CHESMAYNE
Elephant
The Asian elephant is worshipped as a god from
Right:
Elephant. In Chesmayne MR1 and MR2 etc. Moved like a Fil. In Chinese Chess (Xiangqu) they are not allowed to go into your opponent’s
half of the board (cross the river).
Left:
Valve de miroir: le jeu d’échecs
The Elephant is a piece used in Xiangqi (Chinese
chess). It is also called Prime Minister, as the words
for Elephant and Prime Minister in Chinese (Xiang) sound the same.
This piece quite likely evolved from the Alfil of Chaturanga.
The Elephant steps two spaces diagonally. It may not move only one
space, and if the first step of its move is occupied, it may not complete its
move. It may capture or move to an empty
space with its move.
There is one other restriction for the Elephant in Xiangqi:
it may not cross the river.
The Elephant in the above diagram, can move to
the locations indicated by the red circles.
The Elephant cannot move to the lower right because it is blocked by the
white pawn.
Elephants can only reach a very small part of the board.
Unlike its leaping cousin, the Alfil, the Elephant of Chinese
Chess is a stepper. A stepper reaches its destination
by stepping along a specified path. If
any space in its path is occupied, a stepper cannot complete its move. For the Elephant, its path is two spaces
diagonally. It is a simple stepper, not
a compound piece of any kind, and as such it may not stop part-way. It must make its complete move or not move
at all. The Elephant is not the only stepper in Chinese Chess. Its fellow stepper is the Chinese Chess
Knight, which steps along a knight (KN) path.
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This is an
item in the Piececlopedia: an overview of different (fairy) chess pieces.
Written by David
Howe and Fergus Duniho.
Right:
Transport To The Fortress At Amber
Elephant in carved stone, about VII century, Metropolitan
(from “The Art of Shogi”, Tony Hosking).