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 Another little discussed aspect of African history and culture.

Chess Originated In Afr ica 

A painting of Queen Nefertari playing Senet in the Tomb of Nefertari.

In Ancient Egypt, games were part of religious life. Their most popular game was Senat in whichcounters, or markers, were moved around a game board. Winning the game came by one player removing all of his/her pieces before the opponent did (Hawass,Tutankhamun, p235). A wallpainting on the tomb of the Egyptian queen Nefretari, wife of Ramses II (1304-1237 BC), showsher playing Senat. It symbolizes the struggle between good and evil as well as stands magically for rebirth and resurrection. The African games known as Mancala or Wari are among the oldest

games, dating back at least to 5000 BC. In these games, beans, seeds, and other small objectswere moved around a playing board with hollowed out cups. A player tried to capture as manyobjects as possible. Both Senat and Mancala games and four other types were discovered whenthe tomb of Tutankhamen -- an Egyptian king who reigned from 1348-1339 BC -- was discovered.An Egyptian board game of primitive "checkers" from 1000 BC is in the British Museum. Another type -- called Nine Men's Morris, Mill, Morelles, or Morels -- has been found carved in the roofingslabs of an Egyptian temple and dating between 1400 and 1300 BC. The object of the game, of which there are many versions, is for each player to try to capture an opponent's piece and toprevent the opponent from moving any pieces. Note how closely this resembles Chess as we knowit today.

But Western literature admits that the origin of Chess is uncertain. Whenever such a statement ismade, experience has taught me that the uncertainty most likely indicates it originated in Africa.Many Western scholars believe chess started in Pakistan as an offspring of a Hindu game under the Sanskrit name "Chaturanga" about 500 AD. Others say it is from India or China. Then thegame spread to Persia where it was given the name "Shah" (which means "king") and "Shah mat"('the king is dead'). The Arabs learned the game when they conquered Persia in the 600's and theyintroduced it into Europe by way of Spain, Sicily, and Constantinople. The pieces were named for roles in the courts of kings during the Middle Ages-king, queen, knight, and bishop. Chess' strategy

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 and play are modeled on how wars were fought in the Middle Ages. By the 16th century chessmoves had assumed their modern form.

Chess is a board game consisting of a miniature battlefield whereby the opponents engage inorganized attacks and defense, each conducted with the definite objective of protecting ones king

from being trapped or "checkmated" (i.e. where the king is unable to escape capture). Every newgame is a different battle and the players are the generals who plan the battle. Chess is one of theoldest of all games of pure mental skill as well as one of the most interesting and mind focusingand challenging of all board games. Every game of chess can be recorded in the form of a code sothat after the game is over it can be studied to learn what was done properly and improperly. "After-study" is fundamental to any thinking process that calls for choices, decisions and solutions.Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.

More info:

Senterej – Ethiopian chess with a flying start 

By Dr. René Gralla, Hamburg/Germany

Historians and experts in cultural studies always look towards India, Persia and Arabia – and someeven turn to China, more recently – when they search for the origins of chess. But with regard toAfrica it is a sobering fact that up to now the science of chess has stubbornly ignored that continentwhich is the cradle of mankind.

Africa remains a white spot in the relevant publications so far. That is deplorable since Africa hascontributed its own creative and very entertaining version to the universe of chess: the Ethiopianvariant "Senterej" that has emerged parallel to the hitherto well-known lines of development.

It is thanks to the British historian Professor Richard Pankhurst that the web community can nowlearn a little bit more about this thrilling game, on the Tezeta web site. The following survey onhistory and rules of Senterej is mainly based on the findings of this expert from the UK. Born inLondon in 1927, Professor Pankhurst today lives and works in Ethiopia where he has founded theInstitute of Ethiopian Studies at the University of Addis Ababa.

One of the endearing aspects of Senterej is the fact that beginners do not have to face any major problem to find their way in the scenario of African chess. It is the familiar battleground of 64squares where the two armies clash. You have only to get used to a different colour scheme:instead of "White" versus "Black", it is the "Green" King who wants to defeat the "Golden" Monarch.Moreover the board is not checkered, but uniformly red with fine blue lines marking the squares.

Apart from the somewhat different visual impression in Senterej, the majority of pieces move thesame way their counterparts do in Chess, i.e. they actually conform to the rules of FIDE. Theforegoing is valid with regard to the "castle" (in Ethiopian "der"), that rumbles along like the modernrook, with regard to the "horse" (in Ethiopian: "ferese"), which is the equivalent of our knight, andmore or less with regard to the "king", or the "negus", as the Ethiopians call him, and which has thesame power as his European colleague, except for one difference: there is no privilege of castlingin Senterej.

