Comments/Ratings for a Single Item
251. Pushmi-Pullyu. I've been contemplating for a good while about how this could be represented on a board, and the recent discussion on its Pieclopedia page gave me some ideas; the only one I actually put into practice is below.
For those unfamiliar with the piece, it's a compound of the Advancer and Withdrawer: it moves (without capturing) like a Queen, but captures by either moving toward its target and stopping one space short, starting next to its target and moving directly away, or both. (mQ[cabK-fQ][cQ-bK][cabK-fcQ-bK])
In this illustration, the White Pushmi-Pullyu can capture the Black Pawn by moving away from it; the Black Bishop by moving toward it and stopping in the space before; or the Black Knight and/or Black Rook by any combination of the two tactics. Of course, it can also move normally in the four unobstructed directions.
The piece is (obviously) named for the creature in Hugh Lofting's Doctor Doolittle stories. While the 1967 movie adaptation starring Rex Harrison famously depicted the creature as being a two-fronted llama, Lofting's original story described it as being a gazelle at one end and a unicorn at the other. Chess diagrams on this site tend to favor the combination of Ram (for the Advancer part of the piece's abilities) and Ox (for the Withdrawer part), and this was the combination I decided to go with for the piece, set on a shaft to make the piece the same height as a Queen.
If requested or recommended, I might also create a double-llama version of this piece, and/or a gazelle/unicorn version, though I think that this should be sufficient.
(I may also decide to remove that potentially fragile ring from the Ox's nose.)
252. Zabel Pawn. This piece, generally seen only in fairy chess problems, moves like an orthodox Pawn, except that instead of an optional two-step move at the beginning, it has an optional two-step move at the end -- that is, to enter the promotion zone. (fmWfcFfafafoabW)
(My thanks to Daniel Zacharias for working out the XBetza code for me!)
This could make for some interesting dynamics in a game, especially if one adds Mecklenbeck (promotion at the Pawns' row) or other special properties.
While the piece is named after Erik Zabel, a cycling sprinter, it didn't seem practical to use a bicycle on a chess piece. Tinkercad has a pre-made shoe figure, so I decided to run with that (pardon the pun).
fmWfcFfafafoabW
Thank you, sir! :)
Seen in Zabel-Schach.
253. Windmill. I'm a little surprised that I haven't listed this piece sooner. Likely the fact that it has a Piececlopedia article, and that it's hard to write out as XBetza (or, at least, seemed that way to me), had something to do with it, but those things didn't stop me from listing the Friend at #43.
For those unfamiliar with it, the Windmill moves in a circle (well, actually a square) around an adjacent piece. It cannot move away from that piece, change pieces it's moving around on the same move, or move without an adjacent piece. (pabs(abpabq)5K)
(My thanks to HaruN Y for working out the XBetza code!)
The (abpabq) part of the XBetza is limited to 5 repeats because 7 would represent a "null move" (moving to land right back on the starting square; this is usually discouraged, not to mention awkward in most computer systems) and 6 would represent moving to an adjacent space that could more easily be reached with a single move in the other direction. If a null move is to be permitted, then the number can be increased to 7.
I can imagine several possible variations on this, such as one that can switch centerpieces once or twice in a single move, or one that circles at a two-square radius. Those, I'm pretty sure, would be incredibly difficult to do in XBetza.
The model, I think, came out pretty well, even if it does look less like a real windmill than a mockup at a miniature golf course.
I think the windmill would work well on a hexagonal board, since there aren't diagonals. A similar piece (could be called the circumnavigator) is one that moves around the outside of a group of friendly pieces.
254. Horseshoe (Farrier). This is yet another probable piece for my Clue mashup game. It moves and captures normally like a lame Knight; and if that move doesn't capture, it may make a rifle capture in either orthogonal direction leading away from the starting square. (nN[nN-fcaibW][nN-lcaibW])
I'm considering changing the move to a more concise [nN-fhcaibK], though I'm also a bit concerned about how that would affect its power level.
Again, this is one of five candidates to join the six classic Clue weapons, plus Poison, in my Clue mashup game, along with the Axe, Dumbbell, and Trophy. I'll ask for preferences after I post the last one.
Yes, traditionally, a horseshoe is depicted with the open end up, as the superstition around it holds that having the open end down lets all the good luck fall out. In this case, since the horseshoe is a murder weapon, it seems fitting this way.
255. Mountie. When I published the Moose a few weeks ago, it was taken from a list that treated it as the Queen version, with a Rook Moose and a Bishop Moose also present... but what about a Knight Moose? But it needed a better name, so I thought about what sort of mounted person exists in the land of moose, and the only thing I could think of was the traditional Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
A strictly Knight-like Moose isn't really practical, since the Knight is a single-step mover, but making a Nightrider works. Therefore, the Mountie moves like a Nightrider until it reaches a hurdle, at which point it turns ~45° and makes exactly one more step. (pafsNN)
In this illustration, the White Mountie uses the Black Bishop as a mount, and can turn right to capture the Black Knight or turn left to the empty space (c8). It cannot stop at the first step (c4), capture the Bishop, move beyond the Black Knight (h8), or move in any other direction.
I'm actually not sure how this piece would play out in an actual game. I think it'd work best on a larger board; and it probably would be more of a complication than an actual power piece, though I've been wrong about that kind of thing before.
The model is basically a Knight with my attempt at a Mountie's hat (aka "Smokey hat" in the US).
256. Cloverleaf and 257. Bypass. When I posted the Left and Right Rotor a couple of weekends ago, Bn Em commented that sliding equivalents of those two Nightrider/Rose variants would also be possible, and I started to think about actually doing them. So, here they are.
