Chadarangam - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Chadaranga Pikkalu
	Rāju (king King (chess) In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be... )
	Mantri (minister or queen Queen (chess) The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts... )
	Enugu (elephant or rook Rook (chess) A rook is a piece in the strategy board game of chess. Formerly the piece was called the castle, tower, marquess, rector, and comes... )
	Śakaṭamu (chariot or bishop Bishop (chess) A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen... )
	Gurramu (horse or knight Knight (chess) The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight . It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, one square from the corner... )
	Banṭu (foot-soldier or pawn Pawn (chess) The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces... )

Chadarangam is an Andhra or Telugu

Telugu people

The Telugu people or Telugu Prajalu are an ethnic group of India. They are the native speakers of the Telugu language, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali...

version of Indian chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

, Chaturanga
Chaturanga
Chaturanga is an ancient Indian game that is presumed to be the common ancestor of the games of chess, shogi, and makruk, and related to xiangqi and janggi.Chaturanga developed in Gupta India around the 6th century...

. It became very famous among kings and courtesans. Previously chariots (Ratha) were used in warfare, but in medieval times chariots were replaced by camels (Oṣṭra). So, the bishop

Bishop (chess)

A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...

in olden days was called Ratha / Śakaṭa and in medieval ages was called Oṣṭra.

Origin of the Word

This name may be derived from the Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

word Chaturanga
Chaturanga
Chaturanga is an ancient Indian game that is presumed to be the common ancestor of the games of chess, shogi, and makruk, and related to xiangqi and janggi.Chaturanga developed in Gupta India around the 6th century...

or Persian word Chatrang. The Sanskrit

Sanskrit

word Chaturanga has a direct meaning "having four limbs". But in a military context it has meaning "an entire army (comprising elephants, chariots, cavalry, and infantry)".

Names of Pieces

Pieces

Chess piece

Chess pieces or chessmen are the pieces deployed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. The pieces vary in abilities, giving them different values in the game...

will be of two colours: black (Nalla) and white (Tella). In Telugu, pieces are called pikka (plural – pikkalu). Each side has mainly six types of pieces

Chess piece

Chess pieces or chessmen are the pieces deployed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. The pieces vary in abilities, giving them different values in the game...

, namely:

Rāju (Rāja) / king
King (chess)
In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...
Mantri (Mantri) / queen
Queen (chess)
The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts...
Śakaṭam (Ratha) / bishop
Bishop (chess)
A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...
Gurram (Aśva) / knight
Knight (chess)
The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight . It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, one square from the corner...
Enugu (Gaja) / rook
Rook (chess)
A rook is a piece in the strategy board game of chess. Formerly the piece was called the castle, tower, marquess, rector, and comes...
Banṭu (Sainika) / pawn
Pawn (chess)
The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...

Movements

Their movements are designed accordingly in the Chadarangam as:

Rāju moves orthogonally or diagonal
Diagonal
A diagonal is a line joining two nonconsecutive vertices of a polygon or polyhedron. Informally, any sloping line is called diagonal. The word "diagonal" derives from the Greek διαγώνιος , from dia- and gonia ; it was used by both Strabo and Euclid to refer to a line connecting two vertices of a...

ly only one square at a time.
Mantri moves orthogonally or diagonally, any number of squares.
Śakaṭamu moves diagonally any number of squares and always stays on one of the two chequered colours.
Gurramu normal "L" shaped jumping move (two spaces in one direction and one space orthogonally to it). It is the only piece that can jump over other pieces.
Enugu moves orthogonally to the players (forward, backward, left or right) any number of squares.
Banṭu (Bhatudu) moves one space straight forward (away from the player). On its first move it can optionally move two spaces forward. If there is an enemy piece diagonally (either left or right) one space in front of the pawn, the pawn may move diagonally to capture that piece.

Terminology

In Telugu, a move is called Ettu. (Here "t" is pronounced as "t" in Telugu.)
Checkmate
Checkmate
Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...

is called Āṭakaṭṭu.
Stalemate
Stalemate
Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. A stalemate ends the game in a draw. Stalemate is covered in the rules of chess....

is called Āṭataṭṭu.
Check is called Rāju.
Square is called Gaḍi.
Piece is called Pikka.
White is called Tella.
Black is called Nalla.

Some Important Rules

Always the white king (Tella Rāju) should be on a black square (Nalla Gaḍi) and the black king (Nalla Rāju) should be on a white square (Tella Gaḍi).

Though defeating the opponent is main aim, honouring the opponent's king is also very important. I.e., the game becomes very complex, if all the king's premier army is killed (the four limbs, Chatur+Anga) without using good strategy.

Either checkmate
Checkmate
Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...

or stalemate
Stalemate
Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. A stalemate ends the game in a draw. Stalemate is covered in the rules of chess....

(Rāja digbhandanam) is considered a win. In other cases, it is considered as a draw.

Significance of these pieces

It really stuns us the way the position and movements of pieces (Anga) were, as they correctly suit the reality of Indian warfare situations.

Rāju (king) is the most powerful, but often won't come into action unless required. The knight-move (Gurrapu Ettu) of a king (Rāja) resembles the escape of a king for a safer location at the most crucial time (Āpaddharma kāla) in warfare.

Mantri (queen) is the next most powerful person in an Indian empire/kingdom. Though the king only passes the decrees, actually it is the Prime Minister who actually decides all kinds of acts and strategies that are required for the welfare of the king/kingdom. (In Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

, Mantri means Prime Minister.)

Śakaṭamu (bishop) is known for their famous zig-zag movements while attacking. Often the opponent doesn't take into consideration the presence of chariots which in turn give stunning, often devastating blows in Indian warfare. (Actually Śakaṭa is a Sanskrit word meaning chariot.)

Gurramu (knight) is known for its irregular jumping movements which often keeps the opponent in a dilemma for a moment. Interestingly, even in the game it is the Gurramu (knight) that has a greater number of moves than any other piece. (In Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

, Gurramu means horse.)

Enugu (rook) is known for straightforward devastating attacks. Often the opponent knows its advance but cannot escape. In olden days Enugu (rook) played a very important role in scattering the army of an enemy, thereby making them deviate from their strategic movements. (In Telugu, Enugu means elephant.)