New game: Shatra - the chess of the Altai

Our new game Shatra is live. Shatra is the chess of the Altai Turks, still played today as a national sport in the Altai Republic. Pieces move like chess but capture by jumping like draughts; capturing is compulsory and can continue in a chain.

How to play

The board has 62 squares: a fortress with a gate at each end and a ditch in the middle. The reserve pieces in the fortress come down one by one; the Batyr and the Tura leave by the great road. A Shatra (pawn) that reaches the last row of the enemy fortress turns into a piece that was captured. There is no checkmate: the game ends when the Biy is captured. The full rules are on How to play Shatra.

What's in the game?

• Piece School: 11 lessons that teach each piece and rule on the board.
• 3 computer levels: Shepherd, Hunter and Elder.
• Play with a friend: two players on one screen.
• A short opening story set in the Altai and 3 board themes.

Today's rules rest on a reconstruction compiled and published by researchers in the 20th century; where the game differs, the rules page says so clearly. Find it with Chess, Tamerlane Chess and Dama on the Mind games page. Free, no sign-up, no download, in 7 languages.