Chess with different armies

Last updated December 08, 2024

Chess with different armies (or Betza's Chess^[1] or Equal Armies^[2]) is a chess variant invented by Ralph Betza in 1979. Two sides use different sets of fairy pieces. There are several armies of equal strength to choose from, including the standard FIDE army. In all armies, kings and pawns are the same as in FIDE chess, but the four other pieces are different.

Rules and armies

Before the game players choose their armies in a certain way, predefined by tournament rules. This can be done either randomly or secretly by both players. Each player has a choice of 4 armies:^[3] the Fabulous FIDEs, which are the standard chess pieces, the Colorbound Clobberers, the Nutty Knights, and the Remarkable Rookies.

All armies are designed to be equal in strength but have significantly different properties. Kings and pawns move the same as in chess for all armies. Pawns can only promote to pieces of either army on the board at the start. Castling is done as in standard chess with the exception of the case when the rook replacement is colorbound, like in the Colorbound Clobberers army. In the latter case, the king, when castling long, moves to b1, and the rook replacement to c1. This is so that colorbound pieces do not change square color.

Ferz (notation F).

Alfil (notation A), can jump.

Wazir (notation W).

Dabbaba (notation D), can jump.

Many pieces in the following armies are combinations of standard chess pieces and 4 fairy pieces: ferz , alfil , wazir and dabbaba (see their movement diagrams above). The game can be played with standard chess pieces, and the following move diagrams use standard pieces as well (except queens).

Colorbound Clobberers

In this army, rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Bede (notation BD). Moves as bishop or dabbaba. Can jump for dabbaba moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Waffle (notation WA). Moves as wazir or alfil, hence the name. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

FAD (notation FAD). Moves as ferz, alfil or dabbaba, hence the name. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Cardinal (notation NB). Moves as bishop or knight. Can jump for knight moves.

As mentioned, when using this army and castling queenside, the king moves three squares (from e1 to b1) and the bede moves from a1 to c1.

A weakness of the Colorbound Clobberers are the unprotected pawns at a2 and h2. To cure this weakness, the positions of the waffle and the FAD can be switched. This alternate setup was already proposed by Ralph Betza and is named Colorbound Clobberers II.

Nutty Knights

This army includes a lot of leapers, but most of them have asymmetrical move patterns, with backward moves being restricted.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Charging rook, originally furlrurlbakking (notation frlRrlbK), moves forward and sideways as a rook, or backward as a king.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Fibnif (notation fbNF). Moves as ferz, or as a knight for its two vertically longest forward and backward moves. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Charging knight, originally forfnibakking (notation fhNrlbK). Moves as king backward and sideways or as a knight forward. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Colonel, originally forfnifurlrurking (notation fhNfrlRK). Moves as king, or as rook forward and sideways, or as knight forward. Can jump for knight moves.

Remarkable Rookies

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Short rook (notation W4). Moves as rook, but not more than 4 spaces.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Woody rook (notation WD). Moves as dabbaba or as wazir. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Half duck (notation HFD). Moves as threeleaper or kirin. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Chancellor (notation RN). Moves as rook or knight. Can jump for knight moves.

Strength of the armies

The armies were playtested in human play among chess masters and considered balanced at the time of their release. They were not playtested in computer games because at this time no engines playing chess variants were available. The release of Zillions of Games did not change the original assessment. In 2010, H.G. Muller tested the Colourbound Clobberers and the Nutty Knights in the stronger engine Fairy-Max and found that both armies were significantly stronger than the FIDE pieces.^[4]. He found that the Nutty Knights had an advantage of slightly more than a pawn above the FIDEs, and the Clobberers slightly less than a pawn. He also notes that the advantage of the Clobberers as an army is smaller than expected from the piece values alone.

