Shuuro

Shuuro recreates a battlefield on a twelve by twelve squares chessboard, which is therefore larger than a traditional chessboard (8X8). On this, before each game the players place eight cubic plinths of the same dimensions as the squares themselves, to represent in a stylised fashion the elements of terrain and buildings that are found on battlefields. These plinths obstacle the movement of the pieces, limiting the advantage that queen, rooks and bishops would have on such a large board, and instead favouring knights, that can jump these obstacles or even use them as impregnable castles. The fact that the plinths are randomly placed before each game ensures that the game is always new and challenging.

The second concept that sets Shuuro apart from traditional chess is the choice of chess pieces, which simulates the fact that in reality armies are never identical to the enemy. Like in three-dimensional wargaming, each piece available to the player’s choice has a set points value (for example, a Queen is worth 110 points, a rook is 70 points and a pawn is 10). Before the game, the players decide how many points they will be able to field in total (800 points, for example), and then build a chess army depending on their tactical preferences. So a player might have an army consisting of two queens, three rooks, four bishops, four knights and six pawns, while the opponent could have opted for no queens, but two rooks, six bishops, eight knights and twelve pawns.

Once again, the great variety of possible permutations, combined with the changing of the battlefield, makes every game of Shuuro different from the previous one.