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Man and Beast Overview and Glossary. Table summarising what piece characteristics Man and Beast articles cover, with glossary of terms used to describe pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Bn Em wrote on Mon, Mar 25 04:39 PM UTC in reply to Niels van Ham from 09:23 AM:

4D has at least two more symmetrical tilings: Xyrixa‐prism (a line of boards each of which has the same topology as Tetrahedral Chess or OctHex), as well as one that continues the Hex–Xyrixa–??? line which I've wondered about for a while but have never looked into in enough detail. There might also be one or two more in the class of the following.

There is also one more 3D one that Charles never explored (and noöne else seems to have used either), the bitruncated cubic honeycomb. Which corresponds to the other close‐packing of spheres that the Xyrixa geometry doesn't cover.

Unfortunately Charles hasn't been seen here since 2016, so even if he were interested in 4D (which he stated several times that he wasn't) it's unlikely that he'll do much on that front. And even there, the Hybrid Diagonal stuff is already kind of pushed into more‐or‐less expansion article territory.

If you're really interested, of course, you can devise some names yourself :‌)


Niels van Ham wrote on Mon, Mar 25 09:23 AM UTC:

There are some theoratical symmetries missing, i'll list them and what could be added

  1. Hypercube / Square Cluster / SinS
    1. HD could be used for the new diagonal because of it's SOLL of 4
    2. 4D leapers will need to be added
  2. Hexagon Cluster / HinH
    1. A new Diagonal that's ND on the board and the grid of boards simultaneously, i like to call this the Double Diagonal, DD
    2. "Doubled" Hex leapers would also need to be added, one part on the board, the other on the grid of boards
  3. SinH and HinS
    1. A new Diagonal that's SD on the board and ND on the grid simultaneously or vice versa, i like to call this the Mixed Diagonal, MD
    2. "Mixed" Leapers would also need to be added, one part on the board, the other on the grid of boards

HD and MD can only appear together on a hex-grid of square and hex boards, which i like to call Hex-Mix

One way this can be added is with some kind of Expansion Articles, but if you don't want to add it that's fine, i'm just giving ideas


Bob Greenwade wrote on Sun, Jul 9, 2023 01:30 AM UTC in reply to Bn Em from Sat Jul 8 12:03 PM:

Thanks for the info, Bn Em.

I probably will go ahead and do the editing pass myself by year's end, if only for my own use.


Bn Em wrote on Sat, Jul 8, 2023 12:03 PM UTC in reply to Bob Greenwade from Thu Jul 6 06:16 PM:

Alas, Charles hasn't been seen here since 2016; I don't think anyone knows what's become of him

It's not the first time someone has suggested doing an editing pass on M&B; I've considered doing one myself and probably will in time


Bob Greenwade wrote on Thu, Jul 6, 2023 06:16 PM UTC:Good ★★★★

Charles, I really like this series of articles, at least in principle; the main problem is that I find many of the long, run-on paragraphs very hard to wade through.

Would you mind terribly if I were to take the text and play "Editor" on it, formatting it into an easier-to-read (and comprehend) document? I could just email the result to you, and let you take full credit if you like.

If you'd like I could even put it together into a PDF file (again, emailed directly to you), suitable for self-publishing somewhere like Lulu, Amazon, etc.


💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 06:54 AM UTC:
The indexing is complete, and on the whole it has served a purpose. As well as enabling readers to find which page a piece is on, it has exposed some weak namings and overused initials that I have seen fit to fix. Hopefully the renamings have come nearly to an end now, as I have had more waves of it than I had hoped, and the current names can bed down. One final piece that I am considering renaming is Horn+Princeling, as my current suggestion of Assassin is used for other pieces, including in a variant found beyond the CVP here and here. It is also not that closely tied in with Usurper for the corresponding symmetric piece. The alternative that I am thinking of is Pretender, meaning one whose claim to a throne is not widely recognised.

