Re: Names of chess pieces in (con)langs

Nik Taylor wrote:
> The Kassi have a Chess-like game called Daçezzhi, derived from a game
> called Fives played by a group known as the Traders.  It is played on an
> 11x11 board.  There are seven different pieces: General, Aide, Knight,
> Chariot, Dragon, Archer, and Soldier.  These are literal translations of
> the native names (well, in the case of Dragon, the nearest equivalent in
> our mythology).  The term Dragon originated from a misunderstanding of
> the old name (which I don't know), a name which referred to a creature
> the Kassi were not familiar with.  They replaced it with the name of a
> mythical creature, and made it more powerful.
>
> More information can be found at http://wiki.frath.net/Daçezzhi
Some basic information:

The middle row is the "river".  With the exception of three squares
(3rd, 6th, and 9th from the left), which are called "bridges", no piece
may occupy a River square, though those that can move more than one
square can pass over them.

General: One step in any direction, may not move into check (note: no
special word for check, other than "threatening the general"), must
remain on its own side of the board

Aide: One step diagonally.  A General and Aide adjacent to each other
may swap spaces

Knight: One step orthogonally followed by one or two steps diagonally
outwards, can leap over pieces

Chariot: Any number of spaces orthogonally, captures by landing on the
space directly *after* it's victim (thus, it cannot capture a piece if
there's no empty space behind it, e.g., it's on the edge of the board,
there's a piece behind it, or the space behind it is river)

Dragon: Up to five spaces in any direction, can leap over *friendly*
pieces, but not hostile

Archer: One step forward or diagonally.  Captures differently than it
moves.  It can capture two ways: Stationary firing - captures a piece
directly ahead of it, diagonally ahead, or to the left or right without
moving; Firing while moving - moves either directly ahead, diagonally
forward, or to the side, landing adjacent to a piece in the same
direction as its movement, capturing it.  When it crosses the river, it
becomes a Promoted Archer

Promoted Archer: One step in any direction.  Like an Archer, can capture
by stationary firing (any adjacent square) or by firing while moving
(any direction)

Soldier: One step forward or diagonally, may also capture horizontally.
  When it crosses the river, it becomes a Promoted Soldier

Promoted Soldier: One step in any direction

In the ancestral game of Fives, there were no Archers (Archers were
formed by splitting the original Soldiers into two groups), and Soldiers
could only move directly forward, optionally capturing to the side (thus
able to defend each other).  The diagonal movement was added due to the
creation of the river.  Without it, most of the soldiers would be
stopped by the river.


These are the pieces of the classical game.  There exist a number of
variations, using different boards, some with lakes, others with bridges
moved, etc.  Some also use different pieces.  One popular piece is the
Swimmer.  The Swimmer ordinarily moves like a Soldier, but it can enter
water squares, and in water squares, can move any number of spaces in
any direction until it hits land.  It can, therefore, be a powerful
defensive piece, particularly on boards with a large number of
water-squares.

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