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The Piececlopedia is intended as a scholarly reference concerning the history and naming conventions of pieces used in Chess variants. But it is not a set of standards concerning what you must call pieces in newly invented games.

Piececlopedia: Wizard

Historical notes

The Wizard piece from Omega Chess

The Wizard was invented by Dan MacDonald in 1998 for his game Omega Chess.

Along with the Champion from the same game, it has been used in these additional games:

The Wizard appears without the Champion in these games:

AI concept art of a more figurine Wizard

Movement

The wizard has the combined movements of the camel and the ferz.
More specifically, the wizard has one of the two following options:
- it can move a single square in any diagonal direction.
- it can move 3 squares in any orthogonal direction, and then one square in a perpendicular orthogonal direction, regardless of intervening pieces.
The wizard captures as it moves.

Movement diagram

In the diagram below, the wizard, which is normally symbolized by a crescent moon but is here represented by a sideways knight, can move to any of the squares marked with a black circle.









Remarks

Like the bishop, ferz, and camel, the wizard is colorbound, but because of its combined properties, it has neither the range limitations of the ferz or the awkwardness of the camel.
You can see problems and sample games using the wizard on the Omega Chess home page.

Checkmating

The Wizard cannot inflict checkmate on a rectangular board with only assistance of its own King, and is thus a minor piece. Even with a pair of Wizards you cannot force checkmate on a bare King, but paired with another minor this is sometimes possible. Try it!

This is an item in the Piececlopedia: an overview of different (fairy) chess pieces.
Originally written by Ben Good.
Revisions and graphics by Fergus Duniho.
WWW page created: February 15, 1999.
Last updated: November 27, 2024.