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Check out Janggi (Korean Chess), our featured variant for December, 2024.
Check out Janggi (Korean Chess), our featured variant for December, 2024.
40. Bongo. & 41. Serval. This weekend's matched pair is one I made for my variant Short Sliders (and the Leapers Who Love Them), and they definitely fall into the latter category; they're both mid- to long-range leapers.
A bongo in this case isn't referring to a drum; it's a striped antelope that lives in the forests of sub-Saharan Africa. This seemed appropriate for a piece that combines the moves of the Zebra (2,3) and the Antelope (3,4); the piece can also leap two or three spaces diagonally (AGZNY).
A serval is a long-eared cat, also living in sub-Saharan Africa, that's notable for having the longest leap of any species of cat relative to its body length. It combines the leaps of the Camel (1,3) and Giraffe (1,4), and can also leap two or three spaces orthogonally (DCHFX).
(I have a harder time working out spots for something like the Serval -- the one detail this piece should have, but lacks -- than I do stripes for the Bongo. I'm also not satisfied with my cats' snouts, in general. I think I nailed the ears, though.)
The originating piece for all this was the Leon, or Spanish Lion (CH). I wanted something to go with it rotationally, so I invented the Jackal (GZ) (merge those two and you get a Cheetah). But since Short Sliders is a promotion-rich game, I wanted something that those two could promote into, and these are what I came up with.