The camel or long knight is a

fairy chess piece A fairy chess piece, variant chess piece, unorthodox chess piece, or heterodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess but incorporated into certain chess variants and some chess problems. Compared to conventional pieces, fair ...

with an elongated

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

move.Piececlopedia: Camel
by

Hans Bodlaender Hans Leo Bodlaender (born April 21, 1960) is a Dutch computer scientist, a professor of computer science at Utrecht University. Bodlaender is known for his work on graph algorithms and parameterized complexity and in particular for algorithms rela ...

, ''

The Chess Variant Pages ''The Chess Variant Pages'' is a non-commercial website devoted to chess variants. It was created by Hans Bodlaender in 1995. The site is "run by hobbyists for hobbyists" and is "the most wide-ranging and authoritative web site on chess variants" ...

'' It can jump three squares horizontally and one square vertically or three squares vertically and one square horizontally, regardless of intervening pieces. Therefore, it is a (1,3)-leaper.

History and nomenclature

The camel is a very old piece, appearing in some early chess variants, such as Tamerlane chess. It also appears in some modern variants, such as wildebeest chess.

Value

The camel by itself is worth about two

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...

s (appreciably less than a knight) because of its and lack of sufficient freedom of movement on an 8×8 board. However, a

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

, and a camel can force checkmate on a

bare king In chess and chess variants, a bare king (or lone king) is a game position where one player has only the king remaining (i.e. all the player's other pieces have been ). Effect on the game Historical In some old versions of chess, such as "baring ...

, assuming that the bishop and the camel are not on the same square color;Endgame statistics with fantasy pieces
by Dave McCooey, ''The Chess Variant pages'' a king, a

, and a camel can usually force checkmate on a bare king, but not easily, and there are thirteen types of fortress draws; lastly, a king, a camel, and a wazir can sometimes force checkmate on a bare king, but it can take up to 77 moves. A king and two camels cannot checkmate a lone king, even if the camels are on different square colors. While the rook versus camel endgame is usually a draw, more winning positions exist than there are in rook versus knight and rook versus bishop endgames; the longest win takes 35 moves. (All endgame statistics mentioned are for the 8×8 board.)

Usage and value as a component

As a component of other pieces, the camel has about the same value as a knight (both pieces can move to at most eight squares). The camel plus

ferz The ferz or fers is a fairy chess piece that may move one square diagonally.Piececlopedia: Ferz
at ''< ...

compound is used in Omega Chess, where it is called a ''wizard'',"Omega chess"
/ref> and the camel plus king compound is used in Paulovits's Game, where it is called a ''general''. Its long move carries the danger of unstoppable attacks in the

opening Opening may refer to: * Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an * The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron * Backgammon opening * Chess opening * A title sequence or opening credits * , a term from contract bridge * , ...

and of capturing winning large amounts of

material Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geolo ...

.DAN+, Different Augmented Knights
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Ralph Betza Ralph Betza (born 1945) is a FIDE Master and inventor of chess variants such as Chess with different armies, Avalanche chess, and Way of the Knight. Invented chess variants * Multiplayer Chess (date unknown) * High-Low Chess (1968) * Strang ...

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'' For example, if a camel plus wazir compound (LW in Betza's funny notation) replaces White's queenside

rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...

, then White can immediately win material with 1.(LW)b4, threatening 2.(LW)e5 to win the black

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and 2.(LW)b5 to win the black rook on a8; the threats cannot both be parried.

References

{{Chess piece Fairy chess pieces

History and nomenclature

Value

Usage and value as a component

See also

References