Martian Chess

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

　　JETAN, OR MARTIAN CHESSFor those who care for such things, and would like to try thegame, I give the rules of Jetan as they were given me by JohnCarter. By writing the names and moves of the various pieces onbits of paper and pasting them on ordinary checkermen the gamemay be played quite as well as with the ornate pieces used uponMars.

　　THE BOARD: Square board consisting of one hundred alternate blackand orange squares.

　　THE PIECES: In order, as they stand upon the board in the firstrow, from left to right of each player.

　　Warrior: 2 feathers; 2 spaces straight in any direction orcombination.

　　Padwar: 2 feathers; 2 spaces diagonal in any direction orcombination.

　　Dwar: 3 feathers; 3 spaces straight in any direction orcombination.

　　Flier: 3 bladed propellor; 3 spaces diagonal in any direction orcombination; and may jump intervening pieces.

　　Chief: Diadem with ten jewels; 3 spaces in any direction;straight or diagonal or combination.

　　Princess: Diadem with one jewel; same as Chief, except may jumpintervening pieces.

　　Flier: See above.

　　Dwar: See above.

　　Padwar: See above.

　　Warrior: See above.

　　And in the second row from left to right:

　　Thoat: Mounted warrior 2 feathers; 2 spaces, one straight and onediagonal in any direction.

　　Panthans: (8 of them): 1 feather; 1 space, forward, side, ordiagonal, but not backward.

　　Thoat: See above.

　　The game is played with twenty black pieces by one player andtwenty orange by his opponent, and is presumed to have originallyrepresented a battle between the Black race of the south and theYellow race of the north. On Mars the board is usually arrangedso that the Black pieces are played from the south and the Orangefrom the north.

　　The game is won when any piece is placed on same square withopponent's Princess, or a Chief takes a Chief.

　　The game is drawn when either Chief is taken by a piece otherthan the opposing Chief, or when both sides are reduced to threepieces, or less, of equal value and the game is not won in theensuing ten moves, five apiece.

　　The Princess may not move onto a threatened square, nor may shetake an opposing piece. She is entitled to one ten-space move atany time during the game. This move is called the escape.

　　Two pieces may not occupy the same square except in the finalmove of a game where the Princess is taken.

　　When a player, moving properly and in order, places one of hispieces upon a square occupied by an opponent piece, the opponentpiece is considered to have been killed and is removed from thegame.

　　The moves explained. Straight moves mean due north, south, east,or west; diagonal moves mean northeast, southeast, southwest, ornorthwest. A Dwar might move straight north three spaces, ornorth one space and east two spaces, or any similar combinationof straight moves, so long as he did not cross the same squaretwice in a single move. This example explains combination moves.

　　The first move may be decided in any way that is agreeable toboth players; after the first game the winner of the precedinggame moves first if he chooses, or may instruct his opponent tomake the first move.

　　Gambling: The Martians gamble at Jetan in several ways. Of coursethe outcome of the game indicates to whom the main stake belongs;but they also put a price upon the head of each piece, accordingto its value, and for each piece that a player loses he pays itsvalue to his opponent.