JETAN, OR MARTIAN CHESS

For those who care for such things, and would like to try the

game, I give the rules of Jetan as they were given me by John

Carter. By writing the names and moves of the various pieces on

bits of paper and pasting them on ordinary checkermen the game

may be played quite as well as with the ornate pieces used upon

Mars.

THE BOARD: Square board consisting of one hundred alternate black

and orange squares.

THE PIECES: In order, as they stand upon the board in the first

row, from left to right of each player.

Warrior: 2 feathers; 2 spaces straight in any direction or

combination.

Padwar: 2 feathers; 2 spaces diagonal in any direction or

combination.

Dwar: 3 feathers; 3 spaces straight in any direction or

combination.

Flier: 3 bladed propellor; 3 spaces diagonal in any direction or

combination; 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 jump

intervening 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 one

diagonal in any direction.

Panthans: (8 of them): 1 feather; 1 space, forward, side, or

diagonal, but not backward.

Thoat: See above.

The game is played with twenty black pieces by one player and

twenty orange by his opponent, and is presumed to have originally

represented a battle between the Black race of the south and the

Yellow race of the north. On Mars the board is usually arranged

so that the Black pieces are played from the south and the Orange

from the north.

The game is won when any piece is placed on same square with

opponent's Princess, or a Chief takes a Chief.

The game is drawn when either Chief is taken by a piece other

than the opposing Chief, or when both sides are reduced to three

pieces, or less, of equal value and the game is not won in the

ensuing ten moves, five apiece.

The Princess may not move onto a threatened square, nor may she

take an opposing piece. She is entitled to one ten-space move at

any time during the game. This move is called the escape.

Two pieces may not occupy the same square except in the final

move of a game where the Princess is taken.

When a player, moving properly and in order, places one of his

pieces upon a square occupied by an opponent piece, the opponent

piece is considered to have been killed and is removed from the

game.

The moves explained. Straight moves mean due north, south, east,

or west; diagonal moves mean northeast, southeast, southwest, or

northwest. A Dwar might move straight north three spaces, or

north one space and east two spaces, or any similar combination

of straight moves, so long as he did not cross the same square

twice in a single move. This example explains combination moves.

The first move may be decided in any way that is agreeable to

both players; after the first game the winner of the preceding

game moves first if he chooses, or may instruct his opponent to

make the first move.

Gambling: The Martians gamble at Jetan in several ways. Of course

the outcome of the game indicates to whom the main stake belongs;

but they also put a price upon the head of each piece, according

to its value, and for each piece that a player loses he pays its

value to his opponent.