Fairy Pieces Part 2
This release will have a ZILLIONS OF GAMES file coming within 2 weeks (October 15th now). I'll keep updates about this right here!! This will allow you, on a 16x12 board, the put down the pieces and see how they move.
First of all, I'd like to thank “B.T.” for encouraging me to release this work, without him, who knows when it would of appeared. So, thank you very much.
'Fairy Pieces Part 2' showcases 158 fairy pieces from the earliest times of recorded chess up to modern times. 'Fairy Chess Part 1' presented 154 Shogi pieces from ancient Japan to modern times, now we show pieces outside of Japan!!
There will be a 'Part 3' and 'Part 4' coming, there are so many pieces. Also, there will be a zillions file for this release soon like there was for 'Fairy Pieces Part 1'.
With the pieces, I have tried to find out when it first came into existence, the earliest games or chess problems it was in, or the earliest date I can find it mentioned, who invented it, what the piece was called and any interesting info that comes along with it.
Of course it is very difficult to know and find out everything about some pieces, the details are not always clear, it can be mysterious. So anyone who can help with any info about the pieces is welcome to contact me via email or post in the comments, that would be terrific, thanks so much!!
See below in the 'Notes' section for info on how I picked the pieces for this volume and the way and method I have given info on the piece etc.
Alright, with all that said, have fun checking out 'Fairy Pieces Part 2'.
Setup
This is a screenshot from the 'soon to be' Zillions file for 'Fairy Pieces Part 2'. Pieces go from 'A to Z' from left to right for each rank.
Pieces
Airplane
Airplane: Flies to any empty square orthogonally or diagonally. It captures an enemy piece
located behind the landing square.
Plays in 'Airplane Chess', invented by R. W. Schmittberger in 1981.
Alfil
Alfil (Elephant): Leaps 2 squares diagonally.
The 'Alfil' is a 2,2 leaper.
One of the earliest chess pieces, along with the Rook, Knight, Fers, Pawn and King.
Plays in 'Chaturanga' and 'Shatranj', dated at least from the 7th Century.
Plays in '4 Player Chaturanga' as a 'Ship'.
Could be much older as no one really knows how old 'Chaturanga' and '4 player Chaturanga' is.
Plays in Shatranj Kamil which is around 1,000 years old.
Plays in Courier Chess, 12th Century.
Plays in Tamerlane Chess, aka Timur's Chess, 14th Century.
'Variant Chess 26', Winter 1997-8, page 126, T.R.Dawson, 'The Australasian' 10 Oct 1914
shows mate in 2 with Grasshoppers, Giraffe, Camel, Dabbaba, Alfil and Kangaroos.
Plays in many games, it is a very famous piece.
'Alfil-Fers', see 'Ferfil'.
'Alfil-Wazir', see 'Waffle'.
Alfil-Wazir-Fers
Alfil-Wazir-Fers: Leaps 2 squares diagonally or 1 square all directions.
Alfil-Wazir-Fers: Moves like Alfil, Wazir and Fers.
Moves 1 square all directions and leaps 2 squares diagonally.
Plays in 'Imperial Dragon Chess', Paul Fredrix, 1973. Called a 'Dragon Elephant'.
It only enters the game when a 'Elephant' promotes.
'Chess on a Really Big Board', Ralph Betza, 1996, a piece
moves as an Alfil, Wazir and Fers. He just calls it 'WFA'.
In his 'The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants', David Pritchard calls this piece an 'Elephant'.
Alfilante
Alfilante: Leaps like an Alfilrider but can skip over pieces.
Alfilante: A Alfilante moves along every other square diagonally.
It may skip over any pieces in the way. It is a leaper. It may appear to be like a
'rider' piece but it can skip over pieces. This means it can land on a piece of either
color and keep going if desired.
'Dabbabante Chess' was invented by V.R. Parton in 1971. See 'Dabbabante' piece.
Parton talked about the 'Alfilante' being the diagonal version of the 'Dabbabante'
and also if both pieces combined you would have the 'Alibabante'.
See chessvariants site, 'Dabbabante Chess' for full info.
Alfilrider
Alfilrider: Repeatedly leaps 2 squares diagonally.
Alfilrider: The Alfilrider moves like a Alfil,
but may continue any number of leaps in the same direction.
The Alfil is a 2,2 leaper.
G. P. Jelliss in 'Simple Chess Variants' (page 10) says
'T.R.Dawson also introduced the Dabbabarider and Alfilrider'.
'Variant Chess 1', Jan-Mar 1990, page 9, T.R.Dawson 'Chess Amateur' 1927,
diagram 9, has a chess problem with the Alfilrider and Tripper-rider.
Plays in 'Grand Rider Chess' by Larry Wheeler, May 2005. Called a 'Alfilrider'.
Must be in other games, any info would be terrific.
Alfilrider-Fers
Alfilrider-Fers: Moves as Alfilrider and Fers.
Alfilrider-Fers: Repeatedly leaps 2 squares diagonally or 1,1 leaper.
Therefore, this piece is an Alfilrider and Fers.
Plays in 'Avian Airforce', by Ralph Betza, 2001. Called a 'Faalcon'.
'Avian Airforce' is an army for 'Chess with Different Armies', which was created by Ralph Betza in 1979.
Is there any other games with this piece, please help.
Alfilrider-Wazir
Alfilrider-Wazir: Repeatedly leaps 2 squares diagonally or 0,1 leaper.
Alfilrider-Wazir: Moves like an Alfilrider and Wazir.
Repeatedly leaps 2 squares diagonally or 0,1 leaper.
Info needed if in any games.
Alibaba
Alibaba: Moves like Alfil and Dabbaba.
Alibaba: Moves like Alfil and Dabbaba. Possible first appearance in 'Enochian Chess',
from the 1800's, it is unclear when this game was invented and by whom. Great information from
chessvariants site and Wikipedia on their 'Enochian Chess' pages.The game is associated with the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. It was played by members of the Order of the Golden Dawn.
Authorship of this variant is unclear. Golden Dawn founder Dr. Wynn Westcott (1848-1925) is thought
to have invented it (Wikipedia says S. L. MacGregor Mathers helped finish it with the rules).
However, chessvariants say 'but some (including Westcott himself) have claimed that the documents
describing 'Enochian Chess' were among those supplied to him from an older occult group operating in Germany.
In 'Chessics' #11, Jan-June, 1981, page 7 it says:
'The name Alibaba for the Alfil + Dabbaba was suggested by J.I. Secker'.
Plays in 'Interdependent Chess' called a 'Spider' by Fergus Duniho, 2001.
Plays in many games, I think, lol, any game info would be wonderful.
'Alibaba-Fers', see'FAD'.
'Alibaba-Wazir', see 'Champion'.
'Alibaba-Wazir-Fers', see 'Pasha'.
Alibabante
Alibabante: Leaps like an Alibabarider but can skip over pieces.
Alibabante: Leaps along every other square orthogonally or diagonally.
It may skip over any pieces in the way. It is a leaper. It may appear to be like a
'rider' piece but it can skip over pieces. This means it can land on a piece of either
color and keep going if desired.
'Dabbabante Chess' was invented by V.R. Parton in 1971. See 'Dabbabante' piece.
Parton talked about the 'Alfilante' being the diagonal version of the 'Dabbabante'
and also if both pieces combined you would have the 'Alibabante'.
See chessvariants site, 'Dabbabante Chess' for full info.
Alibabarider
Alibabarider: Repeatedly leaps 2 squares diagonally or orthogonally.
Alibabarider: Repeatedly leaps 2 squares diagonally or orthogonally.
Wikipedia says 'Sometimes named 'Dayrider' by Chess Problemists'.
Plays in 'Caïssa Britannia', named 'Dragon', by Fergus Duniho, 2003.
Plays in 'Grand Rider Chess' by Larry Wheeler, May 2005. Called 'Alibabarider.
Any info on this piece in a game or chess problem would be great.
Amazon
Amazon (Maharaja): Moves as a Queen or Knight.
Amazon (Maharaja): Moves like a Queen or a Knight.
Chessvariants site has lots of info on the 'Amazon', some as follows.
The Amazon was invented (but not under this name) in the middle ages.
Dickins mentions four names for this piece, Omnipotent Queen, Terror, General, or Amazon.
He also mentions that it was used before 1500 A.D.
It's most common name these days is Amazon.
Maharaja is another name used. Also sometimes Superqueen.
Earliest games are 'Amazon Chess' from the Middle Ages, called an 'Amazon'.
'Great Chess' - Indian/Turkish variant, called 'Giraffe', from the 1700's.
'The Maharaja and the Sepoys', called 'Maharaja', from the 1800's.
'The Emperor's Game', called 'General'. This game was invented circa 1815 by a councillor
in Berlin by the name of Peguilhen.This info is on the 'Emperor's Game' page from chessvariants site.
Please note in 'Piececlopedia' on the 'Amazon' page it is said L. Tressan invented the game in 1840.
He did write about this game in this year, but doesn't seem to the game inventor.
For more info on games of the 'Amazon' please see 'Piececlopedia' on the 'Amazon' page at chessvariants site.
Antelope
Antelope: The Antelope is a (3,4) leaper.
Antelope: The Antelope is a (3,4) leaper.
'Chessics 9', October 1980, page 8, T.H.Willcocks gives the longest path of an
Antelope on an 8x8 board, 'Fairy Chess Review' 1944.
CHESSICS 2 - July 1976, page 2, Serieshelpmate in 13, by G.P.Jelliss, diagram 4 shows 2 Antelopes.
Says the name 'Antelope' suggested by A.I.Houston.
'Chessics 9', October 1980, page 9, Jelliss shows Antelope tour on 8x8 board
with longest open path with no cross-overs in 9 moves.
'Variant Chess 6', April-June, 1991, page 73 shows problem with Antelope.
'Variant Chess 30', Winter 1998, page 30, Helpstalemate in 2, 4 solutions with Flamingo and
Camel, Antelope, Giraffe, Zebrarider and Equihopper.
Plays in 'Sky' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2005.
Archabbott
Archabbott: Moves as a Bishop, Dabbaba and Wazir.
Archabbott: Moves as a Bishop, a 0,2 and 01 leaper.
Plays in 'Archabbott Chess' by E.V.Greenwood.
Not sure about the date for this game. Around 2006 maybe, if anyone knows please help!!
Archbishop
Archbishop: Combines the powers of a Bishop and a Knight.
Archbishop: Slides like a Bishop or leaps like a Knight.
Most common names for this piece are Princess, Archbishop, Cardinal and Paladin.
Possible first appearance in 'Carrera's Chess' called a 'Centaur'.
D. Pietro Carrera invented this chess variant in the 17th century.
He wrote a long book on chess, called 'Il Gioco de gli Scacchi',
and published it in 1617 in Miltello in Sicily.
Plays in 'Turkish Great Chess', an Indian/Turkish variant. This appears in an 18th century Indian manuscript.
Called a 'Virir' in this game.
Plays in 'Shatranj al-Kabir', from at least 1805, called a 'Karkaddan' (Rhinoceros).
Plays in 'Emperor's Game'and 'Sultan's Game', by Peguilhen, circa 1815, called the 'Adjutant'.
Above two games first described in 1819 in the first volume of 'Archiv der Spiele' by an anonymous author
who did say he personally meet with Peguilhen, and that these games were created a few years previous.
They was later described by Ludwig Tressan of Leipzig in his 1840 work 'Das Schachspiel, seine Gattungen und Abarten',
(The Game of Chess, its Types and Varieties), which may be the first book ever devoted entirely to chess variants.
This info comes from chessvariants site under the game pages for 'The Sultan's Game' and 'Emperor's Game'.
Please note at same site in 'Piececolpedia' under the piece names for Rook/Knight and Bishop/Knight compounds
it credits L. Tressan as the creator of both these games.
Plays in 'Bird's Chess' invented by Henry Bird in 1874, called the 'Equerry'.
Chess problem by T. R. Dawson, Cheltenham Examiner 12 June 1913, in a series called 'Caissa's Playthings'.
Called a 'Centaur'.
Plays in 'Cavalry Chess' designed by Frank Maus in 1921.
Plays in 'Capablanca Chess', Jose Raul Capablanca, 1920's, called 'Archbishop'.
Plays in 'Wolf Chess', by Dr. Arno von Wilpert(?), 1943, called a 'Fox'.
Plays in 'Modern Chess', by Gabriel Maura, 1968, called a 'Minister'.
Plays in 'Cagliostro's Chess', by Savio Cagliostro, 1950-1975?, called a 'Archbishop'.
Plays in 'Tutti-Frutti Chess', by Ralph Betza and Philip Cohen, 1978, called a 'Princess'.
Plays in 'Janus Chess', called 'Janus', Werner Schoendorf, 1978.
Plays in 'Renniassance Chess', by Eric V. Greenwood, 1980, called a 'Archbishop'.
Plays in 'Grand Chess' by Christian Freeling, 1984. Called a 'Cardinal'.
Plays in 'Gothic Chess', 'Archbishop', Ed Trice, 2002.
The 'Archbishop' plays in many games, it is a very famous piece.
See in 'Piececlopedia' at 'chessvariants' website for longer list and more info.
Ark
Ark: Moves like a Rook and Alfil.
Ark: Moves like a Rook and a 2,2 leaper.
First mentioned in the 13th century 'Bonus Socium' manuscript, 1275.
Information from V. Nebotov’s Dictionary of Fairy Chess.
Variant Chess 2, April-June, 1990 by G.P.Jelliss shows a mate in 2 problem.
This is from 'Bonus Socium'. See page 20.
Auroch
Auroch: Moves as a 4,1 and 2,1 leaper.
Auroch: Moves as a Knight and Giraffe, which is a 4,1 plus 2,1 leaper.
Fairy Chess Problems, Pierre Monréal, 1975. Wikizer Website.
Is there any game this piece is in!!
Banshee
Banshee (Unicorn): Moves like a Bishop and a Nightrider.
Banshee: Moves like a Bishop and a Nightrider.
Also known as 'Unicorn'.
