cA GUIDE IO ‘FAIRY CHESS ee “DICKINSA Guide to FAIRY CHESS ANTHONY DICKINS DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC. NEW YORKCopyright © 1969, 1971 by Anthony Dickins. All rights reserved under Pan American and International Copyright Conventions. Published in Canada by General Publishing Company, Ltd., 80 Lesmill Road, Don Mills, Toronto, Ontario. Published in the United Kingdom by Constable and Company, Ltd., 10 Orange Street, London WG 2. This Dover edition, first published in 1971, is an unabridged and corrected republication of the second edition as published by The Q Press, Richmond, Surrey, England in 1969, International Standard Book Number: 0-486-22687-5 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 74-143681 Manufactured in the United States of America Dover Publications, Inc. 180 Varick Street New York. N. Y. 10014CONTENTS PREFACE A FAIRY ALPHABET ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1, HISTORICAL 2. THE FAIRY PIECES 3. THE FAIRY BOARDS 4. THE FAIRY STIPULATIONS 5. THE THEORY OF MOVEMENTS; SOME DEFINITIONS; RULES AND CONVENTIONS Solutions Appendix A Mediaeval Problems BG) Maximummer Table ... BGi) Last Move ? Tables C The Piran Codex » D_— One-Mover Construction Tasks E Other Fairy Pieces F Other Fairy Boards and Stipulations G__ Bibliography Index of Names Abbreviations Glossary and Index ADDENDA. 1. More Fairy Pieces and Games ... Mate and Fairy Mate 2. . wee . 3. Dates of Fairy Chess Review, F.C.C.C,, Notes 4. Three Fairy Families, Four Conditional Problems, T.R.D’s Madcap Zigzags Page 14 2 30 37 38 38 39 40 49 51 53 55 61 63 65PREFACE ‘This booklet is intended as a guide to all enquirers into the art of Fairy Chess, and it is hoped that those more experienced in Fairy lore, as well as the newcomer, may benefit from this compression into one small volume ‘of much that lies buried’ in the none too easily avallable pages of The Fairy Chess Review and The Chess ‘Amateur. All Fairy Chess experts and enthusiasts alike must owo a great debt to T. R. Dawson for his inspiring work as problemist and editor, and it is worth while recalling here this extract from his first article on Fairy Chess in the columns of The Chess Amateur, in December 1918: “Mr. Henry Tate, of Melbourne, first proposed to use the name ‘Fairy Chess’ for all that immense range of work which stands outside, in some point or other, the orthodox channels of Caissic ingenuity . . . I recall only one column devoted entitely to Chess puzzles—a shortlived page in The Chess Amateur some years ago. Composers have had to issue their occasional unorthodox notions in the most haphazard way, here and there, scattered in isolation, as a holiday season or a benevolent editor would suffer them. This lack, in my mind & ‘most unjustifiable lack, of a definite recognition has undoubtedly prejudiced the natural development of the Fairy problem. More than half the world's greatest composers have published an occasional puzzle, but with no Incentive to continue such work their interest has been damped at the outset. T hope in future these pages will make a first step to remove such an unnatural obstacle to progress.” ‘TR, DAWSON, ‘That was written nearly fifty years ago, but that first step of his has certainly led a long way towards the fulfilment of his hopes, and Fairy Chess today is beginning to be recognised as a vital and legitimate branch of the problemist's art, possessing both a literature and a tradition of its own, as perhaps this booklet may help to show. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION ‘The continued demand for this book, now that the First Edition is out of print, has made this Second Edition necessary. The opportunity has been’ taken to revise the text and diagrams, removing many errors, and to bring the information up to date. Much recently published material has been incorporated, and there are 40 new diagrams, including 14 new ‘records’, making a total of nearly 250 diagrams. It has been necessary to make the price more ‘economical’, owing to devaluation and increased costs; but readers and purchasers are reminded that the First Edition was sold well under cost price. I wish to acknowledge here with gratitude the kindness of the many correspondents all over the world who have informed me of errors, misprints, omissions, ete., in the First Edition; and I trust that all have now been put right. Easter, 1969. ASMD. N.B—The problems used for illustration have been selected not for their value as ‘prize-winners’ so much as for their value as illustrations of the point under consideration, The symbol (S) is used for the Knight in algebraic notation; elsewhere in the text the word Knight is used.A FAIRY ALPHABET with (White) accepted symbols and (Black) suggested symbols for diagrams. Normal Family “iype’ ‘and Combined aa ALFIL (2—2) . Aor @ BALLOON se ] Retegtng Dion BISHOP ve a CAMEL (1-3) oceeeeeeos Cory COMBINED PIECE, . QS, PS, etc DABBABA (0—2) D or § or we EDGEHOG EQUIHOPPER FERS (1—1) . Foor wy FILERIDER eral Rider, GIRAFFE (1-4) * GRASSHOPPER R HUNTER R/B, B/R, etc. IMITATOR @ or > IMITATING JOKER. Oo» JOKER O or » Ne wee eng LEAPER 1 Arsen named Locust aia LEO Nagnetc “Queen, MAO . a NIGHTRIDER .... 00,000... PAWN ....... oe E Reversibie ete pe Lateral Riders, Hoppers, ete. Siwgia e. soe jo Diagonal Riders, yao, Hoppers, ete. WAZIR (0-1) Wor § or pe X-MOVER YcAPTuRER} RB, BR, ete. ZEBRA (2-3) . LosWith the exception of the Capital Letters for the Muslim-type pieces, this is approximately the system used by many editors and composers today. Agreement is universal about the first column, although a few have still not adopted the E for the Equihopper on the diagram. It is suggested here that the next three columns should also become fixed, established forms, leaving the fifth column (General Purposes) as symbols available for any special use required, such as Neutral men, Royal men, unnamed Leapers, Riders and Hoppers, etc, etc. There are twelve symbols in this column, available for such special uses, at least one of each kind. ‘The left-facing symbols in the second column should be reserved only for the Leo family, and the Capital Letters express the Muslim-type pieces (including the Trizebra, with its N-shaped movement) quite satisfactorily. Combined Pieces are best expressed by combined Capital Letters, with different connecting strokes to distinguish the Hunters from, the Xemovern/Y-cepturers: and no connecting stroke at all for the true combined piece, sich a1 Terror (QS) or Princess (BS) Supernumerary Pieces should have Supernumerary symbols. (The large black dot for the Imitator is already in use; the other two are suggested here for the first time.) On a diagram littered with many Fairy Pieces of different kinds some borrowing of symbols will always be needed—but it is strongly urged that, as far as is possible, when diagram conditions allow it, the above usage should be adhered to by composers and editors, in order to prevent further increase of confusing duplication, NB—Printers cannot normally print any symbols other than Chess symbols on black squares; but composers and editors can often assist each other in this by reflecting, or otherwise altering, the position so that Equihoppers, Imitators, Hunters, Combined Pieces, ete,, appear on white squares. Symbols of any kind ean be reproduced on black squares by using a ‘block’, which Is rather more expensive than normal printing. In most instances in this booklet I have reproduced the exact symbol used by the editor in the ori tion of each position or in some subsequent reproduction of the position, inal public: FEENSCHACH Editor : W. KARSCH ‘This flourishing periodical, founded in November 1949, the month of T. R. Dawson's Diamond Jubilee, has been since 1958 the only one in the world devoted entirely to Fairy Chess of all varieties. See page 52 for the address. PROBLEME FEERIQUE Editor: R. MEIGNANT 86 Route de Longwy 54 Mont St. Martin France ‘This annexe to the French magazine Probleme first appeared in March 1968, It deals exclusively with Fairy Chess, but specialises in directmates (rather than Helpmates or Self-mates, although it does not exclude these), in the belief, expressed in the first issue, that as the orthodox directmate two-mmover is slowly exhausting itself, the future may lie with the Fairy direct-mate two-mmover. There have been four issues to date: “Les Pidces Féériques I”—March 1968 Probleme 39 “Les Pitces Féériques I1”—May 1068 Probleme 41 “Le Grid-Chess, ete.”