Fairy Chess Pieces - Part I
Last updated: Thursday February 23rd, 2023
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Introduction
Who doesn't love a good game of chess? But there's a problem — there's no real change. You have the same pieces every time, and they make the same moves every time. However, we don't have to play like that. Fairy pieces, pieces that are not found in standard chess, bring a lot of variety to the table. Let's take a look at some of them.
Amazon
The Amazon, also called the Giraffe, is a combination of the knight and queen. This makes it an extremely powerful piece. It was first used by the Turks in medieval times, and was slowly brought into European chess to make games faster. However, its power was deemed excessive, and eventually the queen took its role.
Chancellor
The Chancellor, also known as the Empress or Knook, is a combination of the knight and rook. Like the Amazon, it was first used by the Turks, who called it the Dabbabah. It was brought to Europe in 1617, however, it was not widely popular. Today, it has become one of the most famous fairy pieces.
Archbishop
The Archbishop, also known as the Princess or Cardinal, is a combination of the Knight and Bishop. Seeing a pattern here? Like the two above, it was first Turkish and brought to Europe in 1617, then known as the Centaur. Its strategic worth is debated, but most chess players rank it somewhere between a Rook and a Queen.
Camel
Finally breaking the Knight fusion pattern, we have the Camel. It is essentially an elongated Knight, moving three spaces before going horizontal / vertical , unlike the Knight's two. It is one of the oldest chess pieces, originating in Central Asia around ~ 1380.
Mann
Next up is the Mann. It moves the same as a King, the whole 3 x 3, but it is not royal. Thus, it cannot check, checkmate, or castle. Essentially, it is a more powerful pawn. It probably came from Persia around ~ 950.
Wazir
Finally, we have the Wazir, also known as the Minister. It can only move one space horizontally or vertically, making it essentially a crippled Rook. It originated either in Persia or Japan around ~ 1400 (sorry about all the approximations, this stuff is murky!), but was probably developed in both regions simultaneously.
Puzzle
Using the knowledge you learned above, can you solve this puzzle? White to move and checkmate in one (the King you want to capture is in red). Level: easy.
This puzzle has been solved by nios.
Variant Showcase
This is the variant showcase, where I'll show off a cool or unique chess variant every blog. To play it, simply copy and paste the code below into the custom variant maker on chess.com. Then, modify the rules as explained below.
Note: email verification is required to play and create variants!
Camel Racing is a variant created by me, Qy. Each player starts with a King, Queen, Rook, Knight, two Camels, and two Pawns on a 2 x 14 board. Use your Camels to progress, but don't let them get captured!
R-0,1,0,1-1,1,1,1-1,1,1,1-0,0,0,0-0-{'pawnBaseRank':5,'wb':true,'dim':'2x14'}-
x,x,x,x,x,x,yQ,yK,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,yR,yN,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,yC,yC,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,yP,yP,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,2,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,2,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,2,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,2,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,2,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,2,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,rP,rP,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,rC,rC,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,rR,rN,x,x,x,x,x,x/
x,x,x,x,x,x,rQ,rK,x,x,x,x,x,x
Rules: pawns promote to Queen on the fourteenth rank.
Conclusion
And that's all for today! Let me know if there's any pieces you'd like to see in the next blog, and thanks for reading.
(By the way, if you've a variant you'd like me to showcase, feel free to paste the code and rules in the comments!)
Anyway, great blog, Qy. Also, can we talk about something in private?