Plays in 'Twenty-First Century Chess', George Jelliss, 1991. He doesn't seem
to have named the piece in this game, just saying 'Bishop + Nightrider'.
See 'Variant Chess 6' April-June 1991, page 70.
Please note, this is a different game from Karl Munzlinger's game of the same name.
First reference I have of the name 'Banshee' is from an article by George Jelliss
called 'A Guide to Variant Chess', 2002. Here he describes 'Twenty-First Century Chess' again.
Plays in 'The Way of the Knight', Ralph Betza, 1995. The name is abbreviated as WOTN.
It is a one of the possible pieces that comes into the game after promotion.
It is called 'NrB', which stands for 'Nightrider Bishop'.
The game is described in 'Eteroscacco', the periodical of AISE, issue 69/70, 1995.
It must be a little older, because a shorter description
can be found in 'Pritchard's Encyclopedia of Chess Variants', 1994.
The name 'Unicorn' comes from David Paulowich. Plays in the games 'Unicorn Chess' 2000
and 'Unicorn Great Chess' 2006, by David Paulowich.
Barc
Barc: Leaps 1 square vertical forward and 2 squares horizontal, or 2 squares vertical back then 1 horizontal.
Barc: Leaps 1 square vertical forward and 2 squares horizontal, or 2 squares vertical back then 1 horizontal.
Created by Ralph Betza, 1996.First appearance in game?
Bede
Bede: Slides diagonally any number of spaces, or jumps 2 orthogonally.
Bede: A piece which has the combined movement of the Bishop and the Dabbaba.
A Bede moves any number of squares on a diagonal, or may jump two spaces orthogonally.
Plays in 'Chess with Different Armies' by Ralph Betza, 1979. It is in the 'Colorbound Clobberers' army.
Berolina-Pawn
Berolina-Pawn: Moves 1 square diagonally forward, captures 1 square directly forward.
Berolina-Pawn: Moves 1 square diagonally forward, captures 1 square directly forward.
Can move 2 squares forward on first move.
The Berolina Pawn has been introduced by E. Nebermann in 1926. The pawn is named after the city of Berlin.
Plays in 'Berolina Chess', with a set up like normal Chess except Pawns are replaced with Berolina Pawns.
'Variant Chess 31, Spring 1999, page 46 shows 3 problems with Berolina Pawns.
First problem is by Emanuel Lasker, Funkschach 1926.
'Introducing Variant Chess', George Jelliss, 2002:
'Akenhead's Chess'. Chess in which Queen, Rook, Bishop and Knight are replaced by
Leo, Pao, Vao and Mao, and Berolina pawns are used.
'J.Akenhead Fairy Chess Review April 1947'.
Bishop
Bishop: Slides diagonally any number of squares.
Bishop: Slides any number of squares on a diagonal.
Plays in 'Courier Chess' which was played in or before the 12th century.
Plays in 'Grande Acedrex' a game that is described in the
book 'Libro del Acedrex', in the year 1283.It is called 'Crocodile' in this game.
Plays in 'Shatranj Al-Husun',Citadel Chess which is a old medieval Shatranj
big board game.
In the end of the Middle Ages, the Alfil was replaced in the game of chess by the Bishop'.
This would be been around 1475 AD and 1500 AD.
Plays in many games. The 'Bishop' is one of the most famous pieces.
Bison
Bison: Camel and Zebra.
Bison: Moves as a 3,1 and 3,2 leaper.
Combines the powers of Camel and Zebra.
It appears infrequently in fairy chess problems. G.P.Jelliss shows a mate in two
by P. Monreal and F. Calvet from 'The Problemist', 1974, with the Bison.
See 'Variant Chess 1', January-March 1990, page 8.
Plays in 'Great Herd', 2004, by Charles Gilman.
Plays in 'Piece Promotion Games 2' 2006, by Christine Bagley-Jones
Boyscout
Boyscout (Crooked Bishop): Slides on alternate diagonals.
Boyscout (Crooked Bishop): Slides on alternating diagonals 90 degrees apart.
It may not leap over other pieces.It is also known as a Crooked Bishop.
Chessvariants site has the following information.
The 'Boyscout' was originally discovered by J. de A. Almay of Budapest,
and is reported in Anthony Dickins's 'A Guide to Fairy Chess', so may be
originating in the first half or middle of the 20th century.
It was rediscovered by Ralph Betza in 1996, and then published on
'Chess Variants' website under the name of Crooked Bishop. He wrote
further on it in 2001.
Plays in Adrian King's chess variant 'Jupiter', 1999.
Buffalo
Buffalo: moves like Knight, Camel, and Zebra.
Buffalo: Combines the powers of an Knight, Camel, and Zebra.
Cavalry Chess, or Magician's Chess, by Frank Maus in 1921, has a
Knight with added Zebra and Camel moves.
Plays in 'Gigachess', Jean-Louis Cazaux, March 2001.
Plays in 'Marcochess', Robert Potter, 2005.
'Caliph', see 'Flying-Dragon'.
Camel
Camel (Jamal): 3-1 leaper.
Camel (Jamal): 3-1 leaper.
Plays in 'Tamerlane Chess', or Timur's Chess, from at least the 14th century.
'Variant Chess 1', January-March 1990, page 8 gives a mate in 6 by the Camel from
the 'Cheltenham Examiner', 1913, by T.R.Dawson.
'Variant Chess 26', Winter 1997-8, page 126, T.R.Dawson, 'The Australasian' 10 Oct 1914
shows mate in 2 with Grasshoppers, Giraffe, Camel, Dabbaba, Alfil and Kangaroos.
'Variant Chess 30', Winter 1998, page 30, Helpstalemate in 2, 4 solutions with Flamingo and
Camel, Antelope, Giraffe, Zebrarider and Equihopper.
Plays in many games, it is a famous piece.
Camel-Wazir
Camel-Wazir: 3-1 leaper, 1 square orthogonally.
Camel-Wazir: 3-1 leaper and moves 1 square orthogonally
Plays in Ramayana Chess, 2002, Luiz Carlos Campos. Piece called 'Yavana'.
Plays in 'Leapers Creepers', 2005, Christine Bagley-Jones. Called a 'CamelKing'.
'Camel-Fers', see 'Wizard'.
'Camel-Wazir-Fers', see 'General'.
Camelopard
Camelopard: Moves like a Camelrider and a Fiveleaper, which is a 3-4 and 5-0 leaper.
Camelopard: Moves like a Camelrider and a Fiveleaper, which is a 3-4 and 5-0 leaper.
'Variant Chess' #2, April-June, 1990, page 20, 'Fairy Chess Review' 1949, R.J.Darvall, mate in 2.
Plays in 'Camelopard Chess' by HaruN Y, February 2024.
Camelrider
Camelrider: Repeatedly leaps like a Camel.
Camelrider: The Camelrider moves like a Camel, which is a 3,1 leaper,
but may continue any number of leaps in the same direction.
'Variant Chess 1', Jan-March 1990, page 9, T.R.Dawson, 'Chess Amateur', 1927
gives a mate in 2 with Zebrarider, Camelrider and Nightrider.
In 'CHESSICS 2 - July 1976', the following variant is given.
FIVE RIDER CHESS, by T.R.Dawson 1936.
Instead of promotion to Q,R,B and S (Knight), pawns promoteto Rook, Bishop, Nightrider,
Camelrider or Zebrarider (R, B, N, C,Z). These are the five continuous straight line
riders that have room for a ride of at least two steps on the 8x8 board.
Simple Chess Variants by G.P.Jelliss, page 10, 2010:
The Rook is a Wazir-rider, the Bishop a Fers-rider and the Queen a King-rider.
T.R.Dawson expanded this family of pieces to include the Nightrider (or Knightrider), Camelrider and Zebrarider.
Plays in 'Grand Rider Chess' by Larry Wheeler, May 2005. Called a 'Camelrider'.
Cannon
Cannon: Slides on row or column, captures by jumping.
Cannon (Pao = Cannon)
When not capturing, a Cannon moves like a Rook. When capturing, the Cannon must jump.
To capture, it moves like a Rook and jumps over first piece it encounters, friend or enemy.
Then the first piece it encounters it can capture and land on the square the enemy piece is on.
Plays in 'Xiangqi', which is Chinese Chess.
Xiangqi is an ancient game, unclear when first appeared.
Some say during the Tang dynasty around the 7th and 8th century AD. It could be much older. No one knows.
Fairy Chess problemists commonly call it a Pao, which is a transliteration of its Chinese name.
Variant Chess 3, July September 1990, page 29, diagram C, Zdenek Mach, 'Fairy Chess Review' xii, 1939,
mate in 2 and also same page, diagram B by J.E.H.Creed, 'Fairy Chess Review' xii, 1948, mate in 2
and finally diagram D by Zdenek Mach, 'Fairy Chess Review' xii, 1949 mate in 2.
'Introducing Variant Chess', George Jelliss, 2002:
'Akenhead's Chess'. Chess in which Queen, Rook, Bishop and Knight are replaced by
Leo, Pao, Vao and Mao, and Berolina pawns are used.
'J.Akenhead Fairy Chess Review April 1947'.
Plays in all the following games where it is called a 'Cannon'.
'Tamerlane II' by Jean-Louis Cazaux, 1978.
'Shako' by Jean-Louis Cazaux, 1990.
'Cannon Shogi' and 'Cannon Chess' by Peter Michaelsen, 1998.
'Xhess' by David Howe, January 8, 1999.
'King and Queen' by Dennis Xay Voong, Feb 1999.
'Grand Cavalier Chess' by Fergus Duniho, Oct 1999.
'Perfect12' by Jean-Louis Cazaux, 1999.
See in'Piececlopedia' at 'chessvariants' website for longer list of games.
The ones I have listed are the earliest.
Cannon-Korean
Cannon-Korean: Slides and captures by jumping on row or column
Cannon-Korean: A Cannon goes along a row or column, but it can only move or capture an
enemy only if there is another piece (of either side) in between.
Thus to move or capture they leap over the intervening piece and land on the enemy piece.
Cannons cannot capture or jump another Cannon.Within the 'palace, Cannons can move diagonally.
This piece is from 'Korean Chess', or 'Janggi'. It must be dated around the 7th Century, or a
little later, or, much earlier, no one really knows.
Canvasser
Canvasser: Moves like a Rook and Camel.
Canvasser: Moves like a Rook and a 3,1 leaper.
February 2000, S. Sirotkin sent a chess variant, called 'Herd'
to Chessvariants website. Pawns could promote to various pieces, depending what squares
they landed on in the final rank. One of pieces they could promote to was a Rook Camel compound.
Plays in 'Ecumenical Chess', 2003, by Charles Gilman, called 'Canvasser'.
Name from Charles Gilman.First game I believe this piece plays in besides 'Herd' as
mentioned above where it only comes into play if pawn is promoted.
'Cardinal', see 'Archbishop'.
'Carpenter', see 'Templar'.
Centaur
Centaur: Moves like a Knight, Wazir and Fers.
Centaur: Moves like a 2,1, 0,1 and 1,1 leaper.
Plays in 'Courier-Spiel', dated 1821 but could be older.
'Courier-Spiel' was mentioned by H. C. Albers from Lüneburg in 1821, and later
the information of Albers was repeated by Verney in his book 'Chess Eccentricities'.
Name in this game is 'Councillor'.
'Cheltenham Examiner', 12 June 1913, T. R. Dawson, mate in 2 with Centaur.
Some other games it has played in are
Renniassance Chess (Page) 1980, Eric V. Greenwood
Cobra Chess (Duke) 1998, Derick Peterson
Royal Court (Crowned Knight) 1998, Sidney LeVasseur
Jupiter (Centaur) 1999, Adrian King
Typhoon (Centaur) 1999, Adrian King
Fantasy Grand Chess (Wolf Rider) 2000, Peter Hatch
Kung Fu Chess (Tiger) 2001, Tim Bostick.
Reformed Courier-Spiel, (Paladin) by Clément Begnis in 2011.
Centurion
Centurion: Moves like a Knight, slides 0,2 and 2,2.
Centurion: Moves like a Knight and slides to make a move like a Dabbaba and Alfil.
It always moves 2 squares away from it's start point.
Piece first appeared in Francesco Piacenza's 10x10 variant 'Arciscacchiere', or 'Archchess' in 1683, called a 'Centurion'
Despite an error often reported in English modern references, the Centurion
cannot jump over an intermediate piece when jumping like Alfil or Dabbaba in the game 'Arciscacchiere'.
Compare with Squirrel.
Champion
Champion: Moves as Alfil, Dabbaba and Wazir.
Champion: Moves one square orthogonally or jumps two squares orthogonally or diagonally.
Therefore, the Champion moves as an Alfil, Dabbaba and Wazir.
Piece from Omega Chess, by Dan MacDonald in 1998.
Must be in other games, please help.
'Chancellor', see 'Marshall'.
Charging-Knight
Charging-Knight: Jumps like Knight forward, steps 1 space to the
5 back and side squares.
Charging-Knight: Moves to any of the four
forward Knight's moves, jumping two forward and one outward
or one forward and two outward, or may step a single square
left, right, back or on the back diagonals. It hops over
any pieces on the way.
Plays in 'Chess with Different Armies' by Ralph Betza, 1979. It is in the 'Nutty Knights' army.
Originally Ralph Betza called this piece 'Forfnibakking'.
Charging-Rook
Charging-Rook: Slides any number of spaces forward, left or
right, steps 1 back or diagonally back.
Charging-Rook: Moves any number of
squares forward, left or right, or one step backwards
or diagonally backwards. It may not leap over other
pieces.
Plays in 'Chess with Different Armies' by Ralph Betza, 1979. It is in the 'Nutty Knights' army.
Originally Ralph Betza called this piece 'Furlrurlbakking'.
Colonel
Colonel: Moves forward as Knight, forward or sideways as Rook, or as King.
Colonel: Makes any of the four forward Knight's moves, jumping two forward and one
outward or one forward and two outward, or may step a single square in any direction,
or may slide any number of spaces forward or to the side.
It hops over any pieces on the way when jumping like a Knight, but not otherwise.
