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Man. Moves to any adjacent square, like a King, but not royal.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
V. Reinhart wrote on Mon, Jan 30, 2017 04:28 PM UTC:
Thanks for the information. The good news is that a guard (man) doesn't have the same value as any other classical chess piece. It fills a "hole" between knight and bishop, and the rook. So it's usually easy to decide if you should exchange it or not. Capturing a rook is worth the loss of a guard. If in melee with a knight or bishop, get support or flee.
 
Btw, I think that this discussion about the value of the guard provides an irrefutable basis for the inconsistency in naming this piece "Man". In an actual medieval war (not chess), a man is not superior to a knight or bishop. A man is the same thing as a peasant (pawn) and may or may not be well-fed and capable of fighting.
 
A guard is always fit and has martial arts training, and can be armed with weapons such as a dagger or spear, so has good chance when fighting with a knight. (In Waterloo chess the icon for the guard carries a very large stone for throwing, although in this game the guard is even stronger than a king - its inventor has also called him an "Elite" or "Elite Guard").
 
There is also a basis for judging a guard as superior to a bishop. A guard does not have theological training, but the sobering truth is this: the bishop's membership in the clergy will not protect him from an armed fighter trained in the martial arts.
 
Even 14 years ago there were comments that the name "man" might have problems.  (See comments below from 2003).
 
In my opinion this page should be re-titled "Guard", with a comment saying also known as "man".