How to Play Timuria: A Complete Guide for Beginners

Even if you've never played chess before, you can learn Timuria in just a few minutes. The core logic is the same as classical chess: players alternate moves, capture each other's pieces, and the goal is to leave the opponent's King with no way out. The difference is a larger board (11×10) and a handful of new pieces not found in classical chess.

The Board and Turn Order

White always moves first, then players alternate. To make a move, click your own piece first — it gets highlighted with a gold outline and its legal destination squares are marked — then click a marked square. Capturing a piece is shown with a red outline; moving to an empty square is shown with a small dot.

What Do the Pieces Do?

• King: moves 1 square in any direction. Lose it and the game is over.
• Vizier: moves only 1 square, horizontally or vertically.
• General: moves only 1 square, diagonally.
• Giraffe: moves 1 square diagonally first, then continues at least 3 squares in that same horizontal/vertical direction.
• Scout: moves diagonally like a bishop, but must move at least 2 squares.
• Knight: leaps in an "L" shape like a classical chess knight, jumping over other pieces.
• Rook: moves any number of squares horizontally or vertically, as long as the path is clear.
• Elephant: leaps exactly 2 squares diagonally — jumping over any pieces in between.
• Camel: leaps in a "long knight" 3-and-1 pattern, jumping over other pieces.
• War Machine: leaps exactly 2 squares horizontally or vertically.

Every piece also has its own pawn (11 pawn types in all!). Pawns move only 1 square forward and capture diagonally. A pawn that reaches the last rank automatically promotes to its matching major piece — except the King's Pawn, which doesn't promote to the King itself, but to a special piece called the Prince, which moves like a King but isn't "royal."

Two Special Rules

Citadel: on either side of the board you'll see a gold/silver circle jutting outside the normal squares. Only the opposing King may enter it, and doing so ends the game in an immediate draw. You can never enter your own citadel, and no other piece may ever enter either citadel.

King Swap: once per game, each player may instantly swap their King with one of their own pieces. Think of it as a lifeline when you're in danger — when you select your King, this option (if available) appears highlighted in blue over your other pieces.

How to Win

• Checkmate: win by threatening the opponent's King so it can't escape by any move.
• Bare King: win if your opponent has no pieces left besides their King.
• Stalemate — different from classical chess! If the player to move has no legal move at all (even without being in check), that player loses. In modern chess, stalemate is a draw; in Timuria, it isn't. This rule comes straight from the historical sources and fundamentally reshapes the game's strategy.