Plays in 'Chess with Different Armies' by Ralph Betza, 1979. It is in the 'Nutty Knights' army.
Originally Ralph Betza called this piece 'Forfnifurlrurking'.
Commuter
Commuter: 4-4 leaper.
Commuter: 4-4 leaper.
'Chessics 11', January-June, 1981, page 7, value of 4,4 leaper given in list of
various pieces on an 8x8 board.
In 'Theory of Moves' by George Jelliss, 4 January 2001 the name 'Commuter' is used for 4-4 leaper.
Plays in 'Sky' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2005.
Crab
Crab: Moves forward as a Narrow Knight, and backward as a Wide Knight.
CrabLeaps 2 squares vertical forward then 1 horizontal, or 1 square vertical back then 2 horizontal.
Moves forward as a Narrow Knight, and backward as a Wide Knight.
Created by Ralph Betza, 1996.
Earliest game or any game info actually would help.
Dabbaba
Dabbaba (War Engine, War Machine): Leaps 2 squares orthogonally.
DabbabaWar Engine or War Machine Leaps 2 squares orthogonally.
Plays in 'Shatranj Kamil', Variation 1, under the name 'Camel'.'Shatranj Kamil'
is over 1,000 years old.
Plays in 'Tamerlane Chess', or Timur's Chess, from at least the 14th century.
'Variant Chess 26', Winter 1997-8, page 126, T.R.Dawson, 'The Australasian' 10 Oct 1914
shows mate in 2 with Grasshoppers, Giraffe, Camel, Dabbaba, Alfil and Kangaroos.
The Dabbaba plays in many games. It is a very famous piece.
'Dabbaba-Fers', see 'Duke'.
'Dabbaba-Wazir', see 'Wazaba'.
Dabbaba-Wazir-Fers
Dabbaba-Wazir-Fers: leaps 2 squares orthogonally or 1 square all directions.
Dabbaba-Wazir-Fers: Moves like Dabbaba, Wazir and Fers.Moves 1 square all directions
or can leap 2 squares orthogonally.
Plays in 'Reformed Courier-Spiel', by Clément Begnis in 2011. It is an attempt to reform the Courier-Spiel
proposed by H.C. Albers in 1821 (which was itself a modernized version of the medieval Courier Chess).
In 'Reformed Courier-Spiel' it is called a 'Champion'.
You would think it is in other games, please help.
Dabbabarider
Dabbabarider: Leaps repeatedly 2 squares orthogonally.
Dabbabarider: The Dabbabarider moves like a Dabbaba,
but may continue any number of leaps in the same direction.
G. P. Jelliss in 'Simple Chess Variants' (page 10) says
'T.R.Dawson also introduced the Dabbabarider and Alfilrider'.
Cannot find any old problems with this piece, please help.
Plays in 'Grand Rider Chess' by Larry Wheeler, May 2005. Called a 'Dabbabarider'.
Must be in other games, please help.
'Dabbabarider-Fers', see 'Duke'.
Dabbabarider-Wazir
Dabbabarider-Wazir: Moves as a Dabbabarider and Wazir.
Dabbabarider: Leaps repeatedly 2 squares orthogonally or 0,1 leaper.
Therefore, this piece is a Dabbabarider and Wazir.
Plays in 'Avian Airforce', by Ralph Betza, 2001 (is this right year?). Called a 'Wader'.
'Avian Airforce' is an army for 'Chess with Different Armies', created by Ralph Betza in 1979.
Is this the first game for this piece? Is there any other games with this piece, please help.
Dabbabante
Dabbabante: Leaps like a Dabbabarider but can skip over pieces.
Dabbabante: A Dabbabante moves along every other square
orthogonally on a rank or a file.It may skip over any pieces in the way.
This means it can land on a piece of either color and keep going if desired.
Plays in 'Dabbabante Chess', invented by V.R. Parton in 1971.
See 'Alfilante' and 'Alibabante' created by Parton based on the 'Dabbabante' piece.
'Doughnut', see 'Templar'.
Dragon
Dragon: Moves like a Knight and Pawn.
Dragon: Moves like a 2,1 leaper and Pawn.
'Chessics 14', July-December 1982, page 15, diagram 224, 'Reading Observer'
29 June 1912 version, mate in 2 with Dragon.
'Variant Chess 2', April-June, 1990, page 20, 'Reading Observer', 1912,
there is a mate in 2 problem with the Dragon by T.R.Dawson.
'Cheltenham Examiner', 19 June 1913, T. R. Dawson, mate in 2 with Dragon.
'Variant Chess 31', Spring 1999, page 44 has 5 Dragon problems, one by T. R. Dawson.
This piece is mostly only used in fairy chess problems, however, I do know of these games:
Plays in 'Every Man A Pawn', by Peter Aronson, 2001.
Plays in 'Abecedarian Big Chess (ABChess)', by Glenn Overby, 2002.
Duchess
Duchess: Moves like a Dabbabarider and a Bishop.
Duchess: Moves like a Dabbabarider and a Bishop.
Wikipedia: 'Ciccolini's Chess' (1820). Called 'General'.
Chessvariants says about Ciccolini's Chess': Introduced by Guiseppi Ciccolini in 1820.
I can hardly find info on this game, please help.
The name 'Duchess' comes from George Jellis, mentioned in 'Chessics' #18, Summer, 1984.
'Variant Chess 7', July 1991 - March 1992, page 88 again mentions 'Duchess'.
Duck
Duck: leaps repeatedly 2 squares orthogonally or moves as Fers.
Duck: Dabbabarider + FersLeaps repeatedly 2 squares orthogonally or moves as Fers.
Name comes from 'All the King's Men', George Jelliss.
Is there any games with this? Please help.
Duke
Duke (Kylin, Diamond): Moves like Dabbaba and Fers.
Duke (Kylin, Diamond): Moves like a 0,2 and 1,1 leaper.
This piece plays in 'Dai Shogi', an early Japanese Chess variant, dated AD 1230, and several
other old Japanese big board Shogi variants. It is called a 'Kylin'.
The name 'Duke' comes from George Jellis, mentioned in 'Chessics' #18, Summer, 1984.
'Variant Chess 7', July 1991 - March 1992, page 88 mentions 'Duke'.
Must be games with this piece in, please help.
Edgehog
Edgehog: Slides in any direction, but must change from edge to middle or middle
to edge
Edgehog: The Edgehog moves like a Queen -- sliding any distance in any
straight line -- but must if it starts on an edge square, end up on a
non-edge square, and if it starts on a non-edge square, end up on an edge
square.
The Edgehog was invented in 1966 by John Driver.
The name was come up with first, and then the piece was invented to fit.
Plays in 'Edgehog Chess', 1966, John Driver.
Edgehog2
Edgehog2: Slides in any direction, but must start or finish on the edge
Edgehog: The Edgehog moves like a Queen -- sliding any distance in any straight
line -- but must start or end on an edge square.
The Edgehog was invented in 1966 by John Driver.
The name was come up with first, and then the piece was invented to fit.
He invented two different versions of the Edgehog piece.
Plays in 'Edgehog Chess', 1966, John Driver.
Plays in a version of 'Edgehog Chess' created by Peter Aronson.
Not sure of the date, but Peter Aronson created a zrf in 2001 for 'Edgehog Chess'
with the 2 versions of the Edgehog by John Driver and his own version.
If this is the date of creation please tell me!!
Elephant-Thai
Elephant-Thai (Khon, Sin): Steps 1 square diagonally or straight ahead.
Elephant-Thai (Khon, Sin): steps 1 square diagonally or straight ahead.
Called 'Kohn' in 'Makruk', Thai Chess.Called 'Sin' in 'Sittuyin', Burmese Chess.
Moves as a 'Silver General' does in many Japanese Chess variants.
Emperor
Emperor (Marquis): Moves like a Knight and Wazir.
Emperor: Moves like a 2,1 and 0,1 leaper.
Name comes from George Jellis, mentioned in 'Chessics' #18, Summer, 1984.
'Variant Chess 1', January-March 1990, page 8, mate in 2 by J.Oudot, from
'The Problemist', 1968, by a Knight-Wazir combo piece.
Called 'Marquis' in Adrian King's 'Scirocco' and 'Jupiter', 1999.
Plays in 'Seeping Switchers' army for 'Chess with Different Armies' by Jörg Knappen, year?
In this game it is also called 'Marquis'.
Plays in 'Flying Armies', May 2006, Christine Bagley-Jones.
See 'Leapers -emperor-prince' variant. Called 'Emperor'.
Plays in 'Hadean Chess', 2008, Charles Daniel. Called 'Wazir Knight' in this game.
Plays in 'Octopus Chess', 2009, Charles Daniel. Called 'Wazir Knight'.
'Empress', see 'Marshall'.
Enhanced-Knight
Enhanced-Knight: Moves like a Knight, Camel and Alfil.
Enhanced-Knight: Moves like a 2,1 and 3,1 and 2,2 leaper.
Plays in 'Gast's Chess', John W. Gast, 1969.
John W. Gast, of Worthington, Ohio created this variation in 1969.
Eutonic-Knight
Eutonic-Knight: Moves like a Knight, Camel and Wazir.
Eutonic-Knight: Moves like a 2,1 and 3,1 and 0,1 leaper.
Piece by Jörg Knappen. Plays in 'Teutonic Knight's Chess', Jörg Knappen, 2009.
FAD
FAD: Steps 1 space diagonally, or jumps two on any Queen-line.
FAD: A FAD can either step one square diagonally, or
it can hop two squares orthogonally or diagonally. It hops
over any pieces on the way.
Therefore, this piece moves as a Alfil, Dabbaba and Fers.
Plays in 'Chess with Different Armies' by Ralph Betza, 1979. It is in the 'Colorbound Clobberers' army.
Plays in 'Two Kingdoms', 2001, Nuno Cruz. Called a 'Archer'.
Plays in Ramayana Chess, 2002, Luiz Carlos Campos. Piece called 'Brahmin'.
Ferfil
Ferfil: Moves like Alfil and Fers.
Ferfil moves as a 2,2 and 1,1 leaper.
Plays in 'Courier-Spiel', dated 1821 but could be older.
'Courier-Spiel' was mentioned by H. C. Albers from Lüneburg in 1821, and later
the information of Albers was repeated by Verney in his book 'Chess Eccentricities'.
Name in 'Courier-Spiel' is 'Bishop' or 'Elephant', I'm unsure, depends which website you see!!
Jean-Louis Cazaux has used this piece in many of his games, calling it an Elephant.
Plays in his games 'Shako', 1990, 'Perfect Tweleve Chess', 1999, 'Gigachess', 2001,
and also 'Tamerlane 2000', June 2000. 'Tamerlane 2000' was based on his first ever
chess variant, 'Tamerlane II', invented in 1978 and then revised in 1983, 1988, 1990 and
1997. First correct me if this info is wrong lol!!
Not sure but I believe the name 'Ferfil' comes from George Jelliss, 'Theory of Moves', 2001.
Unclear when he first used it. Wikipedia uses the name 'Ferfil'. Need help in this area!!
Plays in 'Modern Shatranj' by Joe Joyce, 2005. Called an 'Elephant'.
Plays in 'Great Shatranj' by Joe Joyce, 2006. Called an 'Elephant'.
Plays in many games, help with more info would be great!!
Fers
Fers (Firzan, General): Steps 1 square diagonally.
The Fers is a 1,1 leaper.
Plays in 'Chaturanga', it is called the 'Counsellor'.
'Chaturanga' is said to have appeared in or before the 7th century.
Plays in 'Shatranj', which dates around the 7th century.
Plays in all the old big board Shatranj variants, like Shatranj Kamil,
Tamerlane Chess, Shatranj Al-Husun - Citadel Chess and Shatranj al-Kabir.
Plays in Courier Chess, which was played in or before the 12th century.
'Variant Chess 15', Oct-Dec, 1994, page 108 shows 2 Fers in a 'Courier Chess' problem
dated around 1140, Paul V. Byway, after As-Suli.
The 'Fers' is one of the oldest pieces with Rook, Knight, Alfil, Pawn and King.
Fibnif
Fibnif: 1 space diagonal or jump 2 forward/back and 1 outward.
Fibnif: A Fibnif either takes one step diagonally, or
jumps two squares forward and one outward, or jumps
two squares back and one square outward. It hops over any pieces on the way.
Plays in 'Chess with Different Armies' by Ralph Betza, 1979. It is in the 'Nutty Knights' army.
Plays also in 'Meticulous Mashers', by Ralph Betza.
'Meticulous Mashers' is an army for the 'CwDA' collection, by Ralph Betza.
'Meticulous Mashers' were designed for 'Chess with Different Armies'.
See the Zillions game 'CwDA', 2002, for 'Meticulous Mashers' and many more armies.
'Chess with Different Armies' 1979, by Ralph Betza originally had 4 armies.
'Fabulous FIDE's', 'Nutty Knights', 'Colorbound Clobberers' and 'Remarkable Rookies'.
Fiveleaper
Fiveleaper: Fiveleaper is a (3,4) + (0,5) leaper
Fiveleaper: Fiveleaper is a (3,4) + (0,5) leaper.
Wikipedia: Leaper making moves of length 5 units, due to the Theorem of Pythagoras
it has twelve possible directions. Also named 'Root-25-Leaper'.
'Chessics 24', Volume 2, Number 24, Winter 1985, page 93:
M.Kraitchik, 'Le Probleme du Cavalier', 1927, gave a Fiveleaper tour of the
8x8 board,and a Root-Fifty-Leaper tour of the squares of one color on a 12x12
board, both tours are closed.
'Variant Chess 1', January-March 1990, by George Jelliss, 'Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement'
1932 by W.E.Lester.
See page 8 for chess problem with Fiveleaper.
Plays in 'Sky' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2005.
Flamingo
Flamingo: 6-1 leaper.
Flamingo: 6-1 leaper.
'Variant Chess 30', Winter 1998, page 30, Helpstalemate in 2, 4 solutions with Flamingo and
Camel, Antelope, Giraffe, Zebrarider and Equihopper.
