Body: <p>Is it true that the Elephant trap is named after the original diagonal moving piece from Chaturanga? I know that in Russian the bishop is still referred to as the elephant, but does anyone know the historical origin of the name. &quot;Elephant Trap&quot;; I've read somewhere that it came from the Russian word for bishop.</p>
  <p><a href="https://pinsandgambits.com/queensGambitDeclined.html#elephantTrap" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://pinsandgambits.com/queensGambitDeclined.html#elephantTrap</a></p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-08-28T18:35:15.897Z
Comments.Text: The original piece was indeed called an elephant, which is the source of Russian "slon" ("elephant") for the modern Bishop, as well as the Spanish "alfil" (from Arabic al-fil, "the elephant") and related words in other languages.  But it was a much weaker piece -- e.g. the medieval alfil/elephant is a (2,2)-leaper -- and the opening trap wouldn't work if the modern Bishops were replaced by the old elephant.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Noam D. Elkies
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-08-29T08:54:16.633Z
Comments.Text: That I understand, what I'm asking is why is the trap called the elephant trap? what is the significance of the name? I've found a number of sources, but cannot verify which one is true.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Paweł
Tags: <history><queens-gambit-declined>
Title: Origins of the Elephant trap name
ThreadText: # Origins of the Elephant trap name
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-08-28)
  
  Is it true that the Elephant trap is named after the original diagonal moving piece from Chaturanga? I know that in Russian the bishop is still referred to as the elephant, but does anyone know the historical origin of the name. "Elephant Trap"; I've read somewhere that it came from the Russian word for bishop.
  
  <https://pinsandgambits.com/queensGambitDeclined.html#elephantTrap>
  
  **Tags:** history, queens-gambit-declined
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: The original piece was indeed called an elephant, which is the source of Russian "slon" ("elephant") for the modern Bishop, as well as the Spanish "alfil" (from Arabic al-fil, "the elephant") and related words in other languages.  But it was a much weaker piece -- e.g. the medieval alfil/elephant is a (2,2)-leaper -- and the opening trap wouldn't work if the modern Bishops were replaced by the old elephant.  
  > **username_0**: That I understand, what I'm asking is why is the trap called the elephant trap? what is the significance of the name? I've found a number of sources, but cannot verify which one is true.  
  
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  ## 0 answers
  
  