accasta pari
All pieces are equal, but some pieces are more equal than others.
Developing Accasta was a process of simplification. The first draft versions had more rules and even some exceptions. Accasta improved as I crossed off more and more regulations. Things sometimes start primitive, become complex, and finally end in elegant simplicity.
It is possible to simplify Accasta even more by discarding the different piece types. Imagine a standard Accasta game, where there are no Shields, Horses, or Chariots. There is only one piece type. I will call this variant Accasta Pari.
Figure 1: Initial setup of the Pari variant.
moving up to 3 cells
The Accasta move style will be retained. However, we define that a piece can move according to its position (i.e. height) in a stack taking into consideration the friendly pieces in the stack only.
For instance, a piece which is on top of two other friendly pieces (i.e. it is the third piece in a stack considering friendly pieces only) can move 1, 2, or up to 3 cells in a straight direction.
Figure 2: The topmost piece 'A' moves up to 3 cells (like a Chariot), piece 'B' moves up to 2 cells (like a Horse), and piece 'C' moves only 1 cell (like a Shield). The black piece 'a' is captured. If Black would capture this stack, this piece would move only to adjacent cells (like a Shield).
It is important to note that the power of a piece is determined looking at the stack position before actually moving.
A new effect emerges from this. Pieces are promoted or demoted, respectively, depending on whether they land on or leave friendly pieces.
All other rules still apply, in particular the 3-pieces rule.
notation
Accasta Pari requires a small change in the notation system. I would propose that every piece is identified by its color: W for a white piece and B for a black piece. Again, captured pieces are identified by w and b, respectively.
Example of an opening move: a1:W-c1,WW+b2
example
Figure 3: Black to move.
Black has to respond to the threat of d6:WWb×f4. He could do so by blocking with e4:Bw-e5 or capture the attacker with f4:B×d6,B-e5. But also consider f4:BB+e4, a double promotion which threatens b5:WW for a safe stack and, at the same time, attacks the attacker at d6:WWb via g3:BB×d6,B+f3.
In the Pari variant it is obviously a good strategy to stack one's own pieces - even more as in the standard game, as it leads not only to more powerful stacks (regarding multiple moves), but also promotes the moving piece. On the other hand, it is still true that powerful stacks are in danger to turn into safe stacks controlled by the opponent.