[The following was transcribed directly from the published pammplet, regardless of existing typographical errors.] ENDURING SPIRIT OF DASAPADA By V.R. Parton ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 1] D A S A P A D A Among the many trifles which occupy the thoughts of the unconverted and imperfect self-centered man, the Lord Buddha included under his strong disapproval any play of games on the boards, ashtapada and dasapada. The first Sanskrit word means a square-shaped board divided into 8 x 8 squares; and the second a similar board of 10 x 10 squares. (Ashta in the Sanskrit means 8, and Dasa means 10). Though what sort of Indian game was played on the dasapada seems to be quite unsolvable, yet the spirit of the dasapada has kept power of attracting imagination and invention in players across the centuries. The purpose of my booklet is to describe certain forms in which this spirit of the dasapada has manifested itself. My intention is not to discuss critically the merits and demerits of these dasapada ideas, but really to try to claim the general value and practical advantage for the dasapada itself as a serious game-board. More of our Arabic and Persian chess authorities (stated Murray) devote space to description of various enlarged or modi- fied variants of chess. Enlarged chess on the dasapada was called "at-tamma" (the Complete) in the MSS. As no allusion to any game on the dasapada has been found in the later Sanskrit literature, Murray believed it far more likely that here was an independent Muslim creation than a survival of the use of the early Indian game-board of 100 squares. The idea of enlarging the 8 x 8 board was evidently a favourite idea with Arabic players. Besides the game described in the chess MSS, the historian Al-Masudi mentioned a variety attempted by a certain player Khalil ben Ahmad (living 718 - 791 A.D.) who found no pleasure in chess until he had increased the number of pieces by Jamals (Camels) one of which was stationed at each end of a player's rear line. (Al-Masudi was writing around 950 A.D.) 1. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 2] Using the Muslim names, the order of pieces along the back rank is Jamal, Rukh, Faras, Alfil, Fers, Shah, Alfil, Faras, Rukh, Jamal. The move of the Jamal is the complement to the Alfil's move, namely, a leap of two squares vertically or horizontally; whereas the Alfil leaps two diagonally. Firdawsi, in his account of the invention of chess in his "Shahnama", described a like game in which the Camels are stationed between Faras and Alfil, not at the end of the line as in Ahmad's game. (The Shahnama was completed about the year 1010 A.D.) In the "Complete Chess" (at-tamma) the added new pieces are placed between Shah and his Alfil and Fers and his Alfil. The new pieces move like the Shah, one square in any direction; they can be captured without penalty as they have no royal status at all. Their value was considered slightly above Faras. A special feature of this dasapada chess is that the row of ten pawns is placed on the third rank, not the customary second. (This idea of an advanced pawn row is found in several chess variants, e.g. Japanese Chess, Shogi). In Europe the sixteenth century saw the radical changing from the old (or medieval) form of chess into the new or modern form of the game. Such metamorphosis of chess came through three basic changes in the old game: first, essentially through the weak Fers transforming into the very powerful Queen; second, the very limited Alfils transforming into the long-range pair of Bishops; third, from the great increase in potential value of pawns by possible "queening" in the final stages of the game. This new chess was often named "chess of the queen"; which is not surprising as the name gives emphasis to the predominant position which the "new-style" Queen takes in the play generally. Pietro Carrera appears to be the first player of the new chess to create a decimal type enlargement to this chess. In his work on chess, published in 1617, Carrera gives in its last section the description of his own invention played on a chess- board of 10 x 8 squares, with four extra pieces on each side. The character of his game is truly "decimal" in spirit, for each player has a complete row of ten pieces in his back rank, and, of course, a complete line of them pawns in front of these. 2. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 3] Carrera adds to each force a piece called "centauro" which has the moves of the Horse (Knight) and Rook, and another called "campione" having the Horse and Bishop moves. Initially the "centauro" is placed between the Rook and Horse on the queenside and the "campione" between the Rook and Horse on the kingside. Francesco Piacenza, in his chess work published in 1683 describes a decimal chess of his own creation. To the normal pieces in each player's force are added the "centauro," which moves by leaping over an adjacent square to the next beyond in the same direction, and the "decurio" which steps one square cornerwise just like the old-style Fers, and their corres- ponding pawns. Initially, the "decurio" is placed between the King and his Bishop, and the "centurio" between the Queen and her Bishop, The name which Piacenza gives to his decimal chess is "archiscacchiere," which may perhaps be termed "Archi-Chess" in equivalent English. Probably the only idea in decimal chess on which players in general have some clear information is the game with which the great player Capablanca's name is usually associated. For this Capablancan decimal chess, a player has twenty men consisting of his normal chessmen, one Chancellor and one Archbishop with their corresponding pawns. The Chancellor has the moves of the Rook and Horse (Knight) whereas the Archbishop has the moves of the Bishop and Horse. Initially, the former is placed between Bishop and Horse on the King's wing, and the latter between the Bishop and Horse on the Queen's wing. The order of men in white's back rank is R-H-A-B-Q; K-B-C-H-R. The player's ten pawns are on his second rank, as for ordinary chess. It may be noted that Capablancan decimal chess is nearly the same as Carrera's own idea described three hundred years before! Though one of the serious purposes of the decimal board or "dasapada" is that of providing a reasonable and practical field of combat for a larger number of pieces in a player's force than the normal sixteen chessmen, nevertheless, one or two ideas for playing chess with the normal set of pieces on the decimal board have been put forward as suitable. 3. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 4] Howell's idea for using the decimal board without any other changes of a major kind is simply to place the player's sixteen pieces in their customary initial formation on the player's first (rear) and second ranks of the decimal board, both the left and the right columns (files) being totally empty at the start. The theory of openings is now quite turned upside down, the power of the Horse is greater in the beginning of play, and the entry into action of Rooks is far more rapid. With the open left and right side files, castling is now hardly safe! This section of the booklet is concerned as stated with what I have termed "Natural dasapada enlargements" of ordinary chess. Such means that two extra pieces with their pawns are added to a player's normal pieces in ordinary chess on the 8 x 8 board, but no alteration is made to the ordinary chess itself. Though two extra pieces are added in the player's rear rank for the "dasapada enlargement," nevertheless the ordinary pieces themselves keep their relative arrangement of the ordinary chess; that is R H B Q K B H Q, if the two extra pieces in the rear rank are ignored. Moreover, one of the extra pieces occupies the square on the queenside corresponding to that square occupied on the kingside by the other extra piece in the "dasapada enlarge- ment." Following the games of this category already described, a more recent dasapada enlargement of ordinary chess is Schulz (Falcon-Hunter) decimal chess as it may be called. Schulz Falcon-Hunter variant is derived from an original idea due to the imagination of an Austrian player Karl Schulz who invented about 1943 two new sorts of chessmen. The common characteristic of these two pieces, named Falcon and Hunter, is that they move forward in a different way to that in which they move backwards. The Falcon moves forward diagonally like the Bishop, but moves backwards in its file like the Rook; it cannot move left or right along its rank. The Hunter moves forward vertically like the Rook, but moves backwards diagonally like the Bishop; it has no movement along its rank. 4. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 5] The initial position of the Falcon on the dasapada is between the King and his Bishop and that of the Hunter between the Queen and her Bishop. These two pieces are "complementary," being one another's opposite or reverse in type of movement. Both move in three directions, the pattern of move made by the Falcon can be symbolised by the letter Y, and that of the Hunter by this letter Y inverted. The game of Half-Queens Chess is another natural dasapada enlargement in which a player's normal chess pieces are augmented by two new pieces, with their pawns. The chess Queen can be regarded as a compound of Rook and Bishop, but one can hardly think of either as being a proper logical form of Half-Queen, because their powers are too unequal and their patterns of move little related. In theory an alternative "halving" for the chess Queen can be established; for when the non-taking moves are completely separated from the capturing moves, the Queen then has four components in all. It is now possible to combine the diagonal (or Bishop) non-taking move of the Queen with her orthogonal (Rook) capturing move into one type; and her orthogonal (Rook) non-taking move with her