In 2015 Fairy-Max was extended to handle limited sliders such as the Short Rook from the Remarkable Rookies. H.G. Muller ran a test of all four official armies against each other with the following result:^[5]

black w            Rook Nutt Clob FIDE   total h Rookies    ####  +3% +13% +15%    +62% i Nutters     -3% ####  +3% +12%    +19% t Clobberers -13%  +0% ####  +8%    -11% e FIDE       -16% -10% -10% ####    -71%  (All results based on 400 games.)

It seems that the Rookies are the strongest of all, in agreement with ChessV and Zillions tests. By this finding, they are only marginally stronger than the Nutters, while the Clobberers seem to be about half-way in strength between them and FIDE. Statistical error in 400 games is 2%, so that means that the 3% of the Rookies-Nutters result can make us decide with >90% confidence that the Rookies indeed have the better chances here.

Proposed adjustments to the official armies

In the light of the newer strength evaluations, several weakenings of the official armies were proposed. In 2012 J. Knappen proposed an adjustment to the Nutty Knights named Drunken Nights.^[6] Here the Charging Knight is weakened by removing the step directly backwards, decreasing its endgame value. The resulting piece is called Drunken Night.

In 2015 J. Knappen discussed some weakenings of the Remarkable Rookies and the Colorbound Clobberers, including the weakening of the Bede to a piece named Busy Beaver.^[7] In this piece the Dabbaba jump is replaced by a zigzag sliding move to the same square. In 2016, Double sharp and H.G. Muller came up with playtested proposals for the Clobberers and the Rookies. In the Clobberers, the FAD is replaced by the Prime Minister that can step in any diagonal direction once or twice in one turn. It can step in another direction after its first step. It need not take both steps. It must stop when it captures. It can return to its starting square, allowing the player to skip a turn. In the Rookies, the Short Rook is even shorter and has now only two steps in each orthogonal direction. The final adjustment from a three-step short rook to two-step short rook was made in 2020.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Drunken night (notation fhNrlKbF). Moves as ferz backwards, king sideways, or as a knight forward. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Busy Beaver (notation BzB2). Moves as bishop or two steps as a Boyscout. The squares marked with "x" can be reached via two different zigzag paths.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Prime minister (notation FmaF). Moves as ferz and can continue moving as a ferz again. It need not take both steps. It must stop when it captures. It can return to its starting square, allowing the player to skip a turn.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Short rook (notation W2). Moves as rook, but not more than two spaces.

Unofficial armies

The four armies described above were playtested by Ralph Betza and selected as the most balanced ones. There are other armies, invented by Betza and other people, some of which are presented here.

In the initial version of the game, there were 8 armies^[1] and, in these armies, the king moved differently from the king in the standard chess. Instead of normal pawns, fairy pawns could be selected – for example, Berolina pawns. However, later Betza abandoned the idea of using fairy pieces for king and pawns ^[8] and reduced the number of armies to four.

Forward FIDEs (Ralph Betza)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[9]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Charging rook (notation fsWWbFW). Moves forward and sideways as a rook, or backward as a king. This piece is also in the Nutty Knights army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Knishop (notation fhNbFF). Moves forwards as knight or backwards as bishop. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Bishight (notation fFFbhN). Moves forwards as bishop or backwards as knight. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Forequeen (notation fsWWfFFbhNWF). Moves forwards or sideways as queen, or backwards as a king or knight. Can jump for knight moves.

Meticulous Mashers (Ralph Betza)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[10]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Forfer (notation FR4). Moves as ferz, or up to 4 spaces as rook.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Fibnif (notation fbNF). Moves as ferz, or as a knight for its two longest forward and backward moves. This piece is also in the Nutty Knights army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

B4nD (notation B4nD). Moves up to 4 spaces as bishop, or exactly 2 spaces as rook.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

N2R4 (notation N2R4.). Moves up to 4 spaces as rook, or makes up to 2 consecutive knight moves in the same direction. Can jump for knight moves, but the first must end on an empty space to be able to make a second one.

