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Military Poeces[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
hirosi Kano wrote on Tue, Feb 18 11:24 AM UTC:

Soldier

diagram

fW

Sergeant

diagram

fsW

Officer

diagram

fF

Colonel

diagram

fWfF

Brigadier

diagram

fbWfF

Admiral

diagram

fWF

Tactician

diagram

fsWfF

General

diagram

WfF

Marshal

diagram

fsWF


Jörg Knappen wrote on Tue, Feb 18 10:12 PM UTC in reply to hirosi Kano from 11:24 AM:

There are more or less established names for all the pieces with single steps in a mirror symmetric pattern. Some of them may just be alternate English translations from Japanese, some genuinely different. Most names come from Shogi and Shogi variants, a few are Western names. I give the name I consider most standard and best understood first:

fW (your Soldier): (Shogi) Pawn, Foot Soldier

fsW (your Sergeant): Korean (Janggi) Pawn, Chinese Pawn (after crossing the river), Drunken Soldier (Jelliss)

fF (your Officer): Stone General or Sekisho, Goose (Fox and Geese, Jelliss)

fWfF (your Colonel): Iron General, compare also Graz Pawn (Chess problems)

fbWfF (your Brigadier): Copper General (Dai Dai Shogi), Flying Goose (Taikyoku Shogi) Climbing Monkey (Wa Shogi, Takyoku Shogi)

fWF (your Admiral): Silver General

fsWfF (your Tactician): Evil Wolf or Akuro, Panthan (Jetan)

WfF (your General): Gold General, Tokin

fsWF (your Marshal): Drunk Elephant or Suizo. Note that Marshal is one of the common Western names for the Rook-Knight compound piece.

Not in your list:

FfbW: Ferocious Leopard or Mohyo, Jelliss translates the same Japanese word as
Horrible Panther.

Some sources for the piece names:

Christine Bagley-Jones: Fairy Pieces Part 1, https://www.chessvariants.com/ideas/fairy-pieces-part-1

J.P.Jelliss "All the Kings men": https://www.mayhematics.com/v/gm.htm#G This has names for all "generals", i.e., one step movers with left-right symmetrical moving patterns

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fairy_chess_pieces


hirosi Kano wrote on Wed, Feb 19 08:48 AM UTC in reply to Jörg Knappen from Tue Feb 18 10:12 PM:

Thank you for your suggestions. I an now wondering the commercialization of some card game. I will use my piece names. Like Shogi Variants, these pieces are translated from Chinese characters, these methods are unusually perfect name. Sorry I am poor English. Do you know the Shogi's piece "Hisya" "飛車". In the chess this is same as "Rook" or "Castle", the shape of Rook is like a castle, but in Japanese "Flying Vehicle". I think "Casle" is never "Vehicle". So I think this is not smart naming by translation from Chinese characters.


Jörg Knappen wrote on Wed, Feb 19 10:05 AM UTC:

Thanks for your reply.

The names of the Rook piece are interesting, incidentally the Japanese name Flying Chariot is closer to the Old Indic original (Chariot) than the Western names. In Western languages, the word Rook is completely opaque and even etymologist have difficulties with it (it comes from Persian via Arabic, but the meaning is unclear), the German word Turm means "tower", the Russian word Ladya "boat". For reasons completely unknown, the piece is also named boat in Javanese.

The English Wikipedia has a good article including the different words for the Rook in many languages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rook_(chess)#History


H. G. Muller wrote on Wed, Feb 19 10:37 AM UTC in reply to hirosi Kano from 08:48 AM:

The 'Hisya' is usually translated as 'Rook' instead of 'Flying Chariot' because the same piece also occurs in International Chess under that name. The other pieces do not participate in International Chess, but westerners familiar with chess variants are familiar with some of those. Especially the Gold and Silver General are widely known under these names, as these occur in regular Shogi. So I think it would be unwise to change those names.

I was told that Rook (Rukh) in Persion does mean 'Chariot', and that we just kept using the Persian name.


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