| Oblong Shatranj with die is a medieval chess variant that is played on a board of 4x16 = 64 squares. Win is achieved by capturing the opponent's king. The players have the same pieces as in Shatranj, namely a king that moves one square in any direction; a general (firzan) that moves diagonally one step; two fils that jump diagonally two steps; two knights that move like chess knights; two rooks (rukh) that correspond to chess rooks, and eight pawns that move like chess pawns, except that there is no initial double-step. The today uncommon pieces general and fil have been marked with a red spot to remind the player that they move in the medieval manner. These medieval pieces are better suited for this game than modern chess pieces.
The die decides which piece can be moved. Click on the die to throw it. When rolling a six, the player may move the king, when rolling a five, the player may move the general, when rolling a four, the player may move a fil, when rolling a three, the player may move a knight, when rolling a two, the player may move a rook, and when rolling a one, the player may move a pawn. When no move is possible, then the turn is lost.
Unlike in regular chess it's allowable to pass moves. However, in this implementation, it's not allowable to pass on pawn-moves, except when they are blocked. If you want to (or must) pass a move, then you must signal this by lifting and dropping the king. Note that you are obliged to perform this procedure even if the die shows the number of a piece that you don't own anymore. This is not only a practical way of acknowledging a pass, technically, it also circumvents the problem of draw by three-times repetition. In the historical record, there are seven different opening setups known for this game, which are all represented as variants in this implementation. |