'Variant Chess 33', Autumn 1999, page 13, Helpmate in 8 with a Flamingo by V. Nebotov.
Plays in 'Sky' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2005.
Flying-Dragon
Flying-Dragon (Caliph): Moves like Bishop and Camel.
Flying-Dragon (Caliph): Moves like Bishop and a 3,1 leaper.
Plays in 'Ganymede Chess', 1999, by Mark E Hedden.
Called a 'Flying Dragon' in this game.
Plays in 'Ecumenical Chess', 2003, by Charles Gilman.
Called a 'Caliph' in this game.
Plays in 'Sahara Chess' by Chris Huntoon, 2012. Called a 'Magus'.
Fourleaper
Fourleaper: 0-4 leaper
Fourleaper: 0-4 leaper
'Chessics 11', January-June, 1981, page 7, value of Fourleaper given in list of
various pieces on an 8x8 board.
Plays in 'Sky' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2005.
Frog
Frog: 3,0 leaper and one step diagonally.
Frog: 3,0 leaper and one step diagonally.
Name used by George Jelliss, 'All the King's Men'.
'Chessics 24', Volume 2, Winter 1985, page 94:
The earliest example of an amphibian that I have come across is the appropriately
named Frog, a (1,1)+(0,3) leaper, in the puzzle shown in diagram A. This is given
by A.C.Pearson in 'The Twentieth Century Standard Puzzle Book', 1907.
Plays in 'Presiding Chess' by Tucker Kao, 2003.
Plays in 'Frog Chess' By Kevin Pacey, 2017.
Fusilier
Fusilier (Steward): Moves like non capturing Wazir and capturing Fers.
Fusilier (Steward): Moves like non capturing Wazir and capturing Fers.
'All the King's Men' and 'Gambiter' sites say name comes from F. Marinelli, 1770.
Wikipedia site says Jeu de la Guerre, Prague, 1770.
Also known as a 'Quadrapawn', a 'Steward' (Brown) or a 'Hobbit'.
Plays in 'Centennial Chess' called 'Steward' by John William Brown, 1997. The rules
of this game were first published in his book 'Meta Chess'.
Plays in 'Leaping Missing Bat Chess' called 'Walker' by John Savard, 2001.
'Gazelle', (Knight-Zebra), see 'Okapi'.
General
General: 3-1 leaper; steps 1 square orthogonally or diagonally.
General: 3-1 leaper and 0,1 and 1,1 leaper.
Piece from Paulovits's Game, invented by István Paulovits, c.1890.
Must be more games for this piece, please help.
Genie
Genie: Slides 1-3 squares on the Queen lines, or captures without moving 1 square all directions.
Genie: Slides 1-3 squares on the Queen lines, or captures without moving 1 square all directions.
Plays in 'Scirocco' and 'Jupiter' by Adrian King, 1999.
Giraffe
Giraffe: 4-1 leaper.
Giraffe: 4-1 leaper.
Plays in 'Grande Acedrex' a game that is described in the
book 'Libro del Acedrex', in the year 1283.
H.J.R.Murray has given the Giraffe this movement, 4-1 leaper, to the Giraffe.
Some people give the Giraffe the movement of the Zebra, a 2-3 leaper for this game.
Searching for earliest game after 'Grande Acedrex', if anyone knows.
From Games and Puzzles Journal 16, page 290, 15 May 1999, by G. P. Jelliss -
Closed tours by Zebra (2,3) mover) and Giraffe (1,4) mover) on the l0xl0 board were found
by A.H.Frost as long ago as 1886, in M.Frolow, Les Cands Magiques, Paris 1886, Plate VII.
This same info is also in 'Chessics 24', Volume 2, Number 24, Winter 1985, page 94.
'Variant Chess 26', Winter 1997-8, page 126, T.R.Dawson, 'The Australasian' 10 Oct 1914
shows mate in 2 with Grasshoppers, Giraffe, Camel, Dabbaba, Alfil and Kangaroos.
'Chessics 9' October 1980, page 8, T.R.Dawson shows a Giraffe path in 62 moves, this is
from 'L' Echiquier' 1930.
'Chessics 22', Summer 1985, page 61 talks about open Giraffe paths
in 'Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement', April 1933.
'Variant Chess 30', Winter 1998, page 30, Helpstalemate in 2, 4 solutions with Flamingo and
Camel, Antelope, Giraffe, Zebrarider and Equihopper.
Giraffe-Congo
Giraffe-Congo: Moves like Alfil, Dabbaba or non-capture move 1 square all directions.
Giraffe-Congo: Moves like Alfil, Dabbaba or non-capture move 1 square all directions.
Plays in 'Congo', 1982, by Demian Freeling.
Congo is a chess variant, invented by Demian Freeling at the age of seven in 1982.
Demian Freeling is the son of Christian Freeling, a well known games inventor.
Giraffe-Fers
Giraffe: 4-1 leaper, + Fers moves.
Giraffe: 4-1 leaper 1,1 leaper.
Plays in 'Leapers Creepers', 2005, Christine Bagley-Jones. Called a 'GiraffeQueen'.
There must be other games, please help.
Giraffe-Wazir
Giraffe: 4-1 leaper + Wazir moves.
Giraffe: 4-1 leaper + 0,1 leaper.
I do not know of a game with this piece.
Giraffe-Wazir-Fers
Giraffe-Wazir-Fers: 4-1 leaper, Wazir and Fers moves.
Giraffe-Wazir-Fers: 4-1 leaper, Wazir and Fers moves.
I do not know of a game with this piece.
Girafferider
Girafferider: Repeatedly leaps like a Giraffe, a 4-1 leaper.
Girafferider: The Girafferider moves repeatedly as a Giraffe.
A Giraffe is a 4,1 leaper.
I do not know of a game with this piece.
Girlscout
Girlscout (Crooked Rook): Slides on alternate orthogonals.
Girlscout (Crooked Rook): Slides on alternating orthogonals 90 degrees apart.
It may not leap over other pieces.It is also known as a Crooked Rook.
Ralph Betza called it a 'Crooked Rook', 1996.
Plays in 'Jupiter', 1999, Adrian King.
Gnu
Gnu: Leaps like a Knight or Camel.
Gnu: Combines the powers of a Knight and a Camel.
The 'Gnu' has been used in fairy chess problems - in 1939, a mate in two problem
with a Gnu was published by W. Karsch in 'Fairy Chess Review'.
For above problem, see 'Variant Chess 1', January-March, 1990, page 8.
'Chessics 9', October 1980, page 9, in 'Fairy Chess Review' 1944, T.R.Dawson shows
a Gnu tour on a board (8x8) using longest path and no cross-overs in 52 moves.
R. Wayne Schmittberger invented a fascinating variant called 'Wildebeest Chess' in 1987,
on an 11x10 board using Gnus and Camels; see his book 'New Rules For Classic Games'
for a description. Called a 'Wildebeest'.
Plays in 'Ganymede Chess', 1999, Mark Hedden. Called a 'Gnu'.
Plays in 'Musketeer Chess' by Zied Haddad, 2011, called a 'Unicorn'.
Grasshopper
Grasshopper: Slides, jumps piece to move or capture on landing square.
It may be moved any distance along ranks, files, and diagonals to occupy, or capture on,
a square immediately beyond an intervening man of either colour; it can neither be moved
unless it hops nor hop over two men.
'REMEMBERING THOMAS DAWSON (28-XI-1889 16-XII-1951)' December 16, 2019 JOHN UPHAM ;
'For fairy problems he invented new pieces: Grasshopper (1912) Leo (1912), Neutral Man (1912)
Nightrider (1925) and Vao (1912)'.
Grasshoppers were invented by T.R. Dawson in 1912 for use in fairy chess problems.
From an article 'Grasshopper Chess Problems', collected by G. P. Jelliss:
1913 — The Grasshopper of the chessboard was revealed to the world on Thursday the 3rd of July 1913
in the chess column of the Cheltenham Examiner newspaper.
To see this problem: 'Variant Chess 3', July-September 1990, page 32.
It is one of the most popular fairy pieces used in chess problems.
'Variant Chess 26', Winter 1997-8, page 126, T.R.Dawson, 'The Australasian' 10 Oct 1914
shows mate in 2 with Grasshoppers, Giraffe, Camel, Dabbaba, Alfil and Kangaroos.
In the 1950s, J. Boyer from France, who invented many chess variants, invented 'Grasshopper Chess'.
Plays in 'Twenty-first Century Chess', 1991, by G. P. Jelliss. 'Variant Chess 6' April-June 1991, page 70.
Plays in 'Flying Armies' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2006. See 'Grasshopper Locust' variant.
Greater-Grasshopper
Greater-Grasshopper: Grasshopper + Nightriderhopper + Camelhopper + Zebrahopper.
Greater-Grasshopper: Grasshopper + Nightriderhopper + Camelhopper + Zebrahopper.
This piece was created by George Jelliss.
'Variant Chess 3, July-September 1990, page 33, diagram 32, George Jelliss, New Ideas Tourney,
Bournemouth 1989, Helpmate in 2 with Greater Grasshopper is shown.
Please see in 'notes on riderhoppers and hoppers' for more detail, but just briefly here,
a 'riderhopper' is a piece that hops to first cell beyond first man in lines of it's moves and
a 'hopper' is a piece that must hop on first move to the next cell in it's movement line.
They can hop over friend or enemy pieces.
Griffon
Griffon: Steps 1 diagonally, then slides orthogonally outward.
Griffon: The Griffon begins its move by stepping one square diagonally. Then,
it may slide an arbitrary number of squares orthogonally outward. It does not jump.
Plays in the game Grande Acedrex, which is a very old game mentioned in
Libro del Acedrex, a game book that dates from 1283 under the Spanish King Alphonso the Tenth.
'Gambiter' site says: Originally 'Aanca' (Griffon) in ancient Spanish.
Plays in 'Perfect Twelve Chess', 1999 and 'Gigachess', 2001, by Jean-Louis Cazaux.
Called a 'Gryphon' in both these games.
Plays in 'Metamachy', Jean-Louis Cazaux, 2009, called an 'Eagle'.
Jean-Louis Cazaux games 'Terachess' 2008, and 'Terachess 11', 2020, also have the 'Eagle'.
Must be in games by someone besides Jean-Louis Cazaux yeah, lol, please help.
Griffin-LMB
Griffin-LMB: Moves 1 square diagonally then 2 or more straight, can capture first 2 squares.
Griffin Plays in 'Leaping/Missing Bat Chess' by John Savard, 24 June 2001.
Moves 1 square diagonally then 2 or more straight, can capture first two squares or more.
Must move 1 square diagonally to begin, then only moves orthogonally.
If moving non-capture, cannot land on the first 2 squares it slides over.
If capturing, it can capture on first 2 squares or more.
Half-Duck
Half-Duck: Steps 1 space diagonally, or jumps 2 or 3 orthogonally
Half-Duck: A Half-Duck can either step one square diagonally, or
it can hop two or three squares orthogonally. It hops
over any pieces on the way.
It is a 1,1 or 2,0 or 3,0 leaper.
It is a Fers, Dabbaba and Threeleaper.
Plays in 'Chess with Different Armies' by Ralph Betza, 1979. It is in the 'Remarkable Rookies' army.
Hawklet
Hawklet: Slides 1 or 2 squares any direction.
Hawklet: Slides 1 or 2 squares any direction.
Plays in the game 'Jupiter', 1999, Adrian King. Called 'Hawklet'.
Plays in 'TamerSpiel' by Eric V. Greenwood, 2002. Called 'Nobleman'.
Plays in 'The ShortRange Project', 2006, 'Sliding General', Joe Joyce and Christine Bagley-Jones.
Plays in 'Lemurian Shatranj', 2006, called a 'Sliding General', by Joe Joyce.
HighPriestess
HighPriestess: Moves like a Knight, Alfil and Fers.
HighPriestess: Moves like a Knight, Alfil and Fers.
Therefore, it is a 2,1 + 2,2 + 1,1 leaper.
Plays in 'Kozune', by Joshua Morris, 2005, called a 'Zune'.
Plays in 'Grand Shatranj' and 'Great Shatranj' games of Joe Joyce. Both games 2006. Called 'HighPriestess'.
Plays in 'The ShortRange Project', by Joe Joyce and Christine Bagley-Jones, 2006. Called 'HighPriestess'.
Plays in 'Capablanca Shatranj' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2006. Called 'HighPriestess'.
Hospitaler
Hospitaler (Kangaroo): Moves like a Knight and Alfil.
Hospitaler: Moves like a Knight and Alfil.
Knight-Fers and Knight-Alfil tours were first given by Abu-Bakr Muhammad ben Yahya
as-Suli, born circa 880, died 946 ad. They are reproduced in numerical form in
H.J.R.Murray's 'A History of Chess' 1913, p.336.
Name 'Hospitaler' used in an article called 'Theory of Moves' by George Jelliss, 4 January 2001.
See here: https://www.mayhematics.com/t/2a.htm
'Variant Chess 4', October-December 1990, George Jelliss, page 39, name 'Hospitaler' used.
Plays in 'Ramayana Chess', Nov 13th, 2002 by Luiz Carlos Campos. Called a 'Shikari'.
Plays in 'Outback Chess', Nov 18th, 2002, Timothy R. Newton. Called a 'Kangaroo'.
Plays in 'The ShortRange Project', by Joe Joyce and Christine Bagley-Jones, 2006.
It is called a 'Priestess' in this game. 'Shatranj 10x8' variant.
Please note, Luiz Carlos Campos, who created 'Ramayana Chess' and whose page for this
game he also wrote on 'chessvariants' site has the 'Shikari' piece moving as 'Knight and Alfil'.
However, the zrf for this game by Peter Aronson for some mysterious reason has this piece
as a 'Knight and Dabbaba'.
Ibis
Ibis (Zemel): 5-1 leaper.
Ibis: The Ibis is a 5-1 leaper.Also called 'Zemel', Charles Gilman.
Listed as 'Ibis' on Wikipedia, 'kobulchess' and 'Julia's Fairies' websites etc.
Most common name I found.
