Shatar vs Qirkat

Shatar was the variant of chess, played for many centuries in Mongolia, before it was replaced by FIDE chess by pressure of the former CCCP. This game is a direct offspring of the medieval Arabic chess, evolving in a different direction as chess did in Western Europe and Russia. The movement of the queen is particularly interesting, as it has the combined moves of a Ferz (general) and Rook. In 1993, AISE organized a `Grand Prix’ tournament (played by postal mail) on Shatar. In later years, more Shatar tournaments were held in this game.

Qirkat – also known as alquerque – is a board game that was popular in Medieval Spain, played by kings and queens and caliphs and commoners alike. Although it evolved into other popular games like checkers, qirkat itself was largely forgotten – until now. Play against another human or the AI – or watch the AI play itself. Includes documentation, move suggestions, analysis tools, and three short stories. Rules: - Whichever player runs out of moves (or pieces) first, loses. - You can only move forward or sideways onto a free point. - You can't move a piece back to a point it's already occupied. - But you can jump over your opponent's pieces in any direction. - In fact, you have to jump if you can. - Multiple jumps are possible. - That's it!