Bishop (diagonal) capturing move into the other type. The "Biok" moves like the Bishop for mere change of position but captures like the Rook, whereas the "Roshop" behaves reversely, moving like the Rook for mere change of position, but capturing like the Bishop. Together these two "Half-Queens" compound into the chess Queen. Initially, the Biok is placed between the King and his Bishop, and correspondingly the Roshop between the Queen and her Bishop. In the games which have been described so far in this section, the two extra pieces added in the player's rear rank are not the same. Clearly the two pieces added can be exactly alike, forming "a pair," as Rooks, Horses, and Bishops are in "pairs" for ordinary chess. When the two extra pieces in the dasapada variant are a "pair," then the player's pieces can initially be placed so that the queenside and the kingside are properly symmetrical and balanced. 5. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 6] In 1919 the French player J. Pinsard proposed a chess game for the 10 x 10 board in which a player adds to his normal chess force two pieces that move two squares in all directions. Such pieces are, of course, the "centurio" found in Piacenza's idea of decimal chess, the "centurio" leaping over an adjacent square to the next beyond in that same direction. Though of small power these "centurio" pieces provide quite an unusual but pleasing "flavour" to the opening play and general development in Pinsard's chess on the dasapada. The game of "Mimotaur Chess" is a dasapada enlargement of ordinary chess in which each player adds to his normal force of chessmen a pair of Mimotaur pieces with their attendant pawns. A Mimotaur is initially placed between Horsemen (Knight) and Bishop on each flank; thus the order of back rowpieces being R-H-M-B-Q; K-B-M-H-R. A Mimotaur moves like the Queen, but has no specific take of its own, quite unlike normal chess pieces. A Mimotaur captures a foe in exactly the same way as that foe is threaten- ing to capture this Mimotaur itself. For example, a Mimotaur captures a hostile Rook with a rook take; it cannot capture that enemy Rook with a bishop take or with a knight take as a consequence. A Mimotaur can check the enemy King only when it is adjacent to that King, for the monarch only captures adjacent- ly. Against the enemy Queen, a Mimotaur has its greatest capturing power of course, for it can capture that Queen with rook or bishop take, though not with knight take. Naturally, a Mimotaur cannot capture an enemy Mimotaur as neither has a specific take which the other can mimic or imitate for counter-attack. Another dasapada enlargement similar to the preceding is the game "Gorgon Chess" in which a player adds to his normal set of sixteen chessmen a pair of special men called "Gorgon' pieces with corresponding pawns. The initial square of a Gorgon is between those of Bishop and Horseman (Knight) of its wing, so that the order of pieces in the player's back rank is R-H-G-B-Q; K-B-G-H-R. Besides being able to move and take like the chess Queen, this Gorgon as also the very curious but terrible power that she can "petrify" any hostile piece on which her gaze falls directly. This means, such enemy being thus "petrified" by this Gorgon is completely unable to move (or take) as long as it 6. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 7] is facing the gaze of the monster, whether adjacent or in open line diagonally, vertically or horizontally. Should later this Gorgon move to a new position where she no longer gazes on that foe, then naturally that foe becomes quite free to move and take once again in its proper manner. If some piece, whether friend or foe, happens to come between the Gorgon and her "petrified" prey, such spell is, of course, broken and that foe regains its freedom of normal move and capture. When the situation arises where one Gorgon is directly gazing on either enemy Gorgon, then naturally it results that both these rival monsters are mutually "petrified" neither of them being able to move from her position. In such a position, even though two opposing Gorgons have petrified and immobilized each other, each Gorgon will still petrify any hostile piece adjacent or in open line with her gaze. The vulnerable spot in these Gorgons' powers is that the Horseman (Knight) can capture them, for obviously the Horseman by his skew jump in taking the Gorgon is not in open straight line with that enemy monster at the start of such skew take. A petrified piece is not able to move to take, conse- quently it can make no check at all on the opposing King. For example, white King on a1, white Gorgon on c3 and black Rook on a5; here the white monarch is not checked by the petrified black rook, though the position would be check for a rook not petrified. If the King is petrified, he cannot move form his square even to escape checkmate! The Bodleian Library contains a modern Persian MS on chess (written about 1795), one section dealing with a decimal chess in which the player has 22 pieces. The new pieces are, "Wazer" with moves of Bishop and Knight; "Zurafa" moving as Queen and Knight and two "Dabbaba" combining Rook and Knight. The arrangement in rear rank is R, H, B, W, Z; K, Q, B, H, R; the two D occupy the two central squares in the second rank, in front of Z and K; the two pawns displaced by the two D being placed in third row. 7. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 8] This dasapada chess is noteworthy that all three combination of Knight with Queen, Rook and Bishop are involved. A type of chessical game on the dasapada that is quite different from the ideas of "enlargement" so far described is the game Centaur Royal. A player has a force of 21 pieces, which include four Rooks, four Bishops and two Queens! Strange as it may seem, the player's force has neither King nor Horseman (Knight) of ordinary chess among the sorts of pieces in his army. The characteristic feature in this game is the special piece termed the "Centaur." The move of the Centaur is the move of the ordinary Knight (or Horseman); also, the role of kingship is here the Centaur's task, for which reason the title "royal" is added to Centaur. Because of having the move of the Horseman (Knight), the name of the mythical Greek creatures, partly horse-like and partly man-like, is quite natural to bestow on the very "vital piece" of this chess variant. (In actual play the Centaurs are represented by Knights, of course, as no proper chess Horsemen are used in this game). In the initial arrangement of the player's pieces, his two Queens, four Bishops and four Rooks are set along his back rank as follows: R-R-B-B-Q-Q-B-B-R-R. Ten pawns in his second rank. His Centaur occupies a central square in the third rank. The player's aim is to attack and capture the enemy Centaur Royal while defending his own Centaur from danger. Attempting to capture a piece moving about with skew jumps like a Horseman creates play very different from attacking a monarch that can move only one square at a time. The game of Rangers Chess is a variant on the dasapada in which the fundamental idea is that each of the pieces has a fixed range; it has a definite fixed number of squares which it may move. The "ranger three" for example is required to move three exactly, but not any other number of squares from its position. A ranger can move in any direction (vertically, horizon- tally, diagonally) its exact number of squares. A ranger may not cross occupied squares in its move. If it lands on a square occupied by an enemy piece, a ranger takes that foe. 8. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 9] Naturally the "ranger one" can step one square in any direction around its own position just like the king in ordinary chess. Indeed, to this "ranger one" is given the very special and vital status of kingship, for the player's aim is to capture the enemy royal "ranger one" and to protect his own from capture. Each player has twenty pieces, the back row arranged 2 2 3 3 4; 4 3 3 2 2 and the second rear row also the same except that the king (ranger one) replaces a ranger four in centre. The game of "Megasaur Chess" is a variant on the dasapada based on the Fairy Chess ideas of Dinosaur, Brontosaur, etc. A Dinosaur captures like a queen, but never moves from her position unless to take! A Brontosaur captures just like a bishop, but may not move merely to change position. A Hipposaur takes like a Horseman (Knight); yet must remain stationary unless it is taking some foe. A Megasaur combines the Dinosaur and the Hipposaur; that is the Megasaur has power to take like queen or knight, but can move only to take. Pawns are not "saurian" and so can advance without taking as in ordinary chess. It is understood that the king can move only if taking a foe. A player is defeated if his king is captured. During the eighteenth century the dasapada (decimal board) began to be widely and seriously used for the game of draughts, though it had already been used for certain enlarged forms of the Muslim and medieval chess. The so-called Polish damary game was first played about 1725 - 1730 by draughts devotees in the cafes of Paris. The origin of this game is very uncertain, but the most circum- stantial of the tales recorded by Manoury is that the game was invented at the Court of the Regent, Philip of Orleans, by an officer of that court in collaboration with a Pole. The new variant soon attracted players away from the game being played on the ordinary chessboard. Today it is the standard damary game of France, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland. Through French and Dutch colonizations, the Polish game is now played among a number of non-European peoples about the world. During the present century it has established itself in Russia and other countries as the "international draught." 9. