Fairy chess piece
Princess (knight+bishop compound) | |
Empress (knight+rook compound) | |
Grasshopper (shown as an inverted queen) | |
Nightrider, knightmare, or unicorn (shown as an inverted knight) | |
Berolina pawn or sergeant (shown as an inverted pawn) | |
Ferz (shown as an inverted bishop) | |
Wazir (shown as an inverted rook) | |
Mann (shown as an inverted king) |
A fairy chess piece or unorthodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess but incorporated into certain chess variants and some chess problems. Fairy pieces vary in the way they move.
Because of the distributed and uncoordinated nature of unorthodox chess development, the same piece can have different names and different pieces the same name in various contexts.
Classification
Fairy chess pieces usually fall into one of three classes, although some are hybrids. Compound pieces combine the movement powers of two or more different pieces.
A specialized solving program, WinChloe, recognizes more than 1200 different fairy pieces.
Movement type
Leapers
An (m,n)-leaper is a piece that moves by a fixed type of vector between its start square and its arrival square. One of the coordinates of the vector 'start square – arrival square' must have an absolute value equal to m and the other one an absolute value equal to n. A leaper moves in the same way whether or not it captures, the taken unit being on the arrival square. For instance, the knight is the (1,2)-leaper.[1]
The leaper's move cannot be blocked; it "leaps" over any intervening pieces, like the knight in standard chess.
It is convenient to classify all fixed-distance moves as leaps, including (1,0) and (1,1) moves to adjacent squares, because that allows all normal chess moves to be placed in two categories (leapers and riders) without the need to create a third category to describe the king and pawn.
In shatranj, a Persian forerunner to chess, the pieces later replaced by the bishop and queen were also leapers: the alfil was a (2,2)-leaper (moving exactly two squares diagonally in any direction), and the fers or ferz a (1,1)-leaper (moving exactly one square diagonally in any direction).[2] The wazir is a (1,0)-leaper (an "orthogonal" one-square leaper). The king of standard chess combines the ferz and wazir.
The dabbaba is a (2,0)-leaper. The alibaba combines the dabbaba and alfil, while the squirrel can move to any square 2 units away (combining the knight and alibaba). The Arabic word dabbāba formerly meant a type of medieval siege engine, and nowadays means "army tank".
Leapers are (as unblockable) not able to create pins, but are often effective forking pieces. The check of a leaper cannot be parried by interposing.
All orthodox chessmen except the pawn are either leapers or riders, although the rook does 'hop' when it castles.
The 'level-3' leapers are the threeleaper, a (3,0)-leaper; the tripper, a (3,3)-leaper; the camel, a (1,3)-leaper; and the zebra, a (2,3)-leaper.
The giraffe is a level-4 leaper at (1,4).
Below, the Betza notation for these pieces is also given.
m n | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Threeleaper (H) |
Camel (L) |
Zebra (J) |
Tripper (G) |
2 | Dabbaba (D) |
Knight (N) |
Alfil (A) |
Zebra (J) |
1 | Wazir (W) |
Ferz (F) |
Knight (N) |
Camel (L) |
0 | Zero (O) |
Wazir (W) |
Dabbaba (D) |
Threeleaper (H) |
An amphibian is a combined leaper with a larger range on the board than any of its individual components. The simplest amphibian is the frog, a (1,1)-(0,3)-leaper (HF).
Riders
A rider is a piece that can move an unlimited distance in one direction, provided there are no pieces in the way.
There are three riders in orthodox chess: the rook can move an unlimited number of (1,0) cells and is therefore a (1,0)-rider; the bishop is a (1,1)-rider; the queen combines both patterns.
One of the most popular fairy chess riders is the nightrider, which can make an unlimited number of knight moves (that is, (1,2) cells) in any direction in a straight line (like other riders, it cannot change direction partway through its move).
Sliders are a noteworthy special case of riders which can only move between geometrically contiguous cells. All of the riders in orthodox chess are examples of sliders.
The names of riders are often obtained by taking the name of a leaper which moves a similar cell size and adding the suffix "rider". For example, the zebra is a (2,3)-leaper, and the zebrarider is a (2,3)-rider.
Riders can create both pins and skewers.
Hoppers
A hopper is a piece that moves by jumping over another piece (called a hurdle). The hurdle can usually be any piece of any color. Unless it can jump over a piece, a hopper cannot move. Note that hoppers generally capture by taking the piece on the destination square, not by taking the hurdle (as is the case in checkers). The exceptions are called locusts.
There are no hoppers in Western chess, although in xiangqi, the cannon captures as a hopper (when not capturing, it is a (1,0)-rider which cannot jump).
The most popular hopper in fairy chess is the grasshopper, which moves along the same lines as an orthodox queen, except that it must hop over some other piece and land on the square immediately beyond it.
Locusts
A locust is any piece which captures by hopping over its victim (as in checkers). It is sometimes considered a type of hopper.
Marine piece
A marine piece is a combination piece consisting of a rider (for ordinary moves) and a locust (for captures) in the same directions. Marine pieces have names alluding to the sea and its myths, e.g., nereide (marine bishop), triton (marine rook), mermaid (marine queen), or poseidon (marine king).
Games
Some classes of pieces come from a certain game; often these have a common set of characteristics.
Chinese pieces
Chinese pieces are pieces derived from those found in xiangqi, the Chinese form of chess. The most common Chinese pieces are the leo, pao and vao (each of which are derived from the Chinese cannon) and the mao (derived from the horse). Those derived from the cannon are distinguished by moving as a hopper when capturing, but otherwise moving as a rider. Less frequently encountered Chinese pieces include the moa, nao and rao.
Special attributes
Royal pieces
A royal piece is one which must not be allowed to be captured. If a royal piece is threatened with capture and cannot avoid capture next move, then the game is lost (this is a generalization of the concept of checkmate). In orthodox chess, each side has one royal piece, the king. In fairy chess any other orthodox piece or fairy piece may instead be designated royal, there may be more than one royal piece, or there may be no royal pieces at all (in which case the aim of the game must be something other than to deliver checkmate, such as capturing all of the opponent's pieces). With multiple royal pieces the game can be won by capturing one of them (absolute royalty), or capturing all of them (extinction royalty). The rules can also impose a limit to the number of royals that are allowed to be left under attack at once. The orthodox checking rule corresponds to putting this number at zero. But in Spartan chess you cannot leave both your royals attacked even though they cannot both be captured in one turn, and loss of only one of them would not lose the game.
Combined pieces
Name | Notes |
---|---|
Crowned piece | Any piece which, in addition to its normal powers, can move like a king. For example, the dragon king and dragon horse in shogi, which are the crowned rook and bishop respectively. |
Knighted piece | Any piece which, in addition to its normal powers, can move like a knight. For example, an amazon is a knighted queen. |
Notations
Parlett's movement notation
In his book The Oxford History of Board Games[3] David Parlett used a notation to describe fairy piece movements. The move is specified by an expression of the form m={expression}, where m stands for "move", and the expression is composed from the following elements:
- Distance (numbers, n)
- 1 – a distance of one (i.e. to adjacent square)
- 2 – a distance of two
- n – any distance in the given direction
- Direction (punctuation, X)
- * – orthogonally or diagonally (all eight possible directions)
- + – orthogonally (four possible directions)
- > – orthogonally forwards
- < – orthogonally backwards
- <> – orthogonally forwards and backwards
- = – orthogonally sideways (used here instead of Parlett's divide symbol.)
- >= – orthogonally forwards or sideways
- <= – orthogonally backwards or sideways
- X – diagonally (four possible directions)
- X> – diagonally forwards
- X< – diagonally backwards
- Grouping
- / – two orthogonal moves separated by a slash denote a hippogonal move (i.e. jumping like knights)
- & – repeated movement in the same direction, such as for hippogonal riders (i.e. the nightrider)
- . – then, (i.e. an aanca is 1+.nX)
Additions to Parlett's
The following can be added to Parlett's to make it more complete:
- Conditions under which the move may occur (lowercase alphanumeric, except n)
- (default) – May occur at any point in the game
- i – May only be made on the initial move (e.g. pawn's 2 moves forward)
- c – May only be made on a capture (e.g. pawn's diagonal capture)
- o – May not be used for a capture (e.g. pawn's forward move)
- Move type
- (default) – Captures by landing on the piece; blocked by intermediate pieces
- ~ – Leaper (leaps)
- ^ – Locust (captures by leaping; implies leaper)
- Grouping (punctuation)
- / – two orthogonal moves separated by a slash denote a hippogonal move (i.e. jumping like knights); this is in Parlett's, but is repeated here for completeness
- , (comma) – separates move options; only one of the comma-delimited options may be chosen per move
- () – grouping operator; see nightrider
- - – range operator
The format (not including grouping) is: <conditions> <move type> <distance> <direction> <other>
On this basis, the traditional chess moves (excluding castling and en passant capture) are:
- King: 1*
- Queen: n*
- Bishop: nX
- Rook: n+
- Pawn: o1>, c1X>, oi2>
- Knight: ~1/2
Ralph Betza's "funny notation"
m n | −3 | −2 | −1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | G | J | L | H | C | Z | G |
2 | J | A | N | D | N | A | J |
1 | L | N | F | W | F | N | L |
0 | H | D | W | • | W | D | H |
−1 | L | N | F | W | F | N | L |
−2 | J | A | N | D | N | A | J |
−3 | G | J | L | H | L | J | G |
Ralph Betza created a classification scheme for fairy chess pieces (including standard chess pieces) in terms of the moves of basic pieces with modifiers.[4]
Capital letters stand for basic leap movements, ranging from single-square orthogonal moves to 3×3 diagonal leaps: Wazir, Ferz, Dabbaba, KNight, Alfil, THreeleaper, Camel, Zebra, and G (3,3)-leaper. C and Z are equivalent to obsolete letters L (Long Knight) and J (Jump) which are no longer commonly used.
A leap is converted into a rider by doubling its letter. For example, WW describes a Rook, FF describes a Bishop, and NN describes a Nightrider. The second letter can instead be a number, which is a limitation on how many times the leap motion can be repeated; for example, W4 describes a Rook limited to 4 spaces of movement.
Combining multiple movement letters into a string means the piece can use any of the available options. For example, WF describes a King, capable of moving one space orthogonally or diagonally.
Standard chess pieces except Pawns (which are particularly complex) and Knights (which are a basic leap movement) have their own letters available as shorthand; K = WF, Q = WWFF, B = FF, R = WW.
