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Rhino. A set of pieces which combine the movements of the Mao with that of the Wazir.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

TBox wrote on Fri, Apr 18, 2003 04:24 AM UTC:

Looking at the Monster's move pattern makes me wonder how to aesthetically fill in those last eight squares for a piece that can cover the whole board, when empty. The best opportunity is in bent riders, a simple Monster-Unicorn (The Horny Monster!) manages it, but it doesn't really preserve the flavor of 'too many combos' and 'no jumps', so maybe a Monster+Gryphon+Aanca, and since the Monster is a combination of a combo-rider with a combo-rhino, adding on a combo-bent-rider, which are themselfs combinations of rhinos and riders, makes sick, sadistic sense. This is also a Double-Rhino Combine, which sounds like something John Deere on Steroids would sell. Anyone crazy enough to value it? A Combine is 2 queens, the double-rhino is somewhere between less than a queen and more than a queen, but surely 3 queens is too trite an answer... on the one hand, there are even *more* overlapping paths, but on the other, overlapping paths make any given square harder to interdict, if that happens to be your goal. <p>They could add this piece to the top end of the 'RPG'/promoting variants. In which case, it'll prolly end up being called the Tarrasque.

Charles Gilman wrote on Fri, Jan 9, 2004 09:29 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

As if to reinforce to the biological link with horses, the letters of HORSE and SHIRE (a breed of heavy horse) are subsets of the letters of RHINOCEROS (others are HORN, HORNIER, HORNS, NOSE, NOSIER, the centaur CHIRON, the Knight-based piece ROSE, the multi-horsepower IRON HORSE, and HERO and HEROIC for being which knighthood is often awarded). Alas HORROR (tying in with Monster) requires an extra R. All ten letters can be rearranged as HORSEICORN, which isn't a real word but does seem to fit the biology!

Charles Gilman wrote on Sat, Apr 10, 2004 07:22 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

Having thought about these pieces I can identify four (relatively) simple long-range pieces of which yours are compounds: (1) Maorider, starting on a Wazir step and ending on a Ferz one; (2) Moarider, the other way round; (3) Waverer, starting AND ending on Wazir steps; (4) Feverer, starting AND ending on Ferz steps. The first two long-range pieces on this page are (1)+(3), starting on a Wazir step and ending on either, and (2)+(4), starting on a Ferz step and ending on either. The third combines of all four. Other possible compounds are (1)+(2), the Moorider; (1)+(4), the Reverse Rhino, starting on either step and ending on a Wazir step; (2)+(3), the Reverse Mirror Rhino, starting on either step and ending on a Ferz step; and (3)+(4), the Unhorser, starting on either step and ending on the same.

Jeremy Good wrote on Tue, Aug 21, 2007 08:09 AM UTC:

Joe Joyce, I thought this entry might interest you a little bit.

Joe Joyce wrote on Tue, Aug 21, 2007 06:04 PM UTC:

I believe the first sentence in 'History' in this piece write-up sums up my feelings: ' This family of pieces has been invented more than once. '
I actually think it can be good that people re-invent the basics, because each person is a fresh look, and sometimes we get something brand new. [How's that for putting a good spin on re-inventing the wheel?]
For being such interesting and constantly re-occurring pieces, the NW and NF are not seen all that much in variants, that I've noticed. You'd think they'd be used more; the NK or centaur shows up several places. I suspect it might be that people find breaking the move of a piece that's already a bit awkward and very short range into tiny pieces and doing the pieces one at a time is annoying. Or maybe I'm totally wrong, and have overlooked games with these pieces.

George Duke wrote on Tue, Nov 20, 2007 08:47 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

At Aronson's Rhino piece description, Joe Joyce enunciates the doctrine of re-inventing the wheel in immediately preceeding Comment. ''I actually think it can be good that people re-invent the basics. How's that for putting a good spin on re-inventing the wheel?'' As for piece values, Aronson points out Rhino can reach twice the squares as Nightrider, but the latter is more valuable in our estimation. Ralph Betza is credited with inventing Rhino, Mirror Rhino, and Double Rhino. Obfuscation mentions Aronson and Friedlander as independently 'inventing' one or more of them, but we do not buy that. Betza invented them, unless someone comes up with examples or documentation of other earlier uses. That is because invention credit is determined, generally in all fields, by assumption that someone 'skilled in the art' is more or less omniscient of relevant prior uses, or should so be aware of them, or subject to them if unaware. Occasional actual simultaneity, or overlap in time before publication, is another matter (maybe like Newton and Leibnitz in Calculus). So many efforts are also why it becomes harder to invent chess variations and pieces for the time being. There is simply more to be studied first, although recent prolificists apparently choose to study less pre-existing CVs. Hence for now not so good quality as before. Double Rhino is multi-path, namely two-path beyond its first square. Charles Gilman's Comment April 2004 here adds at least four more pieces after these hippogonally-directed move directions.