I am still considering names for new pieces, especially pieces restricted to directions marked on a Take-the-Brain-style board. I'm still trying to think of one for a Double Rhino so restricted. Here is the list that I am currently contemplating:
Alderney - Dabbarider-Elephrider alternator
Auk - Elephrider-Cobblrider alternator
Birdbrain - Falcon with first step restricted to marked directions
Goblin - Gorgon with first step restricted to marked directions
Loon - Lion (alone or as part of a longer name) with first step restricted to marked directions
Redner - Ferz-Zombie alternator
Render - Wazir-Commuter alternator
Sabretooth - Rankwitch+Colourtiger
Tigress - Colourwitch+Ranktiger
Traveller - Treburider+Tripper
Truck -Tripprider+Trebuchet

The last two are partial riders of the Trilby. Ideally I would like to use ten similarly-themed names starting with Tr- for partial riders of fellow MAB 06 pieces the Triffid, Trebizond, Tramp, Trapezium, and Trailer.


💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Sat, Jan 7, 2012 07:40 AM UTC:
One of the authors listed here, Alfred Romer, has got a mention (very much posthumous, I learn) here.

💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Mon, Mar 28, 2011 05:57 AM UTC:
Ambrose and its offshoots have gone the way of Barnabas and Pinnock, and the next 'deconsecrations' afterwards came to me as a result of rationalisation. Boyprimate, Boywazir, Girlchatelaine, and Girlferz were dropped because of the implications that there should be the likes of Boycamelru, Boyknight, Girlcamel, and Girlnightru. As yet I cannot think of anything else to remove.
	I used my suspension of new index pages to add the concept of Averse pieces to cover triAngular geometries as a subset of hex ones - and emphasise that pieces with a Piececlopedia entry are the established ones. Now the incompleteness is nagging at me - for example, Abbey is defined as 'Bishop+Flexer', but with no F page from which to look up Flexer. So I am prepared to start continuing the index pages, but in the absence of further (and less anonymous) positive feedback they will not have the priority that the first few had.

💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Tue, Feb 22, 2011 06:54 AM UTC:
Further to this exercise I have decided to drop the names Cashcow and Catbird and their offshoots, with which I was never very happy but am now even less so. Firstly they don't really go with the Alpaca, Angora and their offshoots, secondly I now have a Cashier starting with cash, and thirdly I remembered I'd got Catbird from the title of a James Thurber story and didn't particularly want to add yet another author to the list of ones who have inspired the series.

💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Tue, Feb 22, 2011 06:53 AM UTC:
Further to this exercise I have decided to drop the names Cashcow and Catbird and their offshoots, with which I was never very happy but am now even less so. Firstly they don't really go with the Alpaca, Angora and their offshoots, secondly I now have a Cashier starting with cash, and thirdly I remembered I'd got Catbird from the title of a James Thurber story andd didn't particularly want to add yet another author to the list of ones who have inspired the series.

💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Mon, Feb 21, 2011 07:05 AM UTC:
One implication of removing the Amb- prefix is the need to rename the Straight Rook-Bishop alternator in pentagonal geometries. On first spotting this piece I named it Ambrook as something combining the straightness of the Rook and Bishop but alternating steps of their moves. Provisionlly I have chosen Rectifier, as this shares the initial of Rhino and suggests someone straightening things out. If no-one can better this name and there's no objection to saying that the Curved pieces are another kind of Rhino, Alpaca, Quagga et cetera I will proceed.

💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Sat, Feb 19, 2011 07:08 AM UTC:
Now that the -marigold and -pollinator suffixes have gone, the next convention I'm looking to 'prune' is the Amb- prefix. It caters for alternating moves with a SOLL ratio of exactly 2, but other alternations need ad hoc creations. See the following pieces combining orthogonal and diagonal moves:
orthogonal movesdiagonal movesCrooked alternatorCurved alternator
WazirFerzRhinoAmbfinch
DabbabaFerzAlpacaAmbapostle
WazirElephantQuaggaYaffle
TrebuchetFerzOkapi-
DabbabaElephantCashcowAmbbadbaba
WazirTripperSpringbok-
CobblerFerzQualpaca-
TrebuchetElephantTragopan-
DabbabaTripperOkalpaca-
CobblerElephantCatbirdAmbflail
DabbabaCommuterZeshcow-
Given that Leaping Bat Chess already uses one of the Curved pieces under the name of its Crooked counterpart I am inclined to drop the Amb- terminology and simply call 45° Curved pieces 'Curved Rhino', 'Curved Alpaca', et cetera. The Crooked-piece names are more memorable anyway - in reference to connections with the Knight, Camel, Zebra, Giraffe, Charolais, Antelope, Zemel, Satyr, Gimel, Crane, and Zherolais. Likewise for oblique 45° Curved pieces the names Ambrose, Ambmacel, Ambbezra, Ambrigaffe, et cetera would give way to Curved ...potamus, even though I don't have names even for Crooked alternators of other pairs of oblique leaps at 45°, such as Knight and Crane leaps.

This would not affect pieces alternating directions of the same simple piece. Firstly the Rose is well established and its name highly suits a Chess piece, and I have in turn embedded my Finch and Rabbi in Jewish-themed variants. Secondly they are genuinely more distinct from their nearest Crooked counterparts - at least in the case of the square-board Curved riders, which also alternate different angles.


💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Tue, Feb 15, 2011 07:15 AM UTC:
The next pieces that I'm 'gunning for' are the -marigold and -pollinator pieces of pages 19 and 20. Even such long names as result from these suffixes are a tiny part of the long text that it takes to explain them, so I'm guessing that pieces so difficult to describe are not going to be popular in variants. The alternations aren't even strict in the way that the -mixer and -weaver ones are, so off they go.

💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Thu, Feb 10, 2011 07:04 AM UTC:
I have decided to clear out MAB 06 and MAB 17 pieces combining three or more short-range components, except where they are two each on two kinds of radial. I have also decided to rename half the FO forms of the latter group to be more consistent in echoing the symmetric pieces' names, and hopefully be potentially less contentious. I will do it at the weekend, when I have a bit more time online.
	The next pieces that I am looking to remove as not extrapolating pre-existing pieces to new geometries are the -author and -dyer pieces of MAB 08, so if anyone has any reservations about their removal please voice them here.

💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Wed, Dec 1, 2010 06:53 AM UTC:
Just to remind everyone, in a month I'm removing notes about earlier suggestions for piece names that I have abandoned. Anyone who wants to check that they're up to date with my piece names, you just have the rest of December to see a clear statement of what has changed.

💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Sun, Oct 31, 2010 07:29 AM UTC:
Yes, I'm considering an alphabetic list in the new decade. There has been a lot of rethinking of names these last two years, but I'm hoping that I've done the bulk of it now, and once I've cleared out the notes of previous suggestions I could start an alphabetic list with a clearer idea of how many pages it will take.

Anonymous wrote on Thu, Oct 28, 2010 12:41 PM UTC:
Alphabetical list with all pieces, described in articles (with very brief descriptions or only numbers of articles, where they are described) would be good.

💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Wed, Jul 7, 2010 05:44 PM UTC:
I recently devised a chain of renamings for simple oblique leapers in MAB 03, MAB 05, and MZB 14 that appear never to have been used. The idea seemed so satisfactory that I implemented it without first highlighting that I was planning to, and close on the heels of a series of renamings for compound oblique leapers. Having done it I realise that I have blurred the two changes, so here is a clarification for those who did not notice the second one:
	It started when I thought of the MUSKRAT and judged this a better name than Myomorph, which in biology includes most of the rodents after which I had named other pieces.
	However, replacing Myomorph with Muskrat would also require a replacement for Mystic and renaming the Mustang and Muddler. This was not so great a problem, as I was never entirely happy with Mustang anyway. A marsupial name would be much better, to go with the Numbat and Wombat sharing its SOLL of 57. I looked through an online list of marsupials again and spotted the Ringaui.
	Previously I'd always overlooked Ringaui as it in turn clashed with Irregular. However, once I took a look at a full list of rectlinear oblique leapers I judged it odd that I had given the names of real (if part-time) warriors like the Auxiliary and Irregular to longer-SOLL pieces than those that I had named Bystander and Onlooker. So it occurred to me that a replacement for Irregular could lead to a more extensive chain of renamings addressing these difficulties.
	First for the 11:6 leaper I decided to use the previously unused S and Y and replace Irregular with SCRYER, someone whose efforts are thought fruitless in modern society. I have never had a name for the FO piece.
	That freed R and I up, so for the pure-hex piece with SOLL 53 I went ahead with replacing Mustang with RINGAUI. For the FO piece I replaced Escape with GNAWER, following the practice for FO versions of other small-animal pieces. Also freed up was IRREGULAR itself, with which I then replaced Muddler for the 8:7:1 leaper. Note that this switched Irregular to the name of an even- instead of odd-SOLL piece, so that its compounds with radial pieces have different names from those of the old Irregular. The SOLL of 114 is less than the Bystander's 117 and Onlooker's 122. As Mess did not fit this especially well I made the FO Irregular the INSURGENT.
	That freed M and U up, so for the 8:2:1 leaper from I went ahead with replacing Myomorph with MUSKRAT. For the FO piece I replaced Mourner with SUMMONER. Also freed up were MUDDLER and MESS, with which I then replaced Mystic and Initiate for the 8:7:5 leaper and its FO version.
	That freed up MYSTIC, someone else whose efforts are thought fruitless in modern society, with which I then replaced Auxiliary for the 11:4 leaper. Note that this switched Mystic to the name of an odd- instead of even-SOLL piece, so that its compounds with radial pieces have different names from those of the old Mystic. I have never had a name for the FO piece.
	That freed up AUXILIARY, with which I then replaced the unsatisfactory Stretcher for the 7:6:4 leaper. Its SOLL, 101, is less than the new Irregular's 114. As Splint no longer suited the FO piece I made the FO Auxiliary the ANCILLARY.

💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Sun, Jan 24, 2010 07:43 AM UTC:
The Threeleaper and Fourleaper in their full 3d glory - Ninja+Trebuchet and Sabbaba+Drummer+Cobbler - are in MAB 19, as indeed are the full 3d Rooteighteenleaper and Rootthirtytwoleaper - Nimel+Tripper and Furtherlump+Minorlump+Commuter - and the Fiveleaper and Rootfiftyleaper existing in 2d anyway - Antelope+Quibbler and Namel+Quitter. The radial 2d components of these and their compounds are in MAB 06. These compenents of the Threeleaper/Fourleaper/Fiveleaper/R50leaper I there term Trebuchet/Cobbler/Quibbler/Quitter. The compounds are Trebuchet+Tripper=Trilby, Cobbler+Commuter+Colby, Quibbler+Quitter=Quilby, Tripper+Cobbler=Macette, Tripper+Quibbler=Bezette, and Commuter+Quibbler=Rigette. I suppose logically MAB 19 could include the full Threeleaper+R18leaper=Nintu+Trilby=Threetriangulator and the like. Would anyone welcome inclusion of such pieces?

Ome-step divergent pieces are in MAB 02. Fusilier is, I believe, an alternative name for the Steward, the piece that moves without capturing as a Wazir and captures as a Ferz. The piece that moves with or without capturing as a Wazir and captures as a Ferz is the Xaja Wazir. The Ajax Ferz moves without capturing as a Wazir and with or without capturing as a Ferz. The piece that moves without capturing as a Ferz and captures as a Wazir I term the Contrasteward, but I once saw it termed the Guardian somewhere since, probably only a problematist usage so far. It would be interesting to know if anyone thinks it worth substituting Guardian for Contrasteward and devising similar replacements for Contrawaiter and Contrabutler.