All-Around Allstars (Ralph Betza)

This army is made of one piece from each of the main armies. Out of the 12 eligible combinations, as the FAD from the Colorbound Clobberers is considered too strong for a Bishop equivalent and the Cardinal from the same army too weak for a Queen equivalent, Ralph Betza considers the following to be the "official" all-star team. The rooks, knights, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[11]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Charging rook (notation frlRrlbK), from the Nutty Knights army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Waffle (notation WA), from the Colorbound Clobberers army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Bishop (notation B), from the Fabulous FIDEs army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Chancellor (notation RN), from the Remarkable Rookies army.

There is another All-Around Allstars army by Ralph Betza. In this setup the restriction that an eligible piece must play in one of the four official armies is lifted and the Forward FIDEs and the Meticulous Mashers are also included. It has the following setup:^[12]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Charging rook (notation frlRrlbK), from the Forward FIDEs and the Nutty Knights army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Fibnif (notation fbNF), from the Meticulous Mashers and the Nutty Knights army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Bishight (notation fBbN), from the Forward FIDEs army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Chancellor (notation RN), from the Remarkable Rookies army.

Amazon Army (Ralph Betza)

In this army, rooks and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[13]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Short rook (notation W4). Moves as rook, but not more than 4 spaces. This piece is also in the Remarkable Rookies army.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Amazon (notation WWFFN). Moves as queen or knight.

Cylindrical Cinders (Ralph Betza)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[14]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Cylindrical Waffle (notation oWoA). Moves as wazir or alfil on a cylinder. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Cylindrical Knight (notation oN). Moves as knight on a cylinder.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Cylindrical Bishop (notation oFF). Moves as bishop on a cylinder. The position with an x can be reached in 2 different ways.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Cylindrical Chancellor (notation oWWoN). Moves as rook or knight on a cylinder. Can jump for knight moves. The horizontal line can be reached from both directions.

Fighting Fizzies (Peter Aronson)

In this army, the left rook, the right rook, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[15]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Left Single-Step Rhino (notation WF(mW-flF)(mF-flW)), on the left. Steps one square in any direction, then, if the first square is empty, may turn 45 degrees to the left, and move one more square.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Right Single-Step Rhino (notation WF(mW-frF)(mF-frW)), on the right. Turns 45 degrees to the right instead.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Gnohmon (notation vNvWnH). Moves as knight for its longest moves, as wazir vertically or slides 3 squares in orthogonal directions. Can jump for knight moves. The name Gnohmon is a reverence to Ralph Betza who used gnohmon as a pseudonym on chessvariants.com.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Crabinal (notation fNbsNhhB). Moves as knight for the longest forward and shortest backward moves, or as bishop for half the distance to the edge of the board. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Eagle-Scout (notation WzFF). Moves as wazir or as crooked bishop. Positions with an x can each be reached in 2 different ways.

Avian Airforce (Ralph Betza)

In this army, the rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[16]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Wader (notation WDD). Moves as wazir, or makes consecutive dabbaba moves (Dabbaba rider moves). Can jump between dabbaba moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Darter (notation fNWbAA). Moves as wazir, as knight for its 2 most forward moves and can make consecutive alfil moves backwards. Can jump between alfil moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Faalcon (notation FAA). Moves as ferz, or makes consecutive alfil moves. Can jump between alfil moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Flying Kingfisher (notation WFAADD). Combines the moves of the Wader and the Faalcon.

Spacious Cannoneers (Ralph Betza)

In this army, the rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[17]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Mortar, on the left. Moves and captures as wazir or a rook that must stop one space before any piece. Can leap over the first piece in an orthogonal line and capture the next piece on that line (here the black rook can be captured).

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Howitzer, on the right. Moves and captures as wazir or a rook that must stop one space before any piece. Can leap over the first piece in an orthogonal line and land on any free space after it but before a second piece.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Napoleon (notation vNW). Moves as wazir or as knight for its longest moves. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Carronade. Moves as bishop but must stop one space before any piece. Can leap over the first piece in a diagonal line and then continue as a normal bishop.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Big Bertha. Combines the moves of the Howitzer and the Carronade.