Joe Joyce wrote on Wed, Nov 21, 2007 04:51 AM UTC:

Hey, George, you didn't notice the hint of chagrin and a delicate sarcasm in that statement of mine? To boldly invent the rhino for the umpteenth time doesn't do a lot for one's image. Imagine my thrill when I found out the Muse of Redundancy had visited me with another used idea.

But to put together a little system that pops out pieces like that among other common and some very rare and unique pieces isn't all that bad. [I may need to continue that thought on your 91.5 Trillion thread, George]. 

I do have to disagree about independent invention of ideas, though. It has happened repeatedly throughout history, and will happen more and more in CVs because there are more and more of them. With luck, people with experience will catch the duplications. But this doesn't lessen the creativity of the designer, merely the bragging rights... :-)

Jörg Knappen wrote on Thu, Oct 22, 2009 10:12 AM UTC:

I tried it out and found that both the rhino and the mirror rhino can mate a single king with the help of their own king. There are no special manoeuvres involved, the mating goes relatively straightforward.

H. G. Muller wrote on Thu, Oct 22, 2009 04:58 PM UTC:

A color-alternating piece with mating potential? You must be joking.

For the purpose of mating a bare King, the mirror Rhino is equivalent to the (FN), which has mating potential of boards upto 16x16 (where it takes 100 moves), see:

http://www.chessvariants.org/index/listcomments.php?subjectid=12x12_checkmate

Jörg Knappen wrote on Sat, Oct 24, 2009 05:06 PM UTC:

In fact, mating with the mirror-rhino can be more complicated than mating with a simple FN, because
the additionaly attacked zebra square provides lot of stalemate traps. A key position in the mirror-rhino's mating manoeuvre is the following:

Black King on a1,a2,or b1; White king on c3, mirror-rhino on f6.  Black to move.

Only now the white king can complete the confinement of the black king

--- BTW, the rhino is not colourswitching at all, it is a slider continuing its way after WN squares to
C NN2 .... Adding the wazir to the Gnu essentially gives it the can-mate property.

H. G. Muller wrote on Sat, Oct 24, 2009 06:32 PM UTC:

Ah, OK, I see. The description is a bit confusing, and I thought that 'basic move of the Rhino' actually meant how it moved. Sorry about that.

Jörg Knappen wrote on Sat, Nov 28, 2009 08:41 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

The Rhino inspired a new chess piece, the Teutonic Knight having the first three steps of the Rhino with the ability to jump.

The Rhino is an interesting and inspiring piece and this article is well written.

Garth Wallace wrote on Mon, Nov 30, 2009 11:48 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

Is the mirror-rhino really worth less than a rhino? I would have thought that the fact that it is not color-switching and can return to its starting space in an odd number of moves would give it a boost.

Charles Gilman wrote on Wed, Dec 2, 2009 07:10 AM UTC:

None of this page's long-range pieces are switching. The Rhino's first three destinations are those of the Wazir, Knight, and Camel. Knight plus Camel equals famously triangulating Gnu. Likewise the even destinations (exactly as with the Mirror Rhino) are destination of the Nightrider - a straight linepiece like the Bishop and Rook and so able to make two moves in the same direction and return in a single move the same length as the two together.
	Indeed not even a Waverer, a Rhino restricted to moves of odd numbers of steps, is switching as a Camel move can be reversed in four Wazir ones. Nor is a Feverer, a Mirror Rhino so restricted, as a Ferz move can be reversed in two Zebra ones. It may be more difficult when what I am for short calling Camel/Zebra moves are stepping ones here, but it is posible.

Garth Wallace wrote on Wed, Dec 2, 2009 05:45 PM UTC:

Whoops, I was thinking of the one-step versions, but that passage is about the sliding versions. My mistake!

Charles Gilman wrote on Thu, Feb 24, 2011 07:09 AM UTC:

Since I have been reviewing my Man and Beast series, and many members have been commenting on Leaping/Missing Bat Chess, it has occurred to me that Curved pieces alternating Wazir and Ferz steps do indeed belong in the 'Rhino' group of pieces, and a reference to the Curved pieces and the use of effectively a Curved Double Rhino in L/MBC would be a worthy addition to this page. The Curved pieces too start off with the Mao or Moa or Moo move. They also retain the constant turn of 45Â° of the Crooked pieces, unlike the Rose which alternates the angles of two different Crooked Nightriders.

nnz wrote on Thu, Aug 25, 2011 10:18 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★

'On an eight by eight Chess board, I don't believe a Rhino or a Mirror-Rhino plus a King can mate a King, but a Double-Rhino plus a King can. A Monster should be able to mate unaided.'

