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Nightrider. Makes a Knight leap, and can make additional leaps in the same direction.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Charles Gilman wrote on Sun, Jun 8, 2003 07:04 AM UTC:
Here are two more ideas for puns on (K)night: Sennight, meaning a week of seven days, for the piece cmomonly called a Knight in hexagonal Chess, a root 7 leaper; and Fortnight, meaning two weeks, for the 3:2:1 leaper (leap length root 14) of 3d Chess. The latter is especially apt, 321 being the year of the Christian Era when days of the week were first given names rather than just numbered. Both are also in keeping with the punning Sexton for the 2:1:1 (root 6) leaper.

Anonymous wrote on Sat, Feb 19, 2005 06:47 PM UTC:
Nightriders can give rise to some interesting chess situations. For
example:
White: Kd2, Pe2
Black: Kg8, Rd8, Nh7, Pd4
Black to move (N=nightrider)

1. ... Nf6+
2. e4  dxe3(e.p)+++
Which results in an unprecedented triple check.


Example #2:
White: Ke4, Rc4, Ne1, Nf2, Pf4, Pg5
Black: Ke6, Qa3, Rd7, Re7, Pf7, Pg6
White to move

1. Nc2+ Kd6+
2. Kd4+ Ke6+
3. Ke4+ Kd6+
4. Kd4+ Ke6+
5. Ke4+ Kd6+
etc.
This results in forced mutual perpetual check, which means that the
players have no choice but to continue delivering checks indefinitely,
unless the draw-by-repetition rule is invoked.

Tom Davis wrote on Sat, Mar 1, 2008 02:05 PM UTC:
The article states 'The Nightrider is one of the two most popular fairy chess pieces by chess problemists'. Could the author please add ', the other being the ________'? Thanks.

David Paulowich wrote on Sat, Mar 1, 2008 08:08 PM UTC:

'The grasshopper was invented in 1912 by the well known fairy chess problems composer T. R. Dawson from Britain. It is one of the two most used fairy chess pieces in problems; probably tens of thousands fairy chess problems have been composed using the grasshopper.'

A chess variant featuring grasshoppers has also been invented: Grasshopper Chess.


George Duke wrote on Sat, Jul 18, 2009 04:53 PM UTC:
''I have never done anything 'useful'. No discovery of mine has made, or is likely to make, directly or indirectly, for good or ill, the least difference to the amenity of the world.'' --G.H. Hardy 'A Mathematician's Apology'  There are fewer variantists than there ever were. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Rayner_Dawson Every thinking person was a variantist in certain cosmopolitan areas and universities during 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Mentioning problemists at Charles Gilman's M&B05 reminds of T.R. Dawson. The link shows Dawson has 5520 fairies and 885 direct mates. Direct mates are Orthodox, like the premier puzzlist -- with Dudeney -- Sam Loyd specialized in direct mates when it came to Chess.  Until there is strong connection again between OrthoChess and CVers, the obscure languished field of CVs will remain static and continue to lose depth. The premier variantist Dawson has nary a rules-set, but invented NN here, Grasshopper, Maximummer, Vao, and addressed until his death in 1951 an interested public with them worldwide in his regular chess columns at mainstream 'British Chess Magazine'. The outpouring of eulogies testified to his reach when variants, so-called fairies, in chess were still popular. Of course Dawson's was bygone era before television, let alone Internet, and the general dumbing down.

George Svokos wrote on Tue, Nov 3, 2009 02:46 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
This is a fun, but tough variant that V.R. Parton developed in the 1950s. T.R. Dawson created a formidable piece in the nightrider. I suppose it should not come as a surprise that it is tough to win given that Parton was a great CV problematist. Fortunately we have 'Nightrider' chess even if T.R. Dawson did not invent it. The nightrider is a fascinating piece and probably made for very interesting problem solving (I am not as familiar with the grasshopper piece.) Too bad the nightrider has not been incorporated into ortho-chess (or 'Fischer Random Chess')since the bishops, rooks, and queen are all riders themselves. Other CV games or problems with the nightrider should be added to this site. To honor both Dawson and Parton, the CV website should create Java applets for 'Parton's Game' and 'Dawson's Chess.'

George Svokos wrote on Wed, Nov 4, 2009 04:03 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
'Nightrider I' is a difficult CV to win. There must be some strategy and tactics to overcome the opponent. I was looking for information on this CV and found some intriguing information about the game (or problem - not clear on this.) Pritchard's encyclopedia indicates that Parton designed the game with the pawns starting 'on the third rank to prevent immediate forays by the nightriders.' The Java applet on this site has the pawns on the second rank. Perhaps this is the key to a more playable game and the applet should be changed to reflect the way Parton actually designed the game/problem. The dynamics of a third rank pawn array at the beginning of the game could be the difference.

Ken Kyllingmark wrote on Sun, Dec 5, 2010 08:17 AM UTC:
The diagram on the knightrider is incomplete: It can also move to A3.

Jeremy Good wrote on Sun, May 24, 2015 03:33 PM UTC:
My Oxford Companion to Chess by Kenneth Whyld and David Hooper informs me of the following:

nightrider a LINE-PIECE invented by W.S. Andrews in 1907 and first used in FAIRY PROBLEMS in 1925 by DAWSON, who named it (perhaps after Nightrider Street, adjacent to the place where he attended Problemists' meetings)...


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