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Piece names (What piece is this?)[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
Joe Joyce wrote on Tue, Apr 24, 2018 03:01 AM UTC:

Is there a name for the WNH piece?


George Duke wrote on Tue, Apr 24, 2018 03:47 AM UTC:

What is the 'H' part?  Charles Gilman has over 100 pieces named starting with H in Man & Beast index. 

Wazir + Knight + H, if you define H, Gilman probably named, but he may not have.  And it probably

does not start with an 'h', whatever tri-compound you are referring to.

Follow-up, okay you must mean wazir knight Hero, and that's optional sequential type Charles did not do in twenty-odd M&B, and all the more Betza did not bother with. It is interesting though: move as W or as N and stop, or continue one more leg in the other mode, if not having captured. There is no formal name for that, so call it what you want. In M&B08 he names W + N Marshlander; the -Landers combine a radial and an oblique.

H. G. Muller wrote on Tue, Apr 24, 2018 06:50 AM UTC:

H is betza notation for a (3,0) leap. I think the associated elementary piece is called Trebuchet. (Or was that (3,3)?)

I have never seen a WDH before. Nice color alternator, and example of a piece worth significantly more than a Rook, but without mating potential.


Joe Joyce wrote on Tue, Apr 24, 2018 07:47 AM UTC:

Apologies, George, but HG is right about the "H", if not the "D". :)  The WNH seems like a very nice knight companion in larger variants. I was actually wondering what might make a nice activator piece for 4 knights. The WNH popped into my head maybe 12 hours later. Thanks, both of you.

Anybody ever seen a WNH anywhere before?


George Duke wrote on Tue, Apr 24, 2018 01:13 PM UTC:

Trebuchet(0,3) + Knight is Catapult.  Wazir + Knight is Marshlander because the radial and oblique are short-range by Man & Beast 08.  Joyce's WNH Gilman could call Wazir Catapult, but it's not that strict.  Many bi-compounds he names for the first time he puts in actual CV of his 250.  

Staying within approved 5x5 there are thousands of piece-types to generate if including divergent capture, forward- backward- sideways-only, and sequential.  Just look at Joyce and Bagley-Jones "Short-range Project"  for some.  Serious tri-compounds not straying outside that box are done by Hedden, Gilman and Betza a little.  Squirrel of NDA is rare case of established-name tri. ( Word 'trebuchet' is used in Chess Morality XI, comparing the weapon to modern rocket, in lead-up to changing scientific 'big bang' to more apt 'glowth'. )


Greg Strong wrote on Tue, Apr 24, 2018 01:59 PM UTC:

Yes, Joe, I used the WHN in Hubbub with the name Gryphon.  Hubbub has the Knight and the Scout (WH) and the Gryphon is a Knight+Scout hybrid.

 

Joe Joyce wrote on Tue, Apr 24, 2018 02:52 PM UTC:

Thanks, Greg! Grin, kind of embarrassing when you've played the game... Gryphon is certainly a better name than knight cannon or knight catapult, which I was considering. George, thanks for reminding me about the names trebuchet and catapult. Clearly I remembered them unconsciously, It was bugging me. It is such a nice piece someone should have used it somewhere, but that is true of many pieces. And it does fit very nicely in The ShortRange Project, George, filling one of the many holes in the piece lists. Note it hits 16 squares, with a max range of 3, falling neatly between pieces like the FAN, WDN, DWAF hitting 16 squares with a max range of 2 and the AF+AF and DW+DW pieces, hitting 16 squares with a max range of 4. Or conversely, between the A+F and D+W, range 3, footprint 12, and the A+/-F and D+/-W, range 3, footprint 20.

Where does thre Gryphon rank in power in the above group of pieces?


Greg Strong wrote on Tue, Apr 24, 2018 02:58 PM UTC:

I'd say the Gryphon is microscopically weaker than High Priestess (FAN), Minister (WDN), or Jumping General (DWAF).  The (0, 3) move is longer, so it is more likely to be off the edge of the board, lowering its mobility slightly.  And, because it changes color with every move, it cannot triangulate.

I'd have to give the other pieces more thought ...

 

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