No.692 (PH)

No.692 by Peter Harris – A problem of typical Peter‘s style, doubtfully possible to solve without computer. See author’s comments about testing of this stipulation by Popeye versions. (JV)

Definitions:

Ser-hs#(n) means that Black makes (n-1) help moves whereupon White makes one move to compel Black to mate on his n^th move.

Royal piece: Piece that executes a function of the King on the board.

Imitator(I): Every time a piece moves an Imitator (or a set of Imitators) moves simultaneously in an identical manner. An Imitator cannot move of itself. If an Imitator cannot imitate the move of a piece, the move is illegal. An Imitator may only pass through or enter an unoccupied square and cannot move off the board. Castling is imitated by decomposing into a King move followed by a Rook move. 

Chameleon Chess: All pieces on the board which are displayed as orthodox Q, R, B, S, are Chameleons. A Pawn can promote only in Chameleon-pieces.

Maximummer: Black must play the geometrically longest move or may choose from among longest moves of equal length, distances being measured from the center of each square. Diagonal and oblique distances are measured from the orthogonal coordinates by using Pythagora’s theorem (take the square root of the sum of the squares of the orthogonal distances). All other orthodox chess rules apply.