Lowercase letters in front of the capital letters modify the component. Often used modifiers are: forward, backward, right, left, sideways, vertical, move only, capture only, z crooked (moving in a zigzag line like the Boyscout), grasshopper, jumping (i.e., it must jump, cannot move without a hurdle), non-jumping like the Chinese Elephant, o cylindrical (moving off one side of the board loops to the other), pao (travels through captured piece), then (for pieces that start moving in one direction and then continue in another, like the Gryphon and Aanca), and q circular movement (like the Rose).
In addition, Betza has also suggested adding brackets to his notation: q[WF]q[FW] would be a circular king, which can move from e4 to f5 (first the ferz move) then g5, h4, h3, g2, f2, e3, and back to e4, effectively passing a turn, and could also start from e4 to f4 (first the wazir move) then g5, g6, f7, e7, d6, d5, and back to e4.
Example: The standard chess pawn can be described in Ralph Betza's funny notation as mfWcfF (ignoring the initial double move).
There is no standard order of the components and modifiers. In fact, Betza often plays with the order to create somehow pronounceable piece names and artistic word play.
Addition to Betza's
Betza does not use the small letter i. It is used here for initial in the description of the different types of pawns. The letter a is used here to describe for again, indicating the piece can make the move on which it is prefixed multiple times, possibly with new modifiers mentioned behind the a. Directional specifications for such a continuation step should be interpreted relative to the first step (e.g. aW is a two-step orthogonal move that can change direction; afW is a two-step orthogonal move that must continue the same direction).
Notable examples
The following table shows game pieces of unorthodox chess, from fairy chess problems and chess variants (including historical and regional ones), and the six orthodox chessmen.
A – B – C – D – E – F – G – H – I – J – K – L – M – N – O – P – Q – R – S – T – U – V – W – X – Y – Z
Name | Parlett | Betza | Found in | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
A | ||||
Aanca | t[WB] | Moves one square like a rook followed by moving any number of spaces diagonally outwards (moving away from where it started). | ||
Aanca (Grant Acedrex) | Grant Acedrex (Alfonso X, 1283) | See "Gryphon" Spanish Gryphon or Elephant Bird | ||
Adjutant | 1<> | fbW | Dai shogi and other large shōgi variants | See "Go-Between" |
Adjutant (Tressan) | BN | The Emperor's Game (L. Tressan, 1840) | See "Princess" | |
Advisor | 1X | F | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) | Chinese Queen. Ferz that can't leave the palace (3×3 zone at the center of South and North sides). Originally 士 shì (Black Advisor) and 仕 shì (Red Advisor) in Chinese. Also known as Counsellor, Mandarin, Guard, Officer and, ambiguously, Minister. |
Alda | AD | Fairy Chess Problems | See "Alibaba" | |
Alfil | ~2X | A = (2,2) | Shatranj (Persian chess) | Persian Elephant. A (2,2)-leaper. Originally Fil in Persian. Compare to Elephant. Alternate notation: ~2/2 |
Alfilrider | n(~2X) (in same direction) | AA | Fairy Chess Problems | A rider which moves any number of (2,2) cells (i.e., alfil moves) in the same direction in a straight line. |
Alibaba | ~2* | AD | Fairy Chess Problems | Combines the powers of Alfil and Dabbaba |
Amazon | n*, ~1/2 | QN | Knightmare Chess | Combines the powers of the queen and the knight. Also called Superqueen. |
Andernach grasshopper | Andernach chess | A Grasshopper that changes the colour of the hurdle it leaps over. Also known as a Chopper. | ||
Antelope | ~3/4 | (3,4) | Fairy Chess Problems | Jumps three squares diagonally followed by one square orthogonally outwards. |
Anti-King | 1* | K | This piece is in check when not attacked. If a player's anti-king is in check and unable to move to a square attacked by the opponent, the player loses (checkmate). The anti-king cannot capture enemy men, but can capture friendly men. A king may not attack the opponent's anti-king. The anti-king may not check its own king. | |
Archbishop | nX, ~1/2 | BN | Capablanca chess (1920s) | See "Princess" |
Archbishop (Fox-Dawson) | nX (bounce one edge) | B (bounce one edge) | Fairy Chess Problems | Reflecting Bishop limited to a single bounce. |
Archchancellor | n+, ~1/2, 1X | RNF | Teutonic Knight's Chess (J. Knappen, 2009)[5] | Crowned Chancellor: Combination of Empress and Ferz. Originally Erzkanzler in German. |
Arrow pawn | o1+, c1X (Persson variant: o2+, c1X) | mWcF (Persson variant: mR2cF) | Arrow Pawn Chess | Moves one square orthogonally in any direction and captures diagonally in any direction. In the R. Persson 1938 variant it also moves two squares orthogonally (but cannot jump) and does not promote. |
Arrow Pawn | o1+, c1X | mWcF | Arrow Pawn Chess (?) | See "Fusilier" Moves one square orthogonally in any direction and captures diagonally in any direction. |
Arrow Pawn (Persson) | o2+, c1X | mR2cF | Arrow Pawn Chess (R. Persson, 1938) | Arrow pawn (Fusilier) that also moves two squares orthogonally (but cannot jump) and does not promote. |
Ashwa | Chaturanga (Indian chess) | See "Knight" Indian Horse | ||
Assassin | Stealth chess | |||
Auroch | ~1/2, ~1/4 | N(1,4) | Fairy Chess Problems | Combination of Knight and Giraffe |
B | ||||
B4nD | 1-4X, 2+ | B4nD | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | |
Backslider | 1< | bW | Moves one square orthogonally backward. | |
Backward Bishop | nX< | bB | Bishop restricted to backward movements. | |
Backward King | 1*< | bK | See "Deserter" King restricted to backward movements. | |
Backward Knight | (~1/2)< | bhN | Knight restricted to backward movements. | |
Backward Narrow Knight | (~1/2)< (narrow) | bbN | Narrow Knight restricted to backward movements. | |
Backward Queen | n*< | bQ | Combination of Backward Bishop and Backward Rook: Queen restricted to backward movements. | |
Backward Rook | n< | bR | Rook restricted to backward movements. | |
Backward Wide Knight | (~2/1)< (wide) | bsN | Wide Knight restricted to backward movements. | |
Baidaq | Shatranj (Persian chess) | See "Shatranj Pawn" Persian Pawn | ||
Balloon | Four Dimensional Chess | A bishop-like piece used in four-dimensional chess, i.e. it changes all coordinates simultaneously while moving. | ||
Banshee | nX, n(1/2) | BNN | Combination of Bishop and Nightrider. Also known as Unicorn. | |
Barc | ~2/1> (wide), ~1/2< (narrow) | fsNbbN | Wide/Narrow-Hunter: moves forward as a Wide Knight, and backward as a Narrow Knight | |
Basilisk | on* (Immo~1/2) | mQ (Immo-N) | Nova Chess | A piece that moves as a queen but immobilizes any piece within a knight's move of itself, that is, it prevents it from moving or taking. If it is a fairy piece with additional powers it may or may not perform these other tasks depending on the case in question. A Basilisk that is caught by another Basilisk in this fashion, for example, may continue to immobilize others, including the other Basilisk. |
Basilisk (Dragonchess) | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | Moves like Copper General, captures like Iron General; bound to lower board. 3D movement: It has the power to freeze any opposing piece on the cell directly above it (on the middle board) automatically until the Basilisk moves away or is captured. | ||
Bede | nX, ~2+ | BD | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Combination of Bishop and Dabbaba. |
Berolina Pawn | o1X>, c1>, io2X> | mfFcfWimfF2 | Berolina chess | Moves one square diagonally forward (except on its first move, when it may move two), but captures by moving one square straight forward. Compare with pawn. |
Berolina Plus Pawn | o1X>, c1>=, io2X> | mfFcsfWimfF2 | Berolina Plus chess | Berolina pawn which can also capture one step orthogonally to the side. |
Bion | pB | Fairy Chess Problems | Lion confined to Bishop lines. Also known as Bishlion and Bishop-lion-hopper. | |
Bishight | nX>, ~1/2< | fBbN | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Bishop/Knight-hunter: moves forward as a Bishop, and backward as a Knight. |
Bishop | nX | B = FF | Orthodox chess | Moves any number of free squares diagonally. Also known as Ferz-rider. |
Bishopper | ^nX | gB | Fairy Chess Problems | Grasshopper confined to Bishop lines. Also known as Bishop-hopper. |
Bison | ~1/3, ~2/3 | LJ | Fairy Chess Problems | Combination of Camel and Zebra. |
Blind Dog | 1<=, 1X> | sbWfF | Wa shogi and Taikyoku shogi variants | Combination of Flying Cock and Backslider. Also known as Yen. |
Blind Monkey | 1=, 1X | FsW | Dai dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Drunk and Ferz. Also known as Drunken Ferz and Diabolo. |
Blind Tiger | 1X, 1<= | FsbW | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Ferz and Drunken Backslider, or Drunk and Old Monkey. Moves one square in any adjacent direction except orthogonally forward. |
Boat | Chaturaji (4 player Indian chess, 11th century) | See "Alfil". (and, in India and Russia and southeast Asia the rook is sometimes called "boat".) | ||
Bodyguard | See "Hia" | |||
Boyscout | zB | Fairy Chess Problems | Moves like a bishop, but takes 90 degree turns after each step. Invented by J. de A. Almay in the first half of the 20th century. Rediscovered as Crooked Bishop by Ralph Betza. | |
Bucephale | (0,5)(3,4) | Fairy Chess Problems | See "Root-25-leaper" | |
Bug-Eyed Monster | Fairy Chess Problems | Can jump to any square which would not be reachable by any orthodox chess piece. Since the Amazon is the sum of all orthodox chess pieces, the Bug-Eyed Monster is the complement of the Amazon. | ||
Bull | J | Full Tamerlane Chess (al-Âmulî & Arabshâh, 14th–15th centuries)[6] | See "Zebra" | |
C | ||||
Cadet | Fairy Chess Problems | |||
Caliph | nX, ~1/3 | BL | Ecumenical Chess (Charles Gilman, 2003) | Combination of Bishop and Camel. |
Camel | ~1/3 | C = L = (1,3) | Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) Wildebeest Chess (R.W. Schmittberger, 1987) | Old historic piece. Jumps 2 squares orthogonally followed by one square diagonally outwards. |
Camelrider | n(1/3) (in same direction) | LL | Fairy Chess Problems | A rider which moves any number of (3,1) cells (i.e., camel moves) in the same direction in a straight line. |
Cannon | mRcpR | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) Shako (1990–1999) & Metamachy (Jean-Louis Cazaux, 2012) | See "Pao" (Chinese Cannon). Compare with "Korean Cannon" Originally 砲 pào (Black Catapult) and 炮 pào (Red Cannon) | |
Canvasser | n+, ~1/3 | RL | Ecumenical Chess (Charles Gilman, 2003) | Combination of Rook and Camel. |
