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Crooked Queen. Moves in a diagonal zigzagline or like a Rook.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Ben Good wrote on Mon, Dec 30, 2002 09:14 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

interesting, but isn't this piece the half-crooked queen? i would think the crooked queen would be crooked bishop + crooked rook. (it would also mean there would be two half-crooked queens.)

gnohmon wrote on Tue, Dec 31, 2002 02:58 AM UTC:

Now, don't go off half cocked saying that the RzFF is half cooked. It's a
crooked as it needs to be, as crooked as Ivar 'the match king' Kruger.

A Crooked Rook is so horribly strong once the board clears out a bit that
one can hardly ever use it, and therefore your Twice-as-Crooked Queen will
never see the light of day -- unless perhaps in an alternate army for
Tripunch Chess.

Ben Good wrote on Thu, Jan 9, 2003 11:04 AM UTC:

i wouldn't've guessed that the crooked rook is that strong, but i've never used it. i notice there's no piececlopedia page for the crooked rook, i nominate ralph to write one. <P> i can see now how a crooked rook would dominate an 8x8 board, but i think it would be usable in larger games; i think it would work on optima, which successfully controls a lot of very strong pieces.

M. Howe wrote on Thu, Jan 9, 2003 11:19 AM UTC:

In fact the rules of Optima include a crooked rook.  It's called a
'Ranger.'  In the games I have seen it used it's about an average strength
piece relative to the other Optima pieces, not a game-breaker at all. 
It's not overpowering on a crowded board because it is relatively
blockable.  As the board opens up it becomes stronger.

Ben Good wrote on Thu, Jan 9, 2003 12:15 PM UTC:

doh, i obviously still don't have all the optima pieces memorized. anyway, i still nominate ralph to write the crooked rook page. i'd do it, but i have no playing experience with it so i wouldn't be able to say much about it.

M. Howe wrote on Thu, Jan 9, 2003 01:49 PM UTC:

Oh I absolutely agree that Ralph should write the crooked rook page.  The
whole crooked-mover idea was his to begin with -- I just borrowed it for
Optima.  He gets all of the credit.  And Ralph is best qualified to
comment on the piece's value relative to other pieces, orthodox and
otherwise.  I'm a big admirer of Ralph's work on CVs.

Charles Gilman wrote on Fri, Jan 9, 2004 09:52 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

There are actually four kinds of half-crooked Queen. The even-length moves of the crooked Bishop are the same as the standard Rook (except with different pass-throughs), and the odd-length ones are at ever decreasing angles to the Rook; likewise the crooked Rook and the standard Bishop. Therefore Rook+Crooked Rook and Bishop+crooked Bishop are valid compounds, the latter being a colourbound but otherwise Queenlike piece. There is also a crooked Nightrider, the Quintessence of Quintessential Chess. This leads to a whole familiy of crooked and half-crooked versions of Marshrider (Rook+Nightrider), Cardirider (Bishop+Nightrider), and Acerider (Queen+Nightrider)!