Gala

Alternate Names

Farmer's Chess, Pagan Chess

No. of Players

Two

Equipment

The Gala board is essentially a 10x10 square checkered grid. There are four 4x4 areas marked at each of the corners of the board that are called "castles", and a central 2x2 area that is considered the "holy area". The lines marking off the castles and holy area are called "deflection lines". The two players, Black and White, each control an army of twenty pieces. An army consists of two Galas (Chess Kings), five Kornas (Chess Rooks), five Horsas (Chess Bishops), and eight Kampas (Chess Pawns). In the original game the pieces were of identical shape, only the Galas (kings) being slightly larger than the others. They were differentiated in terms of color, the upper half of both black and white galas being painted gold, Kornas green and Horsas red. The pawns were left unapinted. Gradually it became more common to use chess pieces to play Gala⁽³⁾. It is likely, however, that Gala existed in Europe before any other form of Chess.

History

Gala is probably medieval in origin. Its distribution seems to be limited to a small area of Schleswig-Holstein, once Denmark but now part of Germany. It is clearly related to games of the Tafl family.

Objective

Gala offers different degrees of victory. A player achieves great victory by placing both of their Gala pieces in two of the four central squares. A player achieves a minor victory by eliminating both opposing Galas and placing one of his own in the center. A stalemate occurs when both players manage to put one of their Galas in the central squares and there are no more Galas on teh board.

Play

The board is setup as shown above. Alternate turns entail the movement of a single friendly counter according to the rules which govern that type of piece. Capture is by replacement.

Kampas ("Warriors" portrayed by Pawns) move diagonally towards the central sections of the board (up to the deflection line). They are allowed to move two moves as the first move if the deflection line has not been passed. After crossing the deflection line they can move one square in any direction, including backwards. When a Kampa is moved back to a corner of the owning player, it can only move diagonally forward again. On a move when a Kampa crosses a deflection line, it may not also capture on that move. Kampas may enter the central squares.

Kornas ("Berserk warriors" portrayed by Rooks) move in any orthogonal direction inside their castle or any other (the move of the rook in Orthochess) and move diagonally, or as an Orthochess bishop in central regions of the board. It is possible to combine the two moves in one turn. If the Korna crosses the line with the first square he moves, he may move, in addition, any number of free squares diagonally, but may not cross another deflection line(?). Otherwise, when crossing the line, his optional additional move is only one square diagonally. Kornas can only capture in moves where they move over a deflection line. If capture occurs when crossing the line, there is no additional move. Kornas may not enter the central squares, but may pass through them?

Horsas ("Horsemen" or "mounted warriors" portrayed by Bishops) are much the opposite of Kornas. They move as bishops in the castles and move as rooks in the central regions. it is also possible for them to combine the two moves in one turn. If the Horsa crosses the line with the first square he moves, he may move, in addition, any number of free squares orthogonally, but may not cross another deflection line(?). Otherwise, when crossing the line, his optional additional move is only one square orthogonally. Horsas only capture when they pass a deflection line, but a special capturing rule also governs them that states they they may not capture when they only move orthogonally one square in rook fashion. Pritchard states, Horsas may not capture an opposing piece adjacent to it if a deflection line divides them. While this is true and covered in the special capturing rule mentioned above, it does not encompass all of the implications of the Horsas special capturing rule. Horsas may not enter the central squares, but may pass through them?

More confusion about this Horsa special capturing rule>>