Check out Symmetric Chess, our featured variant for March, 2024.

This page is written by the game's inventor, M Winther.

External Link: Gala (Farmer's Chess)



The game Gala derives from medieval times and is also called Farmer's Chess. It bears some similarities to the Viking game Tablut (Hnefatafl). Gala is played on a 10x10 board with a central cross, two squares wide. The four great corner fields symbolize castles. Pieces move differently depending on whether they are positioned outside or inside the cross. This implementation builds foremostly on Arnold Mayer's reconstruction: 'Gala Bauernschach' (Sagaheim-Spieleverlag).

The goal is to capture both of the enemy Galas (kings). Alternatively, it's sufficient to capture one of the Galas (the latter is my proposal, which makes games less long-winded).

Pieces are of four types: Kampa ('warrior'), Korna ('berserk warrior'), Horsa ('horseman', or 'mounted warrior'), and Gala ('king'). The centre, consisting of four squares, is an "holy site", and only the Galas and the Kampas are able to enter there. An additional way of achieving a win is by moving both Galas to the four central squares.

A Zillions program and more information is here.

External Link: http://www.two-paths.com/bg/gala.htm


This 'user submitted' page is a collaboration between the posting user and the Chess Variant Pages. Registered contributors to the Chess Variant Pages have the ability to post their own works, subject to review and editing by the Chess Variant Pages Editorial Staff.


By M Winther.
Web page created: 2009-09-27. Web page last updated: 2009-09-27