1.

The Batak

It is necessary to give some general information about the people who kept for
us the game in its original purity. The bataks form a branch of the great Malay
family, which inhabits the Sunda archipelago. Next to the Lubus, which almost died
out, they represent the primitive population of Sumatra, where up to the present day
they have dominated the highlands in the middle of the island. Of the four tribes
into which this nation is divided, only three, the Pakpak, Tobah, and Timor-Batak,
were considered to feed on human beings as a sacrificial sacrifice, while for the
Karons, which partly belonged to the Sultanates, human sacrifice did not gain
ground. The nominal head of the free Bataks, which are recruited from the three
first tribes, is the Sing-Manga-Radjah. The fable weaves around this personality a
mystic veil which stands in slight contradiction with his actual power over his
subjects, who are not too much concerned about him. The respective representative
of this rank is said to have been born in the mother's womb for seven years.
Regarding the spelling of the word "Batak" the opinions diverge. I shall here
merely give the reasons for my spelling. The only deity of this people is Debatah,
with which it stands in a striking contrast to its neighbors. If the Batakians
themselves were to be the children of the Debatah, the conclusion might well be that
the Orang Batak was originally called Orang Debatah, which in German makes the
only correct word "Bataker" permissible.
Historical traditions are extremely deficient, and as far as Ratzel says of the
myths and fables, "In the case of the advanced tribes, the book has preserved quite
unchangingly, but mostly as a treasure whose right value is no longer known in that
it did not entirely overthrow the monuments of the past, and certainly contributed
to maintaining a people like the Batakians on a certain level, according to the close
connection with the native culture, "still surpasses the conditions. How the little use
made by the Bataker of his writings, which enjoys a general knowledge, has always
surprised me.
In the ability to learn, the Bataker is, however, quite considerable, but the ease
with which the syllable is written is chiefly contributory to its survival. A proof of the
comprehension of the people is certainly the fact that I know several village
battalions, who have acquired the knowledge of the Latin and Arabic characters in
addition to their native characters. The latter are mostly only used to be able to read
Malayian ridiculous stories. In spite of all this, as has been said, their written
traditions are of such diligence that the inadequate oral traditions are surpassed by
those. The more and more rare Pustakas, Batakic scrolls, are given their importance
when they are still attached to them, and have a chief medical significance. The
historical themes of these writings belong to the legend or the fable. The fact was
never found in the record.
In these circumstances, it is clear that there are no historical communications
regarding the popular game of chess. Since the events which this people had welded
together from different races would remain forever in the dark, we can conclude
only to the extent that they allow us to have exceptional features. According to these,
the Batakians were the result of multiple blood mixtures, according to legend and
the idiom, the Javanese element must have been strongly represented. The pliant
nature of the Javanese was a good remedy for this racial fusion which took place in
the Lubus region through the probable subsequent spiritual invasion of the Indians
and Persians. Through common morality, this new people united with or without
violence into a realm of law and culture.
By the enemy of every culture, the end, the Batakian community sank, and the
butt of the native Maturalist broke through the glaze in many places. The psychic
undercurrent, whose food sources never dried up in the native soil, had soon swept
a large part of the talc's culture. The woman, in turn, became a beast of burden, and
the man even anthropophage (cannibals).
The mind seems to have completely disappeared from the Bataker. Or can one
still ascribe a feeling to the person who has slaughtered and devoured his dog
without need? The intellect has suffered less in the course of its prey, and, in spite of
all solitude, has obtained a certain degree of activity, not only for practical matters.
The soul of this people, therefore, resembles a flower which has lost the fragrance,
but has retained the splendor of color. The proof of the still waking Batakic intellect
is that every bataker has some knowledge. The good players are, of course, few, and
these are not to be compared with our native first-class masters. This is why, in view
of perfection, the knowledge of Batak chess is of no importance to our domestic
game.
2. The Chessboard

The sixty-four fields of the game plan are not distinguished by color for the
Batakers, but are carved in a board with lines. Through each field, two diagonals are
drawn, the meaning of which remains unknown, unless the Bataker makes his
board. He does this by means of a mathematical method. First, he erects the square
containing the sixty-four fields. In the latter he draws the diagonals, whereupon the
two heights are dropped at their intersections, so that the large square divides them
into four smaller ones. Thus the board shows already ten squares. The division of the
four takes place once more, with which the number sixty-four is reached. For
symmetry the diagonals are traversed.

