Александре Голубевой
Alphyna
A Game by Ivan A Derzhanski
The alfil [or mediæval bishop] has possessed quite a number of names, these being chiefly variations in spelling in the old MSS. Such were alfin, alfyn, alphyn, and aufyn. Alfil is the Arabic from al fil—the elephant. (T. R. Dawson, Caissa's Playthings)
The alphyn is an heraldic monster with a body similar to that of a tyger; its other characteristics vary, but it is most commonly shown with eagle's forelegs and a knotted tail. […] The unmodified term tyger refers to an heraldic monster, described as incredibly swift and deceitful; its body is much like that of the wolf, but it has a crest of tufts on the back of its neck, and a tusk pointing down from its nose. […] When blazoned a natural tiger or a Bengal tiger, the term denotes a natural beast, the great cat Felis tigris: like a maneless lion, but with stripes on its coat. (Bestiary 1)This creature has a body much like that of a wolf with the front legs and belly of a dragon. It also has long pointed ears, a long thin tongue, and a knotted tail. […] The heraldic dragon is a 4-legged beast with a horny head, barbed tongue, scaly back, armoured rolls on the chest and belly, 2 bat-like wings, 4 legs with talons like an eagle's, and a pointed tail often with an arrow-like end. (Bestiary 2)
Hence the idea of a chess variant in which the Bishop is replaced by a Tiger-like, Dragon-like Alphyn, which is the strongest unit in the game.My favourite chess Tiger is the one from Andy Kurnia's Thirty-Nine Squares Chess: Bishop+Wazir+Knight (an augmented Bishop approximately as strong as a Queen, which is very close to what we want here). Of the various Dragons I prefer the one that complements the Gryphon: one square orthogonally, then like a Bishop outwards.
Here are some other design features that I wanted this game to have:
- A symmetry between orthogonal and diagonal motion, as in OrthoChess, where each army has three orthogonal riders (two Rooks and a Queen) and three diagonal riders (two Bishops and the Queen again), the King combines the moves of a Wazir and a Firzan, the Pawn is a forward Wazir when moving and a forward Firzan when capturing, and the Knight is halfway between a Dabbaba and an Alfil.
- A 10 by 10 board with 10 pawns and 14 officers a side in the initial setup (making for a density of almost ½), among them
- 5 (including the King) comparable to a Knight or Bishop in strength,
- 4 of Rook level (or thereabouts),
- 3 midway between a Rook and a Queen, and
- 2 (the eponymous Alphyns) approximately as powerful as a Queen.
Board and Setup
The files are labelled a to j, the ranks 0 to 9. Rank 9 is the promotion zone for White, rank 0 for Black.The initial setup for White is as follows:
- (Rank 0) Rook a0 & j0, Griff b0 & i0, Alphyn c0 & h0, Floyd d0 & g0, Bear e0, King f0;
- (Rank 1) Knight c1 & h1, Swan d1 & g1;
- (Rank 2) Pawns a2 to j2.
The arrangement for Black is the same, either reflected or rotated.The Units
- Pawn
- As in OrthoChess, including initial double move and en passant capture. Promotes to Bear (the only unit, not counting the King, of which each side has but one in the initial setup).
- Knight
- As in OrthoChess.
- Swan
- In a Y-like shape: forwards as a Bishop, backwards as a Rook. The same thing as a Falcon in Karl Schulz's Falcon-Hunter Chess (1943). Name suggested by the fact that alph is Sindarin for ‘swan’.
- Griff
- Restricted Gryphon: one square diagonally, then optionally one or two squares orthogonally outwards.
- Rook
- As in OrthoChess. (No castling.)
- Floyd
- A Queen minus a Swan: forwards or sideways as a Rook, backwards as a Bishop. (Imagined as a winged pig.)
- Bear
- Alfil+Knight+Dabbaba. The same thing as a Squirrel. Name from Mikhail Sosnovsky's Bear Chess (1985).
- Alphyn
- Two moves:
- OrthoChess Bishop.
- Restricted Dragon: one square orthogonally, then optionally one or two squares diagonally outwards.
(Or, if you prefer: Bishop+Wazir+Horse+Elephant [the latter two from Korean Chess].) - King
- As in OrthoChess.
