. . . Of someone with too much curiosity and time on my hands ? and too little sleep.

Here?s what happened. I purchased a new computer desk for my home over the weekend, put it together (thank you, Sci Fi Channel?s ?Twilight Zone? Marathon for keeping me going), and then took the opportunity to reorganize my mess. In doing so, I rediscovered some old computer games long overlooked. Some are on 5 1/4 inch disks (gotta do something about that) but others are on 3 1/2 inchers, including one of my all-time favorites, Chinese Battle Chess.

Sorry George & Co., but I?ve always preferred Chinese chess to the western version. It moves faster at the beginning ? primarily because of the crucial addition of the Cannon piece, which is loads of fun ? but then gets mind-bogglingly hard towards the end. I?m not alone. Believe it or not, Chinese chess is the more popular one, probably the most widely played board game in the world. It is also older than western chess, which was codified in its current form in Italy towards the end of the 15th century.

Actually, last night I looked up the history of Chinese chess and couldn?t stop pursuing links. Most chess players buy the notion that the game originated in India as a board game called chaturanga in about 500-600 CE and later spread east, west, north, & south. But this notion is not based on much in the way of historical or linguistic research. A number of scholars, and a very interesting linguist and chess master named Sam Sloan, argue that the game originated in China, in something like the current form (known in China as Shaingchi, phoenetically spelled, or as Xiangpi using the goofy translation system the Commies came up with). I think the evidence for a Chinese origin of chess is compelling, but you be the judge. The only piece of logic I question in Sloan?s argument is that he places significance in the fact that chess is little played among Hindus, but that doesn?t necessarily prove anything about historical origins. Buddhism originated in India but is little practiced there now.

Here?s a good summary of how Chinese chess is played. The best part of my computer version is that it is (however crudely) animated, so you get to see swordfights, nimble Mandarins, and the Chariot (Rook) turn into a dragon and eat pawns and stuff.