Fairy Chess Pieces VII: Derivatives

These are pieces that combine the moves of two or more other, simple pieces to make something that combines some part of the nature of the two components.

The Admiral basically combines the moves of the Rook and the Ferz, moving like a Rook orthogonally or one space diagonally. This is basically the same as combining the Rook and King, leading to its alternate name of Crowned Rook; in Shogi, it's known as the Dragon King.

Forms are also provided for the Crowned Rook and Dragon King names, should those be preferred.

The Ancress combines the moves of the Rhinoceros (which is sometimes called the Anchorite) and the Rook: It moves one square orthogonally, and then may continue outward from there as either a Rook or Bishop.

(An anchorite -- or ancress -- is a person who entirely withdraws from society to lead ascetic lives focused on prayer.)

This piece is also sometimes called the Simurgh, and a piece design is provided for that name.

The Gunship combines the moves of the Ship and the Cannon. As a Ship, it moves one space diagonally, and then may continue forward or backward like a Rook. As a Cannon, it moves like a Rook, but must leap over a piece to capture one beyond.

The Harvester combines the moves of the Bishop and the Rhinoceros. Basically, it can move to any adjacent space, and then proceed outward diagonally like a Bishop.

The Inquisitor can slide like a Bishop, or leap two spaces orthogonally or like a Camel.

The Metropolitan combines the moves of the Gryphon and Bishop: it moves one space diagonally, and then may continue outward from there as a Bishop or as a Rook.

This piece is sometimes called the Indrik (or Indrik-Beast), and a piece is provided for that name.

The Missionary basically combines the moves of the Bishop and the Wazir, moving like a Bishop diagonally or one space orthogonally. This is basically the same as combining the Bishop and King, leading to its alternate name of Crowned Bishop; in Shogi, it's known as the Dragon Horse.

Forms are provided for the Crowned Bishop and Dragon Horse, should those be preferred.

The Raven combines the moves of the Rook and the Nightrider.

The Reaper combines the moves of the Griffin and the Rook. Basically, it moves to any adjacent space, and then may continue outward orthogonally like a Rook.

The Retriever slides like a Rook, or can leap two spaces orthogonally or like a Zebra.

In a rather extensive set of online articles, Charles Gilman proposed a piece that could make a (2,6) leap, capturing any enemy piece that sits at the halfway point. He called this a Katana. I was intrigued by this, and realized that if one combines a Katana with a Knight, one logically gets a Samurai.

In the movement diagram below, the black squares are the spaces where an enemy piece would be captured if the Samurai or Ninja makes a long leap through it. The diagram also assumes that the Katana move can only used to capture (it's a sort of "lightning step" maneuver.)

(Also see the Ninja in Part I.)

The Sphinx of Egyptian and Greek lore had the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and a human face. In keeping with that, the piece bearing its name combines the moves of a Lion and an Eagle: It can make one or two King moves, capturing on each of the two if there are enemies in both; it can leap two spaces in any direction, including like a Knight; and it can move to an adjacent square diagonally, then move out from there like a Rook.

There are many uses for a Unicorn piece, but the one that seems the most universally useful is combining the moves of the Bishop and the Nightrider.

These are pieces that extend the moves of existing pieces as riders (continuing the same type of move in a straight line), roses (continuing the same type of move in a circle), or some other figure.

An extension of the Alibaba (described in Part IX), the Alibabarider continues to leap two spaces until it reaches an obstacle. (And if the image is of an elephant with a gun turret is cool, now we've added wings!)

The Buffarose takes the multiple moves of the Buffalo -- Knight (1,2), Camel (1,3), and Zebra (2,3) -- and makes Roses of all of them.

This makes for a fairly large and complex set of moves and possible destinations (complex enough that I made a mistake late in drawing the arrows on the diagram). On the diagram, the Knight-Rose moves are in blue, Camel-Rose moves are in green, and Zebra-Rose moves are in red.

The Dayrider takes the Alibabarider (above) one extra step, to make what's intended to be a companion piece to the Nightrider. Like the Alibabarider, the Dayrider moves any direction orthogonally or diagonally in two-leap steps. It also can move (without capturing) one space in any direction (like a King or Mann), giving it access to the entire board.