Pizza Kings (John Lawson)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[18]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Pepperoni (notation sDfAvWF). Moves as ferz, horizontally as dabbaba, vertically as wazir or forward as alfil. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Mushroom (notation vNfsCbF). Moves forwards as knight for its longest moves, backwards as ferz or as camel for its shortest forward moves. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Sausage (notation sWFvNvH). Moves as ferz, horizontally as wazir, as knight for its longest moves or jumps 3 squares vertically. Can jump for all moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Meatball (notation FWADfN.). Moves as king, alfil, dabbaba or as knight for its 2 longest forward moves. Can jump for all moves.

Seeping Switchers (Jörg Knappen)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[19]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Panda or Slip Rook (notation (W-DD)). Moves as rook, but only to squares of color opposite to that on which it stands. Can jump over squares it cannot move to.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Marquis (notation NW). Moves as knight or wazir. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Unicorn (notation N(mW-FF)). Moves as knight, then may continue as bishop. Can jump for the knight moves, but longer moves require the corresponding wazir square to be empty. In this case, the unicorn may jump to g3 and g5, but is blocked from moving to h2 or h6 by the black pawn, which it cannot capture.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Erl Queen or Erlkönigin or Slip Queen (notation (W-DD)(F-AA)). Moves as queen, but jumps over every other space along its way.

Daring Dragons (H. G. Muller)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[20]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Dragon Horse (notation WB). Moves as bishop or wazir.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Dragonfly (notation sNvR). Moves vertically as rook or sideways as knight. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Dragoon (notation KivmN). Moves as king or, on its initial move, vertically and without capturing as a knight. Can jump for knight moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Wyvern (notation vNsjRB). Moves as bishop, vertically as knight, or at least 2 steps horizontally as a rook. Can jump for knight moves and jumps over the first square for rook moves.

Bent Bozos (H. G. Muller)

The left and right rooks, left and right knights, left and right bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces: ^[21]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Left Griffon (notation FaflR). Moves as ferz and then, optionally, rotates 45 degrees left and then moves as a rook.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Right Griffon (notation FafrR). Rotates 45 degrees right instead.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Left Aanca (notation WaflB). Moves as wazir and then, optionally, rotates 45 degrees left and moves as bishop.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Right Aanca (notation WafrB). Rotates 45 degrees right instead.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Left Sastik (notation DfflNdllNddrNfrrN)). Moves as dabbaba or a knight one to the left of the dababba move

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Right Sastik (notation DffrNdrrNddlNfllN)). Moves as dabbaba or a knight one to the right of the dababba move

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Griffon (notation FafR). Moves as ferz and then optionally continues outwards as a rook.

Fearful Fairies (Jörg Knappen)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[22]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Phoenix (notation WA). Moves as wazir or alfil. Can jump for all moves. Named waffle in the Colorbound Clobberers.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Dullahan (notation FN). Moves one square diagonally or jumps like the standard chess knight.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Fearful (notation FA). Moves as one square diagonally or jump two squares diagonally. The name is a word play on Ferz-Alfil aka Ferfil.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Banshee (notation BNN). Moves as Bishop or Nightrider, making consecutive knight moves in the same direction. It may jump over pieces using the knight moves, but all intermediate knight squares must be free.

Silly Sliders (H. G. Muller)

The rooks, knights, bishops, and queen are replaced by the following pieces:^[23]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Lame Duck (notation FyafW). Moves as rook or ferz, but may not move exactly 1 space as rook.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Diamond (notation FD). Moves as ferz or dabbaba. Can jump for dabbaba moves.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Onyx (notation WyafF). Moves as bishop or wazir, but may not move exactly 1 space as bishop.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Squire (notation NyafK). Moves as queen or knight, but may not move exactly 1 space as queen. Can jump for knight moves.

