H. G. Muller wrote on Wed, Nov 13, 2019 08:51 AM UTC:
I support that interpretation. The pair of moves should be legal, and a first move that only occurs in illegal pairs should therefore be considered illegal itself.
One can compare this with the handling of the touch=move rule in FIDE rules, which also makes a turn a two-event action: lifting a piece, and then dropping it. If I play Carlsen with black, and start touching Ra8 after his opening move, I cannot claim a draw on the basis that this Rook has no moves, and I am not in check, so that its a stalemate. I simply must grab another piece to move.
I support that interpretation. The pair of moves should be legal, and a first move that only occurs in illegal pairs should therefore be considered illegal itself.
One can compare this with the handling of the touch=move rule in FIDE rules, which also makes a turn a two-event action: lifting a piece, and then dropping it. If I play Carlsen with black, and start touching Ra8 after his opening move, I cannot claim a draw on the basis that this Rook has no moves, and I am not in check, so that its a stalemate. I simply must grab another piece to move.