—September 1968 Probleme 45 “Le Mat Inverse”—November 1968 Probleme 48I have to thank Dr, KARL FABEL and Herr WILHELM KARSCH for their advice on the English-German Glossary; Mr. T. H. WILLCOCKS for his assistance in the ‘Last Move?’ Problems and the Knight's Tours; Messrs. JOHN M. RICE and TOM MARLOW for their help with the proof- reading; and Mr. W. CROSS for his unfailing patience and guidance over the whole field of Fairy Chess during the past eighteen months.1. HISTORICAL Since its origin in India about 600 AD, the Game of ‘Chess has gradually evolved by a series of ‘ mutations’, or leaps forward, that have occurred at long interval of time. Two pieces, the Rook (or Castle) and the Knight still retain their original exact movements, and checkmate is still the same, after nearly 1500 years; but all the other chessmen, and many of the ‘laws’ of the game, have undergone changes. ‘These changes have come about principally when the game has been taken up by new cultures for the first time, Hence the different varieties of Chess that are found in Europe, India, Burma, Siam, China, Japan and the Malay lands. After the game had reached Europe, probably by way of Muslim influence in Spain and Southern Italy, some important changes took place, starting in the 12th or 18th centuries. The powers of the Shah (King), Fers (Minister, our modern Queen) and Baidaq (Pawn) were extended from a single-step leap to a doublestep leap fon the first move. At first these new movements were unorthodox, or what we should call ‘fairy’ moves; but as time went on they were incorporated into the orthodox game. A small selection of Muslim and Mediaeval chess problems is given at Appendix A, all between 500 and 1000 years old, some of which use strikingly ‘modern’ fairy forms, such as Fileriders, Self- mate, Series-mover, Double-move chessmen, ete ‘The next important advance was made just at the end of the 15th century. Two pieces, the Fers (Queen) and the Alfi (Bishop) had their moves extended. The Fers had been limited to a single step to the four diagonals, but this move was now extended along the diagonals as far as the edge of the board, an ortho- gonal movement being granted at the same time, to make the movement of our modern Queen, At first this new piece was called the ‘Mad’ or ‘Furious’ Queen (in French, eschés de la dame enragée, in Italian, Scacchi alia’ rabiosa). The Alfl, which had been limited to a double-step leap along the four diagonals, was now granted an extended glide along these diagonals as far as the board's edge, just like our modern Bishop. This new piece was at first called by some name sig- nifying an ‘adviser’ to the King. In the Germanic languages a term meaning ‘Sage’ or ‘Old Man’ was generally adopted, but the Germans later called the plece the ‘Runner’ (Laufer), possibly from the "Courier (Runner), described "later in. this section under the Courier Game. In Icelandic and English the name ‘Bishop’ was adopted; but in the French and Provencal languages it was called ‘Fol’ or ‘Fou’, meaning Jester, Joker or Buffoon.* ‘The greater interest and mobility of the newer form of the game, with the Jester to accompany the Mad Queen in her wild careering over the board, seems to have caused the disappearance of the old orthodox form within as short a space of time as one generation, although the old form doubtless survived locally in certain districts and in certain strata of society. Since about 1500 AD. the rules of the game have been more of less uniform throughout Europe, apart from local differences for Castling, Pawn-Promotion, Stalemate and en passant captures. The establishment in 1924 of the Fédération Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) has now ironed out these irregularities by mutual international agreement, for all international tournaments and for most national organisations and ln A, History of Chess (0426, note 29) 7 that no, tral eves a eon found to eat atthe (aeaning Blephan). Ca 7 chess clubs. Nevertheless, there still continue to exist ‘what might be called ‘national’ or ‘domestic’ forms of chess, with varying traditional rules, played privately or unofficially, which now fall within the definition of unorthodox or ‘fairy’ chess. ‘The chess player's (and chess problemist's) inventive- ness is by nature always active in discovering new ideas, and the last 100 years or so have seen an intense activity in this respect. Experiments have been made with the shape and size of the board, with new pieces having new, previously unheard of,’ movements, and with the Tuies of the game or play’ It is well known that Capablanea, and other great players, became dis- satisfied with the limitations of the game, considering that it had been “played out '. They experimented with larger-sized boards (10 x 10) with additional pieces (see J. Boyer’s Nouveaux Jeux d'Echecs Non Orthodozes). But it has been among the problemists that the most far-reaching experiments have been made. The climax of this experimental activity was reached, in the 20th century, during the lifetime of the great. problem- composer and editor, T. R. Dawson (1889-1951), and very largely as a result of his personal influence and example. Besides editing endgame and problem columns’ in The Chess Amateur, L'Bco degli Scacchi, and ‘The Braille Chess Monthly, he also edited The Problemist from October, 1922 to-10S1, and the problem pages of the British Chess Magazine from 1931 t0 1951, and was President of the British Chess Problem Society {from 1981 to 1943. He founded and edited the Problem ist Fairy Supplement from 1930 to 1988 and continued this alone as The Fairy Chess Review from August, 1936, until his death in December, 1951, a magazine ‘that’ attracted a large following of keen solvers and composers, known a5 ‘The Fairy Ring’. The tremend- fous impetus he gave to Fairy Chess enabled Messrs. Nixon and Kemp to keep the magazine alive for 6} years after Dawson's death until. April, 1958, when it came to an end after printing its’ 10,970th’ problem. ‘Apart from this immense burden of editorial work, ‘TLR. Dawson somehow found the time to compose over 6,000 problems and to write six reference works on Fairy Chess. ‘This outburst of activity in the forty years between 1918 and 1958 made so much impact that “ Fairy Chess’ has now become recognised by the FIDE Problem Section "as ‘Heterodox', as opposed to‘ Orthodox Chess’, and the Codex drawn up after the International Congress of Problemists at Piran, Jugo-Slavia, under the auspices of FIDE, in 1958, includes a set of rules to cover most types ‘of Heterodox composition. ‘The main ‘relevant portions of this Codex are given in ‘Appendix C. ‘Two ‘Fairy’ pieces have now become recognised _as customary among problemists, the Grasshopper (4A) and the Nightrider ({%). But the innovations have not been confined to new pieces; the shape, size and pro- perties of the chess-board have also been the subjects Of countless experiments, and the Vertical Cylinder ‘chess-board is now recognised as customary. The ortho- dox stipulation to a problem, “White must mate Black in n moves’ has also been supplemented by many other demands, two of which, the Selfmate and the Help- mate, are now regarded’ as practically ‘orthodox’. The Maximummer, invented by ‘T. R. Dawson, is now recog: nised as customary. In the period of Muslim Chess (750-1500 A.D.) many experiments in new forms of Chess were made, such as Oblong Chess, Decimal Chess, Circular Chess, Astro: nomical Chess and Limb Chess, some of which are described in H. J. R. Murray's A’ History of Chess and in J. Boyer’s books, A famous variety was the so-called Seven“Great Chess’ or ‘Complete Chess’, played on a board 11 x 10, said to have been the favourite game of the great Mongol Emperor, Timur (1836-1405), or Tambur- laine. In addition to the ordinary chessmen this game included a Wazir, two Dabbabas, two Talias (scouts), ‘two Camels and ‘two Giraffes. The Wazir, Camel and Giraffe moved exactly as our modern ones do, Other Fairy Pieces used in games derived from Great Chess (one of which used a board of 12 x 12 squares with 82 pieces on each side) were the Lion, Bull, Sentinel, Crocodile, Paymaster (Bishop + Knight), Princes (Queen + Knight), Chief of Police, Rhinoceros, Gazelle and other kinds of combined pieces. THE COURIER GAME C=Courier M=Man neak § =AMl Yy=Fers One of the most interesting of the early European modifications of the game, mentioned in 1202, was called The Courier Game. The Courier moved precisely like our modern