vulnerable surfaces, they can be hit as well, and are then removed from play. Essentially capturing from a distance.

In case all this sounds a bit familiar to anyone, in the 1980s there was a computer game called 'Laser Chess', which worked on the same concept. It had that annoying video voice saying "You can't do that!" if you tried to make an illegal move ...