Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

Chiral knight can reach only one fifth of all the spaces.

Then I guess a game would need three on each flank for an effective team, eh?

Addendum: Given that very cogent point, for my own games I'd probably add lW or rW (respectively) to the move. I'll leave this as-is for purposes of Mr. King's games, though.

125. Yu. I thought I'd take a week to show off some more of the pieces I've developed based on letters of the Tifinagh. (No other alphabet in the world lends itself to chess moves like that one. I've actually searched, and nothing else really even comes close. (There are Roman letters that haven't been exploited; one or two may come up later in the week, but on the whole we can discuss those some other time.)

Yu (ⵓ; the name is pronounced like our letter U*, and the letter like "oo") leaps two spaces directly forward or backward. If it captures when it moves, it must then move to any space adjacent to where the victim was. (mvDvmpafcaKvmpafcabW)

Because of this limited movement, the Yu may be used as a Pawn in an actual game.

*This could, of course, lead to all sorts of "Who's on First?"-ish moments.

@Fergus:

I've uploaded one more group of icons, which has a few fixes and corrections. It include a new n2r2, which is there solely as an attempt to change its name to all lower case; if that fail, please do so manually.

I deliberately put enough in so that, once I have a couple more games approved*, I can put together the IDs for several of my variants, plus two or three more that I have rattling around in my head. That should keep me occupied so I don't have to bother you (at least, with this stuff) while you try to sort out some of these issues.

(Be sure to also include the previous set, too; I'm going to need those as well, particularly the Duchess and Mongoose.)

*Or, I could abandon the Icon Clearinghouse, freeing up three slots, if you and H.G. think that would be better.

126. Yabf. A simpler piece than yesterday, Yabf (my own shorthand for yab fricative: ⴲ), compounds the moves of Knight, Dabbabah, and Wazir. (NDW)

The piece is basically a straightforward powerhourse, in the manner of a Knight but probably as powerful as a Rook. (The Interactive Diagram system gives it a score of 660, which is more than the Rook's 467; it's equal to a Mammoth.)

The physical piece's appearance could also lend itself to representing a sniper piece.

Hi, Bob. To the best of my knowledge, the NDW was first used in the games Great and Grand Shatranj, and called the Minister. Its companion piece is the High Priestess, NAF. Both George Duke and I looked for previous usage or mention, and found nothing. They are great pieces, fun to play with, and in close quarters, devastating. Enjoy them. I have.

If anyone can find any earlier usage or mention of those pieces under whatever name, please let me know.

https://www.chessvariants.org/invention/two-large-shatranj-variants

I have presented the Minister and the High Priestess, and credited you for them, in my most recent book More Chess and More Than Chess.

I got a bit confused on this, but that's OK. Thanks for the reminder. Just consider Yabf to be an alternate form of the Minister.

Actually, several of the Tifinagh peices have pre-existing moves; this is just one that I lost track of. The others include Yadj (ⴵ) = Bishop's Dog, Yax (first of two; ⵆ) = Ferz, Yan (ⵏ) = Reverse Chariot, Yar (ⵔ) = Templar (aka Carpenter, aka Doughnut), Yagh 2 (of 3; ⵘ) = Alfil, and Yatf (yat fricative; ⵝ) = Bishop.

I had been going to discuss those on Friday, but this screw-up of mine beat me to it.

(And of course you know what a FAN I am of the High Priestess!) #BadPunNoCookie

@Fergus:

I've uploaded the new Zip file with the corrections I had to make, plus a few Shogi-relevant icons. Unless there's more to fix (and I did find an additional one while I was working), these will likely be all the icons I upload for a while, since just about anything else I can think of can be made (one way or another) from what's already there.

Oh, and please rename the n2r4 to lower-case. :)

Other than that, I'm just waiting on some open slots so I can build more games and GC presets (and perhaps some Piece articles).

127. Yaj. This version of the letter yaj (ⵋ)*, used mainly in the Ahaggar dialect, is pronounced like "zh." As a chess piece, Yaj starts its move forward or backward one space; then may continue with one diagonal space away; and from there slides sideways like a Rook. ([vW?F?qfR])

I had a bit of a time before figuring out an XBetza that would work, but the above should do the trick.