Bishop; the Sneak was the equivalent of our Wazir; the Man could move to any adjacent square, like a King. This game apears to have origin- ated in Germany, where it had an exceptionally long life for an enlarged variety of Chess, only becoming obsolete in the village of Strdbeck, its last_home, towards the beginning of the 19th century. For 300 years, therefore, the Courier and the Fil existed together in Europe until, just before 1500, the greater power and interest of the Courier (our modern Bishop) displaced the Fil altogether from the orthodox game. The present century has seen the invention of more new forms in European Chess than ever before, especi- ally in the Problem. Many of these will no doubt vanish into limbo; but some of the sturdier ones may have a Jong life and, who knows, find their way in due course fon to the orthodox chess-board. Some clubs and societies will no doubt be horrified at the idea of a future world championship being fought out. between two contestants using Grasshoppers instead of Queens, But who can realy tell what the future may have in 2. THE FAIRY PIECES ‘We will first meet the GRASSHOPPER (G), (Ai). which moves and captures on Queen lines by hopping over the first man of either colour standing on one of those lines to the square next beyond that man. This, the commonest and most familiar of the Fairy Pieces, was invented by T. R. Dawson at the end of 1912, the first G Problem being published in the Cheltenham Examiner, 3rd July 1913. The first G Tourney was in the Chess Amateur in 1925. The piece was derived from ‘the Chinese ‘Cannon’ (FCR 4/5/p. 82/Paper 55). Some thousands of problems using Grasshoppers have been published, Bight Chess Amateur 2408 Oct, 1923 1 ‘The Grasshopper ‘C. Stockman 24 FR AR=Grasshoppers WG has three moves GxfS or Galt or Gas To the second, Black can reply: Pd3, ’ removing the check, of Kf6, 4, e4, 5, 06, or 6 ‘The LOCUST is derived from the Grasshopper, but it must hop over an adverse man to the square ‘next beyond that man, and it eaptures the adverse man on the move. The square it lands on must be empty. With a Locust at a5 in No. 1 above, it would have one avail- able move—to a8, capturing the Black Pawn at a7. If there were a Black King at a7 it would be in check from the Locust, and could move out of check only to a8, b8 oF b7. The Black Pawn at f5 would be ‘ pinned” by the Loctst, because if the Pawn were to move. it would leave the Black King at e5 in check from the Locust. ‘The LION, another derivative from the Grasshopper, must hop over one man of either colour to move or capture, but it may land on any square on the line beyond ‘that man. We next meet the NIGHTRIDER (N) (‘), which moves with multiple Knight leaps always in’ the same line as the first leap until it is stopped by a block or by the edge of the board. No. 3 shows its movement. Chess Amateur 4 "887 Aug. 1926 T. R. Dawson 3 The Nightrider (N) WN has 6 moves (Qe Niehtrider Nal—c2 or €3 or g4 or ‘Nal—b8 or 5 or xd7+ The first N'was by TRD. in’ Die Schwalbe, Feb., 1925. Now we meet a Leaper, the third basic type of Chessman, and an old friend, the KNIGHT, with leaps toa square lying at a distance from’ its depar- ture square expressed mathematically by the co- ordinates 12 or 24, ie. one lateral and two vertical squares, or two lateral and one vertical. ‘These co-ordinates express the positions of its departure andarrival squares and have nothing to do with its path ‘of movement. It moves direct from one square to the other, as if they were adjacent. None of the Leapers moves along a ‘line’ or path that is defined on the surface of the board, so a check from a Leaper can never be removed by interposing a man, as there is no ‘line’ of action on which to interpose. Leapers ‘leap’, rather like a helicopter. ‘THE MOVEMENTS OF LEAPERS, RIDERS ‘AND HOPPERS ‘We will now examine in detail the system on which all these movements are built up, considering the movements of various pieces from square al. 5 AstStep 6 Leapers na _ ana [EE “el SB iW: st ce ae AstStep Riders Steps Ast 2nd 3rd 7 the 8 and and Knight brastep sane Leapers ay ——s Leaper xa [Co ana [x wna | SA Ist x ist | le _-_ ist and see saaee Steps aia C=Camel D=DabbabaS=Knight (see also No. 15) No. 5 shows the moves from al of two leapers, WAZIR (0-1) and FERS (1-1), both Muslim Chessmen, one an orthogonal, the other a diagonal single-step. ‘These are the basic two movements from which all the others are derived. The Orthodox King has both these movements available; it is a Wazir + Fers, with Royal powers, No. 6 shows what happens when we grant to the ¢hessman at al the power of continuing its move by ‘riding’ along a line of such leaps, always in the same direction as the first leap. This gives the Orthodox Queen, Rook and Bishop. A Rook is a Wazirrider, a Bishop a Fersrider and a Queen is a Kingrider, or (Wazir + Fers)-rider. No. 7 shows the Knight, the first of the 2nd-step leapers, whose move has been explained above. Other Leapers ‘leap’ in exactly the same way as the Knight direct to their respective arrival squares, without regard to any other square(s). No. 8 shows the two other 2nd-step Leapers, DABBABA (02) and ALFIL (22), and one 3rd-step Leaper, the CAMEL (18), all derived from Muslim Chess.’ Named Leapers to'4th, Sth and higher steps also exist, and will be examined later. The Dictionnaire des Echecs states, wrongly, that the modern Alfil must leap over an empty intervening square. 9 2nd & 3rdStep Riders 10 Ist, 2nd and Srd-Step Hoppers IB, 5 ‘a N=Nightrider NH=Nightriderhopper AR=Alfil-rider over ¢5 (CR=Camelrider AH =Alflriderhopper DR =Dabbabarider over €5 CH=Camelriderhopper In Nos. 9 and 10 the pieces play from al RIDERS (see diagram 9) Any Leaper may be granted the power of extending its first leap in the same direction by taking further leaps along a ‘riding-line’, which makes it a ‘Rider’. ‘A Dabbaba-rider’s lateral movement from al would take it to cl, el, or gl, quite regardless of whether or not any men were occupying the squares bi, dl or £1, ‘These squares do not concern the Dabbabacrider, for it has no power of stopping on them. The Nightrider (see Nos. 3 and 9) has already been explained. The CAMELRIDER (see No. 9) moves similarly to the Nightrider, but on a riding-line built up of Srd-step leaps. On an 8 x 8 board a Nightrider has room for three leaps in its ride, but the Camelrider has room for only two leaps. "An ALFIL-RIDER would ride through every second square on a diagonal, irrespec- tive of whether the intervening squares were occupied RIDING-LINES A Riding-line is an imaginary line joining the centres of those squares at which a chessman with a defined power of leaping may legally stop during a ride. The riding-lines that are neither orthogonal nor diagonal (ie. Knight, Camel, etc.) will be called here ANGULAR LINES. When drawn on paper (or on the surface of ‘the board) to assist visualisation the riding-ines cross other squares, missing the centres in the case of the Angular Lines, or passing through the centres in the ‘case of Orthogonal or Diagonal Lines. It is important to keep in mind that the squares that are not legal stopping squares for the riding man, together with any chessmen that may be occupying those squares, have no effect on the moving chessman or its move: ment. HOPPERS (see diagram 10) A Hopper is a Rider on whose riding-line one (or Sometimes more) of the squares lying on the nearside of the arrival square must be occupied by a man of either colour, over which the Hopper can hop. It is a modern invention, by . R. Dawson, who took it from Chinese Chess, with modifications. Tt must have a ridingdine of a minimum length of at least two leaps, since there must be an arrival square and one occupied square on its riding.line, the occupied square being Nineusually the last one before the arrival square. The DABBABA-RIDERHOPPER in No. 10 leaps to cl and then hops over the White King at el to arrive at gl. It entirely disregards the Black Bishop at di, as the square di is not on its riding-line, ‘The hopping move is not unknown in orthodox chess according to the Laws of Chess, FIDE 1955, when castling the King is first moved to the nearest square of the same colour on the same rank, and then the Rook ‘hops’ over the King to the next square beyond the King, exactly like a Rookhopper. ‘The 2nd-step angular hop of the NIGHTRIDER- HOPPER and the 3rd-step angular hop of the CAMEL- RIDERHOPPER are shown in No. 10, along with the 2nd-step orthogonal and diagonal