The tangle of lines shown on the gameboard of the Bataker is very problematic
for the players, but you will soon get used to it, although the overview is undoubtedly
somewhat difficult to achieve. The board was not suitable for forced memory and
simile games, because instead of a peaceful juxtaposition of black and white, the
player had to visualize a cross and cross of lines. Nevertheless, this representation of
the board of the original chess game comes nearer to our simpler distinctions;
Because we have to give life to mathematical figures as is with most games of
calculation. The lines of the chess gameboard, as the Batak shows us, are by far the
most complicated. To this extent the diagonals also have their full existence.
On some medieval diagrams, the fields are not distinguished by colors, while
in other periods of time this is probably the case.
comfortable overview, which the game board thus divided, had opened to him in all
circles door and gate.
Whether the two-color board can be called progress is difficult to assess. At
any rate, I'll say the inventor of chess is smiling at the bright squares. For the
realization that chess is the poetry of the diagonals and verticals in the squares,
which is only loosely connected with mathematical calculation, blurs in black and
white.
The attempt to solve chess with numbers and mathematical formulas has
failed as often as has been done. Although there are those talented at mathematics
and chess , they are not somehow identical; For the former seeks, with the help of
what is known, an unknown, while the latter seeks a known thing with the
unknown. A schematical, clear understanding is necessary for the logical
connotation of known theses. The correct grasping of the scheme leads in part
mechanically to the goal. In the case of chess, more creativity comes to the fore, for it
is not a question of the right way, but of improvement. The path that leads to the
goal in the chess game must be created a new with every game. Chess makes
demands on the artistic qualities of a person, while the mathematics demands strict
scientific knowledge. Each game is an artistic creation. Study of every art-actuation
also makes the feeble performance, as well as the master's finished specil worthy.
According to this view, chess in the Batakers does not represent a residual
mathematical exactness, but a glimmering remnant of a great love for art.
3. The Figures

The chessboard is the only utensil for the Batakers, which is made to last a
longer duration. The figures are always new to the respective use. They are made in
least ten minutes. If two Batak, wandering about in the village, have the desire to
play a game of chess, then from of the nearest surroundings fetches some bamboo
from which the usual figures are cut in a certain style. In turn, these are on the
board, which is usually cut into the floorboards of the Bale (meeting hut). The
players differ by certain notches in the figures. The names of these figures are of
great interest to the chess historian.
The king bears the well-known Indian title "Radjah". Ladies do not play any
role in oriental chess. In its place the minister stands as the strongest figure next to
the king. The Persians called this piece "Vezir," a word which had long been
preserved in the West. The Batakers use the Sanskrit word "Mantri", which is also
preserved in Malay. One is the translation of the other. Who translated first?
From the figures below it can be seen that the mantri, as a figure, surpasses the
Radjah in height.

"Gadjah" corresponds precisely to the Arabian "Alfil" the elephant.

For jumpers, "Kuda", as in the entire Sunda Archipelago, as well as in the

The pawns are called by the Batak "Bidak," which is undoubtedly related to the same
Persian term "Baedak," the foot soldier.

