ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="content-type"> <title>Alphyna</title> <meta content="Ivan A Derzhanski" name="author"> </head> <body> <div style="text-align: right;"><i>;5:A0=4@5 >;C152>9</i></div><h1>Alphyna</h1><h2>A Game by Ivan A Derzhanski</h2><blockquote>The <font color=brown>alfil</font> [or medi&aelig;val bishop] has possessed quite a number of names, these being chiefly variations in spelling in the old MSS. Such were alfin, alfyn, <font color=magenta>alphyn</font>, and aufyn. Alfil is the Arabic from al fil the <font color=brown>elephant</font>. (<a href="http://www.bcps.knightsfield.co.uk/trd-cplay.html">T. R. Dawson, Caissa's Playthings</a>)<hr>The <font color=magenta>alphyn</font> is an heraldic monster with a body similar to that of a <font color=orange><i>tyger</i></font>; its other characteristics vary, but it is most commonly shown with <font color=blue>eagle</font>'s forelegs and a knotted tail. <font color=gray>[& ] The unmodified term <font color=orange><i>tyger</i></font> refers to an heraldic <b>monster</b>, described as incredibly swift and deceitful; its body is much like that of the <font color=red>wolf</font>, but it has a crest of tufts on the back of its neck, and a tusk pointing down from its nose. [& ] When blazoned a <i>natural tiger</i> or a <i>Bengal tiger</i>, the term denotes a natural <b>beast</b>, the great cat <i>Felis tigris</i>: like a maneless lion, but with stripes on its coat.</font> (<a href="http://heralds.westkingdom.org/Templates/Beasts/">Bestiary&nbsp;1</a>)<p>This creature has a body much like that of a <font color=red>wolf</font> with the front legs and belly of a <font color=green>dragon</font>. It also has long pointed ears, a long thin tongue, and a knotted tail. <font color=gray>[& ] The heraldic <font color=green>dragon</font> 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 <font color=blue>eagle</font>'s, and a pointed tail often with an arrow-like end.</font> (<a href="http://www2.kumc.edu/itc/staff/rknight/monsters.htm">Bestiary&nbsp;2</a>)</blockquote>Hence the idea of a chess variant in which the Bishop is replaced by a <font color=orange>Tiger</font>-like, <font color=green>Dragon</font>-like <font color=magenta>Alphyn</font>, which is the strongest unit in the game.<p>My favourite chess Tiger is the one from Andy Kurnia's <a href="http://www.chessvariants.org/39.dir/tns.html">Thirty-Nine Squares Chess</a>: 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 <a href="http://www.chessvariants.org/piececlopedia.dir/griffon.html">Gryphon</a>: one square orthogonally, then like a Bishop outwards.<p>Here are some other design features that I wanted this game to have:<ul><li>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.<li>A 10 by 10 board with 10 pawns and 14 officers a side in the initial setup (making for a density of <em>almost</em> ½), among them<ul><li>5 (including the King) comparable to a Knight or Bishop in strength,<li>4 of Rook level (or thereabouts),<li>3 midway between a Rook and a Queen, and<li>2 (the eponymous Alphyns) approximately as powerful as a Queen.</ul></ul><img src="alphinit.gif" width=503 border=0 height=503 align="Right"><h2>Board and Setup</h2>The files are labelled <b>a</b> to <b>j</b>, the ranks <b>0</b> to <b>9</b>. Rank <b>9</b> is the promotion zone for White, rank <b>0</b> for Black.<p>The initial setup for White is as follows:<ul><li>(Rank 0) Rook a0 & j0, Griff b0 & i0, Alphyn c0 & h0, Floyd d0 & g0, Bear e0, King f0;<li>(Rank 1) Knight c1 & h1, Swan d1 & g1;<li>(Rank 2) Pawns a2 to j2.</ul>The arrangement for Black is the same, either reflected or rotated.<h2>The Units</h2><dl><dt>Pawn<dd>As in OrthoChess, including initial double move and <i>en passant</i> capture. Promotes to Bear (the only unit, not counting the King, of which each side has but one in the initial setup).<dt>Knight<dd>As in OrthoChess.<dt>Swan<dd>In a <b>Y</b>-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 <i>alph</i> is Sindarin for  swan .<dt>Griff<dd>Restricted Gryphon: one square diagonally, then optionally one or two squares orthogonally outwards.<dt>Rook<dd>As in OrthoChess. (No castling.)<dt>Floyd<dd>A Queen minus a Swan: forwards or sideways as a Rook, backwards as a Bishop. (Imagined as a winged pig.)<dt>Bear<dd>Alfil+Knight+Dabbaba. The same thing as a <a href="http://www.chessvariants.org/piececlopedia.dir/squirrel.html">Squirrel</a>. Name from Mikhail Sosnovsky's Bear Chess (1985).<dt>Alphyn<dd>Two moves:<ul><li>OrthoChess Bishop.<li>Restricted Dragon: one square orthogonally, then optionally one or two squares diagonally outwards.</ul>(Or, if you prefer: Bishop+Wazir+Horse+Elephant [the latter two from Korean Chess].)<dt>King<dd>As in OrthoChess.</dl>Victory is by checkmate.<h3>Sample Games</h3><strong>Zillions of Games Zillions of Games</strong>1. 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×.<p><strong>Zillions of Games Zillions of Games</strong> 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×.<h3>Zillions of Games</h3>The implementation is <a href="alphyna.zip">here</a>.<hr>Created: 10 October 2006. </body> </html>