On the Great Game of the Countries

**On the Great Game of the Countries** (Khavar: *Oimim Bali'im Goronilim*) is a political discourse written by Gämin Zhol (1884-1967) and originally published in 1911, and then again with significant revisions in 1943, 1964, and (posthumously) 1975. Originally published as two books, *On the Countries* (*Goromim*) in 1911 and *The Great Game* (*Oim Balim*) in 1916, the two are now almost always published together.

## Summary

Despite being published together, the two books composing *On the Great Game* are still generally divided in publishing. *On the Countries* provides the author's views on all the countries of the world, while *The Great Game* likens the world to a game of dörzheh, the Khavar variant of Brögen, an abstract strategy game similar to chess. Gämin's perspective is somewhat inconsistent: despite being thouroughly pro-Coaxis, he is against the Technocratic Uprising, despite the referendum of Rector Khunaman.

### *On the Countries*

*On the Countries* is divided into five sections: Drua, North Ikuna, West Ikuna, Southeast Ikuna, and Tari (called Tulia in the 1911 edition). It is further divided into sections for each country, described in the following table, describing the two more influential editions, the 1911 and the 1964 editions.

### *The Great Game*

*The Great Game* is much less structured, and is not actually divided into chapters. It is divided into five parts, *The Players*, *The Pieces*, *The Strategy*, *The Gameplay*, and *The Endgame*. The original publishing in 1916 only had the first four parts, and *The Endgame* was first added in the 1943 edition when it was first published in union with *On the Countries*, then significantly revised for the 1964 edition to reflect the Nine Years' War. Other than these five parts, they are structured simply as complete paragraphs with no breaks.

## Publishing

There is no definitive version of *On the Great Game*. In certain places, certain versions of *On the Countries* are discouraged, as they may have certain claims about countries that are no longer considered "accurate".

## Reception

*On the Great Game* is one of the most controversial books ever published - so controversial that when Gämin's son, Gämin Trhil, compiled his father's later notes from the last three years of his life and created a version that strangely removed all the controversy, many think it was written by Trhil, and not by Zhol. Of all the editions, the most controversial is the 1964, as it contains the two most controversial sections of *On the Federation* and *On the Technocracy*, which are also the only sections to reference a government and not an ethnic group. *On the Ohurs* was controversial too, but not nearly as much as *On the Technocracy*. In *On the Federation*, Gämin rails against the Federation of Libion for taking the east of the Khavar Confederation. In *On the Technocracy*, he talks about all the flaws of the Technocratic government.

## Impact

Though the Khavar Government has said that *On the Great Game* is not an accurate reflection of Khavar views on the world, sections of it, especially *On the Technocracy*, are very well-read by Khavar politicians, so Khavaria does not have a great relationship with Ohuryea.