Shatranj

How Shatranj is played

Shatranj is the chess of medieval Persia and the Arab world, the game modern chess grew out of; whoever knows chess knows its board and most of its moves. The goal is to checkmate the opposing king: to attack it so that no move can save it. An attacked king is in check, and no move may leave your own king attacked.

The pieces

The king steps one square in any direction. The rook moves any number of squares along a rank or file, and the knight jumps in an L, two squares one way and one to the side, over whatever stands between. The ferz, beside the king, steps one square diagonally. The alfil, beside the knight, jumps exactly two squares diagonally, over whatever stands on the square in between; it can reach only eight squares of the board. Only the knight and the alfil jump over other pieces, and a piece captures by moving onto an enemy piece. There is no castling.

Pawns

A pawn moves one square forward and captures one square diagonally forward, also from its starting square: there is no double step and no en passant. A pawn that reaches the last rank always becomes a ferz.

Winning

Checkmate wins, and so does stalemate: a player who cannot move loses. You also win by capturing every piece of your opponent except the king, a bare king. If the bare king can capture your last piece right away, the game is drawn instead.

Draws

The same position three times, or seventy moves each without a capture or a pawn move, is a draw.

Where it comes from

Shatranj came to Persia from the Indian chaturanga in the 6th or 7th century and was played across the Islamic world for centuries. When Europe changed the rules around 1500, the ferz became the queen and the alfil the bishop. The old names of the other pieces: shah (king), rukh (rook), faras or asb (knight), baidaq (pawn). Where the old sources differ, this game follows most of them.

More games

Chess and variants

• Chess · Classic chess or Chess960 with a shuffled back rank, against a bot.
• Chess960 · Fischer random chess: the back rank starts in one of 960 setups.
• Antichess · Losing chess: give away all your pieces, captures are compulsory.
• Atomic chess · Every capture is an explosion that clears the pieces around it.
• Crazyhouse · Captured pieces change sides and can be dropped back onto the board.
• Duck chess · After every move you move the duck, which blocks everyone. No check.
• Fog of War · You only see where your pieces can move. Capture the king to win.
• Friendly Chess · Nothing is captured: pieces unite and set off chain reactions.

The chess family

• Chaturanga · India’s ancient chess, the root of the family: take the king to win.
• Makruk · Thai chess: a slow, strategic game with a counting rule.
• Ouk Chatrang · Cambodian chess: Makruk with a leap for the king and the met.
• Sittuyin · Burmese chess: set up your pieces, then promote on the diagonals.
• Xiangqi · Chinese chess: a river, palaces and a cannon that jumps to capture.
• Janggi · Korean chess: no river, palace diagonals and a cannon that always jumps.
• Shogi · Japanese chess: captured pieces return to the board on your side.
• Minishogi · Shogi on a 5 × 5 board: six pieces a side, short and sharp games.

More players

• Chaturaji · India’s four-handed chess: kings can be captured, captures score.
• Four Seasons Chess · Alfonso X’s chess for four from 1283: four seasons, the last king wins.
• Three-player chess · Three armies on a hexagonal board: you against two bots.
• Four-player chess · Four armies on a cross-shaped board: in teams or all against all.
• Eight-player chess · Eight armies on a board of 516 squares: all against all, in pairs or four against four.