Movement

When the Cannon does not take, it moves like a Rook, i.e., on an orthogonal line an arbitrary number of empty squares. When it takes, it must jump: when taking, the Cannon also moves over an orthogonal line, jumps over the first piece it meets (which may either be friendly or from the opponent) and then continues over the line until the next piece it sees: if that is from the opponent, the Cannon can take it by moving to that position.

The Cannon on d5 can take the bishop on b5 and the rook on d1, and move to the squares marked with a black circle.

Historical notes

The Camel is a piece that dates back at least to Tamerlane Chess. The piece is used in many more modern chess variants as well (see below for a complete listing).
The piece is still known under this name by composers of fairy chess problems.

Movement

The camel is a (1,3)-jumper. This means that it reaches its destination square by moving either three squares horizontally and one vertically, or one square horizontally and three vertically. The camel is a jumping piece, meaning it can move to its destination square whether the intervening squares are occupied or not. If the destination square is occupied by an enemy piece, then it captures that piece.

Historical notes

The Mao is quite well known as the 'knight' in Xiangqi (aka Chinese Chess), as well as Korean Chess. Its name is Chinese for horse. It has some popularity as a problem piece, and you can see some examples at the Retrograde Analysis Corner, and on Torsten Linss' problem page.

In Fergus Duniho's Cavalier Chess and Grand Cavalier Chess, this piece is called a Cavalier and is used in place of Pawns.

Movement

The Mao is similar to the chess Knight - it ends up the same distance away, but it can not jump over intervening pieces like the chess Knight. Rather, the Mao is considered to move first one space orthogonally, and then one space diagonally (away from the starting square) to its destination. The intermediate square must be empty.

Note that this makes it possible for the mao to pin pieces, and it is possible for a Mao to attack an opposing Mao without that Mao attacking back.

Movement diagram

In the diagram below, the White mao on d5 can move to all the squares marked with a black circle. It can also capture the Black mao, even though the Black mao can not capture the White one. Also note that the Black king is not in check, but that the Black rook is pinned.

The Ferz moves and takes one square diagonally.
In Xiangqi, the Shi moves the same as the Ferz, but it may not leave the palace (3x3 areas at the bottom and top center of the board).

The Wazir was a piece that already appeared in some very early variants of chess, like the about 600 years old Tamerlane chess. The translation of the name of the piece is vizir.

Movement
The Wazir moves one square orthogonally. It takes in the same way as it moves without taking.

Movement

It is similar to the pawn in orthodox chess, except that the Xiangqi pawn captures in the same way that it moves, which is one square directly forward.
Xiangqi pawns take in the same way as they move without taking.

Xiangqi pawns have a special ability that orthodox chess pawns do not: once they cross the center line of the board (called the river), they move move and capture one square to either side.

There are two pawns in the above diagram. Since one has moved past the center line of the board, it may move and capture one square forward or one square to either side (as shown with the black circles). The other pawn has not moved past the center line of the board, so it may only move and capture one square forward (as shown by the red circle).

The Lance, or Kyoosha, or Kyoo is a piece from Shogi, Japanese Chess. It also appears in some variants of Shogi.
Movement
The Lance can only move one or more squares straight forward, without jumping, i.e., it can move like a Rook, but only in the forwards direction.
Movement diagram
In the diagram below, the lance can move to all the squares marked with a black circle.

The Silver General, or Ginsho is a piece from Shogi, Japanese Chess. It also appears in some variants of Shogi.
Movement
The Silver General can move one square, either diagonally or straigt forward, i.e., it can move to any square a king can move to, except to the left, right or straight backwards, and hence has usually five squares it can go to.
Movement diagram
In the diagram below, the Silver general can move to all the squares marked with a black circle.

The Gold General, or Kinsho is a piece from Shogi, Japanese Chess. It also appears in some variants of Shogi.
Movement
The Gold General can move one square, either orthogonally, or diagonally forwards, i.e., it can move to any square a king can move to, except diagonally backwards, and hence has usually six squares it can go to.
Movement diagram
In the diagram below, the gold general can move to all the squares marked with a black circle.

In Shogi, the Japanese form of Chess, the Dragon King is the promoted form of the Rook, moving like a Rook or a Ferz. This piece is also commonly used in many Shogi variants, such as Chu Shogi, in which it is a unpromoted piece that gets to promote to an even more powerful piece called a Soaring Eagle.

