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Amazon. See Amazon. Can move as queen or as knight.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Christine Bagley-Jones wrote on Sat, Dec 16, 2023 01:40 PM UTC:

Jean-Louis, thanks for your great info on the Amazon!! Some of your details should be added to the page, but, it is in the comments now, at least. You really are a great wealth of knowledge on chess pieces, thanks!!


Jean-Louis Cazaux wrote on Sat, Dec 16, 2023 11:54 AM UTC in reply to Christine Bagley-Jones from 09:11 AM:

Hi Christine

No that piece has not been invented in the Middle Ages. This is just wrong. According to Monté, a chess historian, this piece was suggested by Lucena as the promoted pawn in his treatise of 1497. This is the earliest allusion to it.

Then, it seems that some players of modern chess in Italy, i.e. after the reform which occured at the end of the 15th c., were using it in place of the Queen and they were calling it Donnacavallo (which means a horse-riding lady). That was criticized by Carrera, then by Philidor.

There are testimonies that this piece was used instead of the Queen by some players in Russia and Georgia in 1770-1820. At the same period it appears in Gustav III's Chess in Sweden as Adjudant-General.

Then, the piece is found in several chess variants in the 19th century in Europe (called Commander) and also in India (called Giraffe or Prince). The name Amazon was used and popularized by chess problemists in the early 20th c.


Christine Bagley-Jones wrote on Sat, Dec 16, 2023 09:11 AM UTC:

It says here ..

'The Amazon was invented (but not under this name) in the middle ages'.

So, where is this info from, do we know the name of it when it was invented.

Also, it appears with the list of games from earliest on record here, first game mentioned is 'Amazon Chess' from Middle Ages, and it is called an 'Amazon'.

Anyways, just wondering if we know the first name given to it.


Jean-Louis Cazaux wrote on Sun, Sep 10, 2023 03:10 PM UTC in reply to H. G. Muller from 01:40 PM:

I agree


H. G. Muller wrote on Sun, Sep 10, 2023 01:40 PM UTC in reply to Bob Greenwade from 01:31 PM:

Chess sets come in many forms. I have seen sets consiting of all frogs, or all sheep, Star Wars characters or those from the Asterix comics. I experience the required detail as a bit distracting when you want to actually play with them, rather then just showcase them for ornamental purposes. For playing I prefer somewhat more abstracted pieces, such as Staunton style, like the wooden Superchess pieces.

I don't see much added value in adding images of pieces in a style not very suitable for play, that only exist virtually, so that no one could obtain them anyway.


Bob Greenwade wrote on Sun, Sep 10, 2023 01:31 PM UTC in reply to Jean-Louis Cazaux from 12:29 PM:

I actually rather like both of these. I've seen real chess sets with similar aesthetics, particularly the Amazon, and I could see these as welcome additions to either one. (The Terror is certainly superior to my own effort.)


Jean-Louis Cazaux wrote on Sun, Sep 10, 2023 12:29 PM UTC:

The last two at the bottom are nice figurines but they are not evoking chess pieces. I wonder their added value for that page.

There are several existing 3D design of Amazon on the web by mixing Queen and Knight figures. I have a collection of them. If one prefers an abstract design, the piece made for the first set of Musketeer Chess (originally called a Dragon, but then Zied regretted it) was a rather good alternative.


Bob Greenwade wrote on Fri, Sep 8, 2023 09:01 PM UTC in reply to Fergus Duniho from 08:23 PM:

Spoilsport. ;)


🕸📝Fergus Duniho wrote on Fri, Sep 8, 2023 08:23 PM UTC:

I added some new AI art to this page. Besides the picture of a Queen/Knight compound, there is now an image of a Terror and of a figurine Amazon piece.


Gerd Degens wrote on Mon, Jul 10, 2023 06:49 AM UTC in reply to Bob Greenwade from Sun Jul 9 02:53 PM:

There is also the possibility of incorporating a combo of queen and knight moves into a game exclusively on a temporary basis, as I did in my variant 'Bull's eye'.


Bob Greenwade wrote on Sun, Jul 9, 2023 02:53 PM UTC:

I do wonder that there's no article here on the Amazonrider (aka Queen of the Night, though I personally prefer Centauride or Virtuoso).

Or at least a mention here, or on the Nightrider page.


Kevin Pacey wrote on Wed, Oct 28, 2020 12:05 AM UTC:

I've read here and there about the Amazon piece type having a bad rap because it's so powerful, which immediately gave me a soft spot for the lady - why does she not really deserve to exist? As David P. noted, Amazons were used in place of queens on 8x8 (chess otherwise), some centuries ago in parts of Russia (called Amazon Chess on this website).

