Master & Bukva
Bukva
Ever heard of the forgotten chess variant played in medieval courts that actually predicted political shifts?
Master
Yes, that’s the “Shah‑Chess” they used in some 14th‑century courts; each piece’s movement was a stand‑in for treaties or betrayals, so the board’s state often mirrored the next political shift.
Bukva
That’s the one I kept in the back of my mind—almost a footnote in a history book, but I always found its rules oddly poetic, like a secret language of court intrigue.We have the correct output.The odd part is that the king’s only legal move was to give up his crown, and the pawns could actually march backward—no wonder the nobles called it “the game of betrayal.”
Master
That twist explains why the nobles called it the game of betrayal. The king giving up his crown is a final surrender, and the pawns marching back—almost like retreating armies—makes the whole board a mirror of shifting loyalties. It’s an elegant way to turn a game into a map of intrigue.
Bukva
I keep that one in a quiet corner of my collection—like a ledger where every backstep of a pawn is a footnote in a king’s confession, and the single crown‑giving move reads as the final line of a long‑awaited surrender.