*I probably will feature the Tuareg yaj (ⵌ) later in the week.

128. Yaxx. The first piece I made based on the letter yax was from the Tuareg form (ⵆ), and as I mentioned the other day basically moves like a Ferz. This more recent addition (hence the double X) is based on the more common version from the basic Tifinagh (ⵅ); it slides diagonally like a Bishop, or directly forward. (BfR)

I think this could be interesting in a Chess With Different Armies setup; whether as Queen or Bishop would, of course, depend on the other pieces.

This is the well known Free Silver of Silver Rider, used in Maka Dai Dai Shogi and also in modern variants such as Obento Chess.

I knew I'd seen it before (as Silver Rider), but couldn't remember where.

Plus, I found the Yat (ⵜ) in the form of the Vertical Mover.

Perhaps today should've been Yaz (ⵣ).

129. Yajj. I made a passing mention of the Tuareg version of yaj (ⵌ) on Wednesday, and given how many of these Tifinagh pieces share moves with existing pieces, I thought it best to go with one that has next to no chance of that. Yajj moves one space diagonally, then turns 135 degrees and slides like a Rook. (It may not stop at the Ferz move, though it may reach that square via one of the two adjacent corners if the path is unobstructed.) ([F-bR] = yabsF)

In my own estimation, I think this would be comparable to a Griffon, though the Play-Test Applet scores it much lower -- 495 vs 642. With a Rook scored at 427, Yajj could be the Rook in a Chess with Different Armies set.

The piece's (and letter's) appearance also makes it a good candidate for other things under different themes, like a hashtag, a sharp-note symbol, and so forth.

130. Girlfriend. and 131. Boyfriend. These two pieces play off our friend, the Friend.

A tradition in fairy chess draws from the relationship between the King and Queen, in that a male-named piece that's a stepper has a corresponding female-named piece that's a slider. This can also be seen in the Duke and Duchess, Prince and Princess, and other pairs. For my own part, I extend this principle to leapers and riders; where a Centaur is one name for a King/Knight compound, the corresponding Queen/Nightrider is the Centauride (among other names, of course).

So, the Girlfriend is a sort of "Friendrider." It functions just like the Friend, but it converts single- (or limited-) step moves to slides, and leaps to rides.

Conversely, the Boyfriend does the opposite: any slides become single steps, and any rides become single leaps.

See also Gilman's Fiancé(e) (and ofc the matching Widow(er) and Comedian/‐ienne); same logic, slightly further along in the relationship (presumably to avoid his slightly more narrowly‐defined boy‐/girl‐ prefixes)

I forgot to post yesterday's Piece of the Day, so...

132. Virtuoso. I initially proposed Virtuoso as an alternate name for an Amazonrider, but then I realized that the Virtuoso needed to be something truly broad. So, it's more than just a Queen plus Nightrider; it's basically a Queen plus Buffalorider. (QNNCCZZ)

This is almost obscenely powerful, and probably should be limited to something on a very large board (16x16 or more) and only as a piece to promote to... or, it could be part of a game full of obscenely powerful pieces (and there are plenty of those to go around).

133. Lion Dog. A piece seen in some Shogi games, the Lion Dog slides up to three spaces in any direction. (Q3)

Some people have assumed that the lion dog is a mythical creature, but it's not. There are several breeds of dog with that nickname, though in this case it almost certainly refers specifically to the chow chow.

All things considered, I think my design barely does justice to the chow chow (or to any of the others, such as the Tibetan mastiff or Himalayan Guard Dog).

134. Tesseract. This is an unusual piece, for which I have three different takes, all based on a classic drawing of a tesseract. The principal goal is that the piece can reach any square along a two- or four-space radius, including sliding up to four spaces diagonally.

The simplest one, from an XBetza standpoint, has the Tesseract leaping to any of the spaces (other than diagonally) on the first ring, then making a second leap to the second, or leaping directly to the second for those spaces that can't be reached with a double leap. (B4N2D2NYFX)

An alternate way of doing this is to skip the double-leaps, and let the Tesseract leap directly to the fourth circle. (B4DNWXFXDYNY)

To be really true to the concept, the Tesseract would be able to reach any space along the path by sliding along the lines, with as many turns as necessary. I don't think that can be properly coded in XBetza. (I even tried, without success, to come up with a simplified version that would involve only one turn at the corners; if I manage to make it work, I'll replace this sentence.)