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 The student of Senterej has to make himself familiar with two special pieces, though. Whereas theWestern Ruler can count on a powerful Amazon standing by his side, namely the queen, theEthiopian king must get along with a weak "Fers" or "Minister". This counsellor moves diagonally,but only one square at a time; therefore the "Fers" is the same as the "Vizier" in the Arabic game of Shatranj. This is a clear indication of the fact that the Ethiopians adopted Shatranj and transformed

it into the African brand of chess they call Senterej.

The Arab connection becomes manifest if we analyse the move of the Ethiopian "Elephant". The"Fil" or "Saba" corresponds to the bishop in western chess. The African Elephant moves diagonallyby either trotting or jumping to the second square; as a result the "Fil" of Senterej corresponds tothe Elephant of Arabic Shatranj.

The heritage from the Golden Age of Arab Chess at the Court of the Caliphs at Baghdad findsexpression in the pawn of Senterej as well. The Ethiopian "Medeq" is modelled on the pawn of Shatranj and marches forward one square per move, no matter if it is the starting position or not.Both in the Arab Shatranj and in Ethiopian Seneterj, there is no initial two-step pawn move,

consequently there is no “en passant” capture option. An Ethiopian "Medeq" that reaches the baseline of the opposing force can be replaced either by a Minister, the "Fers", or by a Castle, a Horseor an Elephant, provided the piece has already been captured by the enemy.

The starting-out position of Senterej is the same as in western chess, but with three modifications:Elephants replace the Bishops; the green Negus, which corresponds to the white king, stands one1, while the golden Negus is placed on d8; and the green Minister occupies d1, whereas thegolden Minister stands on e8.

So far, so good. But there is one unique feature of Senterej that contrasts strongly with all knownvariants of our eternal game: a match of Ethiopian Chess starts with the “Werera" (pronounced"way-ray-ruh"), the "mobilization phase", during which the players move as fast as they wishwithout waiting for their opponent to move. Thus both players may operate simultaneously. AsRichard Pankhurst points out, in a brief study: Werera simulates "the marshalling of troops andadvance, or, as one might put it, the deployment of forces for an attack in progress" on thechessboard (see: "History and Principles of Ethiopian Chess", in: Journal of Ethiopian Studies,1971, XI, no. 2, p. 149 pp., p. 163).

After Werera has started the opponents move as many pieces as they can lay their hands on.Though at this stage a stranger might suppose that there is great confusion on the board,Pankhurst reports that the duellists in fact keenly watch the moves of their adversary and changetheir tactics accordingly, frequently withdrawing the moves they have already made andsubstituting others so as to be in the most favourable position at the moment of the first capture.

The mobilization phase ends when the first capture occurs. After that the players move alternatelyas in the modern game. The big advantage of Werera is that it creates randomized initial positions,which is why it makes no sense to memorize long sequences of openings. Senterej gives amplescope for creativity at the beginning of the game, unlike western chess, where a deep study of openings theory is a prerequisite to tournament success. There is no advantage to be gained fromthat in Senterej.

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Traditionally Senterej has been the favourite pastime of the Ethiopian nobility. Hence it is notsurprising that there is a relentless code of honour with regard to checkmate. Pankhurst explainsthat all form of checkmates are not considered equally honourable (see: "History and Principles of Ethiopian Chess", in: Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 1971, XI, no. 2, p. 149 pp., p. 168 p). He cites

Walter Plowden, British envoy to Ethiopia, in the middle of the 19th century and author of the book"Travels in Abyssinia and the Galla Country", who has observed that "for instance, a checkmatewith the rooks or the knights is considered of the merest tyro", that is to say, these pieces, "thoughassisting in throwing the net round the enemy, must not deal the fatal stroke". The use of the Horse"is just endurable".

Checkmate with a single Elephant "is tolerably good", the chess traveller on Her Majesty's Servicestate, but checkmating with two Elephants is "applauded – that is, so entangling the king that hehas but two squares free", which, being commanded by the Elephants, "you check with one, andmate with the other". Plowden adds: "Mating with one, two, three or four pawns, the latter twoparticularly, is considered the non plus ultra of the game."

