From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Grasshopper chess. Second and seventh ranks are occupied with grasshoppers. |
Grasshopper chess is a chess variant, in which the pawns are allowed to promote to a fairy piece grasshopper. In some variations grasshoppers may also be present on the board in the opening position, in addition to the usual pieces. For example, pawns can be moved forward and grasshoppers put along the 2nd and 7th ranks[1] as shown on the diagram at right. Another possibility is to replace queens with grasshoppers in initial position.[2]
[edit] Grasshopper
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| Grasshopper (shown as an inverted white queen) must hop over other pieces in order to move or capture. Here, it can capture the pawn in a7. |
The grasshopper was introduced by T. R. Dawson in 1913 in problems published in the Cheltenham Examiner newspaper. It is the most popular fairy piece used in variant chess problems. It moves along ranks, files and diagonals but only by hopping over another piece at any distance to the square immediately beyond. If there is no piece to hop over, it cannot move. If the square beyond is occupied by a piece of opposite colour that piece is captured.
In the diagram to the right, the white grasshopper on d4 can move to the marked squares (b2, d1, d7 and h8), as well as capture the black pawn on a7.
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