The Lion is a "fairy" chess piece that appeared sometime after
Anthony Dickins introduced the "Grasshopper" in 1912. I have not
been able to find who first published a Lion composition. Both
were based on the Cannon, a Chinese Chess (Xiangqi) piece that
first appeared in the ninth century.

The Lion (L) moves on the lines a Queen moves, except that it
must first vault over a piece of either color to move on the
line just beyond. Unlike the Grasshopper, it may continue
on this line for as long as there are vacant squares, or until
it captures an opposing piece.

I have a WWW page ("Beatnik Chess") suggesting a chess
alternative in which,
basicly, players set up the pieces however they can agree,
or if they can't agree they set them up freely on the first
three ranks, or thereabouts. So no more castling or double
pawn moves (or en passant capture) is necessary. And while
at it, why not throw one or two new pieces in on the game.
The Lion seems the best candidate to introduce thematic
variety. To demonstrate this I have composed the miniature
endgame study below. This seems like a dandy Lion problem to
me, but maybe one of you can cook it.

White draws.
White (3): Kg8, Ld1, Pd7
Black (2): Ke7, Ph6.

"Beatnik Chess" is at:
http://www.silcom.com/~barnowl/beatnik-chess.htm

Thanks, Daniel VanArsdale, 10/11/03

Daniel VanArsdale wrote in message ...

The Lion (L) moves on the lines a Queen moves, except that it
must first vault over a piece of either color to move on the
line just beyond. Unlike the Grasshopper, it may continue
on this line for as long as there are vacant squares, or until
it captures an opposing piece.

White draws.
White (3): Kg8, Ld1, Pd7
Black (2): Ke7, Ph6.

"Beatnik Chess" is at:
http://www.silcom.com/~barnowl/beatnik-chess.htm

I'm assuming white moves first.

SPOILER WARNING

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1. d8=Q+! Kxd8
2. Kf7 h5
3. Ke6 h4
4. Kd5+ Kany
5. Ke4 and the King catches the h-pawn

In article ,
Glenn C. Rhoads wrote:
Daniel VanArsdale wrote in message
...

The Lion (L) moves on the lines a Queen moves, except that it
must first vault over a piece of either color to move on the
line just beyond. Unlike the Grasshopper, it may continue
on this line for as long as there are vacant squares, or until
it captures an opposing piece.

White draws.
White (3): Kg8, Ld1, Pd7
Black (2): Ke7, Ph6.



1. d8=Q+! Kxd8
2. Kf7 h5
3. Ke6 h4
4. Kd5+ Kany
5. Ke4 and the King catches the h-pawn

This works, and is probably the intended solution.
White can also end with 5 Kd4 h3 6 Ld5 h2 7 Ke4 and the Lion
catches the pawn, and likewise 4 Ke5 h3 5 Kd4+ K-any 6 Ld5 etc.
This conclusion can also be reached via 1 Kg7(h7) h5 2 Kg6 h4
3 Kf5 h3 4 Ke4 h2 5 Kd3(d4) Kd8 (or h1Q 6 d8Q+, drawn)
6 Ld5+! K:d7 7 Ke4. [And then there are the minor cooks
1 d8R, 1 d8B+, 1 d8N -- or even 1 d8L, according to the convention
that if there's a Lion -- or other unorthodox piece -- on the board
then pawns may promote to a piece of the same kind, as well as
the orthodox Q/R/B/N.]

Noam D. Elkies

As requested, a cook solution was quickly found
to the Lion endgame problem I posted this
morning. Noam Elkies emailed me a straightforward
solution that I should not have missed. I had intended
the solution that Glenn C. Rhoads found in the above
post. Sorry for the waste of time.

Here is a simple mate in two with a Lion that I am pretty
sure has no cook.

White to play and mate in two.
White (5): K on e1, R on a1, B on a4, N on b5, L on a5.
Black (2): K on b2, P on b4.

If any one has a source for Lion problems please
email. Thanks, Daniel VanArsdale

"Glenn C. Rhoads" wrote:

Daniel VanArsdale wrote in message ...

The Lion (L) moves on the lines a Queen moves, except that it
must first vault over a piece of either color to move on the
line just beyond. Unlike the Grasshopper, it may continue
on this line for as long as there are vacant squares, or until
it captures an opposing piece.

White draws.
White (3): Kg8, Ld1, Pd7
Black (2): Ke7, Ph6.

"Beatnik Chess" is at:
http://www.silcom.com/~barnowl/beatnik-chess.htm

I'm assuming white moves first.

SPOILER WARNING



1. d8=Q+! Kxd8
2. Kf7 h5
3. Ke6 h4
4. Kd5+ Kany
5. Ke4 and the King catches the h-pawn

Daniel VanArsdale wrote:

The Lion is a "fairy" chess piece that appeared sometime after
Anthony Dickins introduced the "Grasshopper" in 1912. I have not
been able to find who first published a Lion composition. Both
were based on the Cannon, a Chinese Chess (Xiangqi) piece that
first appeared in the ninth century.

T.R. Dawson invented the grasshopper; A.S.M. Dickins came along much
later and wrote *The Guide to Fairy Chess*, among other books.

According to http://www.bcvs.ukf.net/gvcm.htm, the lion was invented by
J. de A. Almay: Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement 1937. If it appeared
anywhere before then, I (and Jelliss) don't know where. Almay's problem,
in Forsyth notation, from the Feb 1937 issue:
3L4/8/8/p1pppppp/8/8/2L1PK2/7k. Black plays and helps White stalemate in
3.
Answer, below some spoiler space:

































1. Kh2 Ld1 2. Kh3 La4 3. Kh4 Lc8=
--
Always carry a grapefruit, Treesong