hops of the Dabbaba- riderhopper and ALFIL-RIDERHOPPER, the 1st-step orthogonal hop of the ROOKHOPPER and the ist-step diagonal hop of the BISHOPPER; all from al. Each piece mentioned in No. 10 has only one hop available from al. A White Rookhopper at al cannot hop over 1 to el, because e1 is blocked—and it cannot hop over e1 to fi, because its approach to el is blocked by the Bishop. A Black Rookhopper at al checks the White King. The colour of the Bishop at di is quite immaterial to any of these moves, ‘THE HELPMATE We have now examined the Leapers, Riders and Hoppers in order to understand their basic movements. Some of the specimens, such as ALFIL-RIDERHOPPER or DABBABA-RIDERHOPPER are very seldom, if ever, used in practice, but have been included in order to cover the whole range of possible chessmen. Before examining any more of the Fairy Pieces we shall now turn our attention to two forms of stipulation that differ from the normal ‘White to play and mate Black in n moves’. These aré the Helpmate and the Series Helpmate, both of which have derivative or connected subsidiary forms. HELPMATE (LJ85; HS4; CP.237). Invented by Max Lange in 1854. In a Helpmate Black plays first and co-operates with ‘White to find the one sequence of moves that leads to his (Black’s) being mated by White. The convention for Black to play first was used by Sam Loyd in 1860, but uncertainty about it continued until the 1930s. Strictly, there should be only one sequence of moves, but variation play has been introduced nowadays. When there is more than one solution, it is desirable that the variations should be thematically related (CP.). On ‘the mating move the dual promotion to Queen or Rook, Queen or Bishop, is allowed in the strict form, as in the variation form, according to the Piran Codex. The Helpmate is particularly adaptable to the Ideal Mate, ‘a Model Mate in which every man on the board (includ- ing White King and Pawns) is used in the mating position, the White men to guard and the Black men to block the Black King’s fight-squares. Nos. 11 and 12 show simple examples, the first ending in an Ideal Mate, the second in a| Model Mate of slightly un- Ten 12 Evening News Helpmate in2 Moves = -H43 (Two solutions) ‘The Helpmate is recognised by the Piran Codex as a ‘basic’ type of Heterodox problem, and there are many varieties of the stipulation, such as HELP-STALEMATE, HELP-DOUBLESTALEMATE, HELP-COMPELMATE {in which White plays first and Black co-operates with him until the final move, when White compels a reluctant Black to mate him’ (White)], one of which is the SERIES HELPMATE (HS4; CP238; FCR 6/11/p78/ Paper 109; FCR 7/2/p.102/Paper 121; FCR 8/18/p.140/ Paper 197). In this form, Black plays n moves consecu- tively (White not moving) so that White can then mate him (Black) on the move. It belongs to a type of prob- em, the SERIES MOVER, that goes back to the Middle ‘Ages at least (see No, 3 in Appendix A), T. R, Dawson helped to revive it in modern times. A special feature of this form is the encirclement of some White piece, such as a Rook, by the Black King, using a Black piece to interpose as'a shield as it works its way round. This has not yet been achieved in miniature form. Nos. 13 and 14 show two fine examples, both using an ‘excelsior’” (a pawn promoting from its initial position). ‘The Series idea can be used in many connections (see FCR 9/4/p30/The Series Mover, by D. Nixon), such as SERIES MATE, SERIESSTALEMATE, SERIES-HELP- STALEMATE and so on. (See No. 25 for a Series Mate.) ded. to Chr. Jonsson H. M. Lommer Stella Polaris June 1967 ded, to Th. Steudel 14 as HM. Lommer 1967 Original Series Helpmate in 22 Some of the examples from here onwards will use the form of Helpmate or Series Helpmate in order to accustom the reader with little experience to using these stipulations with the Fairy Pieces, in addition to the ordinary direct-mate form. We shall now turn to the Fairy Pieces again, and examine some other Leapers, Riders and Hoppers not Previously dealt with, and also meet some entirely new Pieces. 10OTHER NAMED LEAPERS (see diagram No. 15) ‘These aro the GIRAFFE (14), the ZEBRA (2-3) and ‘two modern mathematically-named pieces, based on square roots, the FIVELEAPER (0-5, 3-4) and the ROOT-50-LEAPER (1-7, 5-5). These last two are the only ones that have a double-pattern movement, taking each of them to two different step-lengths. From al the Fiveleaper has four available moves, to a6 and fi (Sth- step leaps) or to d5 length /25 units; while the Root50-leaper hi moves from al, to b8 and h2 (7th-step leaps) or to 16 Gth-step leap), all of length ¥/50 units (see table in Appendix B() for these lengths). 16 A. H. Kniest, Feenschach 7954 Nov. 1966 15 The Named Leapers Helpstaiemate in 3 Steps ‘moves Gi=Root 50-Leaper (Black plays first and helps White) OTHER RIDERS ‘The GIRAFFERIDER and the ZEBRARIDER have extended Giraffe and Zebra leaps, the first only being possible on a board larger than'an 8 x 8, while the RANK-RIDER and FILERIDER have a Rook's movement limited respectively to one rank or file. No. 4 in Appendix A shows a problem over 500 years old using two Fileriders. ‘The DEMIBISHOP is the episcopal equivalent of the Rankrider or Filerider, being limited to only one diagonal, which must be defined—Demi-bishop NESW from 3 to bi or h7; Demi-bishop NW-SE from d3 to f1 or a6. The ARCHBISHOP reflects off one edge of the board like a billiard-ball off a side-cushion, while the GRANDBISHOP has the same movement. a8 4 Bishop would have on a Vertical Cylinder (qv). A CYCLIC BISHOP (see Cyclic Pieces, Appendix) also has the same movement as a Bishop on a Vertical Cylinder. The REFLECTING BISHOP reflects off all edges of the board, but the reflection may not be endless and must come to a definite stop (see No. 17). ‘A recently invented Rider is the EDGEHOG (31), first published by its inventor, John Driver, in “the British Chess Magazine, Feb. 1966, page 63. It captures, moves and checks likes Queen, but only trom or to & square on the edge of the board, It was invented to ft tte name (German, Das Randschuein). No. 18 was the first published Edgehog problem. n 8 John Driver 2 3) BH =Eagehogs 7, 02, 5, 68 ‘The last of the Riders to be mentioned here is the MAO, a popular piece with a Chinese ancestry. It is 1 Rider over a finite, bent line of two steps only, which take the Mao to squares that a Knight could reach. ‘The first step must be orthogonal, the second diagonal, with interference and pinning properties. OTHER HOPPERS ‘THE LEO FAMILY So far all the Hoppers mentioned (except the Lion) have been confined to a hop to the square next beyond ‘the occupied square on their ridingJines. Now we meet a small family of pieces that must hop im order to capture over one man of either colour to any square beyond that man on the same line; but when not capturing, they move on their normal designated lines. ‘The LEO moves like a Queen, the PAO moves like a Rook and the VAO moves like a Bishop. They were introduced by T. R. Dawson from Chinese Chess, prob- ably before 1914, ‘The Mao, although it has a quite different movement, is generally regarded as a member of this family, which is usually miscalled the Pao/Mao family. ‘This family is treated in FCR 3/7/p.70/Paper 9 and in FCR 6/6 to 11/Paper 102. For problems with Pao, ‘Mao and Vao, see No. 1410 in FIDE Ri and No. 19 below. 