Cao | mNcpN | Chinese | Moves like a knight when not capturing (that is, a (2,1) leaper), but captures by leaping over an intervening piece and taking the piece on the Cao's destination square (the captured piece can be any number of squares beyond the hurdle). | |
Capricorn | 2000 A.D. (chess variant) | Captures by charging (moving to a vacant square orthogonally or diagonally adjacent to) an enemy piece. | ||
Cardinal | BN | Grand Chess (1984) | See "Princess" | |
Carpenter | ~2+, ~1/2 | DN | Combination of Dabbaba and Knight. Also known as Doughnut. | |
Castle | NAD | Pacific Chess (Hawaii, 1971) Mideast Chess (California, 1971) | See "Squirrel". (And, "castle" is often used colloquially for "rook".) | |
Cavalier | t[WB]t[BW] | Mideast Chess (California, 1971) | Combination of Aanca and Gryphon | |
Centaur | ~1/2, 1* | NK | Fairy Chess Problems | Combination of Knight and Mann. Also known as Crowned Knight. |
Centaur (Carrera) | BN | Carrera's Chess (Pietro Carrera, 1617) | See "Princess" | |
Centurion | NAD | Archchess (Francesco Piacenza, 1683) Quintessential Chess (J. Knappen, 2002)[7] | See "Squirrel" | |
Champion | 1+, ~2* | WAD | Omega Chess | Combines the powers of the Wazir and the Alibaba. |
Champion (Carrera) | n+, ~1/2 | RN | Carrera's Chess (Pietro Carrera, 1617) | See "Empress" |
Chancellor | n+, ~1/2 | RN | Chancellor Chess (Ben Foster, 1887) Capablanca chess (1920) | See "Empress" |
Charging Knight | (~1/2)>, 1*< | fhNsbK | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Moves as a Forward Knight, or as a King backwards. Also known as forfnibakking (from Betza notation fhNrlbK) |
Charging Rook | n>=, 1*< | fsRsbK | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Moves as a Rook forwards and sideways, or as a King backwards. Also known as furlrurlbakking (from Betza notation frlRrlbK) |
Chariot | Chaturanga (Indian chess) | See "Rook" | ||
Chariot (Chinese) | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) | See "Rook" Originally 車 jū (Black Chariot) and 俥 jū (Red Chariot) in Chinese. | ||
Checker | cn(^2X>), o1X> | Checkers (Draughts) | Multiple captures in one turn, or without capturing can move forward one diagonal space, but cannot move backward. Promotes to Checker King after it has finished a turn on the far rank of the board. Also spelled Draughts Man. | |
Checker King | cn(^2X), o1X | Checkers (Draughts) | Promoted Checker that can move diagonally backward. Also spelled Draughts King. | |
Chevalier | Mideast Chess (California, 1971) | See "Camel" | ||
Chinese Pawn | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) | See "Soldier", or "Drunken Soldier" (after crossing the river, center line of the board), or Originally Zú (Black Private) and Bīng (Red Soldier) in Chinese. | ||
Chopper | See "Andernach grasshopper" | |||
Cleric | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | See "King" (on any board) 3D movement: Can move or capture to the cell directly above or below it. | ||
Climbing Monkey | Wa shogi and Taikyoku Shogi variants | See "Copper General" | ||
Cloud Eagle | n<>, 1*, 3X> | fbRKfB3 | Wa shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Flying Stag and a Forward Bishop limited to 3 squares |
Cocatriz | Grande Acedrex (Alfonso X, 1283) | See "Crocodile" ("Bishop") Spanish Cockatrice | ||
Colonel | n>, n=, 2/1>, 1* | KfsRfhN | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Combination of Charging Knight and Charging Rook: moves as forwards and sideways rook, the forwards moves of a knight, or a king. Also known as forfnifurlrurking (from Betza notation fhNfrlRK) |
Commoner | WF | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | See "Mann" | |
Commuter | ~4X | (4,4) | (G.P. Jelliss) | |
Concubine | RN | The Duke of Rutland's Chess (J. Manners, 1747) | See "Empress" | |
Congo Pawn | 1*>, o1< (past the river), o2< (past the river) | fWfF (fWfFmbR2 past the river) | Congo | Iron General that can also move (but not capture) one or two steps straight backward without jumping when past the river. It promotes to Congo Superpawn (on last rank). |
Congo Superpawn | 1*>=, o1<, o2<, o1X<, o2X< | sfWfFmbQ2 | Congo | Congo Pawn that can move and capture one step straight sideways, and move (but not capture) one or two steps straight or diagonally backward without jumping. |
Coordinator | Ultima | Captures any opposing piece that is on either of the two squares found at a) the intersection of its own file and the king's rank, and b) the intersection of the king's file and its own rank; these are found after the Coordinator has moved. | ||
Copper General | 1*>, 1< | fFfbW | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Iron General and Backslider: move one square in any direction forward or one square straight backward. Also known as Yale. |
Counsellor | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) (Murray, Davidson, Golombek and Lau) | See "Advisor" ("Ferz") Also spelled Councellor | ||
Courier | Courier Chess (12th century) | See "Bishop" | ||
Courtier | Mideast Chess (California, 1971) | See "Zebra" | ||
Crab | ~1/2> (narrow), ~2/1< (wide) | ffNbsN | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Narrow/Wide Knight-Hunter: moves forward as a Narrow Knight, and backward as a Wide Knight. |
Crocodile | Grande Acedrex (Alfonso X, 1283) | See "Bishop" Originally Cocatriz in ancient Spanish. | ||
Crocodile (Congo) | 1*, n> (before the river), n= (inside the river), n< (after the river) | Congo Chess (1982) | It's a Mann (anywhere), a file-restricted Rook towards the river (outside the river), or a rank-restricted Rook (inside the river) | |
Crocodile (Full Tamerlane) | Full Tamerlane Chess (al-Âmulî & Arabshâh, 14th–15th centuries)[6] | See "Wazir" Originally Luxm (Sea Monster) in Persian. | ||
Crooked Bishop | See "Boyscout" | |||
Crooked Queen | RzB | Combination of rook and crooked bishop. | ||
Crooked Rook | See "Girlscout" | |||
Crowned Bishop | BW = BK | See "Dragon Horse" | ||
Crowned Knight | NK | See "Centaur" | ||
Crowned Rook | RF = RK | The Duke of Rutland's Chess (J. Manners, 1747) | See "Dragon King" | |
Crown Princess | nX, ~1/2, 1+ | BNW | Teutonic Knight's Chess (J. Knappen, 2009)[5] | Combination of Princess and Wazir. Originally Kronprinzessin in German. |
D | ||||
Dabbaba | ~2+ | D = (0,2) | Chaturanga (Indian chess) (al-Adli, c. 840) Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | Old historic piece, also known as War machine or Machine. Alternate notation: ~0/2 |
Dabbabarider | n(~2+) (in same direction) | DD | Fairy Chess Problems | A rider which moves any number of (0,2) cells (i.e., dabbaba moves) in the same direction in a straight line. |
Dayrider | n(~2*) | AADD | Combination of Alfilrider and Dabbabarider. Also known as Alibabarider. | |
Decurion | Archchess (Francesco Piacenza, 1683) | See "Ferz" | ||
Deserter | 1<, 1X< | bK | Combination of Backslider and Sailor. Also known as Backward Pawn. | |
Dog | 1>, 1X< | fWbF | Tenjiku shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Soldier and Sailor: move one square directly forward, or diagonally backward. Also known as Marine or Wazir/Ferz-Hunter (moves forward as Wazir, and backward as a Ferz). |
Donkey | 1=, ~2<> | sWfbD | Maka dai dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Drunk and file-restricted Dabbaba. |
Dragon | o1>, c1X>, io2>, ~1/2 | NmfWcfFimfW2 | Fairy Chess Problems | Combination of Knight and Pawn. It does not promote upon reaching the eighth rank. |
Dragon (Dragonchess) | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | See "Dragon Horse" (bound to upper board) 3D movement: Can capture remotely (without leaving level) one cell below it or like a Wazir pattern (to middle board). | ||
Dragon Horse | nX, 1+ | BW | Shōgi (Japanese chess) Quintessential Chess (J. Knappen, 2002)[7] | Combination of Bishop and Wazir. Also known as Crowned Bishop. |
Dragon King | n+, 1X | RF | Shōgi (Japanese chess) | Combination of Rook and Ferz. Also known as Crowned Rook. |
Drunk | 1= | sW | Moves one square orthogonally sideways. | |
Drunk Elephant | 1X, 1>= | FsfW | Sho shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Drunk and Silver General (Burmese Elephant): moves one square in any adjacent direction except orthogonally backward. |
Drunken Backslider | 1=, 1< | sbW | Combination of Drunk and Backslider. | |
Drunken Deserter | 1<=, 1X< | bsK | Combination of Drunken and Deserter. | |
Drunken Gorilla | 1+, 1X< | WbF | Combination of Wazir and Sailor, or Drunk and Gorilla. Also known as Drunken Guerrilla. | |
Drunken Marine | 1>=, 1X< | sfWbF | Combination of Drunk and Marine (Dog). | |
Drunken Sailor | 1=, 1X< | sWbF | Combination of Drunk and Sailor. | |
Drunken Soldier | 1>= | sfW | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) | Combination of Soldier and Drunk |
Dummy | A piece with no moves at all. It may be captured, gain temporarily moving ability by relay, or pushed or pulled around by other pieces if there are pushing or pulling pieces on the board. Different from Zero. | |||
Dwarf | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | Moves like Drunken Soldier, captures like Stone General: pawn without initial move that can move without capture one cell laterally. 3D movement: Can capture to the cell directly above it (to middle board) and return without capturing (to lower board). | ||
E | ||||
Eagle | nX>, n<, 1*, 2X< | fBbRWbB2 | Tori shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Bishop/Rook-Hunter (Falcon), King (or Japanese Falcon, or Wazir), and a Backward Bishop restricted to 2 squares |
Eagle (Cazaux) | Metamachy (Jean-Louis Cazaux, 2012) | See "Gryphon" | ||
Edgehog | n* (edges) | Q (edges) | Edgehog Chess I (John Driver, 1966) & III (P. Aronson, 2001)[8] | A queen that can move only to or from the edge of the board (in an orthodox one: a-file, h-file, rank 1 or rank 8). Represented in diagrams by a queen rotated 90° counterclockwise |
Edgehog (Limited) | n* (edges from non-edges, non-edges from edges) | Q (edges from non-edges, non-edges from edges) | Edgehog Chess II (John Driver, 1966) & III (P. Aronson, 2001)[8] | Edgehog on non-edge positions (in an orthodox chess: b-file to g-file or rank 2–7), Queen on edge positions: when it moves from an edge, it may not move to an edge. |
Elegant Queen | 1* | K | Chess 2: The Sequel | See "Mann" |
Elemental | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | Moves like non-leaping King+Dabbaba, captures like non-leaping Wazir+Dabbaba; on lower board. 3D movement: Can move or capture on any non-leaping Wazir pattern above (to middle board) or below (to lower board). | ||
Elephant | 2X | nA | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) | Chinese Alfil. A (2,2)-leaper, but it cannot jump over an intervening piece. In Chinese chess, the Elephant is restricted to its half of the board. Originally 象 xiàng (Black Elephant) and 相 xiàng (Red Minister) in Chinese |
