Alphabetic Chess: The squares are considered in the order a1, a2…a8, b1…b8, c1 and so on to h8. At each turn, only the unit standing on the square which comes earliest in this order may move. However check and mate are normal.
Grasshopper (G): Moves along Q-lines over another unit of either color to the square immediately beyond that unit. A capture may be made on arrival, but the hurdle is not affected.
Antelope (AN): (3,4) Leaper.
No.1273Sébastien Luce France original – 18.02.2018 Dedicated to Chris Feather
With Chris Feather we plan to write an article probably for Springaren on sh#n* ABC with fairy piece(s). This one will be the longer of the article !
Geoff Foster
February 21, 2018 01:25
The Antelope gives mate on the only two squares it can move to.
The bK goes to c6 to allow the bGb7 and bGb8 to move, then it goes to f8 to give the move to the bGf4 (for 15.Gf4-h2), travelling along the top rank to avoid giving the move to the bGd7. The bK then takes 8 moves to get from f8 to g5, first moving back along the top rank, then avoiding d6 and e5 (which are attacked by the Antelope), then avoiding 22.Ke4-f5? (which would force the unwanted 23.Gd7-g4). The bK then heads for h3 to allow the bGa2 to move, with 25.Kg5-f4! avoiding both 25.Kg5-g4? 26.Gd7-h3 and 25.Kg5-h4? 26.Gh2-h5. Another very clever feature is 33.Kf5-f6! 34.Kf6-g7! 35.Gg6-g8!, which is played because if the bG remained on g6 then Black would have to play 41.Gg4-g7.
The problem has so many clever points, and the Antelope does much more than just give the mates. Consider the following sequence of moves: 1.Ga7-c7 2.Ka8-a7 3.Ka7-b6 4.Kb6-c5? 5.Gb7-d7 6.Gb8-d6 7.Kc5-d4 8.Gc7-e5 9.Kd4-e3 10.Gd6-f4 11.Ke3-f3 12.Ge5-g3 13.Kf3-e4. The bK now wants to get to f6 (to allow Gf4-h2), but 14.Ke4-e5?? is illegal because the Antelope attacks e5, and 14.Kf5? forces the unwanted 15.Gd7-g4.
Luce Sebastien
February 22, 2018 23:47
Thank you Geoff for this excellent analyse ! You really love chess composition, and your english is much better than mine ! 🙂
With Chris Feather we plan to write an article probably for Springaren on sh#n* ABC with fairy piece(s). This one will be the longer of the article !
The Antelope gives mate on the only two squares it can move to.
The bK goes to c6 to allow the bGb7 and bGb8 to move, then it goes to f8 to give the move to the bGf4 (for 15.Gf4-h2), travelling along the top rank to avoid giving the move to the bGd7. The bK then takes 8 moves to get from f8 to g5, first moving back along the top rank, then avoiding d6 and e5 (which are attacked by the Antelope), then avoiding 22.Ke4-f5? (which would force the unwanted 23.Gd7-g4). The bK then heads for h3 to allow the bGa2 to move, with 25.Kg5-f4! avoiding both 25.Kg5-g4? 26.Gd7-h3 and 25.Kg5-h4? 26.Gh2-h5. Another very clever feature is 33.Kf5-f6! 34.Kf6-g7! 35.Gg6-g8!, which is played because if the bG remained on g6 then Black would have to play 41.Gg4-g7.
The problem has so many clever points, and the Antelope does much more than just give the mates. Consider the following sequence of moves: 1.Ga7-c7 2.Ka8-a7 3.Ka7-b6 4.Kb6-c5? 5.Gb7-d7 6.Gb8-d6 7.Kc5-d4 8.Gc7-e5 9.Kd4-e3 10.Gd6-f4 11.Ke3-f3 12.Ge5-g3 13.Kf3-e4. The bK now wants to get to f6 (to allow Gf4-h2), but 14.Ke4-e5?? is illegal because the Antelope attacks e5, and 14.Kf5? forces the unwanted 15.Gd7-g4.
Thank you Geoff for this excellent analyse ! You really love chess composition, and your english is much better than mine ! 🙂