The Traditional Board Game Series Leaflet #21: Surakarta

SURAKARTA
by Damian Walker
FURTHER INFORMATION
The following books, from which the above information comes, may prove
useful to the interested reader.
Bell, R. C. The Boardgame Book, pp. 96-97. London: Marshall Cav-
endish Ltd., 1979.
Bell, R. C. Discovering Old Board Games, pp. 32-33. Aylesbury:
Shire Publications, Ltd., 1980.
Parlett, D. The Oxford History of Board Games, pp. 249-250. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1999.
Copyright © Damian Walker 2011 - http://boardgames.cyningstan.org.uk/

Illustration 3: the white piece can move in

any of the eight directions shown. It can
also capture the white piece by sliding along
the dotted path. In this nearly empty board,
the white piece could slide in any of the
other cardinal directions and eventually hit Board Games at CYNINGSTAN
the black piece. Traditional Board Game Series
(Second Edition)
4 Leaflet #21
 The Traditional Board Game Series Leaflet #21: Surakarta The Traditional Board Game Series Leaflet #21: Surakarta

movement. tracks. It must, however, take in at

INTRODUCTION & HISTORY least one.
Capturing Enemies
The island of Java has given the but it may have developed from the 9. There is no jumping in a cap-
world the peculiar and interesting game of alquerque, a forerunner of 7. A piece captures an enemy turing move; if another piece blocks
game of surakarta. This game is draughts. Surakarta, however, plays by sliding along a line, around a cir- the way then that capture cannot be
named after an ancient town on the very differently to draughts. cular track, and further along the made.
island, and is remarkable by the un- The game was relatively un- straight line until it lands on the en-
Winning the Game
usual way in which the pieces cap- known in the English-speaking emy piece. The enemy is then re-
ture one another. world until the latter half of the moved from the board. An example 10. A player has won the game
Traditionally, the game was twentieth century. It was first de- is shown in Illustration 3. when he captures all of his oppon-
played on a grid drawn into the scribed in English by R. C. Bell, 8. A capturing move may take ent's pieces.
sand, using stones and cowrie shells from a French source. in more than one of the circular
as pieces. Its origin is uncertain,
HOW TO PLAY
The rules for this game are very 3. Players decide at random
simple, and luckily, as the game who is to move first.
was traditionally played in only one
Moving the Pieces
area of the world, there are no vari-
ations to complicate matters. 4. In a turn, a player may move
one of his pieces from one intersec-
Beginning the Game
tion to an adjacent intersection, ho-
1. The surakarta board consists rizontally, vertically or diagonally,
of a grid of six as shown in Illus-
lines by six, with tration 3.
two concentric cir- 5. Pieces may
cular tracks at not jump over one
each corner, as another, and only
shown in Illustra- one piece may oc-
tion 1. cupy an intersec-
2. Each player tion at any particu-
starts with twelve lar time.
pieces, which are 6. The circu-
placed on the in- lar tracks are used
tersections nearest only for capture;
to him – see Illus- pieces cannot use
tration 2. them for ordinary
Illustration 1: the empty surakarta board. Illustration 2: pieces set out for play.

2 3