Elephant (Burmese) | Sittuyin (Burmese chess) | See "Sin" ("Khohn") | ||
Elephant (chess 2) | o3+, c(1+&1+&1+)(same direction) (can attack friendly pieces) enemyattackdistance:<3 | mR3mcafmcafW (can attack friendly pieces) | Chess 2: The Sequel | Moves up to 3 spaces orthogonally. Attacking is always 3 spaces and captures all pieces along the way, including friendly pieces. A piece can only capture an Elephant if it began its move within 2 spaces (including diagonally) of the Elephant. |
Elephant (Congo) | Congo Chess (1982) | See "Wazir Dabbaba" | ||
Elephant (Indian) | Chaturanga (Indian chess) (Biruni, c. 1030) | See "Khon" | ||
Elephant (Korean) | 2/3 | nJ | Janggi (Korean chess) | Non-leaping Zebra. |
Elephant (Modern) | 1X, ~2X | FA | Shako (1990–1999) & Metamachy (Jean-Louis Cazaux, 2012) | Combination of Ferz and Alfil (Persian Elephant). |
Elephant (Persian) | Shatranj (Persian chess) | See "Alfil" | ||
Elephant (Wilpert) | QNN | Wolf Chess (A. von Wilpert, 1943)[9] | See "Queen of the Night" Originally Elefant(en) in German. | |
Elephant (Wilpert-Pritchard) | QN | Wolf Chess (A. von Wilpert, 1943; D.B. Pritchard, 1994)[10] | See "Amazon" | |
Empowered Bishop | nX, ~1/2 (when next to Empowered Knight), n+ (when next to Empowered Rook), | B/BN/BR/BNR | Chess 2: The Sequel | Bishop which gains the movement of a Knight and/or Rook while orthogonally adjacent to an Empowered Knight and/or Empowered Rook, respectively. |
Empowered Knight | ~1/2, n+ (when next to empowered rook), nX (when next to empowered bishop) | N/BN/NR/BNR | Chess 2: The Sequel | Knight which gains the movement of a Bishop and/or Rook while orthogonally adjacent to an Empowered Bishop and/or Empowered Rook, respectively. |
Empowered Rook | n+, ~1/2 (when next to empowered knight), nX (when next to empowered bishop) | R/BR/NR/BNR | Chess 2: The Sequel | Rook which gains the movement of a Bishop and/or Knight while orthogonally adjacent to an Empowered Bishop and/or Empowered Knight, respectively. |
Empress | n+, ~1/2 | RN | Fairy Chess Problems Tutti-Frutti Chess (Ralph Betza & Philip M. Cohen, 1978) | Combines the powers of the rook and knight. Also called Chancellor or Marshal. |
Evil Wolf | 1>=, 1X> | sfK | Dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Drunken Soldier and Stone General. Also known as Pikeman and Drunken Pawn. |
Extended Hopper | Fairy Chess Problems | |||
Extended Bishop-hopper | pB | Fairy Chess Problems | See "Bion" | |
Extended Queen-hopper | pQ | Fairy Chess Problems | See "Lion" | |
Extended Rook-hopper | pR | Fairy Chess Problems | See "Rion" | |
F | ||||
FAD | 1X, ~2* | FAD | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Combines the powers of the Ferz and the Alibaba. |
Falafel | ~1-2X = 1X, ~2X | FA | (R. Betza) | See "Elephant (Modern)"' |
Falcon | nX>, n< | fBbR | Falcon-Hunter Chess | Moves forward as a bishop (on diagonals), and backward as a rook (along a file). Also known as Bishop/Rook-Hunter, and Free tile in Maka dai dai shogi and Tai shogi. |
Falcon (Japanese) | Tori shogi | See "Drunk Elephant" | ||
Faras | Shatranj (Persian chess) Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | See "Knight" Persian Horse | ||
Ferfil | ~1-2X = 1X, ~2X | FA | (G.P. Jelliss) | See "Elephant (Modern)" |
Ferocious Leopard | 1X, 1<> | FfbW | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Ferz and Go-Between, or Silver General and Backslider: moves one square in any adjacent direction except orthogonally sideways. Also known as Crane (Tori shogi) and Horrible Panther. |
Ferz | 1X | F = (1,1) | Shatranj (Persian chess) Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | Persian Queen or Minister. Combination of Stone General and Sailor: moves one square diagonally in any direction. It's spelled Fers by problemists, but Ferz in chess variants. Also known as Cat Sword (Dai shogi). |
Ferz Alfil | 1X, ~2X | FA | See "Modern Elephant" | |
Ferz Dabbaba | 1X, ~2+ | FD | See "Kirin" | |
Ferz Knight | 1X, ~1/2 | FN | Combination of Ferz and Knight | |
Ferz/Wazir-Hunter | 1X>, 1< | fFbW | Combination of Stone General and Backslider (moves forward as Ferz, and backward as a Wazir). | |
Fibnif | ~1/2 (narrow), 1X | fbNF | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Combination of Narrow Knight and Ferz |
Fish | Out-Khmer (Hills' Cambodian chess) | See "Soldier" It promotes to King after crossing the river (center line of the board). | ||
Fiveleaper | ~5+, ~3/4 | Leaper making moves of length 5 units | ||
Flamingo | ~1/6 | Fairy Chess Problems | Jumps 5 squares orthogonally followed by one square diagonally outwards. | |
Flying Cock | 1=, 1X> | sWfF | Wa shogi and Taikyoku shogi | Combination of Drunk and Stone General. Also known as Sidewinder. |
Flying Dragon | Dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | See "Chinese Elephant" | ||
Flying Falcon | nX, 1> | BfW | Wa shogi and Taikyoku shogi | Bishop that can step one square forward. |
Flying Goose | Wa shogi and Taikyoku shogi | See "Copper General" | ||
Flying Horse | 1+, 2X> | WnfA | Dai dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Wazir and Wood General. |
Flying Ox | nX, n<> | fbRB | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Bishop and Reverse Chariot |
Flying Stag | n<>, 1* | fbRK | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Reverse Chariot and Mann |
Fool | Courier Chess (12th century) | See "Schleich" ("Wazir") | ||
Forequeen | n*>=, ~1/2<, 1*< | fsQbhNbK | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Moves as Queen forward or sideways, or as King or Knight backwards. |
Forfer | 1X, 1-4+ | FR4 | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Combination of Ferz and Short Rook; or Dragon King (Ferz+Rook) limited up to 4 squares. |
Fortress | 1X, ~2+ | FD | Pacific Chess (Hawaii, 1971) | See "Kirin" |
Forward Bishop | nX> | fB | Checkers chess (Hans Multhopp, 1974) | Bishop restricted to forward movements. |
Forward King | 1*> | fK | Checkers chess (Hans Multhopp, 1974) | See "Iron General" King restricted to forward movements. |
Forward Knight | (~1/2)> | fhN | Checkers chess (Hans Multhopp, 1974) | Knight restricted to forward movements. |
Forward Narrow Knight | (~1/2)> (narrow) | ffN | See "Japanese Knight" Narrow Knight restricted to forward movements. | |
Forward Queen | n*> | fQ | Checkers chess (Hans Multhopp, 1974) | Combination of Forward Bishop and Forward Rook: Queen restricted to forward movements. |
Forward Rook | n> | fR | Checkers chess (Hans Multhopp, 1974) | See "Lance" Rook restricted to forward movements. |
Forward Wide Knight | (~2/1)> (wide) | fsN | Wide Knight restricted to forward movements. | |
Fox | BN | Wolf Chess (A. von Wilpert, 1943)[9] | See "Princess" Originally Fuchs in German | |
Fox (Fox&Geese) | Fox and Geese | See "Ferz". Also "King" Can capture by jumping like a Checker. Some variations prevent the Fox from moving but not capturing diagonally. | ||
Free Bear | nX, n= ~2X> | sRBfA | Dai dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Free Boar and forward-restricted Alfil. |
Free Boar | nX, n= | sRB | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Bishop and Rook restricted to sideways directions. |
Friend | Fairy Chess Problems | Dummy piece. Move like any friendly piece that is guarding it. Compare with Orphan. | ||
Frog | 1X, ~3+ | FH | Combination of Ferz and Threeleaper | |
Fury | 2000 A.D. (chess variant) | |||
Fusilier | o1+, c1X | mWcF | Centennial Chess | Moves and captures like a pawn in all four directions. Invented by F. Marinelli in 1770. Also known as Steward or Quadrapawn. |
G | ||||
Gaja | Chaturanga (Indian chess) | See "Alfil". Also "Indian Elephant" ("Khon"), or "Dabbaba" Indian Elephant. Also known as Hasty | ||
General | 1+, "Flying General": cn> (against enemy General) | kW, "Flying General": cfR (against enemy General) | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) | Chinese King. Royal Wazir that can't leave the palace (3×3 zone at the center of South and North sides), except for executing the Flying General move: a capturing Forward Rook against the enemy General that it's used to enforce checkmate. Originally 將 jiàng (Black General) and 帥 shuài (Red Governor) in Chinese. |
Ghost | o~m/n | — | Chess 2: The Sequel | Teleports to any open square. They cannot capture pieces, but they also cannot be captured. |
Giraffe | ~1/4 | L | Grant Acedrex (Alfonso X, 1283) (H.J.R. Murray, 1913) | Old historic piece. Originally Zaraffa in ancient Spanish. Compare with Zurafa. |
Giraffe (Congo) | ~2*, o1* | ADmK | Congo Chess (1982) | Alibaba that moves but does not capture as a King. Compare with Pasha |
Giraffe (Tamerlane) | ~1/4 | (1,4) | Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | Old historic piece. Jumps one square diagonally followed by three squares orthogonally, after which it can continue to slide orthogonally. |
Girlscout | zR | Moves like a rook, but takes 90 degree turns after each step. Compare with Boyscout. | ||
Gliding Swallow | Wa shogi and Taikyoku shogi | See "Rook" | ||
Gnu | ~1/2, ~1/3 | NL | Fairy Chess Problems | Combination of knight and camel. |
Go-Between | 1<> | fbW | Dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Soldier and Backslider: moves one square forward or backward. Also known as Adjutant. |
Golden Bird | fbRlrW2F3 | large Shōgi variants | In Taikyoku shogi it slides and jummps the first 3 squares along the forward diagonals. | |
Golden Bird (Wa) | Wa shogi | See "Golden General" | ||
Gold General | 1+, 1X> | WfF | Shōgi (Japanese chess) | Combination of Wazir and Stone General: moves one square in all four orthogonal directions, or one square diagonally forward. |
Goose | Fox and Geese | See "Stone General". Also "Evil Wolf" The Geese are restricted to being able to move directly forwards, diagonally forwards or sideways only, but limitations on the movements can also be varied. | ||
Goose (Japanese) | ~2X>, ~2< | fAbD | Tori shogi | Alfil/Dabbaba-Hunter (moves forward as Alfil, and backward as Dabbaba). |
Gorgon | 2000 A.D. (chess variant) | Paralysing queen. | ||
Governor | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) | See "General" Chinese General (Red) | ||
Grasshopper | ^n* | gQ | Fairy Chess Problems | A hopper which moves along the same lines as a queen and lands on the square immediately beyond that of the hurdle. One of the most popular fairy pieces. In diagrams, the Grasshopper is usually represented by an inverted queen. Also known as Queen-hopper. |
