Indian chess

This article is about regional versions of chess played in modern India. For ancient Indian chess variants, see Chaturanga.

Indian chess is the name given to regional variations of chess played in India in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is distinct from chaturanga. There are several such variations, all quite similar to modern rules, with variants regarding castling, pawn promotion, etc.

Differences from Western chess

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Indian chess starting position, identical to the starting position of western chess except for the placement of the black king and queen
  • In the starting position, each king faces the opposing queen; from both players' viewpoints, their king is to the right of their queen, regardless of color. This is unlike western chess, where the kings face each other, as do the queens.
  • The pawn's two-step initial move is absent in Indian chess; thus, the en passant capture is also absent.
  • Normal castling with rook and king is absent. The unchecked king can make a knight's move once in a game, known as Indian castling or king's leap.
  • On reaching the opposite end of the board, a pawn is promoted to a piece of the type that began on that square. If it is promoted on the king's initial position, it is promoted to a queen.
  • If there is only one piece remaining other than the kings, it may not be captured. Alternatively, it may be captured unless it is a pawn.
  • When only the kings and pawns are left in play, the opponent may not give check, but they can win by stalemate. Alternatively, giving check is allowed, but the capture of the last pawn (which would result in a draw) is disallowed by the previous rule.
  • The king cannot move until at least one check has been given, though this is a regional variation.

Names of the pieces

The following table describes one version of Indian chess terminology for the various pieces (including Hindi and Urdu pronunciations; orange indicates most common terminology in Hindi, green indicates that in Urdu):[1][2]

Standard chess piece Indian chess piece
English Hindi Urdu ISO 15919 Other Telugu Malayalam Tamil Assamese
king king राजा راجا rājā రాజు രാജാവ് ராஜா ৰজা
बादशाह بادشاہ bādśāh
queen ferz/minister मन्त्री منتری mantrī మంత్రి മന്ത്രി মন্ত্ৰী
वज़ीर وزیر vazīr
queen रानी رانی rānī ராணி / அரசி ৰাণী
मलिका ملکہ malikā
general सेनापति سیناپتی sēnāpati
rook rook/chariot रथ رتھ rath തേര് নাওঁ
रुख़ رخ rux rukkha[3]
castle क़िला قلعہ qilā கோட்டை
elephant हाथी ہاتھی hāthī hattī[4] ఏనుగు யானை
knight horse घोड़ा گھوڑا ghōṛā గుఱ్ఱము കുതിര குதிரை ঘোঁৰা
bishop alfil/elephant फ़ीला فیلہ fiyalā/fīlā ആന হাতী
camel ऊँट اونٹ ū̃ṭ
chariot శకటు/ఒంటె
minister அமைச்சர்
pawn infantryman पैदल پیدل paidal കാലാള്‍ / പടയാളി காலாள் পুণী
प्यादा پیادہ pyādā
soldier सैनिक سینک sainik సిపాయి சிப்பாய்
सिपाही سپاہی sipāhī

See also

References

  1. ^ Cazaux, Jean-Louis. "Indian Chess Sets". Another view on Chess: Odyssey of Chess. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  2. ^ "MCW নতুন লগইন বোনাস Bangladesh". Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  3. ^ Punjabi
  4. ^ Marathi

Further reading

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