Hopper (Fairy-Chess piece)
Hopper
Definition
In chess parlance, a hopper is not a rule of orthodox over-the-board chess but a fairy-chess movement mechanism. A hopper is a piece that:
- must jump over exactly one intervening unit (called the hurdle), friend or foe, in a straight line that belongs to its movement diagram, and
- lands on the very next square immediately beyond that hurdle,
- capturing an enemy only if (and only if) that landing square is occupied by the enemy piece.
If no hurdle exists on the line of flight, the hopper is immobile—hence the name: it can only hop
.
The most famous member of the family is the Grasshopper, a queen-hopper first introduced by the great fairy-chess composer T. R. Dawson in 1913.
How Hoppers Are Used
Because they are not part of FIDE rules, hoppers appear primarily in three arenas:
- Fairy-chess problems – Composers deploy hoppers to create tasks impossible with orthodox pieces, such as long geometric batteries, novel mates, or intricate help-mates.
- Chess variants – Some variants replace or supplement orthodox pieces with hoppers. A notable example is Grasshopper Chess, in which every queen is replaced by a grasshopper.
- Didactic studies – Authors occasionally use hoppers to illustrate themes like line-blocking, interference, or the difference between rider and leaper dynamics.
Strategic Significance
In orthodox strategy the idea of a hopper has no direct application, yet studying hopper problems sharpens a solver’s ability to visualize:
- Line partitions – Since a hopper’s ability to move depends on a single hurdle, the solver must constantly assess how pieces cut or open lines.
- Batteries and pins – Many hopper compositions exploit the fact that two hoppers can sit behind the same hurdle, unleashing tempo moves similar to
revolving doors
. - Space counting – Because an empty line equals immobility, the value of a hopper can fluctuate dramatically, highlighting the role of tempo in piece activation.
Common Hopper Species
- Grasshopper (G) – Moves like a queen hopper.
- Bishop-hopper (Bh) – Diagonal only.
- Rook-hopper (Rh) – Orthogonal only.
- Nightrider-hopper (Nh) – Repeats the knight’s (1, 2) step in the same direction until it meets a hurdle and then lands on the square immediately after it.
- Locust – A capturing hopper: it captures the piece it leaps over and occupies the square beyond.
Illustrative Position
Imagine the following help-mate in one (White moves and both sides cooperate so that Black is checkmated on White’s first move):
White: King d1, Grasshopper h5
Black: King h8, Pawn h7
Diagram (from White’s perspective): h-file shows White Grasshopper on h5, Black pawn on h7, Black king on h8.
Solution: 1. Gh8# — the grasshopper on h5 hops over the pawn on h7 and lands on h8 delivering mate. Note that without the pawn acting as a hurdle, the grasshopper would be frozen.
Historical Notes & Anecdotes
- The term
hopper
was popularised by T. R. Dawson, often dubbed the Father of Fairy Chess. His Retrograde Analysis articles in the 1920s introduced many early solvers to the concept. - In the 1970s Peter Harris produced a series of so-called Hopper Cyclones, spectacular problems in which a single hurdle was used cyclically by multiple hoppers to force mate.
- Although Chinese Chess’s Cannon is not officially called a hopper, its capture rule is identical to a rook-hopper that always captures, illustrating independent convergence of design.
- Modern computer-composition engines such as Popeye include hopper pieces natively, allowing large databases of problems that were once hand-crafted.
Related Terms
See also: Grasshopper, Fairy Chess, Locust