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 10] This damary game is played on the fift white (or black if preferred) squares of the dasapada. A player must have a white square at his lefthand corner to be his single corner if the white squares are played on, but a black if the black squares are played on. A player has a force of twenty pieces, termed pawns, which are initially arranged on the white squares of the four rows nearest their player. For the Manoury notation, the white (playing) squares are numbered 1 - 50; those numbered 1 - 5 forming the back row for the black and those numbered 46 - 50 the back row for the white. Initially the twenty back pawns occupy squares 1 - 20 and the twenty white occupy squares 31 - 50. (The squares 21 - 30 are initially vacant between black and white pawns). A pawn moves one square cornerwise forward; it captures a foe adjacent cornerwise either in front or at the rear, by making a short jump over that foe into the next square beyond, provided such square is unoccupied. The capture is termed "short take". A white pawn on square 25, for example, can capture foes on 20, 19 and 28 by making its continued (multiple) take with the move 25-14-23-32. On reaching a square in the opposite back row or rank, a pawn is promoted becoming a crowned piece to which the name "dama" is given. A dama can move and take both forwards and backwards. A dama is able to move one, two or more squares diagonally like the bishop in chess. A dama can capture an isolated foe in its diagonal path by leaping over the foe into some vacant square beyond in the same diagonal direction. A black dama on square 16, for example, can take foes on 27, 33 and 9, by its continued taking move 16-38-20-3. This extended form of capture is termed "long take" to distinguish from "short take." Taking is compulsory; also, when a player has two or more ways of taking at his turn of play, he has to make that take which will capture the greatest number of enemy pieces possible in the position then existing. 10. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 11] If a pawn reaches the enemy back row by a capture and can still continue to take as a pawn, it is obliged to remain as a pawn and go on taking as such. A white pawn on square 15, for example, with black pawns on 9 and 10. Here the white pawn must make the double take of 15-4-13, yet remain a pawn though it has visited square 4 in black's rear row. White has the first move in the Polish damary game. The usual opening move is 32-28 to which the black reply is often the move 19-24. Other opening moves played by white are 33-28; 34-30 and occasionally 33-29. Having power to take in the four angular directions, pawns in this damary game on the dasapada can produce awkward and dangerous situations when white and black pawns crowd together, obstructing each other's advance. The game of Damella-Dama is a modern derivative from the Polish damary game just described; it is different in one special feature from its root game. A player has a force of twenty pieces called "damellas," the black arranged on squares 1-20 and the whites on squares 31-50 as for the Polish game. First, a damella takes adjacently cornerwise forward and backwards as pawns take in the Polish game. Secondly, a damella can advance one, two or more squares diagonally, unlike the pawn which can advance only one square. Thirdly, on reach- ing the enemy rear rank, a damella is promoted to dama. It is therefore only in this great mobility of damellas to advance that the Damella-Dama variant differs from its root idea. The curiously named "Babylon" damary game had its invention very probably among certain players in Paris. This dasapada game appeared a little later than the Polish, and at one period it became a strong rival to the Polish, which it caused to be rather neglected for some time. Though the Babylon game at length became nearly reduced to its mere name, certain players in Holland were still playing this damary game in an organized manner until the war began in 1939. Probably draughts players who like complexity and great scope for "coups", may find the Babylon game to be interesting and one rather to their taste on the dasapada. 11. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 12] For the Babylon, a player has the usual force of twenty pawns, initially arranged on the board as for the Polish. In the diagonal directions, the Babylon pawns and damas are exactly like those of the Polish game. The great distinctive feature of Babylon is, however, that Babylon pieces can take in vertical and horizontal directions as well as diagonal; but even in such captures a piece must move to a square of the same colour. In the same column or rank, two pawns are considered "adjacent" when they are separated by only one square of the opposite colour. For example, a white pawn on 26 and a black on 16 are "adjacent" in their column; and a white on 33 and a black on 34 are "adjacent" in their rank, in this Babylon damary. The white on 26 can capture the black on 16 by jumping over this