Great chess

Great chess or Large chess (Arabic: shatranj al-kabir) is a family of large board historical chess variants which were played in the Middle East and Central Asia. Great chess includes variants played on larger chessboards like Tamerlane chess and Turkish Great Chess. These games were called "great chess" because they were played on larger boards (11×10, 13×13 etc), while shatranj as-saghir ("small chess" i.e. standard shatranj) was played on the smaller 8×8 board.

Like modern chess, these games are derived from medieval shatranj. One variant of great chess, also called Tamerlane chess, was developed in Central Asia during the reign of Emperor Timur, and its invention is also attributed to him. Although the game is similar to modern chess, it is distinctive in that there are varieties of pawn, each of which promotes in its own way.

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