Graz Pawn | 1*>, io2*> | fWfFifmW2ifmF2 | Fairy Chess Problems | Combines the powers of the Berolina pawn and the standard pawn. It occurs (without the initial double move) as Iron General in large shogi variants from the 15th century, e.g., in Tenjiku shogi. Compare with Sergeant. |
Griffin (Dragonchess) | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | See "Zebra" (on upper board) 3D movement: Can move or capture one jump triagonally (Ferz pattern) below (to middle board) or above (to upper board). | ||
Gryphon | t[FR] | Grande Acedrex (Alfonso X, 1283) | Originally Aanca in ancient Spanish. Moves one square diagonally followed by moving any number of spaces like a rook outwards (moving away from where it started). Also known as Elephant Bird | |
Guard | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) (John Gollon) | See "Advisor" ("Ferz") | ||
Guard (Pacific) | Pacific Chess (Hawaii, 1971) | See "Mann" | ||
Guerrilla | 1<>, 1X< | fWbK | Combination of Marine (Dog) and Backslider. Also known as Gorilla. | |
H | ||||
Half-Duck | 1X, ~2+, ~3+ | HFD | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Combination of Kirin and Threeleaper. |
Heavenly Horse | ffbbN | Wa shogi | See "Narrow Knight". Occurs in Taikyoku shogi with a different move. | |
Hero (Dragonchess) | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | See "Modern Elephant" (on middle board) 3D movement: Can move or capture one jump triagonally (Ferz pattern) below (to middle or lower board) or above (to upper or middle board). | ||
Hia | 2* (hia power) | Q2 (hia power) | Hiashatar (Mongolian decimal chess) | Mongolian Bodyguard. Moves like a Queen, but can only move one or two squares. It has a special power: any piece sliding must stop its move if it moves through any square a king's move away from the bodyguard. Any piece a king's move away from the bodyguard can only move one square. Only knight-like pieces are immune to this power. |
Hiashatar Pawn | o1>, c1X>, io3> | mfWcfFimfW3 | Hiashatar (Mongolian decimal chess) | Mongolian Pawn. Orthodox Pawn with a triple step on first move. |
Horned Falcon | nX, n<=, 1> (Japanese Lion move), ~2+> (Japanese Lion move) | BsbRfWfD or BrlbRdhfWfD | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Move as a Bishop, as a Rook (except forward), or as a Lion up to 2 squares orthogonally forward. |
Horse | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) | See "Mao" Originally 馬 mǎ (Black Horse) and 傌 mà (Red Horse) in Chinese. | ||
Horse (Indian) | Chaturanga (Indian chess) | See "Knight" | ||
Howling Dog | n>, 1< | fRbW | Dai dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Lance and Backslider. |
Hunter | n>, nX< | fRbB | Falcon-Hunter Chess | Moves forward as a rook (along a file), and backward as a bishop (on diagonals). Also known as Rook/Bishop-Hunter, and Multi General in Tenjiku shogi and Taikyoku shogi. Compare with Superpawn. |
Hydra | Fairy Chess Problems | |||
I | ||||
Ibis | ~1/5 | (1,5) | Fairy Chess Problems | Jumps 4 squares orthogonally followed by one square diagonally outwards. |
Imitator | Ultima | Also known as Chameleon | ||
Immobilizer | on* (Immo1*) | mQ (Immo-K) | Ultima | The Immobilizer, invented by Robert Abbott, moves as a chess queen. At the end of its move, any enemy piece that is on a square adjacent to the Immobilizer is frozen in place, and can not move away until the Immobilizer moves away or is captured. The Immobilizer can never move to an occupied square and can not capture pieces. If two Immobilizers move next to each other, they are both frozen until the end of the game or until one is captured. An immobilized piece may commit suicide, e.g., to open a line of attack. This action counts as a move. Also known as Freezer |
Impala | ~1/2, ~3/4 | N(3,4) | Fairy Chess Problems | Combination of Knight and Antelope |
Iron General | 1*> | fWfF | Dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Move one square in any direction forward. Compare with Graz Pawn. |
Jamal | Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | See "Camel" Persian Camel | ||
Janus | BN | Janus chess (Werner Schöndorf, 1978) Quintessential Chess (J. Knappen, 2002)[7] | See "Princess" | |
J | ||||
Japanese Pawn | Shōgi (Japanese chess) | See "Soldier" It promotes to Tokin (Gold General) | ||
Jetan Pawn | Jetan (Burroughs' Martian chess) | See "Evil Wolf", or "Drunken Elephant". Compare with "Martian Pawn" ("Ferz") | ||
Jeweled General | Shōgi (Japanese chess) | See "King" | ||
Joker | Fairy Chess Problems | Dummy piece. Move like the last piece moved by the opponent. Also known as Jester. | ||
Jungle Queen | n+, ~1/2 | RN | Chess 2: The Sequel | See "Empress" |
K | ||||
Kangaroo | ~1/2, ~2X | NA | Combination of Knight and Alfil | |
Khohn | 1X, 1> | FfW | Makruk (Thai chess) | Thai Nobleman. Combination of Ferz and Soldier: move one square in any direction diagonally or one square straight forward. It has the same moves as the Silver General in shogi, Burmese Elephant in sittuyin and Indian Elephant in chaturanga (Biruni, c. 1030) |
King | 1* | K = WF | Orthodox chess | Combination of Wazir and Ferz: move one square in any direction. Royal in orthodox chess. A non-royal piece which moves in this way is sometimes called a Commoner or Mann (German Man). |
King (Dragonchess) | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | See "King" (on middle board) 3D movement: Can move or capture to the cell directly above or below it. | ||
Kirin | 1X, ~2+ | FD | Dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Ferz and Dabbaba |
Knight | ~1/2 | N = (1,2) | Orthodox chess | It jumps one square orthogonally followed by another square diagonally. |
Knight (Japanese) | ffN | Shōgi (Japanese chess) | Narrow Knight restricted to forward movements. | |
Knishop | ~1/2>, nX< | fNbB | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Knight/Bishop-hunter: moves forward as a Knight, and backward as a Bishop. |
Korean Cannon | pR | Janggi (Korean chess) | Moves and captures along orthogonal lines by jumping exactly one piece, called the hurdle. There can be any number of free squares before and after the hurdle. Unlike the Pao it moves the same way for capturing and non-capturing moves. In chess problems it is sometimes called Rook-line-hopper, Rook Lion or Rion. | |
Korean Pawn | Janggi (Korean chess) | See "Drunken Soldier" | ||
Kraken | ~m/n | UO = (m,n)(0,0) | Leap to any square on the board, including the one it is currently on (leaping to the current square has the effect of passing a move). Compare with Universal leaper. | |
L | ||||
Lance | n> | fR | Shōgi (Japanese chess) | Moves any number of squares directly forward. |
Lancer | ~2/4 | (2,4) | Fairy Chess Problems | |
Leeloo | Quintessential Chess (J. Knappen, 2002)[7] | Combines the powers of Quintessence and rook | ||
Left General | 1X, 1<>, 1= (only right) | FfbrW | Dai dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Asymmetrical combination of Ferocious Leopard and right Wazir. |
Left-handed Pinwheel | (~1/2)> (narrow & left), (~2/1)> (wide & left), (~1/2)< (narrow & right), (~1/2)< (wide & right) | l[ffN], l[fhN], r[bbN], r[bhN] | Knight restricted to counterclockwise movements. | |
Left Quail | n>, nX< (right diagonal), 1X | fRbrBblF | Tori shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Lance, Ferz and a Backward Bishop restricted to right side. |
Leo | on*, c^& | mQcpQ | Akenhead's Chess (1947) | Combines the powers of the Pao and Vao; it moves like a queen when not capturing (that is, a (1,0) or (1,1) rider), but captures by leaping over an intervening piece and taking the piece on the Leo's destination square (the captured piece can be any number of squares beyond the hurdle). |
Leon | ~1/3, ~3+ | LH | Grande Acedrex (Alfonso X, 1283) | Spanish Lion. Combination of Camel and Threeleaper |
Lias' Pawn | o1>, o1=, c1X>, io2> | mfsWcfFimfW2 | Lias' proposal | An extended pawn which can also step one square sidewards. Proposed in the 1920s by A. G. Lias to improve standard chess |
Liberated Horse | n>, 2< | fRbR2 | Wa shogi | Moves forward as a Rook (Lance), or one or two squares orthogonally backward. In Taikyoku shogi if also steps diagonally forward. |
Lion | pQ | Fairy Chess Problems | A hopper which moves along the same lines as a queen and which can land on a square any distance beyond the hurdle. Also known as queen-line-hopper. | |
Lion (Cazaux) | 1*, ~2*, ~(1/2) | KNAD | Metamachy (Jean-Louis Cazaux, 2012) | Simplified Japanese Lion (same range but no special powers) |
Lion (Congo) | 1*, c(n*) (against enemy Congo Lion) | Congo Chess (1982) | King that may not leave its 3×3 castle except to capture another Lion on the same vertical or diagonal line. | |
Lion (Full Tamerlane Chess) | Full Tamerlane Chess (al-Âmulî & Arabshâh, 14th–15th centuries)[6] | See "Threeleaper" | ||
Lion (Japanese) | 1* (Japanese Lion move), ~2* (Japanese Lion move), ~(1/2) (Japanese Lion move) | KNADcaKmabK | Dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Move 2 steps or jumps per turn in any adjacent direction. It can capture up to two pieces per turn, capture an adjacent piece without moving (stationary feeding), or move and return (effectively passing a turn). |
Lion (Grande Acedrex) | HL | Grande acedrex | See "Leon" | |
Lion Dog | 3* | Q3 | Dai dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | A Queen that can not move more than three squares. Can jump and locust-capture in Japanese rule interpretation. |
Locust | c(^n*) | cgQ | Edgehog Chess II (John Driver, 1966)[8] | A Grasshopper that can not move without capturing (can't jump over a friendly piece). Compare with Checker King. |
Long-leaper | Ultima | |||
M | ||||
Mage | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | See "Queen" (on middle board), or "Wazir" (on upper or lower boards) 3D movement: Can move or capture one or two cells above or below it (but can't leap between upper and lower boards, and vice versa). | ||
Maharaja | n*, ~1/2 | QN | Maharajah and the Sepoys | A royal Amazon, the only piece for white. |
Mandarin | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) (John Gollon) | See "Advisor" ("Ferz") | ||
Mann | 1* | WF | Courier Chess (12th century) | See "King" German Man or Commoner: non-royal King. |
Mantri | Chaturanga (Indian chess) | See "Ferz" Indian Queen or Minister | ||
Mao | 1/2 | nN | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) | Chinese Horse. Moves like a knight except that it does not leap. It steps one square orthogonally in any direction, then continues one square diagonally in the same general direction. The square stepped to orthogonally must be vacant. For example, with mao on b2 and pawn on b3, the mao is blocked from moving to a4 or c4; if the pawn were on c3, the mao could reach both squares. Found in Akenhead's Chess (1947). |
Marine | See "Dog" | |||
