“Chesmayne has become the term to describe this new game”

  The word ‘Chesmayne’ is taken from the French and means ‘Chess Company’. It is a contest of skill for two people and is played on a board marked with a lattice of cells of contrasting colour, which varies according to the size of the board chosen for play.

  Players in turn place a major or minor piece on one of the vacant or occupied cells with the object of capturing hostile pieces. The game (normally) ends when one King has been checkmated, ++CM. An 8 x 8, 10 x 10 or, 12 x 12 board is chosen for play, depending on the maturity of the players.

  Each player controls an army of pieces placed on this board. The word Chesmayne is used in reference to occidental, oriental or the newer levels of play described elsewhere in this text. For historical reasons Chesmayne has become the term to describe this new game as distinct from particular game-trees of east and west.

  This name is an indication of the fact that it is a global form of Chess. The traditional game of Chess is played on a board 8 x 8 cells in size with 16 white and 16 black pieces. Chesmayne boards may be any number of cells in size and individual cells may be blocked off on the playing area or, used to alter the actual shape of the board.

    Blocked cells are of different distinct types: red, white and blue being examples. The dark cells are indicated by XD and the light cells by XL. A Chesmayne board may be 8 x 8, 10 x 9, 16 x 16 or any other combination of vertical and horizontal cells. A board may be referred to as a stage, array, matrix or, grid.

  The shape of a Chesmayne board may be altered by blocking cells. This allows for variety in the shape of the board. Cells are usually blocked on the edge of the board. However, cells can be blocked in the middle of the board also. Chesmayne uses various types of cells - referred to as :XC cells - to make up a board suitable for play.

  The Chesmayne pieces are referred to as :A (Alpha) and :B (Beta) without reference to any particular colour:

  01 :A = Light. White - always the 1st side to make the first move in a game.
  02 :B = Dark. Black - always the 2nd side to make a move during a game.

  The cells of the board have been of two contrasting colours since the 11th century i.e., the chequered pattern. In Chesmayne they are referred to as the light (XL) and dark (XD) cells without reference to any particular colour.

  The traditional japanese chessboard - Shogi, 9 x 9 board - does not use two contrasting colours on the board i.e., the board is left unchequered.