Piececlopedia: Wildebeest

Historical notes

The Wildebeest was invented for Wildebeest Chess by R. Wayne Schmittberger, which was published in his 1992 book New Rules for Classic Games.

Movement

The Wildebeest is a compound piece that moves as a Knight or a Camel. So, it is both a 1-2 leaper and a 1-3 leaper. The diagram below shows the spaces it can leap directly to.

Checkmating

The Wildebeest is both strong and has a move pattern that allows checkmate positions with just assistence of its King, but by a tactical coincidence it cannot deliver the final blow to force these position, and is thus a minor piece. It needs only miniscule help to checkmate a bare King, though. Try it!

Purchase

The Musketeer Chess line of Chess variant pieces includes kits with Wildebeest pieces in them.