Marshall | RN | The Sultan's Game (L. Tressan, 1840) | See "Empress" Also spelled Marshal. | |
Martian Pawn | Martian chess | See "Ferz". Compare with "Jetan Pawn" | ||
Mehari | LL | See "Camelrider" | ||
Mimotaur | 2000 A.D. (chess variant) | |||
Minister | Chaturanga (Indian chess) Shatranj (Persian chess) Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | See "Ferz" Also known as Counsellor | ||
Minister (Chinese) | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) | See "Elephant". Also "Advisor" Chinese Elephant (Red) | ||
Moa | Chinese | As the Mao, but the first step is diagonal and the second orthogonal, not the other way round. | ||
Monkey (Congo) | o1*, cn(^2*) | Congo Chess (1982) | Checker King allowed to play orthogonally too. | |
Moo | Combination of Mao and Moa. | |||
Murray Lion | ~2*, c1* | ADcK | Can move and capture as an Alfil or Dabbaba, and capture only as a king. This piece stems from a misinterpretation of the Lion of chu shogi but has become popular in fairy chess problems and chess variants. It is named after the chess historian H. J. R. Murray who brought it up. | |
N | ||||
N2R4 | 2(~1/2), 1-4+ | N2R4 | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | |
Nao | mNNcpNN | Chinese | A Chinese Nightrider moves as a normal Nightrider (that is, a (2,1) rider) when not capturing, but which captures by leaping over an intervening piece and taking the piece on the Nao's destination square (the captured piece can be any number of knight moves beyond the hurdle). | |
Narrow Knight | ~1/2 (narrow) | ffbbN | Knight restricted to most forward and most backward movements. Compare with Wide Knight. | |
Nemesis | n* | Q | Chess 2: The Sequel | Queen that can only capture or be captured by an enemy King. |
Nemesis Pawn | o1>,o1(towards King),cX> | fmW*mKfcF | Chess 2: The Sequel | Pawn which can't move 2 spaces as its first action. It can also move (but not capture) as a King, but only towards the enemy King. More specifically, this "Nemesis move" can't move the pawn away from the enemy King horizontally or vertically.
The * in this piece's Betza Notation represents the qualifier "towards the enemy King." |
Nightrider | n(1/2) (in same direction) | NN | Fairy Chess Problems (T.R. Dawson) Wolf Chess (A. von Wilpert, 1943)[9] Edgehog Chess II (John Driver, 1966) & III (P. Aronson)[8] Cavalier Chess (Fergus Duniho, 1998) | A rider which moves any number of (2,1) cells (i.e., knight moves) in the same direction in a straight line. A Nightrider on b2 on an empty board, therefore, can move to a4, c4, d6, e8, d3, f4, h5 and d1. A pawn of the opposing colour on d6 could be captured, but the Nightrider could not move any further in that direction (i.e., it couldn't move on to e8). In diagrams, the Nightrider is usually represented by an inverted knight. One of the most popular fairy pieces. (See diagram below.) |
Nightrider-hopper | Fairy Chess Problems | Move to next square beyond any piece in lines of knight moves. Also known as Knight-line-hopper | ||
Nobleman | Makruk (Thai chess) | See "Kohn" | ||
Nobleman (Pacific) | Pacific Chess (Hawaii, 1971) | See "Queen" | ||
O | ||||
Odysseus | Fairy Chess Problems | The Odysseus' move depends on the file where it is located: It moves as a rook on files a and h, as a knight on files b and g, as a bishop on files c and f, as a queen on file d and as a king on file e. Also known as Querquisite. | ||
Officer | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) (John Gollon) | See "Advisor" ("Ferz") | ||
Okapi | ~1/2, ~2/3 | NJ | Fairy Chess Problems | Combination of Knight and Zebra. |
Old Monkey | 1X, 1< | FbW | Maka dai dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Fers and Backslider. Also known as Inverted Silver and Backward Elephant |
Oliphant | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | See "Rook" (bound to middle board) No 3D movement | ||
Orphan | Fairy Chess Problems | Dummy piece. Move like any enemy piece that is attacking it. Compare with Friend. | ||
overtaker | c(^"piece") | cg"piece" | A piece that captures by leaping over an enemy piece like a Checker: Checker, Checker King, Grasshopper, Locust. | |
Oxcart | Wa shogi and Taikyoku shogi | See "Lance" | ||
P | ||||
Padah | Chaturanga (Indian chess) | See "Shatranj Pawn" Indian Pawn or Indian Soldier. Also known as Sainik (Warrior) | ||
Paladin | Cavalier Chess (Fergus Duniho, 1998) | See "Princess" | ||
Paladin (Dragonchess) | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | See "Centaur" (on middle board) or "King" (on upper or lower boards) 3D movement: Can move or capture by making a 3D knight-like jump between boards. | ||
Pancake | pNNK | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Combination of man and cannon-style nightrider | |
Pao | mRcpR | Xiangqi (Chinese chess) | Chinese Cannon. Moves like a rook when not capturing (that is, a (1,0) rider), but captures by leaping over an intervening piece and taking the piece on the Pao's destination square (the captured piece can be any number of squares beyond the hurdle). Found in Akenhead's Chess (1947). Compare with Korean Cannon. | |
Pasha | 1*, ~2* | KAD | Paulovits's Game (1890) | Combination of King and Alibaba. Also known as Mastodon. |
Pawn | o1>, c1X>, io2> | mfWcfFimfW2 | Orthodox chess | Moves one square straight forward (except on its first move, when it may move two squares), but captures one square forward diagonally. It's the same pawn from Chadarangam (Telugu chess). Compare with Berolina pawn. |
Pawn of "piece(s)" | Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) Full Tamerlane Chess (al-Âmulî & Arabshâh, 14th–15th centuries)[6] | A Pawn that promotes to piece. Examples: Pawn of Pawns, Pawn of Dabbabas, Pawn of Camels, Pawn of Elephants, Pawn of Minister (Ferz), Pawn of Shah (King), Pawn of Vizir (Wazir) or Pawn of Sea Monster (Luxm), Pawn of Giraffes, Pawn of Vanguards (Bishops), Pawn of Horses (Knights), Pawn of Lions, Pawn of Rukhs (Rooks) | ||
Pawn of King | Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | A Pawn that promotes to Prince. Also known as Pawn of Shah | ||
Pawn of Pawns | Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | A Pawn that promotes to Pawn of King. | ||
Pentere | Quinquereme Chess | Combines the powers of queen and Quintessence. | ||
Pheasant | ~2>, 1X< | fDbF | Tori shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Dabbaba/Ferz-Hunter (moves forward as Dabbaba, and backward as Ferz). |
Phoenix | 1+, ~2X | WA | Dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Wazir and Alfil. Also known as Waffle. |
Phoenix (Bird Chess) | Tori shogi (Japanese Bird Chess) (1799) | See "King" | ||
Pil | Shatranj (Persian chess) | See "Alfil" Persian Elephant | ||
Pincer | Ultima | Also known as Squeezer | ||
Prince | Tamerlane chess | A capturable King, promoted from a Pawn of King. Originally Shâhzâda in Persian. Also known as Adventice King (Shâh masnû‘a) when promoting from Pawn of Pawns originally. | ||
Princess | nX, ~1/2 | BN | Fairy Chess Problems Tutti-Frutti Chess (Ralph Betza & Philip M. Cohen, 1978) | Combines the powers of bishop and knight. Also called an Archbishop, Cardinal, Janus or Paladin. |
Pterodactyl | ~3/3, ~5/5, ~0/15 | (G.P. Jelliss) | Chess mathematics | The simplest triple range amphibian. George Jelliss demonstrated a pterodactyl's knight's tour on a 16×16 board in 1985[11] |
Q | ||||
Quang Trung Rook | Quang Trung Chess | Moves as rook but when capturing must move on square away from captured piece in the same direction. | ||
Queen | n* | Q = RB | Orthodox chess | Combines the powers of the bishop and rook. |
Queen of the Night | n*, n(1/2) (in same direction) | QNN | Combines the powers of the queen and nightrider. | |
Quintessence | Quintessential Chess (J. Knappen, 2002)[7] | A Nightrider who takes 90-degree turns in a zigzag manner on each step. First described in 2002 by Jörg Knappen and found in several chess variants since then. | ||
R | ||||
Raiding Falcon | n<>, 1+, 1X> | fbRWfF | Wa shogi | Combination of Vertical Mover and Stone General (Reverse Chariot and Flying Cock). Occurs in Taikyoku shogi with a different move. |
Raja | Chaturanga (Indian chess) | See "King" Indian King (no castling) | ||
Rao | mqNcpqN | Chinese | A Chinese Rose —moves as a normal Rose when not capturing, but captures by leaping over an intervening piece and taking the piece on the Rao's destination square. The captured piece can be any distance beyond the hurdle. | |
Ratha | Chaturanga (Indian chess) | See "Rook" Indian Chariot | ||
Ravager | ~m/n (except ~0/0; not against King) | U (not against king) | Betza's Pieces (Ralph Betza, "Restrictions on Being Captured" in The Chess Variants Pages, 1996) | Universal Leaper' not allowed to capture the enemy king. |
Raven | n+, n(1/2) (in same direction) | RNN | Combination of Rook and Nightrider. Also known as Unicorn. | |
Reaper | ~m/n (-line 8) (can attack friendly pieces) (cannot threaten royalty) | fill in | Chess 2: The Sequel | Teleports to any space on the board except the last rank, capturing any non-royalty piece it lands on (including friendly). |
Reflecting Bishop | nX (bounce edges) | B (bounce edges) | Billiards Chess (M. Jacques Berthoumeau, 1950s) Edgehog Chess II (John Driver, 1966) & III (P. Aronson)[8] | Bishop allowed to "bounce" off any number of edges of the board when making a move, similar to a hockey puck or billiard ball. It bounces from the center of each edge square. Its path continues down the diagonal to any legitimate square after the "bounce".[12] |
RennCavalier | t[FR]t[RF] | Renniassance Chess | Moves in the same move one square diagonally and any number of squares othogonally or any number of squares orthogonally and one diagonally. It has two paths to the same target square and must make at least a blockable knight's move. Called Cavalier in RennChess, but the name Cavalier is used for other pieces as well. Renniassance Chess was invented by 1980 by Eric V. Greenwood. | |
RennDuke | t[WB]t[BW] | Renniassance Chess | Moves in the same move one square orthogonally and then any number of squares diagonally or any number of squares diagonally and then one straight. It has two paths to the same target square and must make at least a blockable knight's move. Called Duke in RennChess, but the name Duke is used for other pieces as well. | |
Revealer (Full Tamerlane Chess) | Full Tamerlane Chess (al-Âmulî & Arabshâh, 14th–15th centuries)[6] | See "Tripper", or "Queen" (Forbes, 1860) Also known as Sentinel | ||
Reverse Chariot | n<> | fbR | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Rook restricted to forward and backward directions. |
