Alfil
The alfil or elephant was a game figure of the Persian-Arabic Shatrandsch and the European chess game that emerged from this in the Middle Ages. Various names were used for the Alfil in Europe. In addition, the representation of the figure was subject to major changes.
In modern chess the Alfil was the runner replaced. This was associated with an expansion of the train options.
Name and representation of the figure
The name of the character created by the (first in Spanish made) contraction of the Arabic article al withفيل / Fīl , from the Persian pil پيل, the name for elephant. The naming has been inconsistent in many European languages over the centuries. In Latin, the alfil was also called alphinus . It is a sound-like derivation. This also applies to the old form of the name, which was common in medieval German .
The elephant already existed in the Indian chess game, the Chaturanga . There the different figures depicted the armed forces. The Alfil stood for the war elephants that were placed near the center of the army. For the figure called Gaja (elephant), different ways of moving are described in ancient literature, including the move of doubt in any diagonal direction, which corresponds to the variant of Alfil. This is probably the oldest way of moving. The elephant figures with tower-like structures that were later used instead of today's tower corresponded to the rok chariot in ancient Indian times .
The execution of the figure showed many changes and deviations. When the game of chess moved to Europe, the shape of the elephant was initially retained. This is borne out by the example of the so-called Charlemagne figures , which were made in southern Italy at the end of the 11th century. Later, the Alfil was usually characterized by two symbolized " tusks " pointing upwards . These appear in the diagrams of European manuscripts and early printed works as towering horns. In medieval Europe, with the exception of Russia, the original meaning of the game figure as an (mounted) elephant was no longer familiar.
A reinterpretation ultimately took place in the western form of chess. The French awarded the figure a fool's cap (the name fou , the fool, for the runner is a distortion of Fil). The shape of a bishop's miter appeared early on in the British Isles and in other areas of Europe , as in the case of the Lewis chess pieces . The current English name of the runner is bishop .
Mode of movement and possible use
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| The Alfil (the piece on c1 is considered here) can only enter eight squares on the chessboard. He has no common squares with the other Alfil pieces (f1, c8, f8). |
The Alfil jumps diagonally into the next but one space, regardless of whether there is a piece in the space in between or not. He is a (2.2) jumper . The way the elephant moves is thus parallel to that of the jumper . It turns out, however, that the range of the Alfil is extremely limited in comparison with the movable knight, which can reach all squares on the chessboard .
The Alfil can only reach eight squares on the entire chessboard. The Alfil of the Attractor on c1 is able to B. only to enter the fields a3, e3, g1, c5, g5, a7 and e7. He develops his greatest mobility on the two squares e3 and c5. It is also noticeable that he has no common target fields with any of the other three Alfil pieces, not even with his (in European representation of a two-colored board; checkerboard pattern ) "same-colored" counterpart diagonally opposite (c1 / f8). So two Alfiles cannot be exchanged for one another directly.
Linked to this is the question of the material value of the figure and its tactical or strategic uses. Blocking an isolated pawn comes into consideration as a strategic motive, but this can only be done on a small number of fields. The impression arises that the Alfil is only useful if there are difficulties. The opponent must first and foremost ensure that one of his stronger pieces is not exchanged for a "lurking" Alfil. In material terms, the Alfil is equivalent to a maximum of one and a half farmers.
The chess historian Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa assumed that the use of the weakest piece in the medieval game of chess "mainly consisted of breaking a hostile row of pawns. For two pawns you gave (the Alfil) with advantage. ”The real facts in the game are probably closer to the remark of a medieval copyist who noted in a manuscript:
- "En inter scaccos alphinus inutilis adstat." (Alfil stands uselessly between the chess pieces.)
Chess composition
However, the Alfil was more important in artificial chess problems . The use of the elephant's actually low effectiveness was popular for aesthetic reasons (see, for example, the well-known matt of the Dilaram ).
In the old Arab mansions , the Alfil only occupied the fields that were accessible to him. In medieval Europe, the composers then increasingly took the liberty of setting up the figure as desired in places that could not actually be reached after the restriction by the movement - sometimes even two alfiles from one party appeared in the same color in the tasks.
Replacement by the modern runner
The restrictions and the low mobility of the Alfil were apparently one of the reasons for the decline of the medieval form of play and the resulting reform of the game of chess at the beginning of the modern era .
As early as the 13th century, in a historical chess variant , the courier game , the later runner, here called the courier (ie "runner"), joined Alfil as a competitor. The modern runner may have been "invented" several times. In any case, expanding Alfil's inhibited moves was on the agenda until the transition to modern chess took place in the last quarter of the 15th century. The modern long-step runner took the place of the Alfil. The second figure, whose movement options were suddenly expanded, was the lady , whose medieval forerunner figure, originally known as the heel (adviser), could only move one square diagonally at a time.
In the Spanish language, the name “Alfil” has been transferred to the modern runner. In Italian the runner is called "Alfiere". In Russian , the new runner is still called слон (slón = elephant). Finally , as mentioned, a memory of the Alfil and his "tusks" reinterpreted as a miter lives on in the English bishop .
Reference to other chess variants
The elephant in Xiangqi ("elephant board game") moves similarly to the Alfil. In Chinese chess, however, the elephant cannot jump over a stone in between; in addition, he must not cross the “river” in the middle of the playing field. In the Korean chess game , on the other hand, the elephant moves a different way, the figure moves one square horizontally / vertically and two squares diagonally in the direction of the move.
In fairy tale chess , the name “elephant” or Alfil is also used for pieces that can move or jump two squares diagonally.
Remarks
- ↑ Thieme, p. 51ff.
- ↑ see the reproduction above and a photograph of the four Alfiles
- ↑ von Heydebrand and der Lasa, p. 61
- ^ Tassilo von Heydebrand and the Lasa : On the history and literature of the game of chess. Researches. Veit, Leipzig 1897
- ↑ Thieme, p. 31f .; Tassilo von Heydebrand and the Lasa : On the history and literature of the game of chess. Researches. Veit, Leipzig 1897
literature
- Tassilo von Heydebrand and the Lasa : On the history and literature of the game of chess. Researches. Veit, Leipzig 1897 (3rd reprint. Central antiquariat of the German Democratic Republic, Leipzig 1984).
- Paul Thieme : On the early history of chess. Promos-Verlag, Pfullingen 1994, ISBN 3-88502-015-7 ( Tübingen contributions on the subject of chess 1).
Web links
- Fergus Duniho, Hans L. Bodlaender: Alfil . Piececlopedia (English)