Like all those who were concerned with the etymology of the names of chess,
the tower became a stone of contention. It made me laugh, however, to come to a
result, to which one must attach unimportant value. So the slightest pains which
cost me a satisfactory explanation of the real meaning of the word "Tir" or "Ter,"
which is the name of the tower in Batak chess, was at least rewarded.
The Batakers themselves did not know about Bidak and Ter. The word Ter is
nowhere to be found in the currently known historical chess, although Swettenham,
in his excellent Malay Dictionary, is involved in the naming of the chess figures. The
Arabic historian Biruni (1000 after Ch.), The oldest known chess author, calls the
corner figure Rukh. The origin and real meaning of this word is still dark; For the
homonymous Arabic word Ruch, the spirit, contributes to the explanation almost
nothing. The assumption of an incarnation of the Holy Spirit into a chess piece
would be a very daring hypothesis. Rukh later became known as Rocco, Roch, and so
on in to the whole Occident, without finding it necessary for the Batak to care much
about the meaning of the word. The presumption that Rukh is descended from the
Sanskrit word Rotha brings us, without doubt, on a false journey; For Rotha does
not mean the wagon, but the wheel on the wagon, which was nevertheless an object
of no particular interest at that time.
One could at most construct a dull, anachronistic cycle. By the way, the corner
figure "Nauka", the boat, which is used some in Sanskrit places, is strangely found
among the Russians. Ter has nothing in common with this word, and it may seem
odd that two versions of quite different meaning have been preserved in the
countries of chess as the name of the tower.
Ter is a pure Sanskrit word and confirms the chariot driven Rukh. Ter is easy
to guess in the Malay word "Anter," which is difficult to translate, and which is
borrowed from Sanskrit. It means "give the escort to one" and can be just as well
with "to take one on his chariot".
Today, for the Hindus the Ter appoints a large triumphant carriage, which is
pulled at festivals down the streets of the cities and villages. According to their
tradition, this expression must have been a special designation for the throne
chariot on which the Oriental kings had entered the battle. This isolation, however,
will only have occurred in later times, after the army had undergone such a
transformation, that the only chariot in the battle was that of the king.
As a result the consistency of the tower, the gates, and the Ter, I am somewhat
different from the historians in regard to the name of Rochs in Gates. I do not
believe that a game which enjoyed great popularity during the Middle Ages in all the
circles of the society of Italy, Spain, and France, depended on the caprices of a
writer. It is easily possible that in any corner of Europe much chess was played,
without taking notes of it into the world; And it was there that the term Ter could
have been preserved, in order to pave the way for mankind across to modern the
Rochus, from mouth to mouth. Chess, in spite of all its depth, remained a play of
entertainment and should not be any more, as the great master Morphy demanded.
Only rarely did it serve a literary reproach until a new age. It was only with the
introduction of problem-solving that a lively activity developed in this field.
The resumption of the word Ter could be explained by a further possibility. If,
for example, the strong communication in which the Orient was brought to Western
Europe at the time of discoveries, it would not be unlikely that merchants, among
whom there were very many chess players, were acquainted with Old Indian chess,
and with pleasure Ter was used as an Aryan Substitute for the semitic Rochus and
brought to prominence in Europe. - Both hypotheses are contestable, but there is no
proof of this alone.
4. Position and Movement of the figures