The Clovereleaf -- so named because its diagram vaguely resembles a freeway cloverleaf -- slides orthogonally like a Rook; or it can move one space diagonally, then move in a circle with alternating orthogonal and diagonal steps. (RqF)
(On this illustration as well as the one below, the blue arrows show the piece's path when moving clockwise, while the green arrows show the path when moving counterclockwise.)
The Bypass (the best name I could think of to contrast with Cloverleaf) slides diagonally like a Bishop; or it steps one space orthogonally, and then may move in a circle using alternating diagonal and orthogonal steps. (BqW)
Both pieces are clearly a step up from the Dragon King and Dragon Horse, and from the Chancellor and Archbishop, at least as much as those two pairs are from the Rook and Bishop. The Cloverleaf and Bypass could even represent steps in a system of evolutionary promotions (which could also include the Unicorn and Raven).
As for the models, I think that the Cloverleaf came out quite well, though the necessity of truncating the corners of the Bypass makes it look rather vulnerable.
Couldn't the Bypass use smaller circles?
Probably. I thought about that, but just decided to go with what I had.
For that matter, I probably could use smaller circles on both pieces, leaving the struts as they are.
Do you do all these graphics on Blender? I was wondering how long it takes to master Blender.
I do the piece models using Tinkercad, which has a pretty low learning curve, and make the actual renderings shown here by uploading the pieces (and the move diagrams) into Thingiverse.
258. Satrap. This creation of Charles Gilman made its first appearance in an actual game with my own variant, Desert Dust. It's a sort of double-Steward; it moves without capture one space or jumps two spaces diagonally, or moves only to capture one space or jumping two spaces orthogonally.* (mFmAcWcD)
This piece can be surprisingly formidable on a standard board, or one up to 12x12. Beyond that, it quickly loses its "sting."
The model was inspired by pictures I'd found of historical satraps, and the ceremonial hats they wore. Admittedly, it lacks the stylized base that distinguishes most of my pieces, a feature that I may or may not change in the future.
*As notorious as I am for getting things backwards, I've been through that enough times with this piece that I'm sticking to this for the foreseeable future. So there.
259. Qayin (Ayatollah / Contrasatrap). When Charles Gilman first proposed this counterpart to the Satrap, he called it Contrasatrap. While I call it Ayatollah in Desert Dust, on the whole I prefer to call this the Qayin (even though I don't now remember what led to that moniker).
As a rotary counterpart to the Satrap, the Qayin moves one space or leaps two spaces orthogonally without capture, or captures by moving one space or leaping two spaces diagonally.
I normally resist doing rotary counterparts except on weekends, but since these pieces got mentioned in the Piececlopedia article on the Steward for their appearance in Desert Dust, I decided to make an exception. (That, and I'm starting to run out of pieces that don't have rotary counterparts!)
As with the name Qayin, I don't remember the reasoning behind this shape, other than that it was based on historical headwear.
As notorious as I am for getting things backwards
Looks to me like you've done it again… ;)
As notorious as I am for getting things backwards
Looks to me like you've done it again… ;)
If the WYSIWYG editor had emojis, I'd post a face blowing a raspberry. :)
I may or may not switch around the descriptions etc.
face blowing a raspberry
That's also a good use of the extended‐ASCII range: ⟨:Þ⟩ (as opposed to the playful ⟨:P⟩)
260. Punk Knight. This was inspired by a passing comment by Kevin Pacey yesterday, and it led to a quick development -- though I only came up with how it works early this morning. This sort of thing may have appeared somewhere before, though I certainly don't recall seeing it.
Punk philosophy is basically pro-anarchy, refusing to recognize rules. At first that would suggest a piece that could move anywhere except where that type of piece normally goes, but that's a bit too open-ended; more reasonably, Punk pieces move normally without capturing, but capture an enemy piece on the first and/or last space they pass through. Punks also tend to be associated with violence*, especially of the hit-and-run variety, so being able to capture more than one piece seems reasonable.
The Punk Knight, therefore, moves like a normal Knight, but captures any enemy pieces on the two spaces that it passes through. To complicate (and balance) matters a bit, its move as a Knight is lame; it does not leap. (mcasamzWmcacsamzW)**
In this illustration, the White Pawn on c4 blocks the White Punk Knight from moving to b3 or b5. Still, it can capture the Black Archer at c5 and end up at c6. It also can capture the Black Bishop and end at f5, the Black Pawn and end at e2, or both and end at f3. (It also can move to c2 or e6 without capturing anything.)
And here's the model itself: a Knight with a spiked Mohawk. (Speaking for myself, if I was a soldier on a battlefield and saw a horse with its mane done up like this, I would not want to mess with it!)
*Not unfairly so, given the history of the Punk movement, but not necessarily. I've known a few people in the Punk lifestyle, both directly and indirectly, who were quite peaceful and pleasant. One that I met very briefly, in fact, was pretty close to being a pacifist (the only thing I still remember about him).
**Logically -- to my mind, anyway -- cmascmazmW should work to represent the move, but for some reason I'm unable to get it or anything similar to behave as I describe the piece. My thanks to Daniel Zacharias for helping me find a code that works.
Does this work like you wanted?
mcadsaumzWmcacsamzWmasamzW
Almost. I took the d and u out the first string, as they do allow for jumping over a friendly piece. With those out of the way, it's perfect.
I still have no idea why the other one doesn't work; but when I get around to posting the Punk Bishop and Punk Rook, I suspect things will be much simpler.
if that's what you want I think you could remove the third W move so it would just be mcasamzWmcacsamzW
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Tat does look much better than how it started.