A Rook/Ferz compound is functionally identical to a Rook/King compound, and people have often thought of this piece as the latter, because the King is better known than the Ferz. With this in mind, it has sometimes been called a Crowned Rook, as in the 18th Century Chess variant The Duke of Rutland's Chess

In Shatar, which is Mongolian Chess, is has been called a Berse or a Queen.

Despite having the word King in its name, the Dragon King is normally a non-royal piece. However, Fergus Duniho has used a royal version of the Dragon King in Fusion Chess and several more games based on it, such as Bedlam and Thunder Chess. In these games, it is one of four possible royal pieces, which a player can form by merging his King with a Rook.

Movement
The Dragon King may slide any number of spaces orthogonally, or it may step one space diagonally.

The Man, also commonly known as a Guard, Prince or Commoner is a piece which has appeared in various early chess variants under various names. It moves like the usual King, but is not Royal.

Movement
The Man combines the movement of the Ferz and the Wazir; that is it may either step one square in any direction (like a King). The Man is not a royal piece. The Man captures the same way as it moves.

Movement diagram
In the diagram, the Man can move and capture to any square with a black circle.

The Dabbabah was a piece that already appeared in some very early variants of chess. Its name represents an ancient war instrument, and is sometimes translated as war engine.

Movement
The dabbabah is a (0,2)-jumper, i.e., it moves (with or without taking) two squares horizontally or vertically. It `jumps', i.e., it can move regardless whether the intervening square is occupied or not.

Movement

The wizard has the combined movements of the camel and the ferz.
More specifically, the wizard has one of the two following options:
- it can move a single square in any diagonal direction.
- it can move 3 squares in any orthogonal direction, and then one square in a perpendicular orthogonal direction, regardless of intervening pieces.
The wizard captures as it moves.

The Griffon moves one square diagonally in any direction, the continues away from the starting square in an orthogonal direction. Its path must be unoccupied; it can not jump over pieces. It captures an enemy piece by moving onto the square occupied by that piece.
According to Pritchard, Gollon, Chessvariants, and Betza the Griffon can end its move on a diagonally adjacent square. The version used by Williams-Brown does not allow this - the Griffon passes over diagonally adjacent square, which much be unoccupied, and can only stop on subsequent orthogonally adjacent squares.

The Alfil is the predecessor of the modern Bishop. This piece very probably came from India, where its original name was one of the Sanskrit words for elephant: hasty or gaja. It was alternately known by both names. It is found in the earliest known forms of Chess, such as Chaturanga and Shatranj, and it is very probably one of the original Chess pieces. But there is a bit of uncertainty and even disagreement on this matter.

Movement

The Alfil makes a (2,2)-jump: it moves two squares diagonally. It `jumps', i.e., it can move regardless whether there is a piece on the intervening square.
Alfils take in the same way as they move without taking.

This piece has a long history and has been called by many names. At present, there is no name it is universally known as, though some come close. Judging by how many games this piece has been given a certain name, the top names for this piece are Paladin, Cardinal, Archbishop, and Minister. But there are other considerations than just number of games. The author of this text, Fergus Duniho, has stuffed the ballot in favor of Paladin by creating several games using that name for this piece. Generally, the most widely used names for this piece are Cardinal, Archbishop, and Princess.

Movement rules
The Cardinal may move like an orthodox chess Bishop, or like an orthodox chess Knight.

The Marshall may move like a orthodox chess rook, or like a orthodox chess knight.

The Berolina Pawn has been introduced by E. Nebermann in 1926. The pawn is named after the city of Berlin

Movement rules

Berolina paws can only move forward. When a Berolina pawn makes a non-capturing move, it goes one square diagonally forwards. When a Berolina pawn is still on its original square on the second row, it can make a non-capturing move diagonally forwards of one or of two squares - if it moves two squares, the first square must be empty. A pawn captures one square vertically forwards.

When a Berolina pawn has moved two squares forwards, the opponent has the possibility to take it en passant: in the directly following turn a (Berolina) pawn of the opponent may take it also on the square that was passed by.

When a Berolina pawn reaches a promotion square, that is, a square on the last row of the board at the opponents side, it promotes. The owner of the Berolina pawn may decide to which piece the pawn promotes. In general, the choice is between queen, rook, knight, bishop, or any non-standard non-royal chess piece that is present in the array (but, of course, not a pawn or Berolina pawn.)