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Duke. Piece from RennChess that steps one orthogonally then slides diagonally, or slides diagonally then steps one orthogonally.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
David Paulowich wrote on Fri, Sep 10, 2004 03:38 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Continuing my comments to the Cavalier article. Adrian King writes: 'The Spider is the diagonal counterpart of the orthogonal Octopus, and like the Octopus, was taken from an unpublished piece by Wayne Schmittberger.' King allowed the Scirocco Spider to move like a Wazir but not to capture like one. The Spider continues on to move and capture on the same squares as the Duke. As in the case of the Octopus, King's scirocco.zrf verifies that this piece traces a single path to its target. <p>Adrian King's 16x16 variant 'Jupiter' inspired Mark Hedden to create Ganymede Chess (12x12), Europan Chess (14x14), and Io Chess (16x16). Io Chess contains a Spider piece, which can both move and capture like a Wazir. To quote Mark Hedden: 'It is, simply, the diagonal equivalent of the griffin.' Hedden allows this piece to promote to the Tarantula, which combines the moves of Spider and Bishop. The Wing Chun piece in Tim Bostick's Kung Fu Chess (2001) also moves like the Spider and promotes to a piece which moves like a Tarantula.

David Paulowich wrote on Fri, Jan 14, 2005 04:16 AM UTC:

The following endgame position leads to two different forced mates in three moves.

WHITE: King(c2), Duke(c6). BLACK: King(a2), Pawn(a3).

diagram

1.Db4 check Ka1 2.Kc1 a2 3. Dc2 mate will work for a duke using only the 'Step one square orthogonally, and then slide any number of squares diagonally' rule. You can also substitute a knight for the duke.

1.Dd4 check Ka1 2.Kc1 a2 3. Dc2 mate will work for a duke using only the 'Slide any number of squares diagonally, then step one square orthogonally' rule. You can also substitute a transcendental prelate for the duke. See Tim Harding's web article: The Kibitzer #31 'Bring Back Free Castling!' for the transcendental prelate, invented by George Botterill in the 1960s.


George Duke wrote on Fri, Jan 14, 2005 07:46 PM UTC:
The 'transcendental prelate' of David Paulowich's forced mate example goes to 'any square of the opposite colour adjacent to any of the squares a normal bishop can go to'--Chess Cafe's Tim Harding Kibitzer #31, invented by George Botterill in 1960's. This is unique way to present a problem with up to three alternative pieces that work. I estimate Transcendental Prelate, new here in CVP, to be less than Queen value, 8 or 9 points depending on board size and piece mix.

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