{{short description|Fairy chess piece}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}} {{more citations needed|date=December 2025}} {{Chess diagram | floatright | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |pd| |oo| | | | | | |Bl| | | | | | |oo| |oo| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The ferz on d4, represented by an inverted bishop, may move to c3, e3, or e5, or capture the pawn on c5. }} The '''ferz''' or '''fers''' is a [[fairy chess piece]] that may move one square diagonally.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessvariants.org/piececlopedia.dir/ferz.html |department=Piececlopedia |title=Ferz |website=[[The Chess Variant Pages]] |orig-date=4 September 1998 |date=15 December 2001 |first1=Fergus |last1=Duniho |first2=Hans |last2=Bodlaender |first3=David |last3=Howe}}</ref><ref>Dickins (1971), p. 9.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hooper |first1=David |authorlink1=David Vincent Hooper |last2=Whyld |first2=Kenneth |authorlink2=Kenneth Whyld |title=[[The Oxford Companion to Chess]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1996 |edition=2nd |origyear=First pub. 1992 |entry=fers |pages=132–33 |isbn=0-19-280049-3 }}</ref> It was used in [[Chess|orthodox chess]] and in [[shatranj]] before being replaced by the [[queen (chess)|queen]].
== History and nomenclature == [[File:Charlemagne-Dame.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|Illustration of a queen ({{langx|fr|La Dame}}) from the [[Charlemagne chessmen]], when she had the move of a ferz]] The ferz is a very old piece, appearing in [[Chaturanga]], the ancestor of all [[chess variant]]s; it also featured in games such as [[Tamerlane chess]]. The ferz was a standard chess piece until the modern moves of queen and [[bishop (chess)|bishop]] were developed around the 15th century, with the ferz being replaced by the former.
The ferz also appears in some large historical [[shogi variant]]s, such as in [[dai shogi]] under the name ''cat sword'' ({{langx|ja|猫刄|myōjin}}). The Thai variant of chess, [[makruk]], retains the ferz from shatranj as the "Met", both as a starting piece and as the only pawn promotion option. Thus, much of shatranj endgame theory is also valid for makruk.
The piece was originally called the {{lang|sa-Latn|mantri}} ([[Sanskrit]] for "minister" or "counsellor"), which was translated by the [[Persian people|Persian]]s to {{lang|fa-Latn|farzin}} or {{lang|fa-Latn|farzīn}} ({{lang|fa|فرزین}}), which means "counsellor" or "wise man". This was shortened to ''ferz'', and this became ''firz'' or ''fers'' in medieval Europe. Its name later changed to ''[[queen (chess)|queen]]'', but when that name started being used for the modern chess queen, its former name ''ferz'' or ''fers'' began to be used in [[chess problem]]s. In modern [[Eastern Slavic languages]], however, ''ferz'' ({{script|Cyrl|ферзь}}) is the current name for the chess queen. The piece was also known as Vizir and is still called as such in Northern India.
== Value == The ferz by itself is worth about half a [[knight (chess)|knight]]. A [[king (chess)|king]] and three {{Not a typo|ferzes}} can force [[checkmate]] on a [[bare king]] if not all three {{Not a typo|ferzes}} are on the same square color; a king and two {{Not a typo|ferzes}} on opposite-colored squares can force [[stalemate]] on a bare king,<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.jsbeasley.co.uk/vchess/vc60.pdf |journal=Variant Chess |volume=8 |issue=60 |pages=92–94 |date=April 2009 |title=King and Two Ferses Against King |publisher=[[British Chess Variants Society]] |issn=0958-8248}}</ref> but not easily, and they cannot force checkmate. The [[Chess endgame|endgame]] of [[rook (chess)|rook]] versus ferz is a win for the rook. Despite being [[colorbound]], the ferz is the strongest of the basic [[Fairy chess piece#Leapers|leapers]] during the opening phase of the game, even stronger than the [[wazir (chess)|wazir]], due to its larger mobility forward. A wazir and a ferz can force checkmate on a bare king only if the bare king is significantly close to a corner that is the same color square as that of the ferz. While a knight and wazir can usually force checkmate against a bare king, a knight and ferz can only do so if the bare king is significantly close to a corner that is the same color square as that of the ferz. The wazir is better than the ferz in most endgames because of the wazir's ability to restrict squares adjacent to the squares last restricted.
== Symbol == Both white and black symbols for the ferz have been accepted for [[Unicode]] 17.0, in the [[Chess Symbols (Unicode block)|Chess Symbols block]]:<ref name="shatranj">{{Cite web |last1=Bala |first1=Gavin Jared |last2=Miller |first2=Kirk |date=22 December 2023 |title=Unicode request for ''shatranj'' symbols |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2024/24020-shatranj-symbols.pdf |access-date=4 February 2024 |website=unicode.org |publisher=Unicode}}</ref><ref name="Unicode-1FA00">{{cite web | title = Chess Symbols | date = 2025 | website = unicode.org | publisher = The Unicode Consortium | url = https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1FA00.pdf | access-date = September 9, 2025 }}</ref>
{{ubl | U+1FA54 WHITE CHESS FERZ | U+1FA56 BLACK CHESS FERZ }}
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
=== Bibliography === *{{cite book |last=Dickins |first=Anthony |authorlink= |title=A Guide to Fairy Chess |publisher=[[Dover Publications]] Inc |location=New York |year=1971 |origyear=Corrected repub. of 1969 2nd ed., The Q Press, Richmond, Surrey, England |pages=9, 30 |isbn=0-486-22687-5}}
== External links == *[https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202809/http://www.chessvariants.org/misc.dir/endgames.html Endgame statistics with fantasy pieces] at ''[[The Chess Variant Pages]]'' *[http://www.chessvariants.org/d.betza/chessvar/pieces/ferz.html The Ferz] by [[Ralph Betza]], ''[[The Chess Variant Pages]]''
{{Chess piece}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferz (chess)}} [[Category:Fairy chess pieces]]