CHESMAYNE

If I Could Turn Back Time

Elephant

 

The Asian elephant is worshipped as a god from India to Japan.   There are estimated to be 600,000 African elephants and upto 50,000 Asian.   They evolved from a small animal, no larger than a pig.   Their latin names are ‘Elephas maximus’ (Asian) and ‘Loxodonta africcana’ (African).   For millenniums they have been used in wars, for personal transport, construction, forestry and scientific expeditions.   The Asian females do not have tusks.   The Indian elephant has had a central role in war, work and mythology and are used to carry grooms to weddings.   In the ‘Rig Veda’, Indra took Airavata, a four-tusked elephant as his vehicle.   Buddha entered his mother’s womb in the shape of a six-tusked white elephant.   Ganesh is the most popular deity in the Hindu pantheon and bears only one tusk (the other being lost in battle).   Ganesh blesses new beginnings and is propitiated whenever a fresh venture is undertaken.   Darius the Persian, in 300 BC, had divisions of elephants in his army.   The elephant motif is common in Indian art (particularly sculpture).   Ashoka’s capital (which appears on Indian bank notes) contains an elephant and is said to symbolize the Buddha’s birth.   Pachyderm: any of the thick-skinned non-ruminant ungulates, as the elephant, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros.   A person who is not sensitive to criticism, ridicule etc.   See Bishop.   Ridden by rulers (Asia) and a symbol of power, wisdom and peace. 

                                                                                  

Right: City Palace, Jaipur

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 Paris, around 1300 Ivory.  Right: Ganesh, Mandore. 

[Main Graphics Page]

 

                                                         

Right: Image of Ganapati, Tamilnadu

Historical notes

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. 

                                                                                                      

Movement

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. 

Movement diagram

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elephant

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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. 

Remark

Elephants can only reach a very small part of the board. 

Vocabulary: Stepper

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. 

Images

Elephant

Traditional Chinese Set

National Standard Chinese Set

Iconographic Chinese Set

Alfaerie Set

Cazaux Set

Prime Minister

Traditional Chinese Set

National Standard Chinese Set

 

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 Museum of Art, New York
(from “The Art of Shogi”, Tony Hosking).