Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1893-01-05
CHESS IN The EAST.
Each Couatry Has Its Own Way of Playing
the Game.


the Game.
indian chess or ''chaturanga," is
played with rajah, an elephant, a
horse and ship and four foot
soldiers, corresponding to king, a
castle, a knight and bishop, and four
pawns; and there are four players.
Each player faces his partner and
places his pieces in the order of ship,
horse, elephant and rajah, beginning
at the left-hand corner, the four foot
soldiers being of course in front. Part
ners are thus on the opposite diagonals.
The players move in the order of the
sun. The tactics of the game appar-
emily from the "Bhaviahya Purana,"
are not to attack your opponent, who
has just played, as would be done in
double chess, but to obstruct the oppo-
nent who has to play next. The game
is distinguished from double chess by
marked variations. There is no queen
and the ship or bishop is 'lame"-can
only move two squares at Il time, though
he can hop over an intervening piece if
he likes. Moreover, a player can take
his partners RAJ ah if things are not go
ing well, and to assume command of
both armies; and if both sides have lost
a rajah they eau be restored by mutual
consent
The game is thus pervaded by a mill
tary spirit, though not so stiff but that
the opening moves are made by the aid
Of dice. In this early game the rajah
could be taken, but he can always, if
all the other pieces are taken, retire
with the honors of war and draw.
Chinese chess must claim our admira-
ton by the manner in which the con-
ception of a military game has been
elaborated so as to conform with the
realities of warfare. The board is
divided by an imaginary river, which
the elephant and the king may not
cross. The pieces are placed on the in
tersections of the lines, not on the
spaces The king or general, with his
two guards, must keep to a square of
nine points in the center of his side,
with diagonal lines from corner to cor
ner, along which the guards may move,
the king moving only forward or side
ways or backward; the other pieces
may enter this fortress and pass
through it.
The most characteristic piece of Chi
nese chess, however, is the cannon,
which, like our castle, cannot move
without jumping over a piece, so that
| not only is the attack most formida BILE
and unexpected but it must be resisted,
else it is helpless. "The prettiest
checl1matc.'' says Mr.. Falkener,
sis with two cannons in line" Here
the second cannon gives check, and the
king must move, for if another piece be
| inserted the first cannon gives check.
Now, we may allow that if the elephant
is not supposed to cross the river, no
| more should the cannon, for the first
| named is really the most capable of the
feat; but the genius of the piece lies in
| the imitation of cannon in warfare
its range, the firing over bodies of
|. troops and its liability to capture.
Japanese chess is too complicated for
us to describe. Not only are there a
| great number of pieces and moves, but
their value changes; for instance, on
| reaching the enemy's camp promotion
ensues and captured pieces are re-en-
tered under various conditions. In
| fact, the game demands, if that were
possible more undivided attention than
| European chess and in it's provisions
| and contingencies, especially the last,
| is strictly military. The pieces, agree
able to the enrolling of prisoners, are
all of one color. Chess has always held
considerab BILE position in Japan 1t
fiourishcd during the Shogunate and
| again, after the revolution, is being re-
| vived. A grand tourney was held last
! year at Toxic
The Burmese game seems to be rather
heavy variety of chess, the peculiari-
| ty of it being that pawn queens
when it strikes an imaginary diagonal
line drawn from the players left-hand
corner to the right-hand corner in front
| of him (his opponents left-hand corner).
| The pieces are masscd on the players
| right hand, but the three privileged
| pawns-thcrc are only three allowed tc
"quccn"-can only queen, when the
queen has been taken. We should say
here that no piece equivalent to oul
| queen really exists in eastern chess, the
most powerful piece being equivalent
to our rock or castle. In the Burmese
game the privilege of translation con
fers no higher rank on a piece thar
that of ''chekoy''-called queen in Eu
ropean equivalence by virtue of its be
ing unique-a piece having scarcely
more power than pawn. The usua
move of the piece called queen" in al
oriental varieties of chess is one squar
diagonally, and it is never one of tn
superior pieces.-London Specta tor.