See 'Leapers at Large', 2001 by George Jelliss, 1 January 2001. Under the section
'Longer Leapers', many long leapers named by Charles Gilman is listed.
'Zemel' is the name Charles Gilman uses for the 5-1 leaper.
See here for list: https://www.mayhematics.com/t/pl.htm#(5).
Impala
Impala: Moves like a Knight and Antelope.
Impala: Moves as a 2,1 and 3,4 leaper.
Therefore, the Impala moves as a Knight and Antelope.
Listed on Wikipedia and 'Julia's Fairies' websites.
Wikipedia gives it's origin from Fairy Chess problems.
I need to research more on this piece, it's a last minute here lol.
'Kangaroo' (Knight-Alfil), see 'Hospitaler'.
King
King: Steps 1 square in any direction to a safe square.
King: Moves 1 square in all directions, so it moves as a
Wazir and Fers. Cannot move into check in most games.In many games it
can 'castle' with the Rook.In the most early games like Chaturanga and Shatranj
and 4 player Chaturanga there was no castling.It is the main piece of the game,
with the object of checkmating the King.
Earliest names are 'Rajah' from 'Chaturanga', India, and the Persians used the name 'Shah'.
Knight
Knight: Moves like a 2-1 leaper.
Knight: Moves like a 2-1 leaper.
Ancient piece, plays in the very earliest forms of Chess, like 'Chaturanga' and 'Shatranj'
and '4 Player Chaturanga', around the 7th Century. Could be much older, no one knows the real
date of these games.
Plays in 'Courier Chess' around 12th Century.
Plays in 'Tamerlane Chess', 14th Century.
Like the Rook, it plays in too many games to list. It is one of the most famous chess pieces.
'Chessics 26', Volume 2, 1986, page 127:
The first magic tour by a Knight was by William Beverley
in 'The Philosophical Magazine and Journal', London, August 1848
(in a letter dated at June 5, 1847).
'Knight-Fers', see 'Prince'.
'Knight-Wazir', see 'Emperor'.
'Knight-Wazir-Fers', see 'Centaur'.
'Knight-Alfil', see 'Hospitaler'.
'Knight-Dabbaba', see 'Templar'.
Knight-Alfil-Wazir
Knight-Alfil-Wazir: Moves like a Knight, Alfil and Wazir.
Knight-Alfil-Wazir: Moves like a Knight, Alfil and Wazir.
Therefore, moves as a 2,1 + 2,2 + 0,1 leaper.
Is this piece in a game, please help.
Knight-Alfil-Fers', see 'HighPriestess'.
Knight-Camel-Fers
Knight-Camel-Fers: Moves like a Knight, Camel and Fers.
Knight-Camel-Fers: Combines the powers of a Knight, Camel and Fers.
Plays in 'Ramayana Chess' by Luiz Carlos Campos, 2002.
Piece is called 'Devapala.
'Knight-Camel-Wazir', see 'Eutonic-Knight'.
Knight-Dabbaba-Fers
Knight-Dabbaba-Fers: Moves like a Knight, Dabbaba and Fers.
Knight-Dabbaba-Fers: Moves like a Knight, Dabbaba and Fers.
Is this piece in a game, please help.
'Knight-Dabbaba-Wazir', see 'Minister'.
Lancer
Lancer: 4-2 leaper
Lancer: 4-2 leaper
'Chessics 11', January-June, 1981, page 7, value of 4-2 leaper is given in list of
various pieces on an 8x8w board.
Earliest use I can see of the name 'Lancer' comes from 'Theory of Moves' by G. P. Jelliss, 2001.
Plays in 'Sky' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2005.CONTINUES in 'Rules' section (wouldn't let me add more here).
Rules
Leo
Leo: Slides like a Queen, captures by jumping.
Leo: A Leo moves like a Queen when it does not capture.
When it captures, moves on Queen lines but it must hop over exactly one piece, regardless of its color.
After hopping over this piece it continues moving as a Queen until it reaches the next space occupied by a
piece belonging to the opponent. It moves to the same space, capturing the piece by displacement.
'REMEMBERING THOMAS DAWSON (28-XI-1889 16-XII-1951)' December 16, 2019 JOHN UPHAM ;
'For fairy problems he invented new pieces: Grasshopper (1912) Leo (1912), Neutral Man (1912)
Nightrider (1925) and Vao (1912)'.
'A Guide to Fairy Chess', Anthony Dickens, 1969, page 11:
'The Leo moves like a Queen, the Pao moves like a Rook and the
Vao moves like a Bishop. They were introduced by T.R.Dawson from
Chinese Chess, probably before 1914'.
Above info is mentioned by chessvariants but also they give this info;
According to 'The Definitive Book; Encyclopedia Of Chess Problems: Themes And Terms'
by Milan Velimirovic and Kari Valtonen, the Leo and other pieces based on or borrowed
from Chinese Chess, were introduced to a wider European publicity by P.Seyfert-Bitterfeld
in the February 1936 issue of Die Schwalbe (p. 97).
Wikipedia gives following 4 references after saying 'Dawson <1914':
'Plays in 'Akenhead's Chess', 1947.
Plays in 'Caïssa Britannia', Fergus Duniho, 2003, called a 'Lion'.
Charles Gilman calls it a 'Tank', 2003, in numerous games of his.
Called a 'Sorceress' in Jean-Louis Cazaux's variants.
Variant Chess 3, July-Sept 1990, page 29, George Jelliss:
The Leo, which is Pao+Vao (analogous to Queen=R+B) was first mentioned in an article -
'Kings at the Court of Leo' by Major J. Akenhead of Newport (Monmouth) in FCR April 1947,
in which he proposed a game using Leo, Pao, Vao and Mao in place of Q, R, B and N, and with
Berolina Pawns.
'Simple Chess Variants' by George P. Jelliss;
The Leo, Pao (or Cannon, a piece from Chinese chess) and Vao (Z.Mach FCR 1940) are hybrid
hoppers that move like a Queen, Rook or Bishop and capture along these lines like a Lion.
In Leo chess the Queen is replaced by Leo. In Chinoise chess
the Queen, Rook and Bishop are replaced by Leo, Pao and Vao.
In Akenhead's Chess (J.Akenhead Fairy Chess Review April 1947) additionally the Knights
becomes Maos, and Berolina pawns are used.
Chessvariants site: Its earliest known use in a game is Joseph Boyer's 'Lion Chess' from the 1950s.
Lion
Lion: Slides on Queen lines, must jump exactly once to move. Captures landing on piece.
Lion: The Lion moves on the Queens lines, but must jump exactly once when moving.
It can pass any number of unoccupied squares, but must pass an occupied square.
After jumping, it can land on the squares that follow in that direction. Captures by landing on piece.
The difference with the Grasshopper is that a Lion can move more squares after taking the hurdle:
the Grasshopper must land on the square directly after the hurdle.
'All the King's Men' site says:
Lion: Travels and captures by hops along Queen lines over one man, from any distance before to any distance beyond;
J. de A. Almay, Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement 1937.
In 'Variant Chess 3, July September 1990, page 33, there is a Helpstalemate in 3, with 2 Lions
by J.deA.ALMAY PFCS ii 1937.
Lion-Grande-Acedrex
Lion-Grande-Acedrex: Moves as a Camel and a 0-3 leaper.
Lion-Grande-Acedrex Moves as a Camel and a 0-3 leaper.
Plays in 'Grande Acedrex', 1283, called a 'Lion'.
It appears unclear how the 'Lion' moved in 'Grande Acedrex'.
This is one of the different ways it could of moved.
'https://gambiter.com/chess/variants/Fairy_chess_piece.html' calls this piece
'Leon', in 'Grande Acedrex', saying it is a Spanish Lion.
Lioness
Lioness: Moves like Knight, Dabbaba, Alfil, Wazir, Ferz.
Lioness: Moves like Knight, Dabbaba, Alfil, Wazir, Ferz.
Plays in 'Scirocco' by Adrian King, March 1999. Called a 'Lioness'.
Plays in Perfect Twelve Chess, April 1999 by Jean-Louis Cazaux.
Plays in Gigachess, 2001 by Jean-Louis Cazaux.
Plays in 'Metamachy', 2012, by Jean-Louis Cazaux.
Plays in many other games by Jean-Louis Cazaux, such as
Zanzibar-XL, Zanzibar-S and Terachess II, all games in 2020.
In all these games by Jean-Louis Cazaux this piece is called a 'Lion'.
Plays in 'Kozune' under the name 'Kozune' by Joshua Morris 2005.
Locust
Locust: Slides Queen lines, jumps to capture on vacancy immediately beyond.
Locust: A Locust moves on the Queen lines, but must jump an opposing piece and land on
the first square after the piece it jumps, which must be empty.
The jumped over piece is captured. The Locust can not move without capturing.
Peter Aronson from chessvariants site says 'It does not seem to be recorded who invented this piece'.
Plays in 'Edgehog Chess II' by John Driver, 1966.
Plays in 'Edgehog Chess III' by Peter Aronson, 2001.
Games and Puzzles Journal, Issue 8 and 9 combined, Nov 1988 - Feb 1989
page 133, problem 115 by C.Poisson. See text under 'Notes for Solvers',
a Locust and a Royal Wazir is in this chess problem.
Variant Chess 22, Winter 1996-7, page 35, 'Helpmate' in 2, with 2 solutions,
using Locusts. It won 1st Prize, by H. Fougaxis, 'The Problemist', 1991.
Plays in 'Flying Armies' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2006. See 'Grasshopper Locust' variant.
Plays in 'Locusts' by Yu Ren Dong, 2009.
'Simple Chess Variants' by George Jelliss, 2010, page 11
In Maritime chess or Sea chess (G.Brogi Chess Amateur February 1929) the Queen, Rook,
Bishop are re-placed by Sea-pieces which move as normal but capture by hopping over
the victim to the first square beyond. Sea-Queen is known as Siren or Mermaid, Sea-Rook
as Triton, and Sea-Bishop as Nereid. This type of capture is called locust capture.
The original problem piece called a Locust was in effect a Sea-Queen that moves only to capture.
Lynx
Lynx: Moves like a Rook, Knight and Zebra.
Lynx: Moves like a Rook, Knight and Zebra.
'Variant Chess 2', April-June, 1990, page 20, by C.R.Flood,
'The Problemist 1975' has a mate in 2 for the Lynx.
'Maharaja', see 'Amazon'.
Man
Man (Commoner): Moves 1 square in all directions.
Man: Moves 1 square in all directions.
Plays in 'Shatranj Kamil', Variation 2, which is over a 1,000 years old.
In this game it is called a 'Dabbaba', or 'War Engine', 'War Machine'.
Despite the name 'Dabbaba', it moved like Wazir and Fers.
Plays in 'Courier Chess' which was played in or before the 12th century.
It is called a 'Man' in this game.Also plays in 'Courier-Spiel', which
was mentioned by H. C. Albers from Luneburg in 1821 as being played in the same area;
later the information of Albers was repeated by Verney in his book 'Chess Eccentricities' in 1885.
It was called a 'Fool' in this game.
Plays in many of Joe Joyce's Shatranj games under the name 'General'.
Mao
Mao: Moves 1 square orthogonally then 1 square diagonally outward. Cannot jump.
Mao: The Mao reaches the same squares as a Knight, but slides to do so.
It must pass over an empty square orthogonally, then it continues one square diagonally outward. Cannot jump.
Ancient chess piece, plays in Xiangqi, which is Chinese Chess.
Xiangqi is an ancient game, unclear when first appeared.
Some say during the Tang dynasty around the 7th and 8th century AD. It could be much older, no one knows.
Variant Chess 3, July September 1990, page 29 gives 2 chess problems with the Mao in 1939 and 1949.
See diagram C and D, both by Zdenek Mach, 'Fairy Chess Review' xii, both mate in 2.
'Introducing Variant Chess', George Jelliss, 2002:
'Akenhead's Chess'. Chess in which Queen, Rook, Bishop and Knight are replaced by
Leo, Pao, Vao and Mao, and Berolina pawns are used.
'J.Akenhead Fairy Chess Review April 1947'.
Mao-Bishop
Mao-Bishop: Moves like a Mao and Bishop.
Mao-Bishop: Moves like a Mao and Bishop.Unclear first appearance.
It is in 'Games and Puzzles Journal' #10, by G.P.Jelliss, March-April 1989,
page 156, problem by M.OLAUSSON.
Searching for games of this piece.
Maorider
Maorider: Repeatedly slides like a Mao. Cannot jump.
Maorider: Repeatedly slides like a Mao, just like all riders.
Must first step orthogonally, then diagonally outward to makes a Knight move, and then repeat that in the same direction.
Cannot leap over pieces.
Maorider in 'Variant Chess 10', Apr-Jun 1993, page 24, diagram 17, by Peter Wong.
'Variant Chess 29', Autumn 1998, page 12, Juraj Lorinc, Help double stalemate
in 2.5 moves, Maorider and Moarider.
Maoriderhopper
Maoriderhopper: Moves like a Maoriderhopper.
Maoriderhopper: Moves like a Maoriderhopper.
Below info from 'All the Kings Men', George Jelliss.
'Piece that hops to first cell beyond first man in lines of Mao moves'.
It can hop a piece of either color.
A Mao slides 1 square orthogonally and then one diagonally outward.
Marshall
Marshall: Slides like a Rook or leaps like a Knight
Marshall: Combines the powers of a Rook and a Knight.
Most common names for this piece are Empress, Marshall and Chancellor.
See 'Chessvariants' site, 'Piececlopedia', 'Marshall', lots of information.
Possible first appearance in 'Carrera's Chess' called a 'Champion'.
D. Pietro Carrera invented this chess variant in the 17th century.
He wrote a long book on chess, called Il Gioco de gli Scacchi,
and published it in 1617 in Miltello in Sicily.
Plays in 'The Duke of Rutland's Chess', called a 'Concubine', John, third Duke of Rutland, 1747.
Plays in 'Turkish Great Chess', called a 'Dabbaba' (War Machine), Unknown, <= 18th century.
