Amazon (fairy chess piece)

Amazon

Definition

The Amazon is a powerful fairy chess piece that combines the full movement of a queen and a knight. In other words, the Amazon can move any number of squares along ranks, files, or diagonals like a queen, and it can also leap in an L-shape like a knight. In fairy-chess shorthand and Betza notation, this compound is often denoted by “A” (for Amazon) or Q+N, and it is sometimes called the “superqueen.”

How it is used in chess

While the Amazon is not a piece in orthodox, over-the-board chess, it is widely used in Fairy chess problems, compositions, and variants. Its unmatched mobility makes it a favorite for composing striking tactical themes and instructive studies. In popular variants such as the Victorian-era puzzle-game “Maharajah and the Sepoys,” a single Amazon (the “Maharajah”) faces a full army of standard pieces and pawns, showcasing just how dominant the queen+knight compound can be.

Compared with other fairy compounds, the Amazon is stronger than the Empress (rook+knight) and the Princess (bishop+knight). Because it merges long-range attacks with a knight’s leaping forks, the Amazon can create mating nets and tactical threats that are nearly impossible to parry without major concessions.

Strategic and compositional significance

• Ultimate mobility: The Amazon dominates open boards, simultaneously exerting queen-like control and knight-like forking power.
• Tactical themes: With an Amazon on the board, ideas like the Fork, Skewer, Pin, Decoy, and Deflection appear in amplified form.
• Mating patterns: It realizes or improves classic motifs such as the Smothered mate and Back rank mate, often faster and more forcefully than any standard piece could.
• Endgames: King and Amazon versus king is trivially winning with correct technique, mirroring King+Queen vs King fundamentals but with additional knight-based checkmating patterns.
• Educational value: Problemists use the Amazon to explore geometry, domination, and line-clearance themes beyond orthodox constraints in Fairy pieces studies.

Piece value and comparisons

Because the Amazon is the union of a queen and a knight, many authors heuristically value it at roughly 12–13 pawns (context-dependent). This places it above any single orthodox piece and typically above any ordinary material bundle short of very large exchanges. For orientation:

• Amazon (Q+N): approximately 12–13 pawns
• Queen: ~9 pawns
• Empress (R+N): often estimated ~10–11 pawns
• Princess (B+N): often estimated ~8–9 pawns

Exact values depend heavily on position, piece coordination, king safety, and whether the position is open or closed—just as with orthodox evaluations and Engine eval in centipawns.

Examples and motifs

Because most readers play standard chess, a helpful way to “feel” the Amazon is to study queen+knight coordination. Many famous mates and combinations stem from Q+N patterns—the very patterns an Amazon can achieve alone.

• Classic Q+N mating net: A queen restricts escape squares while a knight delivers a decisive fork or smother. An Amazon can often do both jobs by itself.
• Domination on both colors: The Amazon’s queen component covers both color complexes; the knight component adds non-linear reach, preventing typical fortress ideas.

Illustrative miniature (Q+N power, akin to an Amazon’s capabilities). This Legal’s Mate pattern shows how overwhelming queen+knight motifs can be:

Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 4. Nc3 Bg4 5. Nxe5! Bxd1?? 6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7. Nd5#

Try it in the viewer:

Visualizing the board: After 6...Ke7, White’s knight jumps from c3 to d5 delivering mate. An Amazon could orchestrate and finish such nets even more swiftly because it merges the roles of both the queen and the knight.

How to play with (and against) an Amazon in variants

• With an Amazon:
  • Centralize early. From the center, the Amazon radiates queen-lines and knight-leaps, maximizing control.
  • Create dual threats. Look for forks followed by skewers, or vice versa—your opponent rarely has enough resources to parry both.
  • Build mating nets. Use your king and Amazon in tandem; drive the enemy king to the edge and finish with queen-like herding or a knight-like smother.
• Against an Amazon:
  • Keep your king extra safe. Avoid loose pieces and open files where a single leap or long-range shot decides the game.
  • Coordinate defenders. Only well-knit pieces can avoid immediate forks and decoys; scattered forces get picked off.
  • Use tempo-gaining attacks. Forcing moves against the Amazon can sometimes win tempi to develop and castle, though outright trapping it is rare.

History and interesting facts

• The name evokes the legendary warrior women—an apt metaphor for the piece’s battlefield dominance.
• In recreational mathematics, the “superqueen” (queen+knight) leads to the n-superqueens problem, a twist on the classic n-queens puzzle.
• Many problemists attribute widespread Amazon usage to the early 20th-century flourishing of fairy chess, inspired by composers like T. R. Dawson, who popularized novel conditions and pieces.
• In contrast, “Capablanca chess” and related variants opted for the Empress and Princess instead of the Amazon, balancing power while preserving practical playability.

Common themes the Amazon amplifies

• Forks that instantly win material or force mate
• Line-opening and Clearance ideas (the Amazon clears lines as a queen, then jumps as a knight)
• Discovered attack and Double check patterns in compositions
• Dominations and zugzwang-like squeezes in endgame studies

Notation and practical details

• Problemist notation: “A” is common for Amazon; some sources use “Q+N.”
• Betza notation: A = Q+N.
• Value: approximately a queen plus a knight; engines may evaluate contextually in CP (CP), but a fixed value is less meaningful due to its extreme power.

Related terms

• Fairy chess
• Fairy pieces
• Empress (rook+knight)
• Princess (bishop+knight)
• Fork, Skewer, Pin, Decoy, Deflection
• Smothered mate, Back rank mate

Key takeaways (SEO-friendly summary)

• The Amazon chess piece (queen+knight) is the strongest standard fairy piece, dominating both tactics and strategy.
• It is central to Fairy chess problems and variants, where its power enables spectacular forks, skewers, decoys, and swift mating nets.
• Understanding queen+knight coordination in orthodox chess provides intuition for how an Amazon overwhelms an opponent.