9 Z. Mach 20 John Driver FCR, 6949 Feenschach 8015 Oct. 1946 Dec. 1966 He (a) Diagram. (b) Neutral Pawn e7 ElevenOTHER HOPPERS (cont.) ‘The NIGHTHOPPER is not _a Knighthopper (which would be an impossible chessman) but a Nightrider- hopper limited to arriving at the second leap of its riding-line. The RANKHOPPER and FILEHOPPER are Rookhoppers confined respectively to one rank or file. Other Hoppers can be built up from all Leapers, but only after first turning them into Riders—ZEBRA- RIDERHOPPER, GIRAFFERIDERHOPPER, FIVERIDER- HOPPER, ROOT-50-RIDERHOPPER, UNICORNHOPPER, or BALLOONHOPPER, ete. (For the last two, see Space Chess, in Section IL.) ‘There is one Hopper that is not derived from any ‘one Leaper or Rider, the EQUIHOPPER (E), invented by G. Leathem (FCR 3/13/Paper 26), which hops over fone man of either colour to a square beyond that man ‘0 that that man is the mid-point of a line joining the centres of the initial and final squares of the Equl- hopper's move. In other words, it can hop over any man on the board, but its approach route to the hopped ‘man must have the same co-ordinates as the route from the hopped man to its arrival square. On an 8 x 8 board it can be blocked on either route only on orthogonal or diagonal lines, but on boards from 9 x 9 upwards, it may also be blocked on angular lines, In No. 21 the White Equihopper at al has five available moves : over a2 to a3, over c2 to e3, over cf to e7, over 2 to g3, or over b2 to capture c3. It cannot hop over ‘4 or ©, as its approaches to these are blocked. The Equihopper can never change the colour of its squares ‘and from its initial square there are always 48 squares on an & x 8 board that it can never visit. But it can produce some very unexpected mates—WE a6, WR b7; BLK e8, BLQ 48, BLB £8—then White plays R'c7 mate (taking' the Rook does not relieve the check) 22 Probleemblad, Nov. 1967 ASMD. © ane ® 21 ‘The Equihopper (G=Equihopper at HZ3__W.Bquihopper et AR =Grasshoppers €3, gt FAIRY PAWNS (J. Boyer, NJ. p.74; H. Stapff, p.19). ‘The BEROLINA PAWN (Berlin Pawn), invented by E. Nebermann in 1926, moves diagonally’ but captures orthogonally, both forwards (c2—b3 or a4; or c2 x c3). It may capture another Berolina Pawn, en passant, and it promotes normally on reaching the promotion ‘rank of the board. ‘The DUMMY or MOVELESS PAWN may neither move nor capture, but may be captured. ‘The LATENT PAWN is a pawn that has reached its promotion rank, under the now out-of-date conventions of pawn-promotion only to a lost piece, before any plece has been captured. The pawn must remain “latent, or waiting, on that rank until a piece is cap- tured before it can promote to the value of that Twelve captured piece. It may be capturable or not during this waiting period (see also CADET and HYDRA). ‘The NEUTRAL PAWN may be regarded by each player on his turn to play as being of either colour, as he wishes. See Neutrality, under Special Powers, for a full explanation, and No. 20 for a problem with a Neutral Pawn, ‘The PROTEAN PAWN (or Promotable Pawn), invented by T. R. Dawson, FCR 4/5/p.82/Paper 65, may, but is not compelled to, assume the rank of any’ pieco it captures. ‘The RETREATABLE PAWN plays between the 2nd and 8th ranks of the board (for White) or the 7th and st ranks (for Black) forwards like a normal pawn or backwards in reverse. Captures and checks are always forwards, normally, and not backwards, but it may be captured’ en passant on its backward double step. It may promote normally or remain a retreatable pawn waiting to retreat, in which case it may be captured while waiting. It’ was invented by R. Persson (FCR 3/9/p.100/3045). ‘The REVERSIBLE PAWN moves, captures and checks backwards, in addition to forwards, if desired. It was invented (by T. R. Dawson?) before 1911. ‘The SUPERPAWN, invented by Dr. Speckmann (Schwalbe Jan./Mar. 1967) has the orthodox pawn move extended, if desired, along its normal lines to any dis- tance. Superpawn at e2 can move anywhere along the efile, and it immediately promotes on e8; or it can capture anywhere along the diagonals {3—h5 or d3— a6. It has neither active nor passive powers of cen passant capture, as yet. N.B—The term ‘Fairy Pawn’ is used in English to describe these pawns: but H. Stapff uses ‘Mirchen- bauer” for a certain kind of Combined Piece, a most unfortunate misuse of the term “Pawn.” ‘SUPERNUMERARY PIECES We now come to a group of pieces that are not derived from normal chessmen, but have movements ‘or powers that are entirely new. We shall call these “Supernumerary'* pieces. ‘The IMITATOR (1) (@), invented by Dr. ‘Th. Kok (FCR_3/17/p.180/Paper 34}, is a non-checking, non- capturing, non-capturable piece that exactly imitates in Jength and direction the moves made by each man of either colour. It moves simultaneously with the White or Black man, like a kind of ‘shadow’, and if in imitating the move the Imitator would have to enter an occupied square, then that move is illegal; for the Imitator may only enter an unoccupied square. It may be drawn along one step behind an advancing pawn, Rook, ete, or pushed along one step ahead. With an Imitator on the board the two Kings may legally ‘occupy adjacent squares, for if the Imitator cannot imitate the ‘move’ that would enable one King to capture the other one, then the latter is not in ‘check’. In No. 28 the position is legal if either player is to ‘move, as neither King is ‘checking’ the other one, for the Imitator cannot move diagonally leftupwards or right-downwards. White King can move to d7(L-b2) or d6(-bi), but White King cannot move to ¢7(I-a2) as it would then be in check from the Black King. No. 24 shows how one King can mate another King with an Imitator. Dr. Kok used the alias G, Jansen, ‘The JOKER (J) 0, or (O) was invented by Otto Dehler and revived’ again by D. Pritchard in FCR 4/18/p.191/5149 in 1942. It takes the power(s) of the last man(men) moved in the adversary's preceding move, It may be a White or a Black plece, with full 2‘moving, checking and capturing powers (see also FCR 5/10/p.14/Paper 80, where J. E. H. Creed and K, A. L. Hill propose ‘Fairy Mates’ for the Joker; and FCR 5/138/p.104/Ideas 14) ‘The DIPLOMAT does not capture, cannot be cap- tured and cannot move, but it saves from capture every friendly man adjacent to it. Other piecos could also be granted ‘Diplomatic’ powers. ‘The PYRAMID remains immovable on a square, which it blocks for all other men of either colour, and cannot be captured (J. Boyer, LJ. 84) 4 R. J. Millour Europe Echees 1073 Dee. 1966 No Check ! @=Imitator at 442 @=Imitator, ho COMBINED CHESSMEN (BCM July 1898; H.S. pp.180; 5. Boyer, L.J. pp.83-4) ‘Two or more chessmen may be combined into one, and some of these combinations have fixed names. (a) Combinations with Fixed Names (XY or X +¥) OMNIPOTENT QUEEN, TERROR, GENERAL or AMAZON = Queen + Knight (used before 1500 A.D.) EMPRESS = Rook + Knight. PRINCESS = Bishop + Knight. GNU = Camel + Knight. DRAGON = Pawn + Knight. GRYPHON, GRIFFIN = Pawn + Bishop. SQUIRREL = Alf] + Dabbaba + Knight. DEMI-QUEEN = Rook + Demi-Bishop. GRAND-QUEEN = Rook + Grand-Bishop. (b) Combinations with one Power of Movement, another of Capture (X-Y) or (X-mover/Y-capturer) Examples of BISHOP-MOVER/ROOK - CAPTURER and KNIGHT-MOVER/ROOK-CAPTURER will be found in FCR Vol. 8. (The use of the German term ‘Mirchenbauer ’, meaning Fairy Pawn, for these pieces by Hermann Stipff is very misleading). Dr, Speckmann hhas christened them *Schltze’ in German, which may be freely translated as ‘ Sniper’. (©) Combinations with one Movement Forwards, an- other Backwards (X/Y) These pieces are called HUNTERS and they were invented by K. Schulz in 1943. See FCR 7/9/p.72/Paper M5 and Theodor Steudel’s Der Jiger im Schachproblem, Feenschach, autumn 1960, The R/B HUNTER moves forwards aS a Rook and backwards as a Bishop; the B/R HUNTER moves forwards as a Bishop and back- wards as a Rook. In FCR 9/17/p.142 specific names for those two pieces, respectively HUNTER and FALCON, were adopted, but usage has now reverted to the original form and the term ‘Falcon’ has been dropped. The Falcon shown in No, 54 would today be termed B/R HUNTER, These pieces have no horizontal effect. 13 SPECIAL POWERS (J. Boyer LJ. p.84) ‘The following Special Powers may be applied to any chessman at will, CAPTURING. A Capturing Man may move only in order to capture. IMITATING. An Imitating Man imitates the length and direction of the move of the lastmoved adverse ‘man, then immediately regains its own powers, which ‘may’ be used normally on the next move. It does not imitate a man of its own colour. It was invented by ASMD. in 1967. ‘The IMITATING JOKER imitates the move of the last:moved man of either colour and then adopts that man’s rank and power of check, but of the opposite colour. It therefore changes colour on each move (except in a Series-mover); it can check, but nover capture or be captured. In Ne. 25, White cannot play S at-cd (IJ g3 = BLS+) as this would put himself in check, nor § a3-bi, for the same reason. This simple problem is intended to show the avoidance of dual promotion to @ or B on the anchor-ring. IMITATIVE. An Imitative Man assumes the checking power of any man it commands, but only for the pur- ose of checking. It was invented by R. Cheney, FCR 8/1/p.71/Paper 12 (see No. 26). MOVING. A Moving Man may move, but neither cap- ture nor check. Moving Pawns promote to Moving Pieces. NEUTRALITY. A Neutral Man may be considered as of either colour by each player on his turn to play; Neutral Pawns promote to Neutral Pieces. () Neither side may make a move leaving his King in check from a Neutral. (ii) Any Neutral