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i think the rules are pretty clear, layman and easily work without any modification and am surprised that so many people, who seem familiar with so many gaming dynamics (that i am ignorant of for the most part) are so thrown and have so many questions and misunderstandings about this profoundly simple and highly entertaining game. read the appendix as written and enjoy a classic themed variant on jasoomian chess. burroughs also explained the "historical" significance of orange and black pieces and the moves of the odwar and princess are in no way complicated beyond their english written value. i think people are splitting hairs in the extreme.
If anyone who has read this book or series of books, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and thinks that this game is a representation of a war between the yellow and black races of Mars. That is totally wrong as far as I'm concerned. This game was invented by E.R.B. so that there would be an analog to chess and i don't know why he chose black and orange for the color pieces. If you read all of the books,(at least the first five), you would have read that the yellow race disappeared thousands of years ago and the only struggle that the black race had was with the Therns who were WHITE and wore yellow wigs. Before book #3 the yellow races was a lost race just like the blacks were a lost race until book #2.
Now as to why in book#5 there is no flier, in this game is because the city has none and no contact with the outside world except for the various raids that they conduct. They are a very hidebound culture and still believe in ghosts and supernatural creatures. They don't use fliers so why would their games have them. They use a piece called an odwar. it has the same movements. I'm sure that in the modern red races' past they had the same piece but they just renamed it to reflect the ever changing culture and to reflect on the significience of the flier on their everyday lives. Please forward any remarks on my opinion to [email protected] i'd welcome any comments.
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