to square 6 beyond provided that square 5 is vacant. The black on 34 can take the white (33) by jumping sideways over this to square 32 beyond, if vacant. Vertical and horizontal takes can, of course, be combined with diagonal takes by a pawn in a continued Babylon capturing attack. Position: white pawns on squares 18, 22, 30, 31, 32 and 37. A black pawn on square 25 can capture all the whites by 25-34-32-41-21-23-12, in which both diagonal and orthogonal takes are combined in a continued capturing movement. In diagonal directions a Babylon dama is exactly like a dama in the Polish game, but, of course, this Babylon dama can also capture in vertical and horizontal lines. For example, a Babylon dama on square 16 can capture a foe on square 24 in the same horizontal line by leaping over that foe to square 20 beyond, if not occupied. A Babylon dama on 4 can capture a foe on 24 in the same vertical by leaping over it to 34 or 44 beyond. The game of Kingor is a special idea which can be played under the rules of either the Polish, the Babylon or the Damella style of play. Probably this idea is better played in the Babylon manner for complex and aggressive manoeuvres. The force of each player consists of twenty pawns (or damellas) one of which is very special and unique in its character and its basic purpose in this game. Such unique piece in the 12. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 13] player's force is termed "the kingor." Initially, the player's special piece (or kingor) is set in the centre of his back line of pawns (or damellas); square 3 for the black and square 48 for the white kingor. The kingor pawn (or damella) moves and takes in exactly the same manner as any other pawn (or damella) in its force. The fundamental idea in Kingor is that only kingor can take kingor, no other piece having power to attack the enemy kingor; but naturally this unique and vital piece can capture any hostile piece. The aim which a player attempts to achieve in this game is to capture his opponent kingor with his own kingor; and the player so succeeding is the winner, however many other pieces get captured in such battle being quite immaterial. Naturally it is understood that if the kingor pawn (or damella) should reach the opposite rear line, it becomes "kingor dama", being able to move and take like a dama. When gaining this power of dama, the kingor still retains, of course, its fundamental character, that only kingor can take kingor. The essential nature of Kingor is logically the idea of direct and personal combat as it were between the two rival special pieces. Play becomes concentrated around such mutual challenge between the two kingors for mastery and victory, with every other piece being completely subordinate to their kingor's safety. An amusing and lively form of damary game, playable in the Polish, the Babylon or the Damella style as preferred is the game "Scoundrels", in French "Vauriens." The player has the usual force of twenty pawns; but the five pieces in his back row are his band of worthless Scoundrels, of which the aim of the player is to get rid as quickly as possible. The winner is the player who can first rid himself of his very undesirable Scoundrels, by forcing his opponent most unwillingly to take them! As it would be most disgraceful for a player to allow even one of his Scoundrels to reach the opposite back row, and so 13. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 14] promote to the honourable status of dama, the rule is that if any of the player's Scoundrels reach the opposite back row, then this playr shall lose the game at once to his opponent! The French game "Wolves & Dogs" is a form of hunt-game on the dasapada in which a pack of twenty Dogs, represented by white pawns, struggle to overcome two Wolves represented by black damas. The pack of Dogs occupy squares 31-50, and the two (dama) Wolves occupy squares 2 and 3. A white pawn steps one square cornerwise forward, but in this game a pawn has no power to capture either of the enemy black damas. Moreover, a white piece on reaching the opposite back row cannot be transformed to dama, but must just remain there stationary until the game ends. The black Wolf damas have their usual diagonal move as in the Polish game; and a Wolf can capture an isolated Dog in its diagonal path at any distance, and can capture more than one foe in the same turn as in the Polish damary. As a Dog is not able to take a Wolf, this helps to strengthen the Wolves as a sort of counter-balance in order to compensate, as it were, the power of the Dogs which they hold through their great numerical advantage over the two Wolves. In order to win, the Dogs must so "blockade" the two Wolves in such a position that finally neither Wolf can move at all. On the contrary, it is victory for the Wolves if one of them should succeed in breaking through the pack of Dogs to reach the desired goal, the white back row. The small balance probably lies in favour of the Dogs. In order to prevent a Wolf escaping through his blockade, the player of the Dogs may have to sacrifice one or even two of them, as it were "to throw them to the hungry Wolves." Naturally, this game can be played with three Wolves opposed to a pack of about 25 Dogs, arranged on squares 26-50. About 1935 the French player, Edmond Bertrand, invented a simple but rather unusual type of game for the dasapada which may be called "Self-Obstruction." A player has fifteen pieces placed initially on the white squares of the three rows nearest to his, the black on squares 1-15 and the white on squares 36-50 14. