Section [3]: Phalanx movement
>>> | A phalanx is an unbroken row of men of one colour on a line. The shortest possible phalanx consists of two men. A king is never part of a phalanx! A phalanx moves, as a whole, one square forward along a line, provided the square in front is vacant. A phalanx may not move backward. |
Diagram 3
In actual play not all men of a phalanx are moved.
One simply picks up the last man of the phalanx one intends to move, and puts it in front.
Of course this may be another than the last man of the entire phalanx.
Diagram 3 starts with a white phalanx on the move, splitting up to leave a man on f5.
The two-men phalanx hitting the back rank gets dissolved in the process because the
front man promotes. The three-men phalanx hitting a5 transforms into a king and a two-men
phalanx. For the moment, these two block one another (remember a phalanx may not move
backward). Of course each of the two men is free to proceed on its own.
Section [1]: Initial position - movement options
Section [2]: Piece movement
Section [3]: Phalanx movement
Section [4]: Capture - phalanx capture - example 1
Section [5]: Phalanx capture - example 2
Section [6]: Piece capture - example 1
Section [7]: Piece capture - example 2
Section [8]: 3-fold
Section [9]: Notation