Grasshopper

A grasshopper is a fairy chess piece that moves any distance along queen lines but must hop over an intervening piece of either color to land immediately beyond it.

Category
Rules
Also in
Historical
Difficulty
Advanced
Also known as
G, queen-hopper

Grasshopper is a fairy chess piece that travels any distance along queen lines but must hop over exactly one intervening piece (the hurdle) of either colour and land on the square immediately beyond it.

The hurdle can be friendly or enemy. Without a hurdle the grasshopper has no legal move along that line, even if the path is otherwise clear. It captures by landing on an enemy piece; it cannot land on a friendly piece.

Typical movement

From a central square the grasshopper can reach up to eight possible landing squares, one in each queen direction, provided each direction contains a suitable hurdle. The piece does not slide like a queen; every move is a hop.

A grasshopper on d4 with a white pawn on d6 can move to d7 (hopping the pawn) but cannot reach d5 or d8 on the same turn. If an enemy piece stands on d7 the grasshopper captures it.

{"v":1,"type":"board","fen":"8/8/3p4/8/3G4/8/8/8 w - - 0 1","orientation":"white","arrows":[{"from":"d4","to":"d7","color":"good"},{"from":"d4","to":"h8","color":"good"},{"from":"d4","to":"a7","color":"good"}],"highlights":[{"square":"d6","color":"neutral"},{"square":"g7","color":"neutral"},{"square":"a1","color":"neutral"}],"alt":"Grasshopper on d4. Arrows show legal hops over the pawn on d6 to d7, over a black piece on g7 to h8, and over a white piece on a1 to a7."}

Use in problems

Grasshoppers appear mainly in fairy chess compositions. They create forcing lines because their movement depends on the exact placement of other pieces. A single grasshopper can control long diagonals or files only when the right hurdle is present, producing economical mating nets or zugzwang positions that ordinary pieces cannot replicate.

Frequently asked questions

What is a grasshopper in chess?
A grasshopper is a fairy chess piece that moves any distance along queen lines but must hop over exactly one intervening piece of either color and land immediately beyond it.
How does a grasshopper move?
It travels along any of the eight queen directions but requires a hurdle on the line; without one it has no legal move in that direction, and it lands on the square right after the hurdle.
Can a grasshopper capture pieces?
Yes, it captures by landing on an enemy piece that occupies the square immediately beyond the hurdle; it cannot land on a friendly piece.
How does a grasshopper differ from a queen?
Unlike a queen, which slides freely along clear lines, every grasshopper move is a hop that needs exactly one intervening piece and cannot continue past it.

See also

  • Antichess — Antichess is a chess variant in which captures are mandatory and the player who captures the opponent's final piece or leaves the opponent with a lone king that has no legal moves wins.
  • Atomic Chess — Atomic Chess is a chess variant in which every capture causes an explosion removing the captured piece, all adjacent non-pawn pieces, and the capturing piece itself unless it is a pawn, fundamentally changing piece values and king safety.
  • Bughouse — Bughouse is a team chess variant played on two boards where partners immediately pass captured pieces to each other for drops on their own board on any later turn.
  • Chess Problem — A chess problem is a composed position in which the solver must find a precise sequence of moves to achieve a stipulated goal, most often checkmate in a set number of moves.
  • Crazyhouse — Crazyhouse is a chess variant in which captured pieces can immediately be dropped back onto the board as the capturer's own pieces, following standard movement rules.
  • Duck Chess — Duck Chess is a variant in which players alternate moving a shared, uncapturable duck to any empty square, where it blocks lines of attack and cannot be ignored.

Referenced by

  • Fairy Chess — Fairy chess refers to variants that use non-standard pieces, boards, or rules, created mainly for composing problems and puzzles rather than tournament play.

Written by Chesswick.

Reviewed by Benjamin Himmel.

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About the reviewer

Benjamin Himmel

Ben's been in love with chess since he was seven years old, when his grandfather taught him the Sicilian Defense on a well-worn board that had traveled through three generations of family game nights.

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