Rhinoceros (Grant Acedrex) | t[NfB] | Grant Acedrex (Alfonso X, 1283) (Jean-Louis Cazaux) | For Murray interpretation, see "Unicorn" Moves as a Knight followed by moving any number of spaces diagonally outwards like a Forward Bishop. Originally Unicornio in ancient Spanish. | |
Rhubarb | RB3 | Chess with different armies ([R. Betza, 1979) | ||
Right General | 1X, 1<>, 1= (only left) | FfblW | Dai dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Asymmetrical combination of Ferocious Leopard and left Wazir. |
Right Quail | n>, nX< (left diagonal), 1X | fRblBbrF | Tori shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Lance, Ferz and a Backward Bishop restricted to left side. |
Right-handed Pinwheel | (~1/2)> (narrow & right), (~2/1)> (wide & right), (~1/2)< (narrow & left), (~1/2)< (wide & left) | r[ffN], r[fhN], l[bbN], l[bhN] | Knight restricted to clockwise movements. | |
Rion | pR | Fairy Chess Problems | See "Korean Cannon" Lion confined to Rook lines. | |
Roaming Boar | Wa shogi | See "Drunk Elephant" | ||
Rook | n+ | R = WW | Orthodox chess | Moves any number of free squares orthogonally. Also known as Wazir-rider. |
Rookhopper | ^n+ | gR | Fairy Chess Problems | Grasshopper confined to Rook lines. Also spelled Rook-hopper. |
Root-25-leaper | ~5+, ~3/4 | (0,5)(3,4) | Fairy Chess Problems | Leaper making moves of length units (i.e. a (0,5)-leaper or a (3,4)-leaper). |
Root-50-leaper | ~5X, ~1/7 | (5,5)(1,7) | Fairy Chess Problems | Leaper making moves of length units (i.e. a (5,5)-leaper or a (1,7)-leaper). Also spelled Root-fifty-leaper. |
Rose | qN | Chess on a Really Big Board | Moves as a Nightrider, except that rather than moving in a straight line, it moves along pseudo-circular ones. A rose standing on e1 on an empty board, for instance, can move to any of the squares on the large circle c2, b4, c6, e7, g6, h4 and g2; as well as c2 and a1; or d3 and b4; or d3, e5 and g6; or f3, e5, c6 and a5; or f3 and h4. As with the nightrider, an opposite-coloured piece on any one of these squares can be captured, but prevents the rose from progressing any further along that line. See diagram below. | |
Royal "piece" | "piece" (royal) | k"piece" | Fairy Chess Problems | A piece that may not be left in or moved into check. Examples: Royal Ferz (kF), Royal Wazir (kW), Royal King (kK), Royal Queen (kQ), Royal Rook (kR), Royal Knight (kN), Royal Bishop (kB), Royal Alfil (kA), Royal Dabbaba (kD), Royal Camel (kL), Royal Grasshopper (kgQ), Royal Nightrider (kNN), Royal Joker (k"Joker"), ... |
Royal King | K (royal) | kK | Orthodox chess | Combination of Royal piece and King |
Rutabaga | R2B | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | ||
Ruthven | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | |||
Rukh | Shatranj (Persian chess) Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | See "Rook" Persian Rook | ||
Running Rabbit | n>, 1X | fRFbW | Wa shogi | Combination of Lance and Old Monkey. Occurs in Taikyoku shogi with a different move. |
S | ||||
Sailor | 1X< | bF | Moves one square diagonally backward. | |
Schleich | Courier Chess (12th century) | See "Wazir" German Fool or Spy | ||
Scorpion | 1*, ^n* | KgQ | Fairy Chess Problems | Combination of king and grasshopper |
Sergeant | 1*>, io2> | fKimfW2 | Wolf Chess (A. von Wilpert, 1943)[9] | Graz Pawn without the initial diagonal double-step from Berolina Pawn. Originally Vogt (Sergeant, Inspector) in German. |
Shah | Shatranj (Persian chess) Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | See "King" Persian King (no castling) | ||
Shatranj Pawn | o1>, c1X> | mfWcfF | Shatranj (Persian chess) | Persian Pawn. Orthodox Pawn without double step on first move. It's the same pawn from Chaturanga (Indian chess), Chaturaji (4 player Indian chess), Makruk (Thai chess), Ouk Chatrang (Cambodian chess), Shatar (Mongolian chess) and Senterej (Ethiopian chess). |
Ship | t[FfbR] | Tamerlane 2000 (Jean-Louis Cazaux, 1978–2000) | Gryphon restricted to vertical movements | |
Short Rook | 1-4+ | R4 = W4 | Chess with different armies (R. Betza, 1979) | Rook limited up to 4 squares. Also spelled Short-Rook. |
Side Mover | n=, 1+ | WsR | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of a Rook restricted to sideways and Wazir (or Soldier) |
Silver General | 1X, 1> | FfW | Shōgi (Japanese chess) | See "Khohn" |
Sin | Sittuyin (Burmese chess) | See "Silver General" ("Khohn") Burmese Elephant | ||
Soaring Eagle | n+, nX<, 1X> (Japanese Lion move), ~2X> (Japanese Lion move) | RbBfFfA or RbBdhfFfA | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Move as a Rook, backward as a Bishop, or as a Lion (Japanese) up to 2 squares diagonally forward. |
Soldier | 1> | fW | Shōgi (Japanese chess) | Moves one square orthogonally forward. It's the same pawn from Xiangqi (Chinese chess), before crossing the river. |
Sparrow Pawn | Wa shogi | See "Soldier" | ||
Spy | Courier Chess (12th century) | See "Schleich" ("Wazir") | ||
Spy (Chess Empire) | 2>, 2=, (1/1)> | fsDfF | Chess Empire (2002) | The Spy can move two spaces forwards or sideways, or can move like a knight one forward and then one horizontally or vice versa. It can leap over pieces and can only move two spaces; thus, it is "trapped" on its own color like a bishop. |
Squirrel | ~0/2, ~1/2, ~2/2 | NAD = DAN | Fairy Chess Problems (N. Kovacs, 1937) | Jumps to any field in a distance of 2. It was discovered independently several times and is also known as Centurion or Castle. |
Stone General | 1X> | fF | Dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Moves one square diagonally forward. Compare with Berolina Pawn. |
Strutting Crow | Wa shogi and Taikyoku Shogi | See "Dog" | ||
Superpawn | on>, cnX> | mfRcfB | Fairy Chess Problems | Moves without capture any number of fields forward, captures diagonally forwards like a bishop. Promotes on the 8th rank. Cannot capture en passant nor be captured en passant. May be placed in the first rank. Invented by Werner Speckmann in 1967.[13] |
Superqueen | See "Amazon" | |||
Swallow | Tori shogi | See "Soldier" | ||
Swallow's Wings | Wa shogi | See "Side Mover". Occurs in Taikyoku Shogi with different move. | ||
Swooping Owl | Wa shogi and other large Shōgi variants | See "Dog" | ||
Sylph | Dragonchess (3D) | See "Berolina Pawn" (on upper board) 3D movement: Can capture to the cell below it (to middle board) and return without capturing (to upper board). | ||
T | ||||
Taxi | Fairy Chess Problems | Moves without capture one step forward or backwards, captures one square diagonally forwards like a pawn. When in the second rank can move one, two or three steps forward or one backwards. Can promote on the 8th rank or continue to be a Taxi. Can capture en passant other pawns or Taxis. May be placed in the first or eight ranks. | ||
Teutonic Knight | 1+, ~1/2, ~1/3 | WNL | Teutonic Knight's Chess (J. Knappen, 2009)[5] | Combination of Knight, Wazir and Camel. Originally Ordensritter in German. |
Thief | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | See "Bishop" (bound to middle board) No 3D movement | ||
Threeleaper | ~3+ | H = (0,3) | Fairy Chess Problems | |
Threerider | n(3+) | HH | Fairy Chess Problems | |
Tiger | o2X, c2X&2X (back to original spot) | mF2cabFcabA | Chess 2: The Sequel | Moves up to 2 spaces diagonally, but moves back to original space if it captures something. |
Tokin | Shōgi (Japanese chess) | See "Gold General" | ||
Treacherous Fox | 1X, 1<>, ~2*<> | FfbWAfbD | Wa shogi | Ferocious Leopard that can move forward or backward as 'Alibaba (Pasha without orthogonally sideways movements). Occurs in Taikyoku shogi with a different move. |
Tripper | ~3X | G = (3,3) | Jumps three squares diagonally, leaping over any intermediate piece. | |
U | ||||
Ubi-Ubi | n(1/2) (any direction) | NN (any direction) | Ubi-Ubi Chess (Koen Versmissen, Dirk Borst & Hans Bodlaender, 1998) | A Nightrider without direction restrictions. |
Universal leaper | ~m/n (except ~0/0) | U = (m,n) | Leap to any square on the board apart from the one it is on. Compare with Kraken. | |
Unicorn | Raumschach (1907) | In Raumschach it is a triagonal rider, moves through the vertices of the cubes. See diagram below. The name unicorn is also used for several pieces in 2 dimensions, e.g., for the Princess or for the combination of bishop and nightrider also known as Banshee. | ||
Unicorn (Dragonchess) | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | See "Knight" (bound to middle board) No 3D movement | ||
Unicorn (Grande Acedrex) | BimN | Grande Acedrex (Alfonso X, 1283) (H.J.R. Murray, 1913) | For Cazaux interpretation, see "Rhinoceros" Bishop with a first movement of a Knight that can't capture. Originally Unicornio in ancient Spanish. | |
Unicornio | Grant Acedrex (Alfonso X, 1283) | See "Unicorn" (by Cazaux), or "Rhinoceros" (by Murray) Spanish Unicorn | ||
V | ||||
Vanguard | nX (except 1X) | B (except F) | Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | Bishop that can't be used as Ferz (adjacent diagonal squares must be free and skipped). Originally known as Talî'a in Persian. Also known as Scout. |
Vao | onX, c^& | mBcpB | Akenhead's Chess (1947) | Moves like a bishop when not capturing (that is, a (1,1) rider), but captures by leaping over an intervening piece and taking the piece on the Vao's destination square (the captured piece can be any number of squares beyond the hurdle). |
Vertical Mover | n<>, 1+ | WfbR | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Reverse Chariot and Wazir (or Drunk) |
Violent Bear | 1=, 2X> | sWnfA | Dai dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Drunk and Wood General. |
Violent Ox | 2+ | nD | Dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Non-jumping Dabbaba. |
Violent Stag | FfW | Wa shogi and Taikyoku shogi | See "Silver General" | |
Violent Wolf | WfF | Wa shogi and Taikyoku shogi | See "Gold General" | |
W | ||||
Waffle | 1+, ~2X | WA | Chess with different armies (Betza, 1979) | See "Phoenix" |
Wallaby | c(^2*), o1*, ^2* (over friendly pieces) | KgQ2 (over friendly pieces), KcjQ2 (checker?) | Edgehog Chess III (P. Aronson)[8] | Combination of omni-directional Checker and Grasshopper restricted to 2 squares over friendly pieces |
Waran | RNN | Fairy Chess Problems | See "Raven" Also spelled Varan and known as Monitor Lizard. | |
Warrior | Chaturanga (Indian chess) | See ("Padah") "Shatranj Pawn" Originally Sainik in Indian. | ||
Warrior (Dragonchess) | Dragonchess (3D, 1985) | See "Shatranj Pawn" (bound to middle board) No 3D movement | ||
Warrior King | 1*, c1* (do and return in all 8 directions) (+1move) (can attack friendly pieces) | K*mcabK | Chess 2: The Sequel | King which can also capture all pieces (including friendly) around it. Its normal game rules give the owning player an optional second move each turn that can only be used to move a Warrior King.
