Piececlopedia: Sergeant

Historical Notes

The Sergeant is a logical development of the Pawn and Berolina Pawn, since it combines the movements of both. The Sergeant was used as least as early as 1943 in Dr. Arno von Wilpert's game Wolf Chess, but it is possible that was not the first use of this piece.

The Sergeant is known as the Universal Pawn in the game Three Fat Brothers. The Pawns in some small variants, such as Congo and Capture the Flag Chess, move like the Sergeant, but without an initial double-step.

Movement

The Sergeant moves and captures one square forward or diagonally forward. Like a Pawn, the Sergeant may make a double non-capturing move straight forward on its first move. When double-moving, a Sergeant may be captured en-passant by a Pawn, but may not itself capture en-passant. Sergeants generally promote as do Pawns, but they may (as they are in Wolf Chess) be more restricted in their promotion possibilities than Pawns, since they are more likely to survive to reach the back rank.

Note: The Sergeant is not exactly the combination of the standard Pawn with the Berolina Pawn since it can make the double move of the Pawn, but not of the Berolina Pawn.

Movement diagram

In the diagram below, the Sergeant can both move and capture to all the squares marked with red circles. The Sergeant can make an initial (non-capturing) double-step to the square marked with a green circle.