The Joker is a piece, infrequently used in fairy chess problems, invented
by the famous chess problem composer T. R. Dawson. The
Jester from Jester Chess
is based upon this piece.
Movement
The Joker can move like the last piece moved by the opponent. E.g., when
the opponent has played with a knight, the player can make a knight-move
with the Joker. (No distinction is made for moves that take a piece or
that do not take.) When moving like a king, the Joker is not
hindered by check: it is never royal.
Details
Even in the mating position, the joker can change its type of movement.
I do not know whether a joker can promote to another piece when it
mimics a pawn move.
This is an item in the Piececlopedia: an overview of
different (fairy) chess pieces.
Written by Hans Bodlaender.
WWW page created: June 3, 1999.
