CHESMAYNE

barclona “the windmills of your mind”

Cambodian

Cambodian Chess link: www.timkrabbe.nl by Tim Krabbe Chess in Cambodia

The Cambodian chessboard is 9 x 9 cells in size - see diagram below.

There are a total of 36 MPs/mps (18 pieces for each player)…

1 King KI

2 Rook RO1 and RO2

2 Knight KT1 and KT2

2 Elephant EP1 and EP2

2 Official OF1 and OF2

9 Fish FH1 to FH9

Free Demo! http://www.zillions-of-games.com/index.html Jens Markmann Page - The Zillions Index

There are a total of 18 MPs/mps per side in Cambodian chess.

Moving ability of the Cambodian Fish

Monogram: Fish (FH) FH1, FH2, FH3 etc.

First Move Option: (FMO): 1 cell straight forward

Capture (*): 1 cell straight forward

All other Moves: (AOM): moves the same as a KI (2^nd move)

Promotable (#): No (FHs move as KIs on the top 4 ranks).

The KI is the same as used in traditional chess.

The RO is the same as used in traditional chess.

The KT is the same as used in traditional chess.

The Elephants (EP1 and EP2) move as a KI but are not permitted to capture behind. Note: The EL (elephant) is used in Shatranj, EL1 and EL2. The ET (elephant) is used in Burmese chess, ET1 and ET2 [note that a different monogram is used to distinguish between these two types of elephant].

The Officials (OF1 and OF2) move one cell diagonally (4 directions) but are only permitted to capture forward (2 directions).

The Fish (FH1 to FH9) move (FMO) and capture (*) one cell forward.

They cannot retreat. For :A

they commence the game on rank-4. For :B

they commence the game on rank-6. On reaching rank-6 (for :A) they move as a KI (rank-4 for :B).

How to set-up the Cambodian chess board (ISP)…

RO2 KT2 EP2 OF2 -KI OF1 EP1 KT1 RO1 Rank-9

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Rank-8

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Rank-7

FH9 FH8 FH7 FH6 FH5 FH4 FH3 FH2 FH1 Rank-6

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Rank-5

FH1 FH2 FH3 FH4 FH5 FH6 FH7 FH8 FH9 Rank-4

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Rank-3

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Rank-2

RO1 KT1 EP1 OF1 -KI OF2 EP2 KT2 RO2 Rank-1

-A- -B- -C- -D- -E- -F- -G- -H- -J-

Hill’s “Cambodian” Chess

Pritchard presents the Hill’s game as “an old variant displaying elements of Burmese Chess, Chaturanga and Makruk”. This definition could certainly have been applied to the real ‘Ouk Chatrang’ but not at all to the game he is presenting! Actually, the Hill’s game appears to be a sort of hybrid between Xiangqi and Makruk rather and nobody can tell why it is supposed to be old. Here the rules are given by Pritchard according to Hill’s details.

Each side has 18 men: 1 King, 2 Boat, Elephant, Horse, Official, 9 Fish. The array is displayed above. The pieces are figurines, the pawns [FH] are disks. The board is an 8 x 8 uncheckered board but play occurs on the intersections (9 x 9).

• The KI is orthodox.
• The Boat moves as the orthochess RO.
• The Horse moves as the orthochess KT.
• The Elephant moves as a KI but cannot capture in the three backward directions.
• The Official is the ‘old Queen’ (or Fers): moves 1 square/cell diagonally, but can only capture in the two forward directions.
• The FH moves and captures 1 square straight forward but when it crosses the centre line (on its second move) it is reversed and thereafter moves as a King.

Comments…….

From Makruk, one finds the King, the Horse, the full line of Pawns in an advanced position and the uncheckered 8 x 8 board. The Rook is common to all chess games, Xianqi included, but the name of ‘Boat’ is from Makruk. From Xiangqi, one finds the play on intersections, the first line of 9 pieces [mps]. The Fish, FH (or, Cambodian Pawn) and its promotion is very original although inspired by Xiangqi. The Official is original although inspired by its counterpart which is identical in Makruk and Xiangqi. Then, this game looks like a puzzling hybrid. If this is true, it would be a very important stepping-stone in the history of Chess, being a bridge between the Western and Oriental games.

Ouk Chatrang, the Cambodian Chess and Makruk, the Thai Chess Les échecs Cambodgiens et Thaïlandais

Both national varieties are in fact almost the same game.  The very first account of ‘Siamese Chess’ is due to La Loubère, the ambassador of French KI Louis XIV to the Kingdom of Siam in 1687-8. More was given by Captain James Low to Asiatic Researches in 1836 and, finally, Edward Falkener supplied reliable information he had got from Prince Devawongsee, Minister of Foreign Affairs of H.M. the KI of Siam, in 1889. Siamese Chess, also known as Makruk is now one of the better recognized Chess variants. It is a very lively game, played in Thailand and set can be easily bought through the Internet.