I'm pretty sure an ordinary Rhino can, like so:

 d   e   f   g   h
---+---+---+---+---+
   |   |   |   | k | 8
---+---+---+---+---+
   | R |   |   |   | 7
---+---+---+---+---+
   |   |   |   | K | 6
---+---+---+---+---+
   |   |   |   |   | 5

Correct me if I'm wrong.

💡📝Peter Aronson wrote on Fri, Aug 26, 2011 05:05 PM UTC:

Yeah, I was overly pessimistic about the Rhino's mating potential. Jorg has also pointed this out earlier. Thanks!

Ben Reiniger wrote on Fri, Aug 26, 2011 05:10 PM UTC:

...but can the rhino+king force the opposing king into this position?

Charles Gilman wrote on Sat, Sep 3, 2011 06:29 AM UTC:

'...but can the rhino+king force the opposing king into this position?'
Good point - the diagram works for a Gnu too, but it doesn't follow that a Gnu can force mate.

Jörg Knappen wrote on Mon, Sep 5, 2011 06:25 AM UTC:

@charles: ... but can the rhino and the king force this position?

Yes they can, and they can do so easily: Essentially, after forcing the opposite king to the edge of the board, the rhino pushes forward using the wazir move.

Jeremy Lennert wrote on Mon, Sep 5, 2011 11:45 AM UTC:

@Jï¿½rg:  I don't follow.  Unlike a rook, the rhino cannot confine a king to an edge without assistance.  In fact, it cannot confine the enemy king ANYWHERE without assistance--its attack pattern is porous.  The friendly king needs to stay close to the enemy king to plug the gaps.  It's not even clear to me that rhino+king could force the enemy king to an edge in the first place.



If you take the diagram nnz posted, the rhino delivers the check, so it must have been the last piece moved.  Which means the lone king's last move must have been from g8 to h8.

So:  black king g8, white king h6.  In order to force the king into the corner, the rhino needs to be some place that attacks both f8 and f7, and to deliver the checkmate it also needs to be able to reach e7 in one move.  That pattern of three adjacent squares does not appear anywhere in the rhino's movement diagram.  You can't rewind the position shown even one move.  Therefore, the rhino cannot force the exact position shown.

HOWEVER, a similar mate might still be possible; the rhino could also deliver the mate from c6 or a5.  A rhino at e5 threatens f7 and f8 and can also reach c6 to deliver the mate.  Perhaps you might also do better to locate the friendly king at g6 instead of h6.

So the exact diagram nnz posted is not possible without collusion, but I still don't know whether it's possible to force a mate or not.  My suspicion is not, but I haven't given it extensive thought.

Jörg Knappen wrote on Mon, Sep 5, 2011 01:43 PM UTC:

I suggest that you take a chess board, two kings and some piece representing the rhino (a knight works well for me) and try it out.

I must admit, that I didn't analyse the specific position nnz gave here, the placement of the supporting King is a bit awkward here. Both of your proposals to repair the situation work out fine.

For similar pieces: A gnu and a king can drive the king to the edge, but cannot give mate; the same holds for the quintessence (of quintessential chess).

George Duke wrote on Fri, Dec 18, 2015 11:03 PM UTC:

What is the value of Rhino, asks author Aronson 14 yrs ago? Is it 3.0 like Knight or under at 2.8 or over at 3.3? We want to estimate not have long trials, any more than Carlsen thinks for only a moment Knight 3.0 and Bishop 3.2, then just makes the best move. This Rhino is direct link from Gilman's current revision of Chapter 16 "Diverging Further" in December 2015 <a href="http://www.chessvariants.com/index/msdisplay.php?itemid=MSmanandbeast16:">Man&B</a>. The estimate below also ties in with Muller's current research on Amazon. <p>Betza and Cohen in 1970s Tutti Frutti probably had Centaur and Champion at what we have today, but overestimated Amazon. That 64-square T-F is the only one time Betza ever used RN and BN. Tutti-Frutti is concept CV hardly worth playing. He disliked the 400-year-old Carreran pieces as I do. Use of Archbishop/Chancellor, as Capa calls them 100 years ago, almost always cutely paired has finally plummeted the last decade, but most variantists still put them in top 20 for historical importance.<p> The piece-types that cry out for research on values are short-range, such as Rhino or otherwise moderate value Crooked Bishop, those worth mere 2.0 to 6.5 let's say. They include over 1000 p-ts Gilman has invented or named. His one fault, Charles never estimates values. Other short-range or weaker pieces needing values are Joyce's Bent Hero and Shaman and all those in Christine Bagley-Jones Short-Range Project.<p> So what is value of Rhino and what is the logic? 3.3 value since it reaches 12 squares not only Knight's eight. Though blockable, Rhino has mating number of 2 to Knight's 3. The Mating Number and Value interact, the former settling the latter when low value holds. And these are the pieces that make the best CVs.