Tamerlane chess is an ancient variant of chess. Like chess, it is derived from chaturanga. It was developed in Iran during the reign of Emperor Timur (Timur's Chess), also called Tamerlane (1336–1405) and its invention is also attributed to him.
This variant of Shatranj was even bigger with a 11x10 board. The first mention is from about 1350 in al-Âmulî's Treasury of the Sciences.
Image of the chessboard setup from BNF Le Jeu d'echecs
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'Ibn 'Arabshâh (1389-1450), 'Ajâ'ib al-maqdûr fî qissat Timûr (Merveilles de la destinée dans l'histoire de Tamerlan). Copie du manuscrit achevée le 24 septembre 1451.
BNF, Manuscrits (arabe 1901 f° 128v°)
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Every player has 28 pieces:
1 Shah - Moves as a traditional king, but once during the game it may switch places with any of its own pieces to evade check/checkmate or stalemate.
1 Minister (Ferz) - Moves one square diagonally
1 Vizir (Wazîr) - Moves one square horizontally or vertically
2 Giraffes (Zurâfa) - Moves one square diagonally and then a minimum of three squares horizontally or vertically (a restricted gryphon)
2 Vanguards or Scouts (Talî'a) - Moves as a bishop in traditional chess, but must move a minimum of two squares
2 Horses (faras) - Moves as a knight in traditional chess
2 "Rukhs" - Moves as a rook in traditional chess
2 "Dabbâbas" - Moves two horizontally or vertically, unobstructed by pieces in-between
2 Camels (Jamal) - Moves one diagonally and two straight, unobstructed by pieces in between. It moves in an "L"-shape, like an orthodox chess knight, with dimensions 3×1 instead of 2×1
2 Elephants (pil) - Moves two squares diagonally and is unobstructed by pieces in between
11 Pawns - Move as pawns in traditional chess, but with no initial double move or en passant capture. Every piece (including the pawn) has a corresponding pawn. Hence; pawn of kings, pawn of vizirs, pawn of giraffes, etc.
Game Rules
Opening:
The player going first is determined by a roll of dice.
The object of Tamerlane chess, as in modern chess, is to checkmate the opposing shah [king]. Unlike in modern chess, stalemating an opponent is also a win.
Pawn Promotion:
The promotion rules are simple for almost all pawns, with two exceptions: the pawn of kings and the pawn of pawns. All other pieces, when reaching the last rank, promote to the type of piece they belong to: the pawn of rooks promotes to a rook, and the pawn of camels promotes to a camel, etc.
The pawn of kings promotes to a prince. A prince moves as a king, and should also be mated or taken before the opponent can win the game.
When the pawn of pawns reaches the final rank (for the first time), it stays there and cannot be captured when staying on this rank. When the player can put his pawn on such a spot, such that it attacks a piece which cannot escape being taken by this pawn, or such that it gives a fork: attacks two hostile pieces at the same time, the player may put his pawn on that spot, even when it is occupied (except when it is occupied by a king). The piece occupying the square (whether friendly or hostile) is taken from the board. Then the pawn of pawns moves again as a normal pawn. When the pawn of pawns reaches the final rank for the second time, it is directly moved to the starting square of the pawn of kings, i.e., to f3 or f8. When it reaches the final rank for the third time, it becomes an adventitious king. The adventitious king moves as a king, and should also be mated or taken before the opponent can win the game.
Citadels:
When a player is able to move his king into the citadel of his opponent, the game is drawn. A player may not move any other piece in the citadel of his opponent, and may only move his adventitious king in his own citadel. This prevents the opponent from occupying the citadel.
Other rules
Once during the game, a player may exchange his king, when checked, with an arbitrary friendly piece.
When a player has a prince or adventitious king, his king can just been taken. In that case, the prince or adventitious king takes the role of king (if in the citadel, the adventitious king should directly placed by the owning player on any unoccupied square. (I made this rule up myself: the situation seems not covered in the known rules.)
If a player, not owning a prince or adventitious king, is mated, he loses the game.
If a player is stalemated, he loses the game.
Play this game with or without a `bare king' rule: Gollon assumes there was not such a rule.
