Is this game winnable, or is it indeed completely flawed, because it is a certain draw? I would like to have the opinion on this from someone who actually played it.
The rule that you can win by Chief captures Chief seems strange, as the Chief move is reversible. So you cannot attack the enemy Chief with your own without being attacked back. So as a method for winning this seems a bust, but it can be seen as an anti-trading rule for Chiefs. Which is good, as this is the most powerful piece by far, and you would not have any hope at all to catch the Princess without it.
There is a way to perform Chief x Chief apart from a gross blunder, and this is to skewer Princess and Chief. Checking the Princess, forcing it to expose a Chief behind it could do it. But this would seem very rare. The situation is somewhat like orthodox Chess with the extra rule that Queens cannot face each other. Or even closer when in addition the Kings would move as non-capturing Queens.
A bare Princess is easily checkmated by a Chief. This doesn't need any help, and can in principle also be done when the opponent also has a Chief. Provides this is far enough away that the Princess cannot take shelter in its zone of influence. Which seems again rare. So it seems the only way of winning is to gain a Chief by other means, and then bare the Princess to checkmate iit with your own Chief.
Perhaps the situation should be rescued by adopting the rule that Chiefs are not allowed to move through check. I.e. making them e.p. capturable by any other piece, or perhaps just by a subset of the pieces.
Is this game winnable, or is it indeed completely flawed, because it is a certain draw? I would like to have the opinion on this from someone who actually played it.
The rule that you can win by Chief captures Chief seems strange, as the Chief move is reversible. So you cannot attack the enemy Chief with your own without being attacked back. So as a method for winning this seems a bust, but it can be seen as an anti-trading rule for Chiefs. Which is good, as this is the most powerful piece by far, and you would not have any hope at all to catch the Princess without it.
There is a way to perform Chief x Chief apart from a gross blunder, and this is to skewer Princess and Chief. Checking the Princess, forcing it to expose a Chief behind it could do it. But this would seem very rare. The situation is somewhat like orthodox Chess with the extra rule that Queens cannot face each other. Or even closer when in addition the Kings would move as non-capturing Queens.
A bare Princess is easily checkmated by a Chief. This doesn't need any help, and can in principle also be done when the opponent also has a Chief. Provides this is far enough away that the Princess cannot take shelter in its zone of influence. Which seems again rare. So it seems the only way of winning is to gain a Chief by other means, and then bare the Princess to checkmate iit with your own Chief.
Perhaps the situation should be rescued by adopting the rule that Chiefs are not allowed to move through check. I.e. making them e.p. capturable by any other piece, or perhaps just by a subset of the pieces.