Victory is by checkmate.Sample Games
Zillions of Games—Zillions of Games1. Nc1–d3 Nc8–d6 2. Nh1–g3 Nh8–g6 3. c2–c3 j7–j5 4. Gb0–c2 c7–c6 5. j2–j4 Gb9–c7 6. e2–e4 e7–e5 7. f2–f3 Gi9–j6 8. Gi0–j3 Gj6–g5 9. Gj3–g4 f7–f6 10. Sg1–e3 Ng6–f4 11. Be0–f2 Sg8–e6 12. Gg4–i5 Nf4:d3 13. Gc2:d3 h7–h6 14. f3–f4 h6:i5 15. f4:g5 Se6–c4 16. Sd1–i6+ Kf9–f8 17. g5:f6 Sc4:d3 18. f6:g7+ Ah9:g7 19. Bf2:d3 Kf8–e8 20. Se3:i7 Fg9–f9+ 21. Si6:f9 Rj9:f9+ 22. Kf0–e0 i5:j4 23. Ah0–e3 Rf9–h9 24. Ng3–h5 Ag7–h6 25. Ae3:h6+ Rh9:h6 26. Si7–i5 Be9–g8 27. Si5:h6 Bg8:h6 28. Bd3:e5 Gc7–b6 29. Be5–g7+ Ke8–f8 30. Fg0–f0+ Sd8–f6 31. e4–e5 Gb6–c4 32. d2–d3 Gc4–d5 33. e5:f6 Gd5:f6 34. Ff0:f6+ Ac9:f6 35. Nh5:f6 Kf8:g7 36. Nf6–h5+ Kg7–h7 37. Rj0:j4 Fd9–i9 38. Ac0–f3 Ra9–e9+ 39. Ke0–d1 Nd6–f5 40. Af3–g5+ Kh7–g8 41. Rj4–g4 Bh6:g4 42. Nh5–f6+ Bg4:f6 43. Ag5:f6+ Kg8–f8 44. Af6:f5 Re9–h9 45. Fd0–f0 Kf8–g9 46. Af5:d7+ Kg9–h8 47. Ad7–f5+ Kh8–g8 48. Af5–e5+ Kg8–g9 49. Ae5–e6×.Zillions of Games—Zillions of Games 1. Nc1–d3 Nh8–g6 2. Nh1–g3 Nc8–d6 3. e2–e4 c7–c6 4. j2–j4 Gb9–c7 5. e4–e5 Nd6–c4 6. f2–f4 Gi9–h8 7. Gb0–c1 Ra9–a8 8. b2–b3 Nc4–b6 9. f4–f5 Ng6–h4 10. i2–i3 Nh4–i6 11. j4–j5 Ni6–j8 12. Sd1:j7 Ah9–i9 13. Gc1–b2 Nj8–h9 14. Sj7:h9 Fg9:h9 15. Be0–f2 i7–i6 16. i3–i4 Gh8–i7 17. Bf2–h3 h7–h6 18. Rj0–j4 Rj9–j8 19. Sg1:b6 Gc7:b6 20. Fd0–d1 Sd8–c7 21. Ah0–d4 Ac9–c8 22. Fd1–e1 Ai9–h8 23. c2–c4 d7–d6 24. Ad4–e3 i6:j5 25. c4–c5 d6:c5 26. Ng3–h5 j5:i4 27. Rj4:i4 Gi7–j5 28. Ri4–j4 Be9–d7 29. Nd3:c5 Bd7:e5 30. Ae3–e2 Sg8–i6 31. d2–d4 Be5–g5 32. Bh3:g5 h6:g5 33. Ae2:g5 Rj8–j7 34. Gb2–c4 Fh9–g9 35. Gc4:b6 a7:b6 36. Ag5:e7+ Ac8:e7 37. Fe1:e7 Ah8:f5 38. Rj4:j5 Sc7:h2+ 39. Kf0–e1 Rj7:j5 40. Gi0:h2 Af5:h2 41. Fe7:f7+ Kf9–e8 42. Ff7–e6+ Ke8–f8 43. Ac0–f3 Rj5–j1+ 44. Fe6:j1 Ra8–e8+ 45. Ke1–d1 Ah2:j1 46. Nc5:b7 Si6:h5 47. Af3:h5 Fd9:d4+ 48. Kd1–c0 Fd4–f6 49. g2–g4 Aj1–h2 50. Ah5:f6 g7:f6 51. Fg0–d0 Ah2–f3+ 52. Kc0–b1 Re8–e1+ 53. Kb1–b2 Af3–e4+ 54. Kb2–a3 Ae4–c2+ 55. Ka3–a4 b6–b5×.
Zillions of Games
The implementation is here.
Created: 10 October 2006.