Plays in 'The Sultan's Game', called a 'Marshall', by Peguilhen, circa 1815. It was first described
in 1819 in the first volume of 'Archiv der Spiele' by an anonymous author who did say he personally meet
with Peguilhen, and that these games were created a few years previous. It was later described by Ludwig Tressan
of Leipzig in his 1840 work 'Das Schachspiel, seine Gattungen und Abarten',
(The Game of Chess, its Types and Varieties), which may be the first book ever devoted entirely to chess variants.
This info comes from chessvariants site under the game page for 'The Sultan's Game'.
Please note at same site in 'Piececolpedia' under the piece name (Empress, Marshall, Chancellor)
it credits L. Tressan as the game creator.
Plays in 'Bird's Chess', called a 'Guard', Henry Bird, 1874.
Plays in 'Chancellor Chess', called a 'Chancellor', Ben Foster, 1887.
Plays in 'Capablanca Chess', called a 'Marshall' / 'Chancellor', J. R. Capablanca, 1920's.
Plays in 'Wolf Chess' called a 'Wolf', Dr. Arno von Wilpert(?), <= 1943.
Plays in 'Cagliostro's Chess', called a 'Chancellor', Savio Cagliostro, 1950-1975?.
Plays in 'Tutti-Frutti Chess', called a 'Empress', Ralph Betza and Philip Cohen, 1978.
Plays in 'Renniassance Chess', called a 'Nobleman', Eric V. Greenwood, 1980.
Plays in 'Grand Chess', called a 'Marshall', Christian Freeling, 1984.
Plays in 'Grand Chess', called a 'Marshall', Christian Freeling, 1984.
See 'chessvariants' site for more games, I've said enough here lol.
Moa
Moa: moves 1 square diagonally + 1 square orthogonally outward. Cannot jump.
Moa: The Moa reaches the same squares as a Knight, but slides to do so.
It must pass over an empty square, first diagonally then orthogonally. Cannot leap.
'Variant Chess 34', Winter 1999, page 28, Helpmate in 2 by A. Ettinger with a Moa.
'Simple Chess Variants by George Jelliss, 2010, page 10:
The Moa (W.Speckman) is a Knight that moves as Fers followed by Wazir.
Moo
Moo: moves like a Mao or Moa. It must slide, ending up moving like a knight. Cannot jump.
Moo: The Moo reaches the same squares as a Knight, but slides to do so.
It must pass over an empty square, either diagonally or orthogonally first.
Therefore, the Moo is a combination of the Mao and Moa.
Moonrider
Moonrider: Moves as a Nightrider and Zebra.
Moonrider: Moves as a Nightrider and Zebra.
Plays in 'Ganymede Chess', 1999, Mark Hedden.
Minister
Minister: Moves like a Knight, Dabbaba and Wazir.
Minister: Moves like a Knight, Dabbaba and Wazir.
Therefore it moves as a 2,1 + 0,2 + 0,1 leaper.
Plays in 'Kozune', by Joshua Morris, 2005, called a 'Kone'.
Plays in 'Grand Shatranj' and 'Great Shatranj' games of Joe Joyce. Both games 2006. Called 'Minister'.
Plays in 'The ShortRange Project', by Joe Joyce and Christine Bagley-Jones, 2006. Called 'Minister'.
Plays in 'Capablanca Shatranj' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2006. Called 'Minister'.
Murray-Lion
Murray-Lion: Moves like Alfil, Dabbaba or capture only move 1 square all directions.
Murray-Lion: Moves like Alfil, Dabbaba or capture only move 1 square all directions.
In 'A History of Chess', chess historian H. J. R. Murray gives an incorrect description of the movement of the Lion in Chu Shogi.
However, this Lion is a rather interesting piece. Author John William Brown of the book 'Meta Chess' 1997, named this piece
the Murray Lion, both to honor Murray and to distinguish it from the actual Chu Shogi Lion.Info from chessvariants site.
Plays in Centennial Chess, 1997, and Millennial Chess, 1997. Both games by John William Brown published in his book
'Meta Chess' in 1997.
Plays in Jester Chess, 1999, by Thomas Havel.Plays in Wormhole Chess, 2000, Fergus Duniho.
Plays in 'Beastmaster Chess' by Glen E. Overby II, 2002.Plays in Treeleaders Chess, 2003, by Erez Schatz.
Napoleon
Napoleon: Moves as Wazir, or jumps far forward or backward like a Knight.
A Napoleon moves one square orthogonally, or jumps two squares forward
or backward followed by one square left or right.
Plays in 'Spacious Cannoneers' by Ralph Betza, 2001.
'Spacious Cannoneers' is an army for the 'CwDA' collection.
See the Zillions game 'CwDA', 2002, for 'Space Cannoneers' and many more armies.
Newt
Newt: 3,0 leaper and 2,2 leaper.
Newt: 0,3 leaper and 2,2 leaper.
Name from George Jelliss.
In 'Quangtrung Chess' by Vu Q, 2002, piece 'Voi' moves like a 'Newt'.
Nightrider
Nightrider: moves repeatedly like a Knight in same direction
Nightrider: Moves like a chess Knight, but may continue a series of
leaps in the same direction.One of the most popular fairy chess pieces,
it was invented in 1925 by T. R. Dawson (Wikipedia).
The 'Nightrider' is one of the most famous Fairy Chess pieces.
'All the Kings Men', George Jelliss: T. R. Dawson, 'Die Schwalbe' 1925.
'A Guide to Fairy Chess', Anthony Dickens, 1969, page 8 says:
First Nightrider by T.R.Dawson in 'Die Schwalbe', Feb 1925.
'REMEMBERING THOMAS DAWSON (28-XI-1889 16-XII-1951)' December 16, 2019 JOHN UPHAM ;
'For fairy problems he invented new pieces: Grasshopper (1912) Leo (1912), Neutral Man (1912)
Nightrider (1925) and Vao (1912)'.
'Variant Chess 1', Jan-March 1990, page 9, T.R.Dawson, 'Chess Amateur', 1927
gives a mate in 2 with Zebrarider, Camelrider and Nightrider.
In 'CHESSICS 2 - July 1976', the following variant is given.
FIVE RIDER CHESS, by T.R.Dawson 1936.
Instead of promotion to Q,R,B and S (Knight), pawns promoteto Rook, Bishop, Nightrider,
Camelrider or Zebrarider (R, B, N, C,Z). These are the five continuous straight line
riders that have room for a ride of at least two steps on the 8x8 board.
Below info taken from Wikipedia.
Plays in many games.Wolf Chess (1943), Edgehog Chess II (John Driver, 1966) & III (P. Aronson).
Cavalier Chess (Fergus Duniho, 1998).
Plays in 'Grand Rider Chess', Larry Wheeler, 2005.
Nightriderhopper
Nightriderhopper: Moves like a Nightriderhopper.
Nightriderhopper: Moves like a Nightriderhopper.
Below info from 'All the King's Men', George Jelliss.
Piece that hops to first cell beyond first man in lines of Knight moves.
T. R. Dawson and F. Douglas, Chess Amateur viii 1928, Shortest closed tour of
Night Rider Hopper over R.
'Variant Chess 3', July-September 1990, page 32, see 'Riderhoppers'.
N2R4
N2R4: Slides 1-4 squares orthogonally, leaps as a Knight, or again as a Knight.
N2R4: Slides 1-4 squares orthogonally, leaps as a Knight, or again as a Knight.
Plays in 'Meticulous Mashers', by Ralph Betza.
'Meticulous Mashers' is an army for the 'CwDA' collection, by Ralph Betza.
'Meticulous Mashers' were designed for 'Chess with Different Armies', April 1997.
See the Zillions game 'CwDA', 2002, for 'Meticulous Mashers' and many more armies.
'Chess with Different Armies' 1979, by Ralph Betza originally had 4 armies.
'Fabulous FIDE's', 'Nutty Knights', 'Colorbound Clobberers' and 'Remarkable Rookies'.
Okapi
Okapi (Gazelle): Moves like a Knight and Zebra.
Okapi (Gazelle): Combines the powers of an Zebra and Knight.
From 'Fairy Chess Problems', invented by Pierre Monréal, 1965 (Info from Wikipedia site).
'Gazelle' is another name used for this piece.
Plays in 'Two Kingdoms', 2001, Nuno Cruz. Called a 'Knight'.
Plays in 'Piece Promotions Games 2', 2005, by Christine Bagley-Jones.
See 'Leapers-Squirrel-Gazelle' variant. Called a 'Gazelle'.
'Knight's Tour Notes, Volume 1, Theory of Moves', 2019, George Jelliss, page 5, 'Okapi' listed.
Plays in 'Okapi Chess', 2024, Bob Greenwade.
'Paladin', see 'Marshall'.
Pasha
Pasha: Moves like an Alfil, Dabbaba, Wazir and Fers.
Pasha: Moves like an Alfil, Dabbaba, Wazir and Fers.
The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants refers to thispiece in Paulovits's Game, c.1890,
by Istvan Paulovits, calling it a 'Pasha'.
Plays in 'Renniassance Chess', by E. V. Greenwood, 1980, called a 'Squire'.
Plays in 'Al-Ces' by Köksal Karakus, 18th Mar 2000, called a 'Lion'.
Plays in 'Kozune', by Joshua Morris, 2005, called a 'Kozu'.
Plays in 'Grand Shatranj' by Joe Joyce, 2006, called a 'Jumping-General'.
Plays in 'Mastodon Chess' by Mats Winther, 2006, called a 'Mastodon'.
Plays in 'Mammoth Chess' by Mats Winther, 2006, called a 'Mammoth'.
Plays in 'Ajax Chess', by Jose Carrillo, 2009, called a 'Minister'.
Plays in 'Musketeer Chess' by Zied Haddad, 2011, called a 'Elephant'.
Pawn
Pawn: Moves 1 or 2 squares forward, captures diagonally, can promote on determined ranks.
Pawn: Moves 1 or 2 squares forward, captures diagonally, can usually promote to different
pieces on determined ranks.
One of the most ancient pieces, like the King, Rook, Knight, Alfil or Ship and Fers.
At first the Pawn only moved 1 square at all times, but around mid 15 century it was given the power to
move 1 or 2 squares at first move and then the'en passant' move was also given to the Pawn.
Earliest names for the 'Pawn' are 'Padati', which was Sanskrit for 'foot-soldier'.
The Persians translated this to 'Piyada', meaning 'foot-soldier'.
Pegasus
Pegasus: Leaps as a Giraffe and Zebra.
Pegasus: Leaps as a Giraffe and Zebra.
Plays in 'Beastmaster Chess' by Glen E. Overby II, 2002.
Picket
Picket (Taliah): Moves like a Bishop but always must move at least 2 squares.
Picket (Taliah)Moves like a Bishop but always must move at least 2 squares. Does not leap.
This piece is from Tamerlane Chess, also called Timur's chess from at least the 14th century.
Prince
Prince: Moves like a Knight and Fers.
Prince: Moves like a 2,1 and 1,1 leaper.
In 'Murray's History of Chess', page 336, there is an atlermating tour
of the Knight and Fers shown which is over a thousand years old.
Also see 'Chessics #18, Summer, 1984, to see diagram of tour.
The name 'Prince' comes from George Jellis, mentioned in 'Chessics' #18, Summer, 1984.
Variant Chess 11, Jul-Sept 1993, page 37 shows a mate with Knight and Fers dated at 1470.
This is from Murray's 'History of Chess' page 607. Jelliss says 'The position is taken from
the 'Ashmole Manuscript'. This has been dated as circa 1470 by Mr.F.Madan.
Called 'Priest' in Adrian King's 'Scirocco' and 'Jupiter', 1999.
Plays in Ramayana Chess, 2002, Luiz Carlos Campos. Piece called 'Singh'.
Plays in 'Flying Armies', May 2006, Christine Bagley-Jones.
See 'Leapers -emperor-prince' variant. Called 'Prince'.
Plays in 'Hadean Chess', 2008, by Charles Daniel. Called 'Ferz Knight' in this game.
Plays in 'Octopus Chess', 2009, Charles Daniel. Called 'Ferz Knight'.
'Princess', see 'Archbishop'.
Queen
Queen: Slides any number of squares orthogonally or diagonally.
Queen: Moves any number of squares orthogonally or diagonally.
It may not leap over other pieces.
All below is from Wikipedia we have the following information.
'The modern move of the Queen started in Spain during Isabella I's reign,
perhaps inspired by her great political power, and spread from there ...'
Her reign was from 1474 to 1504. She was the Queen of Castile.
During the 15th century, the Queen's move took its modern form as a combination of the Rook and Bishop.
The Queen and Bishop remained relatively weak until between 1475 AD and 1500 AD, in Spain
(in the Kingdom of Valencia), the Queen's and Bishop's modern moves started and spread,
making chess close to its modern form.
In some areas (e.g. Russia), the Queen could also move like a Knight.
Around 1230, the Queen was also independently invented as a piece in Japan,
where it formed part of the game of Dai Shogi. The piece was retained in the
smaller and more popular Chu Shogi, but does not form a part of modern Shogi.
It was called a 'Free King' in these games.
Queen-of-the-Night
Queen-of-the-Night: Moves like a Queen and a Nightrider.
Queen-of-the-Night: Moves like a Queen and a Nightrider.
'Wolf Chess' (German: Wolf-Schach) is a chess variant invented by Dr. Arno von Wilpert in 1943.
Pawns can promote to an various pieces that start in the game, or an 'Elephant', which only comes in the game
when promoted from a pawn. The Elephant moves as a Queen and Nightrider.
G. P. Jelliss called this piece the 'Queen of the Night' in his game 'Twenty-first Century Chess' 1991.
See 'Variant Chess 6' April-June 1991, page 70.
'Variant Chess 1', Jan-Mar 1990, page 9, T.R.Dawson, 'Marchenschachzeitung' 1932,
diagram 15, chess problem with a Nightrider and Queen of the Night (Queen+Nightrider).
'Variant Chess 35', Spring 2000, page 48, Selfmate in 11 by
T. Linss which is dedicated to Stephen Emmerson, has a 'Queen of the Night'. In this
problem it is called an Elephant, another name for this piece.
