Maharajah and the Sepoys

Maharajah and the Sepoys

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Starting position. White queen is a maharajah; it can move as queen or knight.

Maharajah and the Sepoys, originally called Shatranj Diwana Shah, is a popular chess variant with different armies for white and black. It was first played in the 19th century in India.

Black has a full, standard chess army ("sepoys") in the usual position. White is limited to a single piece, the maharajah, which can move as either a queen or as a knight on White's turn. Black's goal is to checkmate the maharajah, while white's is to checkmate black's king. There is no pawn promotion.

The asymmetry of the game pits movement flexibility and agility against greater force in numbers. By perfect play black always wins in this game, at least on an 8x8 board. According to Hans Bodlaender, "A carefully playing black player should be able to win. However, this is not always easy, and in many cases, when the white 'Maharaja' breaks through the lines of black, he has good chances to win."

However, the following algorithm can help the black to win:

• Step 1: The Maharaja can only check the black King from squares that are attacked by black.
• Step 2: All black pieces other than King are at protected by at least one other pieces, or if there are any unprotected black pieces, Maharaja can only attack them from squares attacked by black.
• Step 3: All black moves are done only to squares that were attacked by black before that moves.

Using such a sequece of moves, black can finally create a situation where every empty square of the board is attacked.

External links

• The Maharaja and the Sepoys by Hans L. Bodlaender.
• Brainking Rules page