The * in this piece's Betza Notation represents "repeated in all eight directions." |
Wazaba | ~1-2+ = 1+, ~2+ | WD = DW | Combination of Wazir and Dabbaba | |
Wazir | 1+ | W = (0,1) | Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | Persian Vizir. Combination of Drunk and Go-Between (Adjutant): moves one square orthogonally in any direction. Also known as Angry Boar (Dai shogi) or Drunken Adjutant. |
Wazir Alfil | 1+, ~2X | WA | See "Phoenix" Combination of Wazir and Dabbaba | |
Wazir Dabbaba | 1+, ~2+ | WD | Combination of Wazir and Dabbaba | |
Wazir Knight | 1+, ~1/2 | WN | Combination of Wazir and Knight | |
Whale | n<>, nX< | fbRbB | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Hunter and Reverse Chariot. |
White Horse | n<>, nX> | fbRfB | Chu shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Combination of Falcon and Reverse Chariot. |
Wide Knight | ~2/1 (wide) | sN | Knight restricted to most sideway movements. Compare with Narrow Knight. | |
Wild Horse | ~1/2 (can attack friendly pieces) | N (can attack friendly pieces) | Chess 2: The Sequel | Knight that can attack friendly pieces. |
Wildebeest | NL | Wildebeest Chess (R.W. Schmittberger, 1987) | See "Gnu" | |
Withdrawer | Ultima | Also known as Retreater | ||
Wizard | 1X, ~1/3 | FL | Omega Chess | Combines the movement of Fers and Camel. |
Wolf | RN | Wolf Chess (A. von Wilpert, 1943)[9] | See "Empress" Originally Wolf in German. | |
Wood General | 2X> | nfA | Dai dai shogi and other large Shōgi variants | Flying Dragon restricted to forwards. |
Woody Rook | WD | Chess with different armies (Betza, 1979) | See "Wazaba" | |
X | ||||
X/Y-Hunter | Moves forward as piece X, and backward as piece Y. Compare with Hunter. | |||
Ximaera | 2000 A.D. (chess variant) | |||
Y | ||||
Yale | vWfF | See "Copper General" | ||
Z | ||||
Zabel Pawn | Fairy Chess Problems | Original German name Zabel-Bauer Moves and captures like a chess pawn, but instead of an initial double step it has a final double step move from the 6th to the 8th rank. Named after the cycling sprinter Erik Zabel | ||
Zaraffa | Grande Acedrex (Alfonso X, 1283) | See "Giraffe" (by Murray), or "Zebra" (by Cazaux) Spanish Giraffe | ||
Zebra | ~2/3 | Z = J = (2,3) | Fairy Chess Problems | Old historic piece. Jumps one square orthogonally followed by two squares diagonally outwards. |
Zebra (Congo) | Congo Chess (1982) | See "Knight" | ||
Zebrarider | n(2/3) (in same direction) | JJ | Fairy Chess Problems | A rider which moves any number of (3,2) cells (i.e., zebra moves) in the same direction in a straight line. |
Zero | ~0/0 | O = (0,0) | Fairy Chess Problems | A piece which can make a zero move, i. e., jump and land on its starting square without any side effects. This gives the player the option to pass a move. Sometimes used as a component to more complex pieces. It is different from the piece with no move at all called Dummy |
Zurafa | ~1/4.n+(outwards) | Tamerlane Chess (1336–1405) | Starts with a (1,4) leap (like the modern Giraffe) and may continue moving outwards as a rook. | |
Name | Parlett | Betza | Found in | Notes |
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See also
- Orthodox piece names in different languages
- Movement of the orthodox pieces
- Penultima—a chess variant in which novel fairy pieces are invented for each game
References
- ↑ Poisson, "Catégories de pièces – Types of pieces", § "Bondisseur(m,n) – (m,n)Leaper"
- ↑ Poisson, "Pièces féeriques – Fairy pieces", §§ "Alfil" & "Fers"
- ↑ Parlett, 1999
- ↑ Overby, Glenn, II (2003). "Betza Notation". CVP.
- 1 2 3 Knappen, Jörg (2009). "Teutonic Knight's Chess". CVP.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Cazaux, Jean-Louis (2012). "Full Tamerlane Chess". History of Chess: chesspage of JL Cazaux.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Knappen, Jörg (2002). "Quintessential Chess", CVP
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Aronson, Peter (2001). "EdgehogChess". CVP.
- 1 2 3 4 5 von Wilpert, Arno (1943). Wolf-Schach.
- ↑ Pritchard, 1994
- ↑ Jelliss, George P. (2001). "Theory of Moves". Knight's Tour Notes. Retrieved on 2009-07-18.
- ↑ Aronson, Peter (2001). "The Piececlopedia: Reflecting Bishop". CVP.
- ↑ Speckmann, Werner (2000). "Märchenfiguren und ihre Grundtypen" [PDF] (in German). Werner Speckmann: elektronische Schachbücher.
Bibliography
- Dickins, Anthony S. M. (1969) [1967]. A Guide to Fairy Chess (1971 Dover repub. of 2nd ed.). Richmond, England; New York: Q Press; Dover. ISBN 0-486-22687-5.
- Fabel, Karl; Kemp, Charles E. (1969). Schach ohne Grenzen (T.R. Dawsons Märchenschach) = Chess Unlimited (T.R. Dawson's Fairy Chess) (in German and English). Arnfried Haupt (cover design). Düsseldorf & Kempten/Allgäu, Germany: Walter Rau Verlag. ASIN B0000BQXG3. OCLC 601619310.
- Murray, Harold J. R. (1913). A History of Chess. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-827403-2. Link].
- Parlett, David (1999). The Oxford History of Board Games. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-212998-8.
- Pritchard, David B. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Godalming, England: Games & Puzzles Publications. pp. 132–33. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.
- Pritchard, David B. (2007). Beasley, John D., ed. The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants (2nd ed.). Harpenden, England: John Beasley. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.
- Schmittberger, R. Wayne (1992). New Rules for Classic Games. New York: John Wiley. ISBN 0-471-53621-0.
Web pages
- Betza, Ralph (1996–2000). "My Funny Notation". CVP. Retrieved 2006-05-13.
- Bodlaender, Hans L.; Howe, David; Duniho, Fergus, eds. (1995–). "Index page of the CVP". The Chess Variant Pages. Check date values in:
|date=
(help). §§: "Piececlopedia" & "Articles on Pieces". - Cazaux, Jean-Louis (2000–2014). "History of Chess". History of Chess: chesspage of JL Cazaux. Also: "My Chess Variants".
- Derzhanski, Ivan A. (2001). "Who is Who on Eight by Eight". CVP.
- Howe, David (2011). "The Concise Guide to Chess Variants". CVP.
- Jelliss, George P. (2002–2012). "A Guide to Variant Chess". Mayhematics. British Chess Variants Society. § "All the King's Men". Retrieved 2010-07-20. §§: "Variant Chess Games"; "Introducing Variant Chess" & "Simple Chess Variants" [PDF] (2010)
- Jelliss, George P. (2000–2016). "Knight's Tour Notes". Mayhematics. § "All the King's Men". §§: "Geometry: Theory of Moves"; "History" & "Other Pieces".
- Poisson, Christian (2003–2011). "Catégories de pièces – Types of pieces". Problemesis (in French and English). Retrieved 2008-04-18.
- Poisson, Christian (2002–2006). "Pièces féeriques – Fairy pieces". Problemesis (in French and English). Retrieved 2008-04-18.
External links
- Piececlopedia An extensive list of fairy chess pieces, their history and movement diagrams
- Who is Who on Eight by Eight Compiled by Ivan A Derzhanski, shows also piece values
- A Guide to Variant Chess: All the King's Men