Sittuyin, also known as Burmese Chess, is a chess-related game believed to be an almost direct offspring of Chaturanga. Sit is the Burmese word for army, the word Sittuyin can be translated as representation of the army. The game has been largely overshadowed in its native land by international chess, though it remains popular in the northwest regions.
Rules
Only pawns are present on the board in the initial position. The game starts with players alternating placing their pieces arbitrarily on their own halves of the board. One of the possible game openings is shown on the diagram below. The pieces move in the same way as in chess with exception of Bishop and Queen:
- Bishop (called Elephant in this game) moves one step in any diagonal direction or one step forward (as silver general in Shogi);
- Queen (called General) moves one step in any diagonal direction (as Fers in Shatranj).
These are the same piece movements as in the Thai game of makruk. Pawns promote to Fers when they reach diagonal lines marked on the board. The promotion is possible only if the own Fers has been captured. If the player has a pawn located on a promotion square and his or her Fers is no longer on the board, the player can — if they wish to — promote the pawn to Fers instead of making a move. A Pawn which passes the promotion square can't promote anymore. The goal of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. Placing the opponent's king into stalemate is not allowed.
References
- H.J.R. Murray (1913). A History of Chess. ISBN 0-936317-01-9.
External links
- Sittuyin, by Hans L. Bodlaender.
- Sittuyin, the Burmese Chess, by Jean-Louis Cazaux.
- Burmese traditional chess by Dr. Peter Nicolaus.
