Chess in Borno (Tsatsarandi)

 

A diagram of a Kanuri chessboard from Meek's "Chess in Bornu, Nigeria."

The game of chess has a long but poorly known history in Borno. According to a report on Borno based on information from North Africans who visited the region in the late 18th century, chess was a game played by elites. This brief report supports the few facts known about chess when Meek was in Borno. While he thought the rules of the game were the same as Western chess, a correction by P.G. Harris in 1930s indicated that this chess variant was played somewhat differently. In fact, the rules resemble North African/Middle Eastern forms of chess, which is no surprise since the game likely arrived from those regions. What's interesting to us is the use of Kanuri terms for various pieces, like the mai for king or the chiroma for the queen. And apparently castling was not allowed, nor were pawns allowed to promote to another piece. Players hissed when they put the opponent's king in check, too. One can surmise the game was also played in Hausaland, where Hausa names for the pieces of the game were known.