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Semedo. Missing description (5x8, Cells: 40) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
📝Daniil Frolov wrote on Fri, Jul 9, 2010 11:08 AM UTC:
Hey! In Cazaux's http://history.chess.free.fr i saw description of ancient Chinese game:

'The eldest undeniable
reference for the Xianqi is the Xuanguai lu (‘Tales of the obscure and
peculiar’) writen by the Tang Minister of State Niu Sengru (779-847), a
collection of tales of the supernatural. One is telling the of  Cen Shun
dreaming of a battle to come (which was supposed to occur in 762 AD.):
'the celestial Horse springs aslant over three, the Commanders go
sideaways and attack on all four sides, the baggage-waggons go straight
forwards and never backwards, the six men in armour (or the men armed with
six weapons) go in file but no backwards... On both sides stuff was
unpacked, stones and arrows flew across.' To make it absolutely clear,
these moves can be deduced from the text, but not with certainty. Since the
source is unique the greatest prudence is recommended. There is just
another mention in poem from Niu's contemporary and friend Bo Juyi
(772-846) which explicitly evoke Soldiers and Charriots.'

Statement that commander go sideways perfectly suits Hide's statement that semedo king 'don't go to attack'! Description of baggage-wagon resembles shogi lances, but hide's description of vessel resembles it (remotely) to! Knight might be able to leap ('springs').
So, semedo and this game might be one game, or related!

If someone knows more about one of these games, please, let us know!