Once more Professor Pankhurst refers to Plowden who unveiled one more "peculiarity" in Senterej:Checkmate is considered "more meritorious" if the adversary had not been denuded of all his major pieces. The foregoing is a matter of etiquette, but that is not all. There is a special trap theunsuspecting beginner can stumble into: it is almost necessary to leave the enemy King two of his"capital pieces", because, if you reduce him to one, say, an Elephant or a Horse, the opponentcommences counting his moves, and you must checkmate him before he has made seven moveswith that given piece, otherwise the match will be drawn. Pankhurst underlines that there is onemore way out for the adversary in a desperate situation: the lonely Elephant or Horse, cannot betaken, as the game is considered drawn as soon as one side has lost all its capital pieces withouthaving been checkmated.In a nutshell

In Senterej both sides start playing at the same time without waiting for turns. They only start totake turns after the First Capture. The phase before first capture is called the Mobilization Phase or werera. Both opposing sides start at the same time, and may move their pieces as many times asthey like without concern for the number of moves the opponent makes.

The pieces move in the regular fashion, as under FIDE rules, which all apply, except in Senterej:

1. Pawn cannot capture en passant.2. The two-square first move by a pawn is prohibited. Since a player can move the pawn anunlimited number of times during mobilization, the two-step rule is irrelevant. However, the two-square first move for pawns - if it were legal - would become relevant once the mobilization phaseends after first capture.

Etiquette and protocol in Senterej also differs from other kinds of chess. It is considered better todefeat one's opponent while they still have strong pieces on the board. [Source: Wikipedia]

Emperor Dawit II., better known by his birth name Lebna Dengel (1501-1540), has gone down inhistory as one of the early stars of Senterej. We learn from Pankhurst that the Negus Negest is

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 said to have played chess with the Venetian artist Gregorio Bicini who worked at the Ethiopiancourt back then. Other big names in the history of Ethiopian Chess are Ras Michael Sehul of Tigre(ca. 1691-1779), his grandson Ras Wolde Sellassie (ca. 1745-1816) and Sahle Sellassie, King of Shewa (ca. 1795-1847).

And there was even a strong female player who taught her male challengers many bitter lessons atthe board of Senterej: Taytu Betul (ca. 1851-1918), the third of four children in an aristocraticEthiopian family that was related to the Solomonic Dynasty – the traditional Imperial House of Ethiopia, claiming descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Taytu Betul married KingMenelik of Shewa, later Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia.

The decendent of the Queen of Sheba has lived up to her name by answering the Italian envoy,Count Antonelli, who tried to bully the hesitant Menelik II into accepting the establishment of aprotectorate over Ethiopia: "I am a woman. I do not like war. However, I would rather die thanaccepting your deal. We have our dignity to preserve." The outspoken and courageous Empress

took part in the campaign of 1895-96 against the Italian expeditionary corps that invaded Ethiopiaafter the breakdown of the negotiations with Rome. She joined forces with Emperor Menelik II andthe Imperial Army, commanding 3000 cannoneers at the Battle of Adowa, which resulted in ahumiliating defeat for Italy on March 1st, 1896.

Senterej was still being played at the Imperial Palace in Addis Ababa at the time of the secondItalian invasion 1935-1936. During the second half of the 20th century, however, Senterej hasincreasingly been superseded by modern chess. One of the last old masters of Senterej, MiikaelImru, sadly passed away in 2008.

But more recently there have been plans to start a revival of Senterej. Richard Pankhurst hasproposed staging a tournament of Senterej, and there are plans to organize it on the occasion of Ethiopias National Holiday, the Day of Adowa on March 2nd, 2010. It could be a festive affair: theaudience at a Senterej game is not compelled to be silent. On the contrary: provided that is not anofficial tournament every onlooker can participate and has a voice in the game. The spectators areeven allowed to touch the pieces in order to suggest advisable moves. That is the cheerful Africanspirit in chess – just the way Empress Taytu Betul loved it.

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 white king, stands on e1, while the golden Negus is placed on d8; and the green Minister occupiesd1, whereas the golden Minister stands on e8.

Egyptian Senet Game board

Ruins of the Castle of Fasilidas, Gonder, Ethiopia

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Taytu Betul, Empress of Ethiopia and avid Senterej player 

Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia and also an Avid Senterej player and brilliant military strategist.

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Senterej pieces

This photo was from an 19th century postcard with a French caption reading “Algers–Negres jouant aux Echecs” meaning “Algiers–Moors playing Chess.”

Moors playing Shatranj in Castile, 1283AD.