Opulent Lemurian Shatranj (2007)

This is a 10x10 chess variant with a unique mix of pieces. The king, rook, knight, and pawn are common to chess and shatranj. The hero and shaman are short range pieces easily as powerful as the rook on a 10x10. These two inclusive compound pieces may step one and/or jump 2 squares, either or both, in either order, changing direction between step and leap if desired, with the hero moving orthogonally and the shaman diagonally. The final piece in the game is a war elephant, the equivalent of an unchained padwar from Jetan, a piece that may move 1 or 2 squares diagonally, changing direction if desired between the first and second steps. The combination of strong and weak pieces, of different ranges and abilities, allows a strategically and tactically rich game with piece balance and variety. The opposed pairs of hero vs rook and shaman vs war elephant provide an intricate series of checks and balances between the pieces.