Plays in 'Pocket Mutation Chess', by Mike Nelson, 2003.
Raven
Raven: Moves like a Rook and a Nightrider.
Also known as 'Varan'.
Plays in 'Twenty-First Century Chess', George Jelliss, 1991. He doesn't seem
to have named the piece in this game, just saying 'Rook + Nightrider'.
See 'Variant Chess 6' April-June 1991, page 70.
Please note, this is a different game from Karl Munzlinger's game of the same name.
First reference I have of the name 'Raven' is from an article by George Jelliss
called 'A Guide to Variant Chess', 2002. Here he describes 'Twenty-First Century Chess' again.
'Variant Chess 3', July-September 1990, page 30, diagram 45, Erich Bartel.
Above problem is a mate in 2 with the 'Rook + Nightrider' and a 'Bishop + Knight' piece.
Reflecting-Bishop
Reflecting-Bishop: Moves diagonally any number of squares, bounces off of walls.
Reflecting-Bishop: Moves like a Bishop, sliding diagonally any number of
squares but when it encounters an edge, it may reflect 90 degrees and
keep moving.
Wikipedia gives 'Billiards Chess' (M. Jacques Berthoumeau, 1950s) as first appearance.
I say 'appears' because Chessvariants says:
The earliest reference I have to it is Billiards Chess, which was invented by M. Jacques Berthoumeau
in the 1950's, but the piece was most likely not new then. (Peter Aronson).
'Plays also in 'Edgehog Chess', 1966, John Driver.
'Edgehog Chess' had 2 variations, 'Reflecting Bishop' plays in 'Edgehog Chess II'.
Peter Aronson made a variant called 'Edgehog Chess III' in 2001 with 'Reflecting Bishop'.
Chessvariants site also mention the following chess variants with this piece.
Billards Chess, Billards Progressive Chess, Knighrider Bouncy Chess, Lambeth Conference Chess and Squarcle Chess.
The following information is from 'Chessics 7, March 1979, page 6:
The 'Archbishop' is a 'Reflecting Bishop' restricted to one bounce per go.
Reflecting Pieces have been around at least since the first 'Archbiship' problem
by G.Leathem, Number 423 in the Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement, June 1932.
Other reflecting pieces talked about in this article is 'Reflecting Grasshoppers'
by P.H.Johnson, which he calls the 'Fly'.
The same issue coniained the famous Fox family of Archbishop problems which is reproduced
in Dawson's collection of G. M. Fox's problems.
Roc
Roc: Leaps as a Camel and Alfil.
Roc : Leaps as a Camel and Alfil.
Plays in 'Beastmaster Chess' by Glen E. Overby II, 2002.
Is this the earliest game for this piece. I think amazing if so.
Rook
Rook: Slides any number of squares along the row or column.
Rook: A Rook moves any number of squares orthogonally on a rank
or a file. It may not leap over other pieces.
Ancient piece, plays in the very earliest forms of Chess, like 'Chaturanga' and 'Shatranj'
and '4 Player Chaturanga', around the 7th Century. Could be much older, no one knows the real
date of these games.
Plays in 'Courier Chess' around 12th Century.
Plays in 'Grant Acedrex', 13th Century and 'Tamerlane Chess', 14th Century.
Like the Knight, it plays in too many games to list. It is one of the most famous chess pieces.
Around the mid 15 century, it was given the power to 'castle' with the King.
Root-eightyfive-leaper
Root-eightyfive-leaper: 9-2, 7-6 leaper.
Root-eightyfive-leaper: 9-2, 7-6 leaper.
'Theory of Moves', 2001 by George Jelliss, 4 January 2001.
T. R. Dawson gave an analysis of multi-pattern fixed-distance leapers on larger boards in
Chess Amateur August 1925: Double-pattern: 6,7 + 2,9 = Root-eightyfive-leaper.
Root-fifty-leaper
Root-Fifty Leaper: 5-5 and 7-1 leaper.
Root-Fifty Leaper: 5-5 and 7-1 leaper.
Variant Chess 1, January-March 1990, by George Jelliss, shows a chess problem
on page 9, 'Eskilstuna Kuriren' 1922 by T.R.Dawson.
'Chessics 24', Volume 2, Number 24, Winter 1985, page 93:
M.Kraitchik, 'Le Probleme du Cavalier', 1927, gave a Fiveleaper tour of the
8x8 board,and a Root-Fifty-Leaper tour of the squares of one color on a 12x12
board, both tours are closed.
Variant Chess 12, Oct-Dec, 1993, page 57, diagram 38, Erich Bartel, helpstalemate in 3.
Plays in 'Sky' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2005.
Root-sixtyfive-leaper
Root-Sixtyfive-leaper: 8-1, 7-4 leaper.
Root-Sixtyfive-leaper: 8-1, 7-4 leaper.
Plays in 'Leaping/Missing Bat Chess' by John Savard, 2001.
In this game it is called a 'Bat'.
'Theory of Moves', 2001 by George Jelliss, 4 January 2001.
T. R. Dawson gave an analysis of multi-pattern fixed-distance leapers on larger boards in
Chess Amateur August 1925: Double-pattern: 4,7 + 1,8 = Root-Sixtyfive-leaper.
Sang
Sang: Moves one orthogonal and 2 diagonally outward, does not leap
Sang (Elephant from Janggi, Korean Chess): Moves 1 orthogonal and 2 diagonally outward,
does not leap.
This piece is from 'Korean Chess', or 'Janggi'. It must be dated around the 7th Century, or a
little later, or, much earlier, no one really knows.
Ship
Ship: Leaps 2 squares diagonally.
Ship: Leaps 2 squares diagonally.
Therefore it is a 2,2 leaper.
Indian chess piece from 4 player Chaturanga.
Scholars believe it is a variant of the two player Chaturanga.
Others believe it to be the first, original and therefore oldest chess.
It is unclear, no one knows.
It moves exactly like the 'Alfil'.
Short-Rook
Short-Rook: Slides up to 4 spaces along the row or column.
Short-Rook: A Short-Rook moves up to four squares
orthogonally on a rank or a file. It may not leap over other pieces.
Plays in 'Chess with Different Armies' by Ralph Betza, 1979.
It is in the 'Remarkable Rookies' army.
Spider
Spider: Moves non capture 1 square orthogoally, or then can slide and capture diagonally outward.
Spider: The Spider moves one step orthogonally, then like a Bishop diagonally, but only in a
direction away from its starting square. It can both move and capture on the Bishop-like part of its move,
but it can only move without capturing to the orthogonally adjacent square.
That means that the closest square on which it can make a capture is a Knight's move away.
Plays in the game 'Scirocco' and 'Jupiter', 1999, Adrian King.
Squirk
Squirk: Moves like a Rook, Knight, Dabbaba and Alfil.
Squirk: Moves like a Rook, Knight, Dabbaba and Alfil.
Therefore, this piece is a Rook and Squirrel.
Plays in 'Double King Chess' by David Moeser, 1970.
Squirrel
Squirrel: Leaps 2 squares away, like a Knight, Dabbaba and Alfil.
Squirrel: Combines the powers of an Alfil, Dabbaba, and Knight.Thus
the Squirrel can leap to any place two squares away.
'Fairy Chess Review', 1937, mate in 2 problem with Squirrel by N. Kovacs.
See above problem in 'Variant Chess 1', Jan-Mar 1990, page 9.
Plays in Mideast Chess (California, 1971)Pacific Chess (Hawaii, 1971)Renn Chess (1980) by Eric V. Greenwood
Bear Chess by Mikhail Sosnovsky, 1985Quintessential Chess, by J. Knappen, 2002.
Plays in Ramayana Chess, 2002, Luiz Carlos Campos. Piece called 'Swami'.
Plays in many games, help lol.
Star-Rider
Star-Rider: moves like a Camelrider, Knight and Antelope.
Star-Rider: Moves like a Camelrider, Knight and Antelope.
Antelope is a 3-4 leaper.'All the King's Men', George Jelliss, 2002.
Tank
Tank: Slides 1 or 2 squares like a Queen.
Tank Slides 1 or 2 squares on the Queen lines.
Moves 1 or 2 squares orthogonally or diagonally.
Plays in 'Chess Battle' by A.S.Yurgelevich, 1933. From the Soviet Union. Called 'Tank'
Plays in 'Greater Chess' by W. Day, 1942. Called 'Duke'.
Plays in 'Hourglass Chess' by Uri Bruck, 1998. Called a 'Centurion'.
Plays in 'Toe to Toe chess' by Peter Aronson, 2001. Called a 'General'.
Plays in 'Golem Chess' by Peter Aronson and Ben Good, 2002. Called a 'Golem'.
Plays in 'ShortRange Project' by Joe Joyce and Christine Bagley-Jones, 2006. Called a 'Queen-2-Slider'.
Templar
Templar (Doughnut, Carpenter): Moves like a Knight and Dabbaba.
Templar: Moves like a Knight and Dabbaba.
Appears in a problem composition of Bernd Schwarzkopf,published in the German magazine
'Problemkiste', No.23, December,1984.
'Templar' name comes from George Jelliss, 'Theory of Moves'.
Other names'Doughnut' by Ralph Betza.'Carpenter' by Charles Gilman.
Plays in many games, please help.
Plays in 'The ShortRange Project', by Joe Joyce and Christine Bagley-Jones, 2006.
It is called a 'Scribe' in this game. See the 'Shatranj 10x8' variant.
Threeleaper
Threeleaper: 0-3 leaper.
Threeleaper: 0-3 leaper.
Threeleaper plays in 'Grande Acedrex', 1283, called a 'Lion'.
It appears unclear how the 'Lion' moved in 'Grande Acedrex'.
This is one of the different ways it could of moved.
'Full Tamerlane Chess' is described in a Persian manuscript called 'Elliott 274', authored by al-Âmulî (14th c.)
It is a variant of 'Tamerlane Chess' and has extra pieces.Jean-Louis Cazaux suggested in 2012 that the 'Lion' in this
game is a 3-0 leaper.
See 'Variant Chess 46', November 2004, for article 'Three-Leapers in Unguard' which
is based on material by George Jelliss.
Plays in 'Sky' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2005.
Three-Leaper-Rider
Three-Leaper-Rider: Repeatedly leaps like a Threeleaper.
Three-Leaper-Rider: Repeatedly leaps like a Threeleaper, which is a 0-3 leaper.
Not sure if this piece is in any games, please help.
Toad
Toad 3,0 leaper and 2,0 leaper.
Name from George Jelliss, 'All the King's Men', 2002.
Not sure how old, or other games, help.
Tripper
Tripper: 3-3 leaper.
Tripper: 3-3 leaper.
'Full Tamerlane Chess' is described in a Persian manuscript called 'Elliott 274', authored by al-Âmulî (14th c.)
It is a variant of 'Tamerlane Chess' and has extra pieces.Jean-Louis Cazaux suggested in 2012 that the 'Revealer'
in this game is a 3-3 leaper.
Plays in 'Sky' by Christine Bagley-Jones, 2005.
Must be in other games, please help.
I believe because of the 'Chess Maths Nerds' on this planet, this is a very old
piece talked about in theory of moves and pieces discussions.
Update!!
Even though it is isn't a 'Tripper', I did find an early reference to a 'Tripper-rider'.
In 'Variant Chess 1', Jan-Mar 1990, page 9, T.R.Dawson 'Chess Amateur' 1927,
diagram 9, there is a chess problem with an Alfilrider and Tripper-rider.
Tripper-rider
Tripper-rider: Repeatedly leaps like a Tripper.
Tripper-rider: Repeatedly leaps like a Tripper, which is a 3-3 leaper.
'Variant Chess 1', Jan-Mar 1990, page 9, T.R.Dawson 'Chess Amateur' 1927,
diagram 9, has a chess problem with the Alfilrider and Tripper-rider.
Not sure if in any games, please help.
'Unicorn', see 'Banshee'.
Vampire
Vampire (Bat): moves like Knight, Zebra, Wazir and Fers.
Vampire (Bat): Combines the powers of an Zebra, Knight, Wazir and Fers.
Cuban Chaturang by Prof. German A. Mentz, 1960.
Vao
Vao: Slides diagonally, captures by jumping.
Vao: Moves like a Bishop when not capturing, 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).
'A Guide to Fairy Chess', Anthony Dickens, 1969, page 11:
'The Leo moves like a Queen, the Pao moves like a Rook and the
Vao moves like a Bishop. They were introduced by T.R.Dawson from
Chinese Chess, probably before 1914'.
Chessvariants also mention the above quote by Anthony Dickens, however
they also say 'According to a source that Hans L. Bodlaender had when he originally
wrote this page (Vao page on chessvariants site), it was designed in 1936 by Dr. P. Seyfert'.
Variant Chess 3, July-Sept 1990, page 29, George Jelliss:
The Pao has led to the introduction of two other popular analogous pieces.
The Vao, which is to Pao as Bishop is to Rook, was introduced as
'The Third Wise Man from the East' in an article written by Zdenek Mach of
Prague for T.R.Dawson's 50th birthday celebration in FCR December 1939.
Variant Chess 3, July-Sept 1990, page 29, George Jelliss:
The Leo, which is Pao+Vao (analogous to Queen=R+B) was first mentioned in an article -
'Kings at the Court of Leo' by Major J. Akenhead of Newport (Monmouth) in FCR April 1947,
in which he proposed a game using Leo, Pao, Vao and Mao in place of Q, R, B and N, and with
Berolina Pawns (these capture straight forward like Chinese Pawns but can also move diagonally forward).
Wikipedia mentions 'Akenhead's Chess', 1947 (see above quote). This is maybe first game for the Vao?
The article 'Remembering Thomas Dawson' (28-xi-1889 16-xii-1951) by John Upham says
he (Dawson) invented the Leo and Vao in 1912.
Variant Chess 3, July September 1990, page 29 gives chess problems with
the Vao in 1939, 1947, 1948 and 1949.