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 15] A piece can move several squares diagonally forward to a vacant position, but it may not pass across occupied squares. In this game there is neither taking, nor promotion of pieces in the opposite back row. (A piece can never move backwards). The player's aim is to "self-obstruct his own pieces," so that finally the position will result that none of his pieces are able to advance further. Either a piece is obstructed on account of the two cornerwise squares in front of it being occupied, or else it has reached a square in the opposite back row, the limit to any advancing. The special "rule of advance" in the original form is that a piece must advance as far as possible along its diagonal line. For example, if white who begins play, chooses to advance his piece on square 37, he must advance this piece to 26 (left) or to 19 (right) by that rule. Instead, he could advance his pawn on square 40 to 18 or to 35. (In all, white has, of course, nine possible opening advances under the rule). A game could begin W38-16 and B12-34; W37-19 and B15-38; W39-17 and B13-31; and so on. In order to give greater freedom, the special rule may be partially relaxed to this requirement, that a piece must advance more than one square whenever it can do so. For example, white can now begin with moving his piece on 38 to 29 or to 24. (He can still play 38-20 as would be demanded under the original rule). Naturally, this game can be played in its "inverted form", a player loses if he is unable to advance any of his pieces. What may be termed the game of Damary Solitaire on the dasapada was created about 1900 by J. Bergier, a well known Polish Dama problemist. The black and white pawn are initially arranged on the dasapada as for the game of Polish Dama. A pawn can take not only pawns of the opposite colour, but also pawns of its own colour. Pieces may move only if making some take, whether of a piece of its own colour or of a piece in the other. Taking continues until the final position is reached where no piece left remaining on the dasapada can make a capture, 15. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 16] whether of a pawn in its own colour or not. A general problem is to reduce the number of pieces left "untakeable" to a small number, irrespective of position or colour. More interesting than such general problems is perhaps to find a sequence of takes that will result in the "untakeable pawns" forming some already desired pattern on the dasapada. For example, it is possible to make a series of takes to finally form a "plus sign" of five white pawns on 28, 37, 38, 39 and 48. Curiously, one can also make such "plus" on the same five squares with black pawns on 37, 38, 39, and white on 28 and 48. Louis Coutelan greatly developed Damary Solitaire, publish- ing a booklet in which 400 problems illustrate the range and variety. In this idea, playing a white and a black alternately is not compulsory, and in consequence a succession of takes by pawns of the same colour is permitted at any time. For example, the solution of the first problem above begins: 12 x 23; 1 x 12; 11 x 22, three takes by black pawns before a take is made by a white. (Pawns are not promoted in Bergier's Solitaire). Under the name "Grasshopper," M. Kraitchik mentioned in his "Mathematical Recreations" a form of two-handed Halma played on the dasapada, in which each of the two players has a force of fifteen pawns. These are arranged in a corner triangular "camp", the white in the triangle bounded a1-a5-e1, and the black in the oppo- site corner triangle bounded f10-j10-j6. Another two-handed Halma type of game played on the dasapada is "Salterello" in which each of the two players has a force of twenty pawns, initially arranged to occupy the squares in the player's second and third ranks. A pawn advances by jumping over a piece adjacently in front of it, into the square (vacant) on the other side of the pawn jumped over. A pawn can jump straightforward in its column, or cornerwise forward. (Jumping backwards or sideways is not permitted). A pawn can jump over pawns of its own colour or those of the enemy colour; and it may jump two or three pawns in the same turn. A player wins in Salterello if he can succeed in getting three of his pawns into the opposite back row. (A larger number than three can, of course, be agreed for win). 16. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 17] An extraordinary game is "Salterello Dama" in which the preceding idea is transformed into damary. A player has twenty pawns arranged to occupy his second and third rows. A pawn advances by jumping over a pawn of its own colour adjacently in front of it, into the square (vacant) on the other side. A pawn cannot advance by stepping. A pawn captures any foe adjacent to it by jumping over that foe to the next square beyond. A pawn reaching the opposite back row naturally gets promoted to dama. It is understood that a Salterello dama can change its position only by jumping over a piece of its own colour. A dama can capture an isolated foe at any distance away, diagonally or orthogonally, by leaping over this to some vacant square beyond in that same direction. Among the idea for playing damary on all the hundred squares both black and white of the dasapada, probably the most unique is the game of the American Rev. G. W. Walker, which may be called "Cavaliers' Dama." Each player has a force of twenty pawns that are initially arranged on his third and fourth rows. The characteristic feature in this game is that a pawn moves just like the Horse or Knight in chess! A pawn can advance only, but it can advance in any of the four directions in which a chess Knight can do so. On reaching finally the opposite back row, a pawn is promoted to Cavalier dama, which can, of course, move in any of the eight directions as the normal chess Knight. A Cavalier pawn can capture a foe at a Knight's move away by making what may be called a "double" Knight's move over that foe. For example, white pawn on square a4 will capture a black on c5 by jumping over that foe to square e6 beyond; or a black on b6 by jumping it to square c8 beyond. Position: white Cavalier dama on square a6, and black pieces on c5, f6, e7 and b8. Here the white Cavalier dama can capture all four foes by making the continued taking a6-e4-g8- c6-a10. A player wins in Cavalier Dama if he can reduce his opponent's force to at least three pieces. (This provides a practical and reasonable target for victory as far as average players engage in a friendly battle of Cavaliers Dama). 17. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 18] For simple forms of four-handed chess, the dasapada is an excellent board for it limits the totality of chessmen to a reasonable and practical number. As an example of such four-handed game, the following idea may interest. Each of the four players has a force of nine men, consisting of king, queen, one rook, one knight and one bishop, with four pawns. A player arranges his men in a 3 x 3 group in his corner of the dasapada as shown in this diagram: P P H B Q P K R P Pieces have their normal moves, except that a pawn may move parallel to either of the sides forming the player's corner. The first and third players win if they capture the kings of the other two, but only the first can capture the second player's monarch, and only the second can take the fourth player's king. The rules of check and mate are completely ignored in this variant. A curious but amazing damary game on the dasapada is Traitors Dama which has the advantage it can be played in the Polish, Babylon or Damella style as the players may prefer. When a pawn reaches the opposite rear rank, it is, of course, promoted to dama, but the great difference in Traitors is that at the very same time as it is promoted the pawn also becomes a traitor (or turncoat) for it changes its colour and now becomes a dama in the enemy force!! From that time on naturally the opponent will move such traitor as a dama in his own force. Just as the player has good reason for avoiding any move promoting his own pawns, on the other hand, he has the greatest reason for trying to force enemy pawns to promote, so turning traitor and converting to damas in the player's own colour. In the unusual ending where a player has left in play on the dasapada only one pawn and he is obliged to promote this, his very last piece, then the result is obvious that he has lost! (This player has no pieces of his own colour now on the board). 18. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [page 19] It is interesting that the author of the Tarzan stories also created a game he called "Martian Chess," and the board on which he chose this to be played was the dasapada. E. Rice Burroughs explained his chessical idea in his story "Chessmen of Mars" published in 1928. The game of "Martian Chess" may be classified as a rather complicated form of Rangers Chess. One type of Martian chessman, for example, must move exactly three squares corner- wise, but the piece may go in a path that is crooked or bent, besides in the regular straight line of a Ranger. The royal piece whose capture decides the victory can move three squares in any zig-zag fashion, it has no power to take hostile pieces! ------------//------------- 19.