Chakra is a

chess variant A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways. "International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be c ...

invented by

Christian Freeling Christian Freeling (born 1 February 1947, in Enschede, Netherlands) is a Dutch game designer and inventor of abstract strategy games, notably Dameo, Grand Chess, Havannah, and Hexdame. Freeling's designs cover a range of game types. Several ...

in 1980. The uniqueness of Chakra is owed to the invention of a new

fairy piece A fairy chess piece, variant chess piece, unorthodox chess piece, or heterodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess but incorporated into certain chess variants and some chess problems. Compared to conventional pieces, fai ...

named ''transmitter''. Freeling considered an earlier version of the game as insignificant. "Then one night in the early eighties, Ed an Zonand I dreamed up the 'transmitter', a piece consisting of two parts called 'chakras', that would function as a 'portal' for transmitting pieces." The game was first featured in ''The Gamer'' magazine in 1981 (issue 3), resulting in much interest and the sale of many Chakra sets.Pritchard (2007), p. 173 Chakra is included in ''100 Other Games to Play on a Chessboard'' (1983, 2002) by Stephen Addison.

Overview

Chakra is played on a standard

chessboard A chessboard is a used to play chess. It consists of 64 squares, 8 rows by 8 columns, on which the chess pieces are placed. It is square in shape and uses two colours of squares, one light and one dark, in a chequered pattern. During play, the bo ...

and has many of the standard play conventions as in

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

, including

check Check or cheque, may refer to: Places * Check, Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Check'' (film), a 2021 Indian Telugu-language film * '' The Checks'' (episode), a 1996 TV episode of ''Seinfeld'' Games and sports * Check (chess), a th ...

and the winning objective,

checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

. Stalemate, as in chess, is a draw. The

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

in Chakra is named ''emperor''. Each player starts with 16 pieces: 1 emperor, 1 empress, 1 samurai, 1 monk, 2 monkeys, 2 courtesans, 2 chakras, 6 swords. The emperor, empress, and monkey perform identically to their chess counterparts (king,

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, and

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

, respectively). The others are governed by special fairy rules. There is no

castling Castling is a move in chess. It consists of moving the king two squares toward a rook on the same and then moving the rook to the square that the king passed over. Castling is permitted only if neither the king nor the rook has previously mo ...

in Chakra.

Move rules

* The ''samurai'' combines powers of a chess king and a chess

. (On the chess variants page, it is said that the powers of a chess king and chess

rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess * Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * US ...

are combined) * * The ''monk'' combines powers of a chess king and a chess

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

. * A ''courtesan'' moves and captures like a chess king, but has an additional power: whenever it has an open path to its own emperor along a , , or , it can move or capture along the rank, file, or diagonal in either direction. * A ''sword'' moves like a chess

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an h ...

, except there is no ''

en passant ''En passant'' (, "in passing") is a method of capturing in chess that occurs when a pawn captures a horizontally adjacent enemy pawn that has just made an initial two-square advance. The capturing pawn moves to the square that the enemy pa ...

''. It promotes upon reaching the to any previously captured piece, except a chakra. (If no captured piece is available, a sword cannot promote; however, in that case it can still give check.)

The ''chakra'' "transmitter" pieces

Notes

References

Bibliography * *

External links

Official website
MindSports.nl

''

The Chess Variant Pages ''The Chess Variant Pages'' is a non-commercial website devoted to chess variants. It was created by Hans Bodlaender in 1995. The site is "run by hobbyists for hobbyists" and is "the most wide-ranging and authoritative web site on chess variants". ...