Highways and Byways: Ashtapada

By Maik Strosahl

I stumbled across a piece of information that the modern game of Chess probably originated in India from Ashtapada and a few other variations. The interesting fact to me was that Gautama Buddha listed these games as a distraction that should be avoided by his followers. The rules evolved through the years, with the queen and bishop added in the 1400s by players in Spain, and it wasn’t until the 19th century that Chess was standardized into the form we know today. Here is my take on the evolution of the game that has distracted many.


Gautama would not play
the eight by eight,
nor his disciples,
forbidden
even the boards of their minds—
astapadam played on the sky—
moving through castles
haunted by Buddhist ghosts
not sure where they will be reborn

But the Rajah
glides across the battlefield
with his ship, a horse, an elephant,
foot soldiers sacrificed
by the cast of the die,
rules of engagement fluid
as the fields became checkered,
royalty replacing the Hindus,
Christians pushing across the land—

a dark bishop
rising from the left and countered,
the knight advancing in evening hours,
moonlight to F3.

Copyright © 2020 by Maik Strosahl Michael E. Strosahl has focused on poetry for over twenty years, during which time he served a term as President of the Poetry Society of Indiana. He also dabbles in short fiction and may be onto some ideas for a novel. He relocated to Jefferson City, Missouri, in 2018 and currently co-hosts a writers group there. In September 2020, he started the blog “Disturbing the Pond.”