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Dervish Chess. Large variant with a great variety of pieces. (11x11, Cells: 121) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
H. G. Muller wrote on Mon, Oct 31, 2022 09:31 AM UTC:
satellite=dervish ranks=11 files=11 maxPromote=1 promoZone=1 promoChoice=RDMWTBOVCE baring=0 stalemate=win graphicsDir=/graphics.dir/alfaeriePNG35/ squareSize=35 symmetry=mirror firstRank=1 lightShade=#FFFFFF darkShade=#008400 rimColor=#C4C4C4 coordColor=#000000 whitePrefix=w blackPrefix=b graphicsType=png useMarkers=1 borders=1 pawn::fmnW3fceF:pawn:a2-k2 vao::mBpcB::i1 pao:O:mRpcR:cannon:c1 bishop::::b1 camel::FC::g1 elephant::FAD::h1 wolf::WAH:dragon:e1 rook::::k1 tiger::NZ::d1 mandarin::afs(afzafz)4W(afzafz)4cW:duke:a1 dervish::qF:guard:j1 king::K:king:f1

Dervish Chess

Note that not all pieces move as their image suggests!

This is a quite interesting variant. It seems the inventor hugely underestimates the value of the Mandarin, though. This is really a very powerful piece, as it has capturing slides in eight directions, like a Queen. Its non-captures are more restricted, but captures contribute more to the value than non-captures. To a lesser extent the Dervish is also underestimated; it is nearly as valuable as the Mandarin. Also here there are eight sliding trajectories, which pairwise coincide on the first step, and on average they would not be shorter than those of the Mandarin. And the Dervish can stop anywhere along the path for a non-capture. It is just that the paths overlap more. But multiple paths to the same square is not a complete waste, especially on a crowded board.