Jetan

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For the unrelated Icehouse game, see Martian Chess.

The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, McClurg, 1922

Jetan, also known as Martian Chess, is a chess-based strategy game for two players invented by Edgar Rice Burroughs as a game played on Barsoom, his fictional version of Mars. The game was introduced in The Chessmen of Mars, the fifth book in the Barsoom series. Its rules are provided in chapter 2 of the book and an appendix at the end of the book.

The game is said to represent an ancient war between the Yellow and Black races of Barsoom, and thus the game is played on a black and orange checkerboard of 10 rows by 10 columns, with orange pieces on the "north" side and black pieces on the "south." The board is traditionally oriented to these directions because Barsoom's Yellow and Black races inhabit its north and south polar regions, respectively.

1 Pieces
2 Movement
3 Ending the game
4 Impact of the game
5 External links

[edit] Pieces

Each player has the following playing pieces: one Chief, one Princess, two Fliers; two Dwars (Captains); two Padwars (Lieutenants); two Warriors; two Thoats (Mounted Warriors); and eight Panthans (Mercenaries). The Chief, Princess, Fliers, Dwars, Padwars and Warriors are positioned along the row closest to the player, with the Princess at left center, the Chief at right center, and the Fliers, Dwars, Padwars and Warriors arranged to flank each, with the Fliers innermost and the Warriors outermost. The Thoats and Panthans are positioned along the next row out from the player, with the Thoats flanking the Panthans. The complete arrangement of each side follows:

T	p	p	p	p	p	p	p	p	T
W	P	D	F	P	C	F	D	P	W

[edit] Movement

Panthans are limited to one step per move. Other pieces take two or three. They may change their direction of movement at each step in the course of a move, so long as this is in a direction permitted for that piece. Each must take the full number of steps specified for it. No piece can cross the same square of the board twice during the course of a move. The Princess, Fliers, and Thoats may jump over a piece that is in their path.

A capture is made when a piece lands on a square occupied by an opposing piece with its final step or jump; the Princess may not make such a move.

The pieces move as follows:

The Chief takes three steps in any direction.

This is equivalent to three moves of a chess king, except that it cannot double back and may only capture at the third step.

The Princess takes three steps in any direction; it may jump over other pieces but cannot capture.

It may make one "escape" per game, jumping to any unoccupied space on the board.

The Flier takes three steps diagonally; it may jump over other pieces.

Per Burroughs, in an older version of Jetan these pieces were called Odwars.

The Dwar takes three steps orthogonally.
The Padwar takes two steps diagonally.
The Warrior takes two steps orthogonally.
The Thoat take two steps, of which one is orthogonal and the other diagonal; it may jump over other pieces.

This is equivalent to a chess knight.

The Panthan takes one step in any direction.

Test play indicates that permitting the panthans to move backwards makes them the most powerful pieces in the game. Since Burroughs' intent was that they be the weakest, modern play does not allow them to make backward moves.

[edit] Ending the game

In Burroughs' description, Jetan is won when either a Chief captures the opposing Chief, or when any piece captures the opposing Princess. The game is drawn if each player is reduced to three or fewer pieces of equal value and it is not won within the next ten moves, or if a Chief is taken by any piece other than a Chief.

These rules result in too many draws for the tastes of most players, so a number of variants have been proposed to address this issue, the simplest being that the capture of a Chief by a piece other than a Chief merely retires the Chief, without drawing or ending the game.

[edit] Impact of the game

Burroughs' Jetan inspired authors of later planetary romances to invent similar extra-terrestrial versions of chess fought with human beings. Instances of such homage include:

Lin Carter's Darza, from Renegade of Callisto, eighth volume in his Callisto series
Kenneth Bulmer's Jikaida, from A Life for Kregen, 19th volume in his Dray Prescot series