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Pincer Pawn. Moves as rook, and takes by enclosing.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Bob Greenwade wrote on Sat, Oct 14, 2023 05:04 AM UTC in reply to Fergus Duniho from Fri Oct 13 10:00 PM:

I don't know that it's the origin of the term, but the only other place on this site where I can find the Pincer Pawn mentioned is in this variant.


🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Fri, Oct 13, 2023 10:00 PM UTC:

Where does the name Pincer Pawn come from? I understand the name is useful for distinguishing it from regular Pawns, but since Abbott does not use the term in his descriptions of Ultima, I followed his lead and called it a Pawn on the Ultima page, and I merely mentioned that it is also called a Pincer Pawn.


🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Wed, Mar 2, 2016 04:13 PM UTC:
Checking D. B. Pritchard's description of Ultima in Popular Chess Variants, he writes, "(5) Pawns do not promote and there is no castling."

Szling Ozec wrote on Wed, Mar 2, 2016 04:23 AM UTC:
Do pinching Pawns promote? Their greater range would seem to make it unnecessary, but then again promotion is kind-of what makes a pawn a pawn (in FIDE chess and most variants that I have seen that are derived from it at least). I would assume they do but I would like some clarification on the matter.

Flowerman wrote on Thu, Mar 4, 2010 06:30 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
I played Petteia (bu did'nt play Ultima), it's pretty interesting! Is there were all pieces moves like in classic chess, but captures by this method? Or something like this? Thank you!

Matthew Montchalin wrote on Mon, Nov 7, 2005 11:22 PM UTC:
In almost all species of Baroque (and Ultima) Chess, the pincher pawn does not capture diagonally. To bring about a 'custodial' capture, the pawn must move like a rook, and the enemy target must be between the pawn and a friendly piece.

Joke wrote on Mon, Nov 7, 2005 08:57 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
Hello,
I have a question: does a Pincer Pawn also capture diagonally? I guess
not, since that makes the piece way too strong...

Greetings
joke

Anonymous wrote on Wed, Nov 13, 2002 07:52 AM UTC:
Unfortunately the exact rules of Petteia are not known (googling
for Petteia will give you interesting information about that game).

However, the soldier of Petteia may be the ancestor of the standard
chess pawn with its surprising divergent move and capture. 

You can find an interesting article by Myron Samsin on this theme 
on http://www.netcologne.de/~nc-jostenge/samsin.htm

--Jörg Knappen

📝Ben Good wrote on Wed, Nov 13, 2002 01:20 AM UTC:
i made the original piececlopedia pages for the ultima pieces many years ago. at the time i was really just trying to take the pieces out of the context of ultima - with which they are so closely associated - because i hoped that people might try combining them with other chess and fairy chess pieces, which indeed they have (altho i don't know that it's necessarily because of my pages). also, if mr. abbott was accessible via the internet at that time, i wasn't aware of it - in other words, i didn't talk to him at all about the game and so i just assumed he had invented all the pieces. <P> i'm not familiar with the games jorg mentioned except tafl, but based on his description of them, none of these games have any historical connection with chess. so even if abbott is not the inventor of the pincer pawn's method of capture or the first to use it in a game context, it seems he is still the first to use it in a chess variant, for whatever that's worth. <P> at any rate, several months ago i typed up a list of piece pages i want to update / redo, and the PP is already on that list, so i'll make sure i correct the error when i get to it (could be awhile tho).

💀💡Robert Abbott wrote on Tue, Nov 12, 2002 06:49 PM UTC:
Jörg Knappen is right; I did not invent the Pincer Pawn, and I never said I
did.  So Ben Good made a mistake here.  The idea behind Ultima 
was to combine captures from various games into a single game.  So most 
of the other pieces came from other games.  But there were some I had 
to invent myself: The Immobilizer, the Chameleon, and the Coordinator.

Anonymous wrote on Tue, Nov 12, 2002 12:38 PM UTC:
Sorry, I can't resist ... <p> ... but the pincer pawn is one of the oldest documented 'chess' pieces around. The method of movement and capture (know in german as <em>Wächterschlag</em> dates back to antique times and was used by the pieces in Petteia (strategic game in ancient greece) and Ludus latrunculorum. It is also used in Tablut (game of the Sami people documented by Linné) and Hnefatafl (game of the Vikings). <p> --Jörg Knappen

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