10 remarkable chess pieces

Although chess has always been the game of kings, it took centuries before it also became a game of queens. In its ancient form, chaturanga, chess players could only count on their mantra—the minister in English.

The queen's predecessor wasn't nearly as strong as her majesty. It could only move diagonally one square, having access to only half of the board's squares. A similar piece still exists in other versions of chess, like in Xiangqi and Janggi. In both of these games (as well as in other variants), they are called the guard (or the advisors).

On the bright side, blundering your minister was undoubtedly not as frustrating as hanging the queen.

The minister also goes by many other names, but the most popular is inherited from shatranj—the ferz. Other names are advisor, met, and cat sword.

The Elephant

Indians invented the game of chaturanga more than 1,500 years ago. The name chaturanga means "four arms" because each of the pieces used represented a branch—or arm—of the Indian army.

There were no bishops in India then. Instead, players had another type of piece at their disposal: the elephant.

Despite sounding like a powerful piece, the chaturanga elephant can only move diagonally two squares. Like knights, elephants can jump over other pieces. The leaping powers of the elephant might seem like a triumph. Nevertheless, they can control just four squares at a time, and their regular movement (as opposed to the knight's irregular jump) restricts their reach—each elephant can only ever access eight specific squares of the board.

In many modern variants, the elephant is still present under the name of al fil or simply fil—which is the reason why the bishop is still called "alfil" in some languages.

Are you curious to see how you would manage the challenge of conducting an attack with your elephantry? Then head over to our Variants page and enjoy a game of chaturanga!

The Camel

Another historical piece that later vanished from the orthodox chessboard is the camel.

The medieval Tamerlane chess variant featured this exotic piece that moved similarly to today's knight, leaping over other pieces. The only difference is that the camel could jump one square farther than its equine counterpart.

The Man

Chess is a game of war. However, civilians also made their way onto the chessboard in some European chess variants.

The medieval courier chess featured a piece called the man. Oddly enough, the common man depicted in courier chess was stronger than pawns, which have always represented the infantry. The man could move one square in every direction, just like the king.

Unlike the royal ruler, though, the man could be captured by the opponent without graver consequences.

The man first appeared around the year 950 and most notably was used in the medieval variant of Courier Chess.

The Princess

Which is better, the knight or the bishop? The answer to this question is undoubtedly a complex one. But why choose just one if you can have both?

The princess was a piece that had the combined movements of the bishop and the knight. It could jump over other units when moving as a knight but couldn't do so when moving like a bishop.

In the first record of the princess (which comes from an Italian variant of the 16th century called Carrera's chess), it was known as the centaur. Many other chess variants have used this piece with different names—the vizir in the great Turkish chess, the archbishop in Capablanca chess, and the elephant in Seirawan chess are some examples.

The Empress

Another piece from Carrera's chess made its way into a plethora of other chess variants—the empress.

This powerful piece had the combined powers of a rook and a knight. Just like the princess, it could only jump over other pieces when moving as a knight.

Called the champion in Carrera's chess, this piece had many other names in different variants. Some of the more well-known was the war machine in the great Turkish chess, the chancellor in Capablanca chess, and the hawk in Seirawan chess.

The Amazon

The Amazon is by far the most destructive piece on this list. It combines the queen and the knight's movements, covering 35 squares when positioned on the center of the board. Because of its excellent movement range, it can checkmate the enemy king without the help of any other piece. As if that wasn't enough, the amazon can jump over other pieces when moving as a knight, which makes it even deadlier.

Some historians believe that the amazon was one of the pieces contending to replace the old chaturanga minister. Records show that this piece first appeared during the Middle Ages and was still a part of Russian chess sets as late as 1770.

Because the amazon was so powerful, players abandoned it and made way for the modern-day queen to enter the game. However, chess players have never left this magnificent piece behind. Multiple chess variants have featured the amazon, including modern-day games like 4 Player Chess. Other names for it are giraffe, maharajah, angel, and commander.

Asian Chess Pieces

From the original game of chaturanga, other types of chess emerged. Especially noteworthy are the variants of chess played in Asian countries to this day. Shogi in Japan, Xiangqi in China, and the Korean Janggi also have unique pieces forming their armies.

-fun master