The i moves like a chess king, and serves as a king in Stress. Unlike most other pieces, the i is incapable of wraparound movement.
The o moves like a chess queen, but cannot capture an adjacent piece.
The c moves like a chess rook, but cannot capture an adjacent piece.
The w moves like a chess bishop, but cannot capture an adjacent piece.
The e is exactly like chess knight, remembering that it can like most pieces jump off one side of the board to land on the other.
The j is similar to the chess knight, except that it jumps forward 3 instead of 2, and then one space to the left or right.
The a is similar to the chess knight, except that it jumps in a 3/2 ratio, giving it the longest jump in the game.
The n can neither capture nor be captured. It moves like a chess rook, but only one space at a time. This piece is good for defense or for mating.
No piece in chess is like the x, which moves up to 3 spaces in a zigzag pattern. It cannot move in the same direction twice or back to the space it just moved from. Unlike the other pieces, the x can capture multiple opposing pieces on the same turn.
The m borrows its personality from its neighbors. When moving without capturing, the m borrows the move of any adjacent friendly piece, including another m. To move and capture, the m must borrow its move from an adjacent enemy piece. If there are no adjacent pieces, the m is simply stranded. If the m captures a piece, it may then move again from that square with that pieces move to capture again, and so on. The m is potentially the most powerful piece on the board.
The g can only be captured by another g. This strange piece can actually remove squares from play, by turning them into voids. This piece can also reverse this process, and turn voids into squares. A g erases a square by leaving it. A g turns a void into a square by moving on to it. (A z can capture a g.)
The b is another strange piece, that does not capture but only bump both friendly and enemy pieces into empty squares or voids. A piece bumped into a void is lost, not captured. The b is useful for moving friendly pieces to more useful positions, such as switching the color of an x or a w. The b is also useful against an n. The b moves like a rook, but only one space. If a b bumps a b, the bump is conducted thru the second b, and so on.
The t moves like a chess rook, but only 3 spaces. Unlike the c, the t can capture an adjacent enemy piece.
The z is the only 3 dimensional piece in the game. It jumps to any of the 81 squares, but not instantaneously. The player must declare to what square the z intends to jump. The z is removed from its current square and held until the player's next turn. At this point the player can place the z on its declared target or move some other piece. If some other piece is moved, the z remains in the 3rd dimension. A player can still drop the z, but a one turn delay still applies, as the target space must again be declared. So the z will always cost either 2 or 3 turns to use. Perfect mobility isn't free. Also the z destroys otherwise indestructible pieces, like an n or a g, as well as any other piece. The z can also sacrifice itself upon impact, and create a void on the impact square. (It can do this whether or not a piece is being captured at the same time.)
The u is similar to the Spy in Stratego, except the u moves like an i in Stress. The u never appears as a u, but always in disguise. The u can only capture either the i or another u. An obvious disguise is an n, as an n is not expected to attack. Another possibility is that the u disguises itself as an i, an imposter.
The s moves and captures like a chess king. Unlike the i, the s can wraparound. The s and i are the most dangerous pieces at close range, and the s, unlike the i, can sacrifice itself.
The f freezes any enemy pieces adjacent to it. It moves like a chess king, but cannot capture. This piece is quite useful for mating. The m piece conducts the effect of a friendly f against enemies, but also the effect of an enemy f against friendlies.
The d piece can self-destruct, creating a nine square void with its own square in the middle. All pieces are lost. This self-destruction also "wraps around." The d can destroy up to 8 enemies in one move.
The r is like a chess bishop, except it can only move two spaces, but it can capture adjacent pieces, unlike the w.
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