The previous description of the Bataker's Chessboard may have raised the
question among some readers: What is the position of the Radjah and Mantri? The
Regina regit colorem principle requires colored figures and squares. Both
indications are missing. The batakons put the Mantri always to the right of the king,
so the king is placed on d1 and the other to e8. It is highly probable that the present
state of the king and the queen was fixed on the European board only after the black
and white squares had been introduced. In any case, the chess game of the Bataker
shows a change from Regina regit colorem.
A branch of art is an organism, and as such is subject to all possible diseases.
Such was the game of chess. I only recall a modest, and most well-known example,
namely the manner of moving two pawns on the first move. It is often still possible
to see today, somewhere the teacher of a small group, who so long sticks to this
gospel until their representatives meet with other people.
The ancient Indian chess, I consider to be the original way of playing for the
Batakians.
The state of the other officers and pawns is, of course, the same as in our
modern chess, and the movement of the pieces are, with a few exceptions, in
accordance with the rules of the Bilguers manual. There are two exceptions to the
pawns. The king's pawn can, in his second move, press forward two more spaces, if
he has advanced only one space its first move, in the second movement, 1. e7-e6, 2
e6-e4. The other pawns, like their European colleagues, can advance one or two
spaces as they choose. The en-passant-rule testifies with what amusing fidelity the
rules of batakian chess play with those of the modern European. The bataks know
very well this type of rule, which is especially important for the second move of the
King pawn, but, as with us, their application is limited, and only in the mountain
batak.. In the games I had recorded, the rule was never applied.
The promotion process that a pawn has to go through in order to become a
minister offers a highly surprising insight. If a pawn has crossed the board to the
last rank, this next step does not suffice for the pawn to be turned into an officer; he
must, on the contrary, move back a space. This can be done in one move, and the
pawn can capture passively. The Bataker uses the expression "Gelong" in this double
move. All the figures, with the exception of the king, may be captured by the dreary
retreat of the Gelong pawn; The king alone is not affected by this move. If, for
example, a hostile pawn is on e7, he can take the tower on f7 immediately when he
moves. If, however, with the king, in order to be able to offer check, is moved
towards the king, e7-e8. Just as in chess, the pawn loses tempo when he can hit a
figure in the wrong direction on the last space. From the position so obtained, the
pawn had to move back with a second move, in order to promote, for the
transformation has not yet been completed with these feats. For this purpose, the
supreme warlord must take a step which is sometimes not pleasant to him. If this
has been done, the minister can get on with the next move, but without being
powerful. The players are not subject to the pressure of choosing the officer.
In some parts of the Batakland, the promotion of the pawns turns out to be
unacceptable. If a pawn has crossed the board, he turns and makes his way over the
board in a diagonal direction. If he has done this for the second time, he turns again
and takes his wanderings in the vertical direction anew, and so on. I believe that this
is less to do with rules than with shortcuts; For the Batakons, who cultivate these
forms of play, form only a small contingent of the whole tribe. In any case, the game
is somewhat more grotesque, and it is more difficult for the computation at the final
game.
In the Middle Ages it was customary in different places to make the king jump
with the first move. The man who was so well deserved of the chess writes: "All these
innovations seem to have existed in the East, and the one - time leap of the king,
which became the Rochade in modern chess, which extended the combination of the
old game is very important, but we do not know at what time and where the leap
came first, and we suspect that it was done in Spain. "
The king is a very strong figure at the beginning of the game. It controls the
fields e2, e3, d1, d2, d3, c1, c2, f1, f2, f3, g1, g2 on e1. This power is a true honor of the
king. But it is only so long as the king was not in check, or he was not moved. After
the first move, he plays the same role as his European colleague. The Rochage a rule,
which is technically of Italian origin, the Bataker does not know, but it comes in to
play by two courses frequently like our Rochades position. It belongs to the
development of drawing the tower of the king's wing to the side of the king, so that
the latter can jump over it when in danger. In this way the Rochade is usually found
on both sides.
 5. Check-mate

Check is announced by the Bataker with the same words, if offered directly; If
this happens indirectly, they use the expression "Ares" Ares forces the king to move
or cover itself. If both are impossible, the game is considered a draw. As it may not
be clear what I mean by direct and indirect chess, I will explain it by two examples.
At the position:
White Kb1, Dd1, Tf1;
Black Ke8;
Checked by the position Dd1-d7 is direct check mate, whereas in the following state:
White Kg1, Dh6, Sh7;
Black Kh8
It is indirectly checked by the position Sh7-f6, in that it is not the checking piece, but
the one which protects the king against such a piece. According to the European
game, both positions are equivalent to Mate, while the Batakers hold the second
position as a draw. The logic of the matter is hard to comprehend. With this rule
another peculiarity is connected. As long as a piece covers the checked piece, it does
not have any abilities, and all the pieces except the king are effected by it. So as in
Europe. The Batakers think differently and allow the king to go into the check of
such a piece. If the game is as follows:
White Kg5, Lg4
Black Ke2, Tf3, d3
So White, who can be rescued as a result of a European game, can draw when Kg5-f4
pulls, which can be done quietly according to the Bataker's rules. A blocking piece
against check has just given up its active functions.
To this arbitrariness, stalemate and remedy rules are the same as those of the
Europeans. For mate, the Bataker has the expression "Metuh", for a draw "Srih".
Both words are applied only in the case of chess, and doubtless originate from
Sanskrit.
Since the Bataker mostly play for a bet, naturally handicaps are very common.
The usual rule given by a better player to his weaker opponent is the so-called
"tepong", whereby the stronger opponent must win within the four center squares
d4, d5, e4, e5. This type of handicap was also enjoyed in the Middle Ages.