may be moved or captured by either player, including the capture of a Neutral by a Neutral ii) White moves Neutral Pawns up the board; Black moves them down. (iv) Mate by a Neutral is only possible when the mating-move is in some way irreversible—e.g. from a Bishop at al, a8, hi or h8. PROTEAN. A Protean Man assumes the rank of any man it capture REFLECTING. A. Reflecting Man bounces off the edge of the board like a billiard-ball off a side-cushion (see also Billiard Chess, in Appendix F) (see No. 17) ROYALTY. A Royal Man is considered as a King for checks, mates and stalemates, but moves with its own powers (used by SM. in N.Y.C. 1895) 26 R. Cheney 25 A. S. M, Dickins FCR 4013 Original a aaa ey a 5 ens al Series Mate in 6 Ha ‘Imitating Joker Gl=Imitative Knight ‘Anchor Ring W. Pawns promote on 8th. ThirteenINVISIBILITY. An Invisible Man may be REVEALED by its owner on his turn to play as Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight or Pawn, or any Fairy piece already on the board, on any legai vacant square from which it does not give check. The Revealed Man must then make a move, which may give a check. If a player has no other move, then he must ‘reveal’ his Invisible Man, ‘When captured, it is permanently killed; if not cap- tured immediately after making its first move, it becomes invisible again at once, and immediately ‘has the right of future revelation’ on any legal vacant square. A pawn promoting to an Invisible Man immediately becomes invisible. While invisible, “it has no checking power and it is ‘intangible’ in’ the ‘sense that a man of either colour may move across, ‘Dut not occupy, the square on which it is to be revealed. (If required, it may also be designated as “tangible’, in which case another man may not move ‘across the square on which it will be revealed.) The Abbreviation is Cv). It was invented by ASMD. in a ASMD. 28 D. Nixon Schwalbe 2426 FCR 9630-1 August, 1958 Jan./Mar. 1967 Grid Chess ‘Man (wo separate problems on left and on right) The first Grid problems ‘composed Black has an Invisible 126 INTHE FAIRY BOARDS A—TWO-DIMENSIONAL BOARDS PLANE BOARDS (J. Boyer, LJ, NJ) The Orthodox 8 x 8 board is a plane square board, but there are many other possible shapes and sizes for a chess-board. J. Boyer in his two books mentions, among many others, Circular Boards, Hexagonal Boards, Lozenge-Shaped Boards, Oblong ‘Boards, and various irregularly shaped boards, such as those for fourhanded chess mentioned on pages 63 to 68 of his Les Jeu dEchecs Non Orthodores. Plane boards of the dimensions of 15x11, 9x15, 15x19 and 15x13 will be found in Caissa’s Wild Roses in Clusters, by T. R. Dawson, on pages 26 and 27, and there is, of course, no limit to’ the possible dimensions of a plane board, up to infinity, so the first one we will examine here ‘will be the INFINITY PLAIN, which is the prolongation of the ordinary two-dimensional plane chess-board in all four (or two) directions to infinity. J. Boyer gives a full description of this on pages 20 to 26 in his Nouveauz Jeux d'Echecs Non Orthodores. An example of a problem using the Infinity Plain wili be found in FIDE Ri 1435, p272. In No. 29 below there is a famous problem by T. R. Dawson that is valid as set on an 8 x 8 board. But if the board were turned into an Infinity Plain, then the Queen could begin her journey at am infinite distance away. If she started about Fourteen, 250,000 miles away, on the Moon, and the squares were one inch square, then the problem would be set as “Mate in 69 Moves’, 60 ever-decressing alternate hori- zontal and diagonal sweeps on a zig-zag path "to strike tho Black King to his doom", as. R. Dawson puts it himself, in Caissa's Fairy Tales, p31. 30 Sam Loyd 29 T. R, Dawson Chess Monthly Caissa’s Fairy Tales 1947 Feb. 1957 Compare Nos. 29 and 30 and observe the much greater effect TRD obtains with the Infinity Plain. ‘The GRID-CHESSBOARD, on which GRID CHESS (invented by W. Stead) is’ played, is an 8 x 8 board divided into sixteen squares of four units each. Every move by any man must cross at least one of the grid- lines. (FIDE RI, 1429.) See No. 28, ‘The BILLIARD-BOARD, on which BILLIARD-CHESS is played (sce Appendix F) is an 8 x 8 board on which the chessmen bounce off the edges like billiard-balls off side-cushions. We have already seen this idea with the Reflecting Bishops, applied to one particular piece only. ‘The FOURHANDED CHESSBOARD, for FOUR- HANDED CHESS, has several forms, the best known of which is probably that by G. H. Verney, who started a four-handed chess club in London about 1885. D. 3. Morgan describes this game in the British Chess Magazine, March 1967, p.75. J. Boyer has full deserip- tions of several varieties of the game in his two books. An infinite number of plane boards of other shapes and sizes can be used; but we will now go on to the Cylindrical boards, CYLINDRICAL BOARDS These are very interesting boards with great possi- bilities for the future. ‘The Vertical Cylinder has been recognised a5. ‘customary’ by the Piran Codex, and many composers have explored its possibilities, notably Dr. A. Mandler, of Prague. ‘There are three principal types of Cylinder Board—the Vertieal Cylinder; the Horizontal; and the Anchor-ring, which is'a combina- tion of the first two. See Wagon Wheel Chess, p. 62. 1 The VERTICAL CYLINDER BOARD is formed by wrapping the 8 x 8 board (or imagining it to be ‘wrapped) around an upright cylinder, such as a tin of fruit, so that the a- and hefiles adjoin. A Rook at e2 may now play round the cylinder via h2 to a2 and so back again to e2, or counter-clockwise via a2 to ha and thence back to e2. A Bishop at ci may move normally to hand then continue round the cylinder to a7 and 8, where it stops; or it may go in the other direction normally to a8, then round the cylinder to hé, g5, ete. to d8, where it stops. A Queen may do whatever Rook or Bishop may do, and a King may make Queen's: move limited to single-steps. A Knight on h5 may leap to its four normal squares plus, round the cylinder, a7, b6, ba and a3 (see No. $1). A Pawn on a2 may capture on h3, and one on h2 may capture on a3. “‘The movement of the Bishop is a feature of the Vertical Cylinder, and No. 32 shows what is probably the only way of forcing mate with two lone Bishops. ‘The Queen is immensely powerful on this cylinder, and No. 33 shows a fascinating and difficult study of the Queen and Bishop on a Vertical Cylinder. As this board has no side-edges it is often diagrammed with- out them (seo FIDE Mtl, 1427, p27) 8 : z 8 a ‘The FCR Vertical Cylinder ‘The WS can check the BLK at b6 or gt 33 Dr. A. Mandler 34 Feenschach 6008 1962 5 Vertical Cylinder Dr. A. Mandler 34 Vertical Cylinder 3:4 7x8 Vertical Cylinder No. 34 shows a problem on a 7 x 8 Vertical Cylinder, on which the Bishops change their square-colour when they go round the cylinder. The B at d7 can play via a4 to g3, a Black square. No. 35 shows an interesting problem by D. Nixon on a 3 x 8 cylinder, where the Nightrider’s movement has to be carefully worked out before the mating position can be found. 2 The HORIZONTAL CYLINDER BOARD is imagined to be wrapped around a cylinder lying on its side, so that the Ist and 8th ranks adjoin, while the a- and h- files remain separated. The Rook at e2 may now move round the cylinder via e8 to el and so back to e2, or the other way via el to e8 and thence back to e2. The Bishop at cl may move round the cylinder via d8, e7, ete,, to hé, where it stops, or via b8 to a7, where it stops. The Knight at h5 now has only the four normal moves, to g7, £6, f4 and g8. The Pawns at a2 and h2 can now only capture as on’a normal 8 x 8 board. The board has no upper or lower edges and may be dia- grammed thus. It is not very commonly used. 3 The ANCHOR-RING is a combination of the Vertical and Horizontal Cylinders, so that not only do the a- and hvfles adjoin, but also the ist and sth ranks, and the board has no edges at all. It is sometimes dia- grammed without edges (see FIDE RI, 1428, p.271). A pletorial representation of an Anchor-ring will be found on the front cover of H. Stapf’s Einfihrung in das Marchenschach. ry On an Anchoring each piece always has its maxt mum 8 x 8 moves, no matter where it stands, if the board is otherwise open . . . Q27, N22, Ris, BI3, Kt 8 and K8. The B at cl can now play in either direction along either of the two diagonals 42, h6, a7, b8 back to el; or b2, a3, h4, to d8 and thence directly back to cl. A Bishop at al can play in either direction along the