There probably are other things that a Tesseract could do, especially in a 3D (or 4D) game.

It's really incredibly difficult get a cubical form to stand neatly on its corner, in either Tinkercad or real life!

135. Zorse. The Zorse is a simple "Hunter combo," with the front half of one piece and the back half of another, in this case moving forward like a Zebra but backward like a Knight. (fhZbhN)

"Zorse," an obvious portmanteau of the words "zebra" and "horse," is also one of many names given to a cross-breed between the two animals; the zorse, specifically, is the product of a zebra stallion and a horse mare. (Like the mule, the zorse is always sterile.)

136. Retreating Bishop. When I posted yesterday's piece, the Zorse, I fully intended that today's would be its inverse, the Hebra (Knight forward, Zebra back). Instead, I'm bringing another piece that's in the spirit of both that and the Anti-Pawn.

Like the latter piece, the Retreating Bishop is not meant for use on an opening setup; rather, it's to be kept in reserve as a piece that Pawns (et al) promote to. Its main movement is backward, and like the Anti-Pawn it promotes upon reaching the player's own first row.

Its move is, as the name suggests, the inverse of the Charging Bishop: it moves forward like a Mann, but backward like a Bishop. (fKbB)

This naturally implies other Retreating pieces, like the Retreating Rook, Retreating Knight, Retreating Queen, and so forth.

On the piece itself, the notch in the Bishop's top distinguishes it from the Charging Bishop; the notch should always go on the player's own left. (There's no turning it around and claiming it's a Charging Bishop! That's cheating!)

137. Ram/Hammer. and 138. Prophet. A week or so ago I posted the Yajj, a piece based on the Tuareg version of the Tifinagh letter yaj (ⵌ), and the diagram of its move got me to thinking: could this have a rotary counterpart?

Well, first, I needed to give it an alternate form. The Yajj's move involves a sort of backing up and then charging forward, which is rather like a battling ram, so I decided to go in that direction. The thing is, Ram is also an alternate name for an Advancer, so some other name would be needed, and a nickname for the battering ram is a hammer. That, too, is a name sometimes used for a different piece, but with three different names there wasn't likely to be much conflict.

The piece's move remains the same: it moves one step diagonally, then (without stopping) turns 135 degrees and slides like a Rook. ([F-bR] = yabsF)

This also called for two new piece figures. Either, I think, could be used for their namesakes with other moves.

Then, for a rotary counterpart, I wondered: what sort of religious figure (that being the tradition for diagonally-sliding pieces) does the equivalent of a battering ram? In a way, knocking down spiritual walls is the function of a prophet, so I decided to use that. ([W-bB] = yabsW)

A prophet, more literally, is one who acts as a spokesman for God (or a god), but that's as hard to show pictorially as the above description of knocking down spiritual walls. I think I've done the concept justice, though.

As an afterthought, these could also be thought of as an Inverted Griffon and Inverted Rhinoceros (or Manticore), respectively.

139. Cat Sword. This piece, taken from Adam DeWitt's Seireigi family of shogi variants (actually just the largest, Dai Seireigi), is as interesting for its move as it is for its name. As he describes it, "The Cat Sword moves one square vertically, or jump two squares along either forward diagonal. In addition, it has the same "stinging move" that [other pieces in the game have], but only on the squares diagonally adjacent to it. That is, it can step one square diagonally, and if that move captures something, it can then optionally make a second, non-capturing step in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal. (FvWfAvsca(b)1mK)

That "stinging move," or "sting capture," is something I haven't really seen anywhere else, though I've adapted it for a couple of my Tifinagh pieces and probably will use it for other things as well.

The piece I created for it may look more like a "sword cat" than a "cat sword," but it still does the job.

140. Dolphin. I've used this piece in a few of my games, perhaps most notably Short Sliders (and the Leapers Who Love Them). It moves three spaces orthogonally, but can only leap to the second or third space if it isn't capturing. (R3mDmH)

It's an interesting enough piece (at least, interesting to me) that I'll probably continue to use it quite frequently.

I already posted its rotary counterpart, the Walrus, in August.