Hoppel-Poppel

Hoppel-Poppel is originally a popular chess variant from Germany played with equal armies. Its army fits perfectly into Chess with Different Armies and is therefore listed here. In this army the knights and bishops are replaced by the following pieces:^[24]

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Knibis (notation mNcB). Moves without capture as a knight, captures as a bishop.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Biskni (notation mBcN). Moves without capture as bishop, captures as a knight.

Related Research Articles

The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess. It can move any number of squares vertically, horizontally or diagonally, combining the powers of the rook and bishop. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. Because the queen is the strongest piece, a pawn is promoted to a queen in the vast majority of cases.

A chess piece, or chessman, is a game piece that is placed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. It can be either white or black, and it can be one of six types: king, queen, rook, bishop, knight, or pawn.

The knight is a piece in the game of chess, represented by a horse's head and neck. It moves two squares vertically and one square horizontally, or two squares horizontally and one square vertically, jumping over other pieces. Each player starts the game with two knights on the b- and g-files, each located between a rook and a bishop.

Capablanca chess is a chess variant invented in the 1920s by World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca. It incorporates two new pieces and is played on a 10×8 board. Capablanca believed that chess would be played out in a few decades. This threat of "draw death" for chess was his main motivation for creating a more complex version of the game.

A fairy chess piece, variant chess piece, unorthodox chess piece, or heterodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess but incorporated into certain chess variants and some unorthodox chess problems, known as fairy chess. Compared to conventional pieces, fairy pieces vary mostly in the way they move, but they may also follow special rules for capturing, promotions, etc. Because of the distributed and uncoordinated nature of unorthodox chess development, the same piece can have different names, and different pieces can have the same name in various contexts.

In chess, a relative value is a standard value conventionally assigned to each piece. Piece valuations have no role in the rules of chess but are useful as an aid to assessing a position.

The empress is a fairy chess piece that can move like a rook or a knight. It cannot jump over other pieces when moving as a rook but may do so when moving as a knight. The piece has acquired many names and is frequently called a chancellor or a marshal.

The princess is a fairy chess piece that can move like a bishop or a knight. It cannot jump over other pieces when moving as a bishop but may do so when moving as a knight. The piece has acquired many names and is frequently called an archbishop, a cardinal, or a dragon; it may also simply be called the bishop+knight compound. The princess can force checkmate on an enemy king without the help of any other friendly piece.

Omega Chess is a commercial chess variant designed and released in 1992 by Daniel MacDonald. The game is played on a 10×10 board with four extra squares, each added diagonally adjacent to the corner squares. The game is laid out like standard chess with the addition of a champion in each corner of the 10×10 board and a wizard in each new added corner square.

Courier chess is a chess variant that dates from the 12th century and was popular for at least 600 years. It was a part of the slow evolution towards modern chess from Medieval Chess.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chess:

Wolf chess is a chess variant invented by Dr. Arno von Wilpert in 1943. It is played on an 8×10 chessboard and employs several fairy pieces including wolf and fox – compound pieces popular in chess variants and known by different names.

The amazon, also known as the queen+knight compound or the dragon, is a fairy chess piece that can move like a queen or a knight. It may thus be considered the sum of all orthodox chess pieces other than the king and the pawn. The amazon can force checkmate on an enemy king without the help of any other friendly piece.

The wazir or vazir is a fairy chess piece that may move a single square vertically or horizontally. In notation, it is given the symbol W. In this article, the wazir is represented by an inverted rook.

Almost chess is a chess variant invented by Ralph Betza in 1977. The game is played using a standard chessboard and pieces, except that each player's queen is replaced by a chancellor, a piece which combines the moves of the rook and the knight.

Tutti-frutti chess is a chess variant invented by Ralph Betza and Philip Cohen in 1978. It has been played regularly in tournaments and correspondence games, such as those of the Italian Association of Chess Variants.

