Piececlopedia: Champion
Historical notes
The Champion was invented by Dan MacDonald in 1998 for his commercial game Omega Chess. Along with the Wizard from the same game, it has been used in these additional games:
- Wormhole Chess (2000) by Fergus Duniho
- Ximeracak (2002) by Glenn Overby
- Ten Cubed Chess (2005) by David Paulowich
- Gross Chess (2009) by Fergus Duniho.
- Yangsi (2016) by A. M. DeWitt
- Apothecary Chess-Modern (2017) by Aurelian Florea
- Soho Chess (2018) by Kevin Pacey
- Wide Soho Chess (2018) by Kevin Pacey
- Hectochess (2019) by A. M. DeWitt
- Grand Apothecary Chess-Modern (2021) by Aurelian Florea
Without the Wizard, it has also been used in Parity Chess (2018) by Kevin Pacey.
Movement
The champion has the combined movements of the wazir, the alfil, and the dabbabah.More specifically, the champion has one of the two following options:
- it can move a single square in any orthogonal direction.
- it can move exactly two squares in any orthogonal or diagonal direction, regardless of intervening pieces.
The champion captures as it moves.
Movement diagram
In the diagram below, the Champion, which is normally symbolized by a warrior's helmet, is here represented by a heraldic image showing a cross surrounded by four dots. This image, which is used to represent it in the Abstract set, also serves as a kind of movement diagram. In the actual diagram, light dots represent the Champion's four one-step orthogonal moves, and dark dots represent its two-step leaps.
Remarks
Even a piece with the combined powers of alfil and dabbabah can only
reach a fourth of the squares on the board; this problem is solved by
adding in the single orthogonal step to the champion's movement.
You can see problems and sample games using the champion on the Omega Chess home page.
This is an item in the Piececlopedia: an overview of different (fairy) chess pieces.
Written by Ben Good and Fergus Duniho
WWW page created: February 15, 1999.