Embedded Files
Alternate Names
Circular Chess, Round Chess, Zatrikion. The Persian author Amuli called this game shatranj al-muddawara (circular chess) or shatranj al-Rûmîya (Roman or Byzantine Chess) in 1325 CE.
No. of Players
Two
Equipment
A Circular Chess Board and a standard set of Orthochess pieces are required to play the modern game. These are one black set and one white set of 8 pawns, 2 rooks, 2 knights, 2 bishops, 1 queen, and 1 king. The older game, however, probably used pieces more akin to those of Shatranj.
History
In 947, Muraj adh-dhahab (Fields of Gold) by the Arabic historian Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn al-Husain ibn Ali ibn Ali ibn Abdullah al-Masudi (888-956) was written in Arabic. It was a history of chess in India and Persia. al-Masudi is known as the Herodotus of the Arabs. He was the first to combine history and scientific geography in a large-scale work. He wrote a 30-volume history of the world. He described 6 different variants of chess, including Astrological Chess, Byzantine round chess, Circular Chess and Cylinder Chess. He wrote about chess wagers in India, with the loser losing money or a finger or hand or more. He described the use of ivory in India to make chess pieces.
Objective
The objective is the same as in most forms of Chess. A player's victory is achieved by placing their opponent in checkmate (often shortened to mate). Checkmate is a game position in which a player's king piece is in check (threatened with capture) and there is no legal way to remove the threat.
Both players may agree to a draw or stalemate without capture, but if a player is not in check and has no legal move the game is to immediately end with draw.
Play
Strategy
Variations
Citadel Chess is a variant described by the Persian author Amuli with two "citadel" spaces in the center of the board and a different initial setup. In the citadel game, if a king reaches the citadel, a draw is forced. Citadel Chess Board
Historical Circular Chess
Historical Circular Chess Opening
Sources
The Circular Chess Society. http://circularchess.co.uk/
Wall, Bill. Earliest Chess Books and References. http://www.oocities.org/siliconvalley/lab/7378/oldtexts.htm
Pritchard, D.B. The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Completed, edited, and published by John Beasley, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse