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Burmese Traditional Chess. An article that discusses chess as it was played in Burma. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
Simon Spalding wrote on Wed, May 14, 2003 07:45 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★A really superb article on one of the most intriguing 'traditional/international' Chess variants, one (like Korean Chess)on which available information is limited outside the country/culture of origin. Bravo!
Zay Yar Win Htut wrote on Sat, Dec 27, 2003 06:59 AM UTC:Good ★★★★This is the rare record for the bumese chess. Even some burmese do not know anything about their traditional chess.
I saw people play Burmese Chess, I was interested but could not find one set so I never learned how to play. According to my friends, you can find at shops in Burmese pagoda, such as Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon(Yangon). So if you want a set you have to go to Burma.
May we have more precise information about History: 1) 'Chess arrived in Burma in the 8th century via the kingdoms of Arakan and Mon which had the closest links with the motherland of chess, India.' Is there any elements, sources, to prove that fact ? 2) 'In the 9th century specific rules - different from Chaturanga[1]- were established and, as Pali texts confirm, Burmese chess became quite fashionable as a court game during the Pagan period (1044-1287)' What are those texts ? Any title, name of author, estimated writing date ? 3) 'In the 17th century, a Dutch traveler reported about a unique variety of chess widely played in Burma.' Who was this man? Which year that happened? If all this information is not available, what was the source used to write these very interesting lines about Sittuyin History ? Thanks very much by advance.
I believe there is an error on the page; The Diagram for Yangon Division Championship 1986 has red with three Sins?
A clearly and in-depth written article on Burmese chess, the author has done a very thorough research on it. He obviously knows what he is writing about. Thank you!
This page is extremely informative. I did not know about the history of the game and the appearance of the pieces. I think that the flexible setup reduces White's advantage, especially when White sets up all of his pieces before Black. Perhaps by too much...
I see a new English-language work on Sittuyin has been made available on the internet: http://www.scribd.com/doc/79655591/How-to-Play-Myanmar-Traditional-Chess-EnG-BOOK-1 I thought that it was very helpful both for its diagrammatic presentation of 37 opening arrays, its practical summaries of endgame positions and move counting in endgame, and other helpful details for playing this worthy form of chess.
@Mats Winther: For your Sittuyin ZRF, would you be willing to add traditional piece graphics like the ones in this Sittuyin guide: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13125331/Myanmar%20Chess.zip ? I wonder if you could also add some of these standard setups as options to select, or the other setups not in Maung Maung Lwin's book that are found in David Pritchard's earlier Encyclopedia of Chess Variants (p. 32)?
Thanks, Mats! Those are great additions to your ZRF!
@Mats: Would that be that the AI pieces left the board inexplicably yet stayed in play (although invisible)? If so, I encountered the bug last night and applaud your swift resolution of it.
I noticed that there is an online site for Myanmar (Burmese) Traditional, Chess: http://www.sittuyin.com/ , and that it has an English-language interface. The only drawback is that one must be a Facebook user to logon to play; since I lack a Facebook account, I cannot say anything about whether this is a good site to find opponents or not. As I debate getting access, I wonder if anyone else has experience of this site, the rule set(s) used, and the numbers of opponents (or best times) one is likely to find.
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