(And now, the turret on our winged elephant is a crown, but with the turret's cannon sticking out.)

The Gnurider (which is a lot easier to say than Wildebeestrider) simply takes the moves of the Wildebeest (above) and keeps them going in a straight line. The diagram shows only a partial idea of how it moves.

The Nightmare, simply put, combines the powers of the Nightrider and the Rose, both extensions of the Knight.

For those unaware: the Nightrider extends the move of the Knight, continuing in a straight line (following the blue arrows on the diagram); while the Rose also extends the move, but in a circle, either clockwise (following the red arrows) or counterclockwise (following the black arrows), making a complete circle to the starting point if all the spaces are open.

The Zebrose (also once suggested under the name Bezra) does for the Zebra what the Rose does for the Knight: it makes the move, turning 45 degrees (or thereabouts) with each move to make an eight-move circle.

The diagram below is only a partial sample of the Zebrose's possible moves; showing them all would require a 21x21 board.

Like the Friend, the Boyfriend can copy the moves of any piece that protects it; but it can only move one space (or one leap) in any direction, even if the protecting piece is a rider or slider. If the protecting piece is a slider with a minimum move, then the Boyfriend's move is that minimum move.

(Contrast with Girlfriend, below.)

As noted in Pt. I, there are two perfectly good pieces called Dog. Cerberus (named for the three-headed dog of Greek legend) triples what I've termed the Big Dog, which moves two spaces diagonally or one space sideways. As long as we're moving 6 spaces diagonally, we might as well expand that to a full Bishop move. So, the Cerberus moves like a Bishop, or up to three spaces to the left or right.

The GemiKnight is a more powerful version of the Nighty Knight, in that it simply makes two Knight moves, with the second in any direction, rather like the Lion does with the King move (except that it can't leap directly to a secondary square). It can capture two pieces this way, or capture one piece and return to its starting point. It can even leap to an empty square and back, effective making a null move.

In the diagram below, the blue arrows show the initial Knight moves, while the green arrows show the possible second moves. Notably, every secondary space except the straight-line moves has two ways to get to it.

Like the Friend (see Part VI), the Girlfriend can move like any friendly piece that guards it. However, in keeping with the chess tradition that female names are "riders" to their male versions, the Girlfriend's moves are always "rider" moves even if the original moves are not. For example, when borrowing a move from a Knight, the Girlfriend can treat it as a Nightrider.

This piece is basically two Knights in one; it can make a Knight's move; and then, if it isn't stopped by something there (such as making a capture), make a second one in the same direction.

This piece could also be called the Double Knight or the Two-Knight, but I like the Nighty Knight name best.

Formerly, I had a complex setup for a Ninja piece in Part I, but then saw H. G. Muller's Samurai in his game Minjiku Shoji. While I still have my own take on a Samurai (above), I like Muller's Samurai for my Ninja.

This Ninja (like Muller's Samurai) moves normally like a Knight, or can rifle capture (capture without moving) to any adjacent space.

In the tradition of giving female names to the sliders and riders of male-named pieces, the Kunoichi moves like a Nightrider (repeated Knight steps in a straight line) as well as the rifle capture to adjacent spaces.

Derived from the East Wind and West Wind from Adrian King's games (see part XIII), the South Wind is an aggressive forward mover; it slides directly or diagonally forward like a Queen, slides sideways up to three spaces, or leaps backward (1,2) like a Knight.

By contrast, the North Wind is an aggressive backward mover, with the Queen and Knight moves of the South Wind reversed.

The Purple Finch is designed to be a mirror for the Blue Gecko (see Part XIII). It moves diagonally forward and left up to four spaces; up to two spaces directly to the right or backwards; or one space directly forward, forward and right, or backward and left.

Derived from Adrian King's Foursquare (described elsewhere), the Four-Diamond steps one space orthogonally, or leaps like a Knight (1,2), Zebra (2,3), Giraffe (1,4), or Fiveleaper (0,5). Like the Foursquare's diagram shows four squares, the Four-Diamond's shows four diamonds.

The Warpriest is a rotary counterpart to the Warlord from Mad Chess. It leaps (1,2) like a Knight, or three spaces diagonally.