Like Fergus noted elsewhere, powerful pieces are best used on large sized boards, and I think Amazons are best employed this way, too. A more recently invented game where they are used is in my own 10x10 Sac Chess, where each side in fact has two Amazons in the setup, besides many other powerful pieces, which goes against power density theory that I was unaware of when inventing it - luckily the game seems quite playable, and is currently in the top 30 of Game Courier (maybe thus deserving a mention in this Piececlopedia article, if it's eventually updated).


Garth Wallace wrote on Wed, Dec 2, 2009 05:42 PM UTC:
Gah, I must be going blind.

Charles Gilman wrote on Wed, Dec 2, 2009 07:31 AM UTC:
It does mention the name Maharaja, in the third row of the usage table.

Garth Wallace wrote on Fri, Nov 27, 2009 10:23 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
Funny that this page doesn't even mention the Maharajah, even though Maharajah redirects here from the Piececlopedia.

Steve wrote on Thu, Sep 7, 2006 08:29 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Oh, I see. For example RookKnights on the a-file, and Amazons on the
h-file. Sure, that's good stuff. All double and triple compound pieces
can be used that way- 2 at a time as above, or even 4 at a time,
replacing
4 of the rooks knights and bishops in the original line up.
 By the way, I dislike using 6 new pieces. For example a- file cardinals,
b-file squirrels, c-file amazons, f-file centaurs, g-file RookKings, and
h-file BishopKnightKings or whatever. The problem with 6 new pieces, in
my
humble opinion, is that too many basic chessmen are eliminated from the
game. 
  New pieces are great, but the interaction of the basic pieces with the
unorthodox pieces is interesting, entertaining, and not to be missed.
  I always like to keep the queens in the starting array for this reason.

Charles Gilman wrote on Wed, Aug 2, 2006 06:45 AM UTC:
Stve misses the point, in that David Paulowich is suggesting substituting for two different pieces. Both players would have their army enhanced by adding a Knight move to exactly one piece, but in one case it would be the Queen itself and the other the Queen's Rook.

Steve wrote on Mon, Apr 10, 2006 06:10 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
Of course the Amazon is much stronger than the Chancellor, and the Amazon force would have a clear advantage over the Chanellor force. However,a Queen-force against Chancellor-force should be roughly equal.

David Paulowich wrote on Sat, May 28, 2005 10:53 PM UTC:
Two hundred years ago chess players in rural Russia would substitute amazons for the two queens. In my Zillions of Games file for King's Leap Chess, I included an game called Old Russian Chess (not exactly based on history) - with amazons (Q+N) replacing queens and a King's Leap replacing castling. The game I chose to name 'King's Leap Chess' substitutes chancellors (R+N) for the a-file rooks. So it is reasonable to consider games where one player has the Amazon force and the other player has the Chancellor force.

Steve wrote on Sat, May 28, 2005 06:12 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
A fine piece! But where are examples of brilliant combonations and subtle endgames using this piece? Another thought- substitute amazons for the 2 queens in FIDEchess.Or 4 amazons for the rooks, maybe.

David Paulowich wrote on Sun, Aug 22, 2004 02:32 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Eric Greenwood uses this piece in his 80-square variant 'Eric's Great Chess', calling it the Giraffe. In his 84-square variant 'TamerSpiel', a Lion promotes to a Warlord (=Amazon).

Charles Gilman wrote on Tue, Jan 6, 2004 08:38 AM UTC:
More detail about the original Amazons can be found on
http://www.karpov.ru/katalog/_9th_en.php, a page showing a novelty set
based on a battle of the sexes in Classical mythology. Shakespeare used
the outcome as the backdrop to a Midsummer Night's Dream.

Charles Gilman wrote on Sun, May 11, 2003 09:09 AM UTC:
Getting round to considering orthogonal+diagonal+oblique combined pieces has taken me a while, as I never liked the use of Amazon for a piece with the full Queen move. The literal meaning of Amazon is 'one who has had a mastectomy' as this made archery easier, and so suggests incompleteness (a Queen with one sideways direction removes or replace by that side's Knight moves, perhaps?). Empress I prefer for Rook+Bishop+Unicorn. However the use of Ace in e.g. Cardmate has grown on me, especially as I have devised my own idea for a card-compatible Chess (see my comments on Half Chess). The use of the first two letters of Cavalry/Cardinal/Camel reversed have also given me ideas for Queen+Camel, Queen+Zebra, Queen+Giraffe, &c..

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