The camel or long knight is a fairy chess piece with an elongated knight move. It can jump three squares horizontally and one square vertically or three squares vertically and one square horizontally, regardless of intervening pieces. Therefore, it is a (1,3)-leaper. The piece commonly represented in diagrams as an inverted knight.

The zebra is a fairy chess piece that moves like a stretched knight. It jumps three squares horizontally and two squares vertically or three squares vertically and two squares horizontally, regardless of intervening pieces; thus, it is a (2,3)-leaper. A lame zebra, which moves one step orthogonally and then two steps diagonally outwards and can be blocked by intervening pieces, appears as the elephant in janggi.

Chess on a really big board is a large chess variant invented by Ralph Betza around 1996. It is played on a 16×16 chessboard with 16 pieces and 16 pawns per player. Since such a board can be constructed by pushing together four standard 8×8 boards, Betza also gave this variant the alternative names of four-board chess or chess on four boards.

References

1 2 Pritchard, D. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.
↑ Pritchard, D. B. (2007). "Equal Armies". In Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. pp. 186–87. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.
↑ Chess with different armies by Ralph Betza.
↑ Single Comment Chess with Different Armies
↑ Single Comment Chess with Different Armies
↑ Jörg Knappen, 2012. Drunken Nights. On www.chessvariants.com, retrieved 2024-12-07
↑ Single Comment Chess with Different Armies
↑ Different Kings and Pawns? by Ralph Betza
↑ The Forward FIDEs by Ralph Betza.
↑ The Meticulous Mashers by Ralph Betza.
↑ The All-Around Allstars by Ralph Betza.
↑ The All-Around Allstars by Ralph Betza.
↑ The Amazon Army by Ralph Betza.
↑ The Cylindrical Cinders by Ralph Betza.
↑ The Fighting Fizzies by Peter Aronson
↑ Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 3): The Rider Problem by Ralph Betza
↑ Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 5): Modified Jumpers by Ralph Betza
↑ The Pizza Kings by John Lawson.
↑ The Seeping Switchers by Jörg Knappen.
↑ "chessvariants.com -- Comment Listing". www.chessvariants.com. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
↑ "chessvariants.com -- Comment Listing". www.chessvariants.com. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
↑ "Fearful fairies". www.chessvariants.com. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
↑ "chessvariants.com -- Comment Listing". www.chessvariants.com. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
↑ "Hoppel-Poppel". www.chessvariants.com.

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Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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[Pritchard-1] 1 2 Pritchard, D. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.

[2] Pritchard, D. B. (2007). "Equal Armies". In Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. pp. 186–87. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.

[3] Chess with different armies by Ralph Betza.

[4] Single Comment Chess with Different Armies

[5] Single Comment Chess with Different Armies

[6] Jörg Knappen, 2012. Drunken Nights. On www.chessvariants.com, retrieved 2024-12-07

[7] Single Comment Chess with Different Armies

[8] Different Kings and Pawns? by Ralph Betza

[9] The Forward FIDEs by Ralph Betza.

[10] The Meticulous Mashers by Ralph Betza.

[11] The All-Around Allstars by Ralph Betza.

[12] The All-Around Allstars by Ralph Betza.

[13] The Amazon Army by Ralph Betza.

[14] The Cylindrical Cinders by Ralph Betza.

[15] The Fighting Fizzies by Peter Aronson

[16] Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 3): The Rider Problem by Ralph Betza

[17] Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 5): Modified Jumpers by Ralph Betza

[18] The Pizza Kings by John Lawson.

[19] The Seeping Switchers by Jörg Knappen.

[20] "chessvariants.com -- Comment Listing". www.chessvariants.com. Retrieved 2023-02-16.

[21] "chessvariants.com -- Comment Listing". www.chessvariants.com. Retrieved 2023-02-17.

[22] "Fearful fairies". www.chessvariants.com. Retrieved 2024-11-24.

[23] "chessvariants.com -- Comment Listing". www.chessvariants.com. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

[24] "Hoppel-Poppel". www.chessvariants.com.

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