The XXX can switch its attack from an edge square two steps away from a corner to that corner in a single move,
which allows it to checkmate in combination with almost any piece that can roam all squares of the oppposit shade,
provided the combination is strong enough to force the bare King to that corner.
The XXX can switch its attack from an edge square (A) two steps away from a corner (C) to the square in between those in a single move,
which allows it to checkmate in combination with a 'forking' piece that can simultanously attack square A and C
(like a Ferz or a Camel).
The XXX can simultanously attack ('fork') a corner (C) and an edge square (A) two steps away from C,
which allows it to assist a piece that can switch its attack from A to the square in between A and C in a single move
(like a Wazir or a Knight) in checkmating.
The XXX can simultanously attack ('fork') a corner and both edge squares two steps away from it,
which allows it to assist a piece that can simultaneously attack the two edge squares next to that corner
(like a Zebra) in checkmating.
The XXX can simultanously attack two edge squares next to a corner,
which allows it to checkmate in combination with a piece that can simultanously attack that corner and both edge squares two steps away from it
(like a Ferz).
In addition it can be used to assist any minor that is proficient at checkmating,
(such as Bishop or Phoenix),
by attacking the one square next to the corner the latter cannot cover.
This page allows you to practice your technique for checkmating a bare King with two minor pieces.
But first you have to wait until the program has finished generating the end-game table.
Then you can start playing: just move a piece of the side you want to play with, and the computer will reply with the best move of the other player.
For practicing end-games with other pieces, go here.
BEWARE! When the worst-case distance to mate is larger than 115,
the applet might not select the correct move in positions where the mate is still more than 100 moves away,
due to overflow problems.
Building EGT... This can take a minute (or more...).
The statistics table on the right indicates how many positions exist that are mate in N (with white to move) and mated in N (with black to move),
where the number of full moves N is given in the third column.
The bottom row gives the total of the columns as a percentage of all possible positions.
In generally won end-games the first column would sum up to nearly 100%,
in generally drawn end-games the second column would sum up to about 0%.
piece 1:
Other partner:
For trying other board sizes (maximally 108 squares):
Files:
Ranks:
Type of board:
Rule variations:
Design your own piece
In the pane below you can define moves of a piece by clicking the squares it should be allowed to move to.
First click defines a leaper move to the square.
A second click would convert this to a slider/rider move that repeats that step/leap.
A third click would remove the move again.
To limit the range of a slider you can click the first square along its path that it should not be able to reach.
Clicking on the piece takes away all its moves, and thus clears the entire pane.
After you are satisfied with the move, you can assign it to one of the pieces through the buttons on the right.
Note that you can specify divergent pieces by changing the move before you press the button a second time;
normally you would just press it twice, though.
Assign move in panel to piece: Captures and non-captures must be specified separately.