question abt fairy chess pieces

is it possible to force mate with only a king and archbishop (bishop+knight)? just wondering

yes

i did one

yep

yes

Pretty sure theres some positions that it's impossible from with an optimal opponent, even on an empty bar with just you king+archbishop and their king, but ik there are plenty that it's possible from.

how does a wildebeest move

Like a knight + camel

Really hard and tricky but possible

how about 2 camels is that posible

No

KNC vs K is also possible

I don’t think Checkmate is possible with a Knight, a King and a camel, even if that’s possible then it’s too tricky and unpractical

It’s possible

(The white knight on e7 is a camel)

Also KVN vs K is a win

Wildebeest

Actually, no (because knights and camels can only make even cycles)

What are “even cycles”?

Dave McCooey solved most of these checkmate problems about 30 years ago.

See here: https://www.chessvariants.com/misc.dir/endgames.html

For example, you can force checkmate with KNW (W = Wazir, moves like a rook, but just one square) but 80% of the positions of KNF (F = Ferz, moves like a bishop, but just one square) are draws

Also, there are analysis of K+piece vs K+piece, for example a King and Amazon (Queen+Knight) wins K+Q in about 50% of the position, but lose in about 20% of them (!!!)

Even cycle piece