has occupied the square he would move into.13
According to Mr. H. O. Robinson,
Castling is effected in various ways in different parts of the Malay Peninsula and Straits Settlements; the recognized method in Selangor is to move two squares whether a piece intervenes or not,14 but not in conjunction with one of the Rooks. This is permitted even if the King is in check. The King may, also, before he is checked or moved from his own square, once move or take like a Knight. In Clifford and Swettenham’s Malay Dictionary it is stated that the King may, also, if he has not moved or been checked, move once over two vacant squares15; this privilege move is unknown to the Selangor Malays.
Finally v. Oefele says that in Batak chess the King may, for his first move, move from e1 to any of e2, e3, d1, d2, d3, e1, c2, f1, f2, f3, g1, g2—12 squares in all. Five of these are in virtue of its ordinary power of move, and 7 are to a second square. There are also two other squares, viz. c3 and g3, which are also only distant two squares, but no mention is made of them, and we must conclude therefore that the old leap of the Elephant in Arabic chess is prohibited. The leap may be made to remedy the first check, but at no subsequent turn of play, even if the first check is remedied by the interposition of a man or by the capture of the cheeking piece.
The use of the term ‘castling’ is of course inaccurate, since the manœuvre intended takes two moves. The leap naturally follows the Rook’s move, since the latter piece has no power of jumping. The manœuvre is quite well known, and occurs nine times in the nine games from native play that v. Oefele gives; on two of these occasions the King leaps out of check. In another game he makes the Knight’s leap in order to capture a Pawn.
The differences in practice are accordingly in connexion with two points: (1) whether the Rāja can or cannot make the leap when checked for the first time; and (2) to which of all the squares two steps distant the leap can be made. The rules given by the older observers are not sufficiently explicit here.
Every Bīdaq or Pawn is permitted the double-step for its first move, precisely as in European chess. Variety of practice appears to occur in connexion with taking in passing. Raja Brooke (Borneo) says:
A Pawn, moved out, cannot pass an adversary’s Pawn; his first move being restricted to one square in this case.
Sir T. Stamford Raffles (Java), on the contrary, allows the Pawn ‘passar battaglia’;
The Pawn may move two squares the first move, even though it should pass the check of an adversary’s Pawn.16
Robinson and v. Oefele give the rule thus: A Pawn can only take another Pawn in passing when its own advance is blocked by another Pawn; e.g. with white Pawns on g2 and h3 and a black Pawn on h4, if White plays Pg4, Black may reply P × P in passing17; if however there were no Pawn on h3, Black could not take the Pawn on g4 in passing, because he is not now blocked. This is a refinement which a casual observer would miss, and it is quite possible that it is the rule in Borneo and Java, and that the apparent discrepancy does not really exist.18 Robinson notes a further peculiarity in Pawn-play among the Selangor Malays. If White has a Pawn on h2, and Black a Pawn on g3, White being to play, he cannot play Ph3 or Ph4, but must play P × P, i.e. if he move the h-Pawn. If however White had also a Pawn on f2, he may now play either of the Pawns to its 3rd or take the Black Pawn, but he may not play either Pawn to its 4th.
V. Oefele states that the Bataks allow the King’s Pawn to defer its double step until its second move, e.g. 1 Pd3; 2 (or later) P(d3) d5; in such a case it is liable to be captured in passing on its second move, with similar conditions to those already given.
Pawn-promotion is quite different from the European practice. Generally a Pawn is promoted immediately on reaching the 8th rank only on the corner squares. Elsewhere it has to make some further move or moves. Raja Brooke says ‘two extra moves’ and illustrates the rule in the case of a Pawn played to c8; it is promoted by 1 Pb8, 2 Pa8; or 1 Pb8, 2 c7 or a7; or 1 d8, 2 e8 or e7. He explains that ‘this is a delay rather than a prevention, as from the number of squares which may be taken, it is extremely difficult to guard them all’. Sir T. Raffles, on the other hand, says that the Pawn after reaching its 8th rank on any file excepting the Rook’s files ‘must retrograde three moves before it can become a Queen’. This in Zimmermann’s somewhat loose description becomes: ‘the 3 joy-leaps (Freudensprünge) of Ströbeck are necessary before queening a Pawn.’ Robinson’s full account will again help to clear up these discrepancies. He says:
When a Pawn has reached the eighth square on the Rook’s file it queens at once; the player has also the option of selecting any other piece. If on reaching R7 a piece on Kt square is en prise and captured on the next move, the Pawn must move back one square diagonally before queening. On reaching the eighth rank of the Knight’s file it has to move back one square diagonally, either to the right or left, before queening; on the Bishop’s file two squares, and on the King’s or Queen’s file three squares.
I think it is obvious from this that the two diagonal lines that are drawn on the chessboard of the Peninsula are associated with this rule of promotion. The diagonals pass through the Rook’s squares, and promotion takes place at once, the Kt square is distant one square diagonally, and an additional diagonal move is necessary before promotion takes place. The B square is distant two, and the K and Q squares are distant three squares, and in these cases two and three diagonal moves are respectively necessary.
V. Oefele’s rules of Pawn-promotion are different again. Some of the Bataks do not know any rule, and when a Pawn has reached its eighth rank it turns about and retraces its way square by square across the board still moving and capturing as a Pawn, and it has the possibility of marching up and down the board an unlimited number of times.19 Generally the Batak players require an additional diagonal move to be made before promotion is possible. The two concluding steps—that from the 7th to the 8th rank, and the diagonal step—may both be made in the same turn of play, a double move called gelong, which is subject to the opponent’s right to take the Pawn in passing on the 8th rank. A Pawn may make a capture on the second move of the gelong. The gelong may not be played if the Pawn give check by the first part of the move. For example: White P on e7, Black R on f7. White can play P–e8–f7 taking the R, all in one move. If, however, the Black K be on d7 he can only play Pe8, check! Similarly, if it is possible to take a piece on the 8th rank, this capture is obligatory when the Pawn is moved, and the gelong is forbidden. In these two cases a second move is necessary to secure the right to promotion. Apparently the promotion is still incomplete and the Rāja must next make a move.20 The promoted Pawn is now permitted to move in accordance with its new dignity, but it is still debarred from making a capture until its second move. It is not stated whether the Pawn is immune from capture during these operations. When finally promoted it can take the rank of any piece.21
This is a very long and complicated process, and very different from the rule as given by Robinson. It will be remembered that the Batak board is also covered with an elaborate network of lines which would not suggest a rule for promotion in the same way as the board of the mainland.
It is usual on the mainland to warn a player that his Mantri is under attack. Blagden gives mor as the call for this purpose. Robinson gives dōman as used at Selangor when the capture is threatened by another Mantri, and mā as used when any other piece makes the threat.
The term for discovered check is aras.22 This is derived from the Arabic i‘ra (Per. ‘irā, Hindustani ‘arop) which is regularly used in this sense in the earlier writers. Robinson gives aras sah as meaning double check and aras mā as a check which forks the Mantri. V. Oefele notes that the Bataks make a distinction between sah, direct check, and aras, discovered check. If the latter is irremediable—i.e. in European parlance is mate—the Batak calls the game drawn (sri): e.g. White, Kg1, Qh6, Kth7; Black, Kh8; the move Kt(h7)f6 is aras and the game is drawn. This leads to a still greater anomaly, a piece which is covering a check is deemed to have no power of giving check to the opposing King: e.g. White, Kg5, Bg4; Black, Ke2, Rf3, Pd3; White can calmly play Kf4 and draw the game.
Stalemate, called metuh (v. Oefele), or mūttu (Robinson), is reckoned as a draw.
There