Sittuyin

Alternate Names

Burmese Chess

No. of Players

Two

Equipment

A Sittuyin board and the two teams of pieces are required for play. Typically, one player's pieces are green (equivalent to white) and his opponent's are red (equivalent to black).

Help! I need images of some real Sittuyin pieces (and permission to use them!)

History

The history of Sittuyin is poorly understood, but it generally agreed that it is descended from Indian chess.

Objective

Sittuyin, like many forms of Chess is won by checkmating the opponent. Putting the opponent in stalemate is not allowed. Example?

Play

One of the most immediately distinctive features of Sittuyin is that only the initial positions of the pawns are fixed, all other pieces are placed at positions of their player's choosing at any vacant position on the board, so long as it is behind their pawns. Informal players often simply put all all of their pieces on the board at the same time or alternate turns in an initial placement phase, but typically it is regarded as more official to have White place all of his pieces on the board and, only after White has finished, may Black begin his setup. Using this opening Black is then not allowed to place both yahhtas (rooks) in the same column or place a yahhta on the same column as the opponent's king. Other accounts say that both players place their pieces simultaneously, behind a curtain or barrier, hiding their choices from view.

Pawns promote when they reach the diagonal lines in the opponent's half of the board, and they only promote to Queens. Another account notes a rule that allows a pawn to avoid promoting when this happens, but gives it the ability to promote, instead of moving, if it is sitting on the diagonal. This account also states that a player may only have one Queen at a time.

Strategy

Variations

Sources

1. Bha, Shwei-gyin U. Myan-ma sit bayin lan-nyut sa-ok gyi (Burmese chess Guide). c. 1924.