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Piececlopedia: Chameleon
Historical notes
The chameleon was invented by Robert Abbott for his game Ultima
. The rules for Ultima were first published in 1962.
See also another piece also called Chameleon.
Movement
The chameleon moves as a chess queen, but does
not capture this way, and can never move to an occupied square. When a
chameleon captures, it does so by capturing in the manner of piece it is
capturing. Chameleons can not capture other chameleons. (In Ultima, a
chameleon can not capture an immobilizer,
but can immobilize it.)
Movement diagram
In the diagram below, the chameleon (represented by the symbol for the
bishop, since the game Ultima uses a chess bishop to represent the
chameleon) can move to any of the circles marked with a black circle.
It can also capture the rook or the bishop.
Remarks
A piece can never attack the chameleon without being attacked back, but
conversely, the chameleon can never attack another piece without being
attacked back also. A king can never move next to an enemy chameleon.
Note from David Howe: The diagram does not seem right. The black rook is a coordinator, which the white chameleon cannot coordinate
with its king. The
black bishop is another chameleon, which the white chameleon cannot capture.
Ah, now I get it -- they're ortho-chess pieces. Should be using Ultima pieces, otherwise the diagram is misleading.
This is an item in the Piececlopedia: an overview of
different (fairy) chess pieces.
Written by Benjamin C Good.
WWW page created: September 14, 1998.
Modified: D. Howe on March 5, 2000: Chameleon is represented by a bishop, not a knight.
Last modified: Monday, December 22, 2008