'Simple Chess Variants' by George P. Jelliss;
The Leo, Pao (or Cannon, a piece from Chinese chess) and Vao (Z.Mach FCR 1940) are hybrid
hoppers that move like a Queen, Rook or Bishop and capture along these lines like a Lion.
In Leo chess the Queen is replaced by Leo. In Chinoise chess
the Queen, Rook and Bishop are replaced by Leo, Pao and Vao.
In Akenhead's chess (J.Akenhead Fairy Chess Review April 1947) additionally the Knights
becomes Maos, and Berolina pawns are used.
Vulture
Vulture: Non-capture Bishop, capture Rook, moves and captures 1 square all directions.
Vulture: Non-capture Bishop, capture Rook, moves and captures 1 square all directions.
Plays in the game 'Scirocco', 1999, Adrian King.
Also plays in 'Jupiter', 1999, Adrian King.
Waffle
Waffle (Phoenix, Caliph): Moves like an Alfil and a Wazir.
Waffle: Moves like an Alfil and a Wazir.Waffle is a 2,2 and 0,1 leaper.
This piece plays in 'Dai Shogi' dated AD 1230, and several other old Japanese
big board Shogi variants. It is called a 'Phoenix'.George Jelliss called this
piece a 'Caliph' in 'Chessics' #10, page 7, December 1980'Waffle' name comes from
'Chess with Different Armies, Ralph Betza 1979.
Plays in 'Chess with Different Armies' by Ralph Betza, 1979. It is in the 'Colorbound Clobberers' army.
Wagon
Wagon: Moves like a Rook but always must move at least 2 squares.
Wagon: Moves like a Rook but always must move at least 2 squares.
Does not leap.
Plays in the game 'Scirocco' and 'Jupiter', 1999, Adrian King.
Wazaba
Wazaba: Moves like Dabbaba and Wazir.
Wazaba: Moves like Dabbaba and Wazir, which is a 0,1 and 0,2 leaper.
The name 'Wazaba' is used by G. P. Jelliss.
'Cohen's Error Chess', 1977, by Philip M. Cohen, has a piece that moves as Dabbaba and Wazir
called a Knight.
This is possible first appearance of this piece.
Plays in 'Chess with Different Armies', Ralph Betza, 1979.
Called a 'Woody-Rook' in that game.
Plays in 'Gigachess' by Jean-Louis Cazaux, 2001, called a 'Machine'.
Plays in 'Ramayana Chess' by Luiz Carlos Campos, 2002, called the 'Muni'.
Plays in 'Taratibu', 2005, by Glenn Overby, called 'Captain'.
Plays in 'The ShortRange Project' 2006, Joe Joyce and Christine Bagley-Jones.
Called a 'Wazaba'. See 'Shatranj 10x8zz1' variant.
Plays in 'Great Shatranj' by Joe Joyce, 2006, called a 'Warmachine'.
Plays in Terachess, 2008 Jean-Louis Cazaux, called a 'Machine'.
Plays in many games.
Wazir
Wazir (Vizir or Chancellor): Steps 1 square orthogonally.
The Wazir is a 0,1 leaper.
Plays in 'Courier Chess' which was played in or before the 12th century.
Plays in 'Tamerlane Chess', or Timur's Chess, from at least the 14th century.
The 'Wazir' is a very old Shatranj style piece.
I am unsure if it was in any games before Courier Chess.
'Variant Chess 30', Winter 1998, page 28, T. R. Dawson 'Caissa's Fairy Tales', 1947
shows 2 Wazir's in a mate in 3. Also same page see W. Jacobs, Fairy Chess Review, 1937
shows 4 Wazir's in a mate in 4 without making a capture.
'Wildebeest', see 'Gnu'
Wizard
Wizard: Steps 1 square diagonally or leaps 3-1 like a Camel.
Wizard: A Wizard moves one step diagonally or leaps 3-1.
Therefore, moves as a Fers and Camel.Piece from Omega Chess, 1999 by Daniel C. Macdonald.
Wyvern
Wyvern: Leaps as a 3-3, 4-2 and 5-1 leaper.
Wyvern: Leaps as a 3,3, 4,2 and 5,1 leaper.
Plays in 'Beastmaster Chess' by Glen E. Overby II, 2002.
Xiang
Xiang (Elephant): Steps 2 squares diagonally, does not jump.
Xiang (Elephant): Chinese Chess Elephant, steps 2 squares
diagonally, does not jump. Must slide 2 squares.
Ancient chess piece, plays in Xiangqi, which is Chinese Chess.
Xiangqi is an ancient game, unclear when first appeared.
Some say during the Tang dynasty around the 7th and 8th century AD. It could be older.
Zebra
Zebra: 3-2 leaper.
Zebra: Moves as a 3,2 leaper.
Plays in 'Grant Acedrex', which was described in 1283 in a codex intitled
'Juegos diuersos de Acedrex, dados, y tablas con sus explicaciones' from King Alfonso X of Castile, Spain.
In this game it is called a Giraffe. There are different ideas on how the Giraffe moved in this game it appears.
Moving as a Zebra is one of them.
'Full Tamerlane Chess' is described in a Persian manuscript called 'Elliott 274', authored by al-Âmulî (14th c.)
It is a variant of 'Tamerlane Chess' and has extra pieces.Jean-Louis Cazaux suggested in 2012 that the 'Bull' in this
game is a 3-2 leaper.
Full Tamerlane Chess (al-Âmulî & Arabshâh, 14th–15th centuries), Ciccolini's Chess (1820), Mideast Chess (1971).
In 'Ciccolini's Chess', 1820, it was called 'Elephant'.
In 'The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants' by D. B. Pritchard it says 'Mideast Chess originated in
Santa Cruz county, California (1960's?), also played in Hawaii'.
The 'Courtier' in this game plays as a Zebra.
From Games and Puzzles Journal 16, page 290, 15 May 1999, by G. P. Jelliss -
Closed tours by Zebra (2,3-mover) and Giraffe (1,4-mover) on the l0xl0 board were found
by A.H.Frost as long ago as 1886 (in M.Frolow, Les Cands Magiques, Paris 1886, Plate VII).
This same info is also in 'Chessics 24', Volume 2, Number 24, Winter 1985, page 94.
Old historic piece. Zebra plays in many games.
Zebra-Fers
Zebra-Fers: Moves as a Zebra and Fers.
Zebra-Fers: Moves as a Zebra and Fers.
Therefore moves as a 3,2 and 1,1 leaper.
Plays in 'Hadean Chess', 2008, by Charles Daniel. Called 'Ferz Sorcerer' in this game.
Zebra-Wazir
Zebra-Wazir: Moves as a Zebra and a Wazir.
Zebra-Wazir: Moves as a Zebra and a Wazir.
Therefore, moves as a 3,2 and 0,1 leaper.
Plays in 'Leapers Creepers', 2005, named 'ZebraKing', by Christine Bagley-Jones.
Plays in 'Hadean Chess', 2008, by Charles Daniel. Called 'Wazir Sorcerer' in this game.
Zebra-Wazir-Fers
Zebra-Wazir-Fers: Zebra, Wazir and Fers.
Zebra-Wazir-Fers: Zebra, Wazir and Fers.
Therefore, moves as a 3,2 and 0,1 and 1,1 leaper.
Searching for a game this is in.
Zebra-Wazir
Zebra-Wazir: Moves as a Zebra and a Wazir.
Zebra-Wazir: Moves as a Zebra and a Wazir.
Therefore, moves as a 3,2 and 0,1 leaper.
Plays in 'Leapers Creepers', 2005, named 'ZebraKing', by Christine Bagley-Jones.
Plays in 'Hadean Chess', 2008, by Charles Daniel. Called 'Wazir Sorcerer' in this game.
Zebra-Wazir-Fers
Zebra-Wazir-Fers: Zebra, Wazir and Fers.
Zebra-Wazir-Fers: Zebra, Wazir and Fers.
Therefore, moves as a 3,2 and 0,1 and 1,1 leaper.
Searching for a game this is in.
Zebrarider
Zebrarider: Repeatedly leaps like a Zebra.
Zebrarider: The Zebrarider repeatedly leaps like a Zebra, a 3-2 leaper.
'Variant Chess 1', Jan-March 1990, page 9, T.R.Dawson, 'Chess Amateur', 1927
gives a mate in 2 with Zebrarider, Camelrider and Nightrider.
In 'CHESSICS 2 - July 1976', the following variant is given.
FIVE RIDER CHESS, by T.R.Dawson 1936.
Instead of promotion to Q,R,B and S (Knight), pawns promoteto Rook, Bishop, Nightrider,
Camelrider or Zebrarider (R, B, N, C,Z). These are the five continuous straight line
riders that have room for a ride of at least two steps on the 8x8 board.
'Variant Chess 26', Volume 3, Winter 1997-8, page 124, Selfmate in 3, T.R.Dawson, BCF Awards, 1936.
Simple Chess Variants by G.P.Jelliss, page 10, 2010:
The Rook is a Wazir-rider, the Bishop a Fers-rider and the Queen a King-rider.
T.R.Dawson expanded this family of pieces to include the Nightrider (or Knightrider), Camelrider and Zebrarider.
'Variant Chess 30', Winter 1998, page 30, Helpstalemate in 2, 4 solutions with Flamingo and
Camel, Antelope, Giraffe, Zebrarider and Equihopper.
Zebu
Zebu: Moves as a Camel and Giraffe.
Zebu is a 4-1, 3-1 leaper. Therefore it moves like a Camel and Giraffe.
Fairy Chess ProblemsCombination of Camel and Giraffe.
Listed in 'British Chess Problem Society', 'A Glossary of Fairy Chess Definitions',
compiled by Stephen Emmerson, July 2018.
Listed at Wikipedia website.
Not sure if this piece is in any games.
'Zemel', see 'Ibis'.
Zurafa
Zurafa: Moves one square diagonally then 3 or more straight.
Zurafa (Giraffe): Zurafa moves one square diagonally, then
three or more squares in a straight line (ie. horizontally or vertically).
It may not leap over occupied squares. It must slide one square diagonally first.
It cannot capture or land on the first 3 squares it slides over.
'All the King's Men' site uses name 'Zurafa', which means 'Giraffe'. Wikipedia uses 'Zaraffa'.
All mean 'Giraffe', but seeing that is a name used for the well known 4-1 leaper, John Williams-Brown
suggests the name 'Hippogriff' in his 'Meta-Chess' book.
This piece is from Tamerlane Chess, also known as Timur's Chess, from at least the 14th century.
Tamerlane Chess was developed in Central Asia during the reign of Emperor Timur, and its invention
is also attributed to him.
Chessvariants site says - Some old sources tell that Timur invented the game himself, but this attribution is,
as more of such attributions, not necessarily true.
Christine Bagley-Jones says 'It could be true though, no one knows'.
Plays in 'Piece Promotion Games 2', 2005, Christine Bagley-Jones. See 'Chaturanga Zurafa' variant.
Must be in other games, please help.Notes
'Fairy Pieces Part 2' has pieces from the earliest times of recorded Chess up to the present day.
For the most part, nearly all pieces are earlier than the year 2000.
There are some pieces that are older than many pieces here though, but I decided to leave them for 'part 3'. This is because some are in a 'group of pieces' and adding them would force me to leave out certain pieces in 'part 2' that I feel should be in 'part 2'. I didn't want to go much higher than 158 pieces.
I try to list the earliest games for all pieces, with the first mention of a piece being the earliest I have found, but because of so many games it is difficult to know all about a piece. I list a certain amount of games, but to make this release not gigantic, you have to stop somewhere.
If you want to help with info on any pieces please contact me, I would love to hear from you. If you want me to add info into 'part 2', or add pieces for 'part 3', please contact me via email or in comments.
I have done my best with the pieces info, but I might list some games and miss other earlier games they are in. There are so many games lol. So, if you like, you can help if you see games that pieces have played in earlier than ones I have listed. Many thanks.
Also, there are pieces listed here that, as I said in the piece info, I couldn't see any games they are in, or hardly any. Any info on these kind of pieces would be terrific!!
I will always be happy to hear from anyone via email or in the comments here to improve this release because I love fairy pieces!!
With all that being said, though, I felt I had trouble because of the size of this release and not sure how much more info I can add sadly. We'll just see what happens!!
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There is a piece called 'Archbishop' from 1932, see info in 'Reflecting Bishop'. This 'Archbishop' is a 'Reflecting Bishop' restricted to one bounce per go. Uncoded, I'm unable to do it, if anyone can do it please do and I'll add here and of course give you credit!!! Or wait, I'll add in 'Part 3'.
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I researched lots of information at these different sites.
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'The Chess Variant Pages'
Of course, this site right here, the best
chess variants site in the world!!
Information from the game pages for historic games,
'Piececlopedia' and the 'A to Z' of all games and publications here.
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Wikipedia
https://www.wikizero.com/en/List_of_fairy_chess_pieces
https://www.wikizero.com/en/Fairy_chess_piece
Different game pages from Wikipedia.
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George Jelliss
https://www.mayhematics.com/index.htm
https://www.mayhematics.com/v/gm.htm (All the King's Men)
https://www.mayhematics.com/p/p.htm (GPJ Publications)
I got lots of information from these publications, especially 'Chessics', 'Variant Chess' and 'The Games and Puzzles Journal'.
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Gambiter
https://gambiter.com/chess/variants/Fairy_chess_piece.html
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'Notes on Riderhoppers and Hoppers'
This is from 'All the King's Men' site by George Jelliss.
'HOPPER Any piece moving in hops, i.e. a move across a cell occupied by another piece, not possible without the presence of the hurdle. Hops can be classified as follows: a step-hop does not pass over any vacant cells on the way to or from the hurdle; a fore-hop may pass over vacant cells before the hurdle but lands on the first cell beyond; a contra-hop may pass over vacant cells beyond the hurdle but not before; a line-hop may pass over vacant cells before and beyond the hurdle; we therefore have: step-hoppers, fore-hoppers, contra-hoppers and line-hoppers.
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By Christine Bagley-Jones.
Last revised by Christine Bagley-Jones.
Web page created: 2024-10-13. Web page last updated: 2024-10-16