diagonal a1, h8, g7, {6, etc. back to al; or in either direction along’ the diagonal h2, g3, £4, etc, to b8 and thence back to al. The four arrows pointing’ to e5 show the four directions from which the B at al can reach ¢5. If a Black King stands on eS, then a White Bishop at al checks the King with 2 double-checks and also guards the four ‘star’ flights. The King always has 8 fight-squares no matter where it stands on an anchor- ring. K at h8 has af, a7, h7, g7, g8, gl, hl and al A Kt at al guards b3 and c2 as on the normal board; ‘b7 and c8 as on a horizontal cylinder; g2 and h3 as on a vertical cylinder; and g8 and h7 on the anchor-ring. ‘These movements of King and Knight are shown on the following plan, on which the Bishop's double-move from al to e5 can also be sen. The corners of the anchor-ring are best Imagined as if 8 exact replicas of a single 8 x 8 board were arranged round the original board in a3 x 3 square, as in the plan. ge ne | a2 bo 2 he gi bi| al bi ct dt et f1 GI mt a2 b2 AL bi co ea nz | a7 b7 7 dz e7 {7 67 Hz | AZ ne | 26 ns | a6 ns | a5 ee 35 ns | 05 na | a8 a Xana | at ws] as Bs cs 3g 3 | as 2 G2 no | a2 bz C2 a2 c2 1 gr he gl mi | at bi ct at et f gi hi | at bt oy ae bs 77 | a7 B7 er a7 b7 For the purpose of quick visualisation it is sufficient to remember that the squares al and h8 are diagonally adjacent, as also are the squares hi and a8, 35D. Nixon 36 Temporary FCR 8871 1950 Self Unpin 2 No'White King 3x 8 Vertical Cylinder CONVENTIONS REGARDING CYLINDERS On the Cylinder boards every move must be a finite one, with a definite stop; the endless circulation of the cylinder is not legal (Piran Codex), but a given number of circulations is permissible, provided a final one is defined (H. Stapf, p21). A composer may, if he wishes, legalise the endless circulation of the cylinder by put: Fifteen (G=Nightrider bz ‘Anchor Ringting it into the stipulation (see PFS $35/Feb./1932, by T. R. Dawson, in which ‘infinite’ moves are specifically allowed). A ‘pinned piece may ‘temporarily’ unpin Itself and return at the end of its move to the same (or a different) pinned position (FCR. 6/13/p.101/Check ‘en passant). No. 36 shows a Black Nightrider and Bishop both pinned on an anchor-ring by a White Rook. The Nightrider has four routes by which it may move to bé and remain there pinned again—namely, i) via d3—f4 hs; i) via h8—{4—d5; ili) via d1—f8—n7; or iv) via hi—fs—4d7. It has eight routes by which it may return to its own square, b2, one by way of each of the eight squares of its Knight's ‘tour’ from 2. The pinned Bishop has four routes by which it can return to its own square, b8; In either of the two directions along the diagonal bs—cl—d2—ete—h6—a7—b8 or in either of the two directions along the diagonal b&—al—h2— g—ete—c7—b8. When a long-range piece on a cylin- der has two open routes to the same square these arc two separate moves, and should be counted separately in a construction task on a cylinder; but they are not regarded as a ‘dual’ for the purposes of ‘legality’, qualification’, ‘merit’ of a problem (see Piran Codex, Article 16, in’ Appendix C). On an open anchor-ring ‘Queen and Nightrider each have eight different routes pack to their starting squares; Rook and Bishop each have four different routes. No. 37 is a simple demonstration of the Knight's ‘star’ moves from a ‘corner’ square (there is no real corner on an anchor-ring) mating the King on its four starflights. No. 98 is more difficult and shows the only way two Nightriders can stalemate a Black rex-solus on an anchorring, a fuller account of which may be found on p.682’ of Feenschach, June 1967. 38 ASMD. 37 Sep/Oct. 1967 Feenschach 8254 Feenschach | ASMD. June 1967 234 AnchorRing WPs promote on 8th in both’ Helpstalemate in 2 (with Set Play) Anchor Ring Y =Nightriders a2, 2 On the Horizontal Cylinder and the Anchor-ring the pawns’ promoting rank should be stated, unless it is irrelevant to the problem, or obvious from the setting. ‘The initial array on a Vertical Cylinder is precisely the same as on the orthodox 8 x 8 board, and a game may be played from the initial array using vertical eylindrical moves throughout. It makes a very good game. But on a Horizontal Cylinder or an Anchor-ring the chessmen cannot legally stand in the orthodox initial array. One feature of a cylindrical problem is that the whole position may be shifted any number of squares (left or right on the Vertical Cylinder) (up or down on the Horizontal Cylinder) (in any direction on an Anchor- ring) without in any way affecting the problem. Suc a shifting of the position to a more convenient part of the board is often an aid to solving—as a composer may have shifted it to the part of the board where it ‘becomes more ‘ difficult’ to visualise. Sicteen CYLINDRICAL QUADRUPLETS Nos. 89 and 40 show two very interesting problems in which the stipulation ‘benesth the diagram applies to the one position on the diagram on all four boards, Plane § 2 8 board, Vertical Cylinder Board, Horizontal Cylinder Board and Anchor-ring Board. ts very dit cult to compose’ a sound: Cylindrical Quadruplet 40 A.M. A. van der Ven 39 C.R. Flood ‘Magyar Sakkvilag Original 1936 Pa ‘ea Series Helpmate in 3 He (a) Diagram (8) Diagram (b) Vertical Cylinder (b) Vertical Cylinder (©) Horizontal Cylinder (©) Horizontal Cylinder (@) Anchor-ring (@) Anchoring BI. Ps promote on Ist rank in all except 40(c) B—THREE OR MORE-DIMENSIONAL BOARDS SPACE CHESS Games or problems on boards of more than. two dimensions are grouped in the category Space Chess. According to T. R. Dawson (Chess Amateur, July 1926, .315) the idea of chess being played in more than two dimensions has existed since the earliest ages. ‘The earliest known historical reference is in the Deutsche Schachzeitung 1878, page 117, _ where leseritzky is sald to have shown his newly-discovered Cube Chess’ (Kubikschach) to Andersen at the 1851 London tournament. ‘More than fifty years later, on the 3rd of March 1907, Dr. Maack of Hamburg conceived the idea of Space Chess (Raumschach) quite independently, and worked out the ‘ Normal Form’ of it. His book ‘Das Schachraumspiel: Dreidimensionales ‘Schachspiel’, was ‘printed in 1907; ‘Spielregeln zum Raumschach’ and ‘Raumschach: Einfhrung in die Spielpraris’ followed respectively in 1913 and 1919. He founded the Hamburg Space Chess Club, of which Messrs. Hans Kldver and W. Roese were’ prominent members. T. R. Dawson published his first three-dimen- sional problem in the British Chess Magazine in 1915. We shall deal here with the Normal Form of Space chess. ‘SPACE CHESS, NORMAL FORM (a) THREE DIMEN- SIONAL (S It) ‘The fullest and most detailed description of Space Chess in English is that given by T. R. Dawson in six consecutive numbers of the Chess Amateur in 1926, beginning in July, in the section ‘Half Hours’, on page 315 of Vol. XX and concluding in December, on page 93 of Vol. XXI. Another and shorter description by T. R. Dawson can be found in Caissa’s Fairy Tales on page 33 and a very brief compressed version by him is on page 14 of FCR 6/3/Dec. 1945, which omits the Knight, We give here a description based on that given 16‘The Space Cube is represented diagrammatically by a column of five diagrams, each 5 x 5, one above the ‘other on the paper (called a SPACE MODEL), as in the two models, Nos. 41 and 42, which give the full available moves from CeS for all men concerned — King and Pawns in No. 42, the others in No. 41, For the visualisation of the moves the Bishops can be considered as descending or ascending step-wise down or up a staircase built along the ranks or files (ie. a two-dimensional move) while the Unicorns descend or ascend step-wise a staircase cutting diagon- ally through both ranks and files (ie. a three-dimen- sional move). Being riders, they may of course descend or ascend several ‘steps’ of the staircase in one move. ‘The Rook has only a one-dimensional move; Bishop and Knight each have only two-dimensional moves; but the King and Queen share some _three-dimen- sional moves with the Unicorn, which has only three- dimensional moves. Nos. 43 and 44 are three-dimen- sional problems. SPACE CHESS, NORMAL FORM, (b) FOUR- DIMENSIONAL (S IV) ‘The introduction of a Fourth Dimension gives every chessman one more available direction of travel, and is easily diagramed by the quintuplication of the single column of five 5 x 5 diagrams that forms the Space Model, making a set of 25 diagrams, each 5 x 5, the whole set arranged in a 5 x 5 hyper-diagram, called a