Out of curiosity, does anyone think that I'm flogging a dead horse by terming the MAB 12 Sextoranker+Ninjafiler compound Mule? This is something of a dead-end name for a Stockable piece (i.e. one like the Brook, Fwezir, et cetera), as I am noticing as I introduce ever more such pieces. Were it called the Nsexton as copying the logic for radial pieces would dictate I could then extrapolate to Elfranker+Underfiler=Uelf, Fenceranker+Lectufiler=Lfencer, Brook+Nsexton=Nsenvasser, Unicorn+Nsexton=Nsefila, Brook+Uelf=Nleaseholder, Unicorn+Uelf=Nleprechaun, et cetera. The Stock forms of these, which MAB 15 would cover, are Stock analogues to the Camel, Zebra, Marshal, Cardinal, Canvasser, and Caliph. I could also name analogues for the Gnu/Gazelle/Bison if to Sexton+Elf=Morgai and Ninja+Lecturer=Coallure I added names for Ninja+Underscore, Sexton+Fencer, Elf+Fencer, and Underscore+Lecturer.


Jose Carrillo wrote on Fri, Jan 22, 2010 12:58 PM UTC:
>> the sniper named fusilier (moves Wazir, captures Ferz)

Cool!

Moves like an Ajax Ferz...

Fusilier! Like the sound of that.

Claudio Martins Jaguaribe wrote on Fri, Jan 22, 2010 03:42 AM UTC:
Dear Mr. Gilman:

I've been looking in your articles for alternative names for the commuter, the fourleaper, and their compound, as for the tripper, the threeleaper and their compound. Where can I find?

Besides that I don't know if you are familiar with the sniper named fusilier (moves Wazir, captures Ferz), do you have an article on snipers? Do you have a name for the 'anti-fusilier' and others?

I would like to talk to you about the concept of base movers and templates (I use the term base mover to avoid confusion with the atoms). If you think it is ok, tell me or send me a mail.

Thanks.

Moisés Solé wrote on Fri, Nov 27, 2009 05:23 PM UTC:
But I think this massive project would have been great without the need of respecting the old names, with a logic system in which you can easily derive the name of a piece from its moves, and the moves of a piece from its name.

💡📝Charles Gilman wrote on Thu, Nov 26, 2009 06:46 PM UTC:
Questions of 'what if' interest me in general - what if the Romans hadn't declined, or if Philip and Mary had had children, or if Cromwell had established a lasting republic, or if the Weimar Republic had developed nuclear weapons. The question of what if there were no pre-existing piece names, however, does no seem to appeal to me. Chess comes to us with the piece names, and anyone with an interest in the game associated the pieces' names strongly with their moves. Well nearly everyone, anyway! Without the existing names - be they in historic and regional games (Ferz, Camel, Picket, Cannon, Goldgeneral), 3d extensions (Unicorn, Sexton), or inventions of other CVP members (Arrow, Kangaroo) I wouldn't have been able to devise all my own piece names here.

George Duke wrote on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 12:45 AM UTC:
If they didn't already have established leading names, I would call the ''Rook'' the Ship, the ''Bishop'' the Fool, and the ''Knight'' just the Horse. But to systematize it for compounds and limited pieces, Gilman would want suffixes or prefixes, like -Ro, -Fo and -Ho. ''Ship of Fools'' is potentially then the old Carrera Champion (RB) also in one convenient application. Carrera Centaur(BN) could be FoHo or HoFo or loose HoBo, with understanding that -Bo- and -Fo- both denote Bishop according to euphonic preference. I think Rook icon is generally better as a Ship than a Tower, because several regular pieces look like that. The Horse should formally have wings or could be a Plane since no one will ever be interested in any other jumper, or flyer, than the 1,2, notwithstanding all the work going into ''From Ungulates Outward.'' It's obvious to six-year-olds that only Horses jump. As an afterthought, let's invent a new piece totally new and unprecedented. Let's see, the BoBo. BoBo, blockable, moves as a regular Bishop plus one additional adjacent opposite colour diagonal at his NW to the end of the board NE to SW, either way, never the other way diagonally on that opposite colour from present starting square. There. Bobo, banana fanna. Ship-of-Fools

Moisés Solé wrote on Mon, Nov 23, 2009 01:47 PM UTC:
All this (interesting) discussion slightly reminds me of a thing I've been wondering... If you were designing names from the start, without having to comply with the Rook, Bishop, Knight, General, Cannon, etc. That we all know, How would the system have turned out?

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