The Amazon, which is a compound of the Queen and the Knight, was invented (but not under this name) in the middle ages. At certain places in Europe, one experimented with this piece instead of the Queen, trying out how to replace the old slow Ferz by a more powerfull piece. Dickins mentions four names for this piece: Omnipotent Queen, Terror, General, or Amazon. He also mentions that it was used before 1500 A.D. It's most common name these days is Amazon.
This piece has been used in these games, among others:
| Year | Game | Piece Name | Game Inventor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Ages | Amazon Chess | Amazon | Unknown |
| <= 17?? | Great Chess - Indian / Turkish variant | Giraffe | Unknown |
| <= 18?? | The Maharaja and the Sepoys | Maharaja | Unknown |
| 1840 | The Emperor's Game | General | L. Tressan |
| 1978 | Tutti-Frutti Chess | Amazon | Ralph Betza and Philip Cohen |
| 1996 | The Amazon Army (CDA) | Amazon | Ralph Betza |
| 1996 | Tiger Hunt | Tiger | David Paulowich |
| 1999 | Haynie's Great Chess | Amazon | Billy Haynie |
| 1999 | Fantasy Grand Chess | Elder | Peter S. Hatch |
| 1999 | Millennial Chess | Empress | John William Brown |
| 2000 | Beau Monde Chess | Empress | Sergey Sirotkin |
| 2000 | Cardmate | Ace | Ivan A Derzhanski |
| 2000 | Giant Chess | General | Köksal Karakus |
| 2000 | Perfect Chess | General | Köksal Karakus |
| 2000 | Terror Chess | Terror | Brian Wong |
| 2000 | Turkish Chess | General | Köksal Karakus | 2014 | Sac Chess | Amazon | Kevin Pacey |
The Amazon is a compound piece that can moves as a Knight, Rook, or Bishop.
Squares where the Amazon can move to without jumping are marked with a green circle; squares where the Amazon can jump to are marked with a blue circle.
This piece can checkmate a bare king, without assistance. Try it!
Click on an image to view the full piece set it belongs to.
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The following designs are available for printing on a 3D printer. Links are to Thingiverse.
Dickins, Anthony. A Guide to Fairy Chess, 1969.
