Indian chess

This article is about regional versions of chess played in India. For ancient Indian chess variants, which are believed to be predecessors of chess by some historians, see Chaturanga.

Indian chess is the name given to the version of the game as played in India in the 18th and 19th centuries. The more ancient forms are known as Chaturanga, and spread to the west via Persia in the 7th Century. There are several such variations, all quite similar to modern rules, with variants regarding castling, pawn promotion, etc. These variants were popular in India until the 1960s, and are possibly still played in rural areas.

Differences from Western chess

• The king is always placed to the right of the queen (as opposed to the left for Black).
• When only the king and pawns are left in play, the opponent may not give check, but he can win by stalemate.
• The two-step initial pawn move is absent in Indian chess; thus, en passant is also absent.
• Normal castling with rook and king is absent. The king can make a knight's move once in a game, known as Indian castling.
• On reaching the opposite end of the board, pawns promote to the piece of that square. If it promotes at the initial king's position, it promotes a queen.
• Underpromotion is not permitted.
• The queen can also make the knight's move in addition to the rook and bishop. It is thus more powerful than in the modern version.
• The last piece remaining may not be captured.

Names of the pieces

The queen is called the "Minister". The knight has been called a horse since chaturanga times, and is attested to in the iconography of the modern knight. The following table describes the Indian chess terminology for the various pieces (including Hindi pronunciations):^[1]

Mantri is the Sanskrit and Hindi term for Minister, while Wazir is the Urdu term for the same. Its use is prevalent in parts of India that were under Islamic rule in medieval times.

See also

• Origins of chess
• Chaturaji, four-handed version of Chaturanga
• Shatranj

References