SPACE HYPER-MODEL. The BALLOON now appears as. the fourth e wo xy x eo a Ae " aa D ‘ u ° a 2 Le ‘a ‘as ws ok a ‘THE MOVEMENTS OF KNIGHT=6) @~ AND BALLOON (B=Chess Amateur—Dec. 1928 6 ‘W. ROESE dedicated to 7 B. Dawson , =) jee ml | a a ae c 8 a a : [ » ey Ga B a a a ; 1 g Wi (SIV) ULTRA-MAXIMUMMER (Y= UNICORN WHITE MATES IN TWO “F =BALLOON Neither W. Roese nor T. R. Dawson seems to have noticed that the Unicorn at IIIBe2 checks the Black King. ‘The probiem can be corrected TBb2 to TAc? and the WU from IITBc2 to IVAc?. (W. H. Duce and C. ‘The Pawns extend to the fourth dimension just as to the three dimensions; the White Pawns promote on IV Dad—d$; the Black Pawns promote on I Aal—dl. For convenience the four columns of four 4 x 4 dia. grams can be printed on one single superdiagram 16 x 16, as in the Chess Amateur, Vol. XXI, page 92, showing an $ IV problem by W. Roese, dedicated to ‘T. R. Dawson, reproduced here as No. 46. It is necessary to remember that there are sixteen different diagrams, each 4 x 4, in that hypermodel, and that pieces having three-dimensional or four-dimensional moves must cross one of the dividing lines when they move; this applies to all the moves of the Balloon or Unicorn, and some of the moves of the other pieces. A four-dimensional problem with Balloons will be found in FCR 7/9/p.85/ 8546, the TRD Diamond Jubilee issue, but the Balloons are a misprint for Unicorns, (W. H. D, & C, E. K) C—VARIOUS OTHER BOARDS ‘There remain a few other boards to mention, all belonging to the two-dimensional variety, that have so far not been developed much beyond the first experi- mental stage, or that are very seldom used. ‘The OBLIQUE CYLINDER BOARD is imagined to be wrapped obliquely round a cylinder so that two dia- gonals adjoin, instead of two ranks or files. For a full description see D. L. Miller’s Ye Faerie ‘Chesseman 1065, and for a problem, PFS Vol. 1, page 51. ‘The SPHERICAL BOARD is imagined to be wrapped round a sphere, like a ‘globe’ of the world, with » and made sound by moving the WS from E. Kemp.) ‘squares’ formed between lines of latitude and longi- tude, Files a—d form the western hemisphere, files e—h the eastern; ranks 1 to 4 lead from the South Pole to the equator, and 5 to 8 from the equator to the North Pole, The Rook moving northwards up the a-ile to a8 continues across the Polar Point southwards down the e-file from e8 (but note that its single-step leap across the Polar Point from a8 to 8 is between two squares of the same colour); the Bishop has a most peculiar move, in which it covers all $2 squares of one colour twice’ before it returns to its original square—so a Bishop on g4 may move h3, a2, bi, and then on through. the Polar Point in the same type of spiral, in this case a counter-clockwise spiral, to hi and then to a2, b3, etc. to g8 then to eB and on to £7, g6 ete. to dl, then bl and ‘on to c2, d3 to a8 then to g8 and on to hi, a6, b5 to fl then to'd1 and on to e2, 13, g4 (the original square, but with a different direction’of travel, for we are only half way round) 5, a6, b7 to c8 then'to a8 and on to bz, e6 ete, to hl then to f1 and on to g2, h3, a4, b5 to 8’ then to c8 and on to d7, e6, £5 and finally back to g4!! There are four such ‘tours that the Bishop can make from g4. The Knight's move at the Polar Point is complex—from g2 it leaps to al, a8, h4, f4, e3, el, bl and di (note that the last two are of the same colour ‘as the original square); and from gl it leaps to a2, h3, 413, e2, d2, or b2 (six squares), the last two being of the same colour as the square of origin. K at bl moves like B to hi or dl, and like R to al, cl, or {1. Nos. 47 and 48 show two Spherical Chess problems, the first such ever published. Nineteen47 Ye Feri Chesseman 1965 D. L. Miller White Hemisphere Black Hemisphere SOUTH POLE, ‘SPHERICAL CHESS NORTH POLE Ranks are numbered WHITE TO MATE IN 2 MOVES OB & = White 1to8 9M & ~ Black 48. Original D. L, Miller and A. S. M. Dickins CONTE” omencay cuss GATE sre SEES wos ie Ranks are numbered BD) & = White we gapeone NB—Theso two problems are in the nature of experiments, exploring the possibilities of the Bishop's and Knight's moves at the Polar Points, Add Pyramid on a8 in No. 48. Twenty 20IV—UNORTHODOX STIPULATIONS A STIPULATIONS THAT REQUIRE FORWARD PLAY SELFMATE, (Fata Morgana, E. Birgfeld, 1922; LJ. 85; HS. 3, 23; CP. 285) ‘The Orthodox Chess Problem has always had as its stipulation “ White to play and mate Black in n moves”. ‘This demand presupposes the use of an 8 x 8 board and the current Laws of Chess. But as early as the 13th century a problem composer was demanding of the solver that White should play in order to be mated by Black, with Black trying to avoid giving the mate. Until the 1920s the term ‘sui-mate’ was often used for this sort of problem, but probably largely owing to the influence of T. R. Dawson the term was replaced by “Selfmate’ about 1922. In his review of Dr. Birgfeld’s book on the Selfmate, Fata Morgana, in the Chess Amateur, May 1923, T. R. Dawson wrote “Thanks to my supervision of the English text that wretched bastard word sui-mate never appears throughout the book.” July 1922 was the date of the last appearance of the *Submate’ column in that journal. In the Selfmate, White plays and forces Black to mate him (White) in n moves. The Selfmate has now become entirely ‘respectable’ ‘and has really reached "orthodox" status. Nos. 49 and 50 show examples by contemporary composers : and Nos. 1 and 2 in Appen- dix A show Selfmates that are over 500 years old. 50 G. F, Anderson 0 C.R. Flood —S, African Chess Mag. Original a Selfmate in 3 S43 REFLEXMATE (NJ. 31; CP. 236). ‘This is a development of the Selfmate, played under the rules of REFLEX CHESS, invented by B. G. Laws in 1885, in which both players play to be mated and to avold mating the adversary, with the added condi- tlon that if a mate on the move exists at any stage it must be given. In a SEMI-REFLEXMATE the must-mate- onthe-move condition applies only to Black, 51 G. F. Anderson 52 ASMD. ‘The Problemist Feenschach 8077 July 1967 Jan/Feb. 1967 RAB—Vertical Cylinder Reflexmate in 3 STIPULATIONS ABOUT LENGTH OF MOVE (LJ. 85/ 85; HS. 6, 23; CP. 238) MAXIMUMMER, ‘This form of stipulation, invented by T. R. Dawson (CA. 399, Dec, 1913) is recognised by the Piran Codex as * customary’. Black must always play his geometric- ally longest move, or choose one of his longest moves if he has several of equal length. Lengths are calculated from square centre to square centre, and a full table of values for every distance will be found at Appendix BQ), p38, Black men attack the White King according to orthodox rules, and in the mating position, the convention is that conditions revert to a ‘normal orthodox mate, the ‘maximum length” condition for Black then ceasing to operate, In the ULTRA-MAXI- MUMMER, and in the CONSISTENT MAXIMUMMER (invented by J. R. Jessurun Lobo), the maximum length condition applies to Black's checks of the White King, both in play and in the mating position, ‘Fairy Mate (vis therefore needed in both these. ‘The difference between Ultra-Maximummer and Consistent Maximummer is that in the Ultra-Maxi- mummer Black may have several moves of equal (maximum) length any one or more of which may give check (or mate), while in the Consistent Maximummer Black may only have one maximum length move giving check (or mate). This also applies to the mating post tion and the hypothetical move that the King may try to make to escape from the check. See also p.63, Nos. 53 and 54 show examples of the ordinary Maxi- mummer, which is most often a Selfmate, although Maximummer directmates exist. For the ‘Falcon’ see page 13, 53 T.R. Dawson 54 aman Amateur 1920 ae ses a (i) Diagram (ii) WPe3 instead of ‘BeS and the same W. Karsch Schachmatt 1947 Beate [Senta er 2.5 are ea, a 2 _ ‘Maximummer ‘There are several other varieties of the Maximummer; DOUBLE-MAXIMUMMER, in which both White and Black must each play their longest moves; MAXI- MUMMER WITH MAXI-PROMOTION, in which a Black pawn promoting must choose the promoted piece-rank that would have the longest immediate move; LIKE- MAN-MAXIMUMMER, in which Black must each time move a man of the same kind as that last moved by White. The MINIMUMMER is exactly analogous to the ‘Maximummer, except that Black must always play his shortest move. In the LONGMOVER any Black man may play, but must play its longest move. In the EQUI- MOVER Black must play a move of the same length as White's last move, Twenty-one