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Piececlopedia: Rabbit. A doubly-bent rider, inspired by the Gryphon and Aanca.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Bn Em wrote on Wed, Jul 19, 2023 08:51 PM UTC in reply to Bob Greenwade from 07:28 PM:

BNNY

Very Betzan thinking :‌)

Gilman did end up proposing, a few years later, Rabbit as a Baronwise (i.e. 3D‐exclusive) Chu‐shogi Lion relative; Bunny was tabled later in the same thread for its forward‐only counterpart. They (and the Dukewise — and thus available in Hex — Bull) never made it into Man and Beast though.


Bob Greenwade wrote on Wed, Jul 19, 2023 07:28 PM UTC in reply to Charles Gilman from Sun Feb 27 2011 07:42 AM:

if you are willing to open up the question of what kind of piece to call Rabbit it would interestiung to read such cuggestions.

I actually found this page because I was thinking of doing something similar. I think the Rabbit would work best with a combination of Bishop, Knight, and Antelope, because its Betza notation would be BNNY.


Charles Gilman wrote on Sun, Feb 27, 2011 07:42 AM UTC:
Given how impossible I have found using the Rabbit piece as defined here I was disappointed as it is a good name for a piece it was rather wasted here. Its literary credentials are good - not just Lewis Carroll but Joel Chandler Harris and - in greater numbers - Richard Adams, A.A. Milne, and Beatrix Potter. Thus I began thinking that its name might be better deployed - with your consent, Tim - for another piece mixing orthogonal and diagonal steps, with a corresponding Hare piece swapping them round. If the compound of the two is not an existing piece, it could be called a Hatter in reference to Lewis Carroll.

After rejecting divergent pieces¹, pieces moving forward/backward as one Bent piece and sideways as another², and pieces making two turns a step apart in the middle³, I thought of retaining the double-bent theme but with both turns at the start. Thus the Rabbit might be defined as making a Mao move followed optionally by a second 45° turn and a Rook move, and the Hare as making a Moa move followed optionally by a second 45° turn and a Bishop move. In each case the second turn could be in either direction. These pieces are both interesting and manageable, and could quickly appear in a variant. There could even be a Contrarabbit and Contrahare with both bends at the end. Of course other CVP members might have even better ideas - including yourself - so if you are willing to open up the question of what kind of piece to call Rabbit it would interestiung to read such cuggestions.

¹ These tend to have servile names, and neither real nor literary lagomorphs are noted for servility. Better suiting divergent pieces involving a Bent or Double-Bent move would be names of the great many dog breeds(although Foxhound and Wolfhound are already taken for Bishop compounds).

² This felt too contrived to me.

³ Still too strong, despite being blockable and barred from moving less than three steps.


Charles Gilman wrote on Sun, Jul 19, 2009 06:11 AM UTC:
The problem about this piece is that it is a strengthened Nightrider where the Wolf and Fox are a strengthened Rook and Bishop, and what would more usually be desired alongside those pieces is a strengthened Knight - or at least a weakened Nightrider such as the Double Rhino.

Charles Gilman wrote on Mon, Jun 5, 2006 06:45 AM UTC:
I have tried to incorporate this piece into a variant but found it frustratingly strong. These problems often occur when a piece that works well on the radials is extrapolated to oblique directions. For the moment this page therefore remains an anomaly.

Tim Stiles wrote on Wed, Oct 6, 2004 05:39 AM UTC:
It turns one knight move in either direction(as opposed to where it would go as a Knightrider).

Charles Gilman wrote on Mon, Oct 4, 2004 07:11 AM UTC:
It also does not turn 45°, as a move at 45° to a Knight move is a Camel move. It could turn through approximately 37° or 53°. Are both allowed?

David Howe wrote on Sun, Oct 3, 2004 12:49 AM UTC:
Sorry about that -- I'll create an article page on Double-bent Riders instead.

🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Sun, Oct 3, 2004 12:41 AM UTC:
<P>This page violates the <A HREF='http://www.chessvariants.org/piececlopedia.dir/guidelines.html'>Piececlopedia Guidelines</A> and so should be removed. The guidelines state, 'If a piece has not been used in any games or published fairy chess problems, you should not submit an entry for it. The Piececlopedia is for pieces with some kind of established history.'</P>

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