Sittuyin (), also known as Burmese chess, is a strategy board game created in Myanmar. It is a direct offspring of the Indian game of chaturanga, which arrived in Myanmar in the 8th century thus it is part of the same family of games such as chess, and shogi. Sit is the modern Burmese word for "army" or "war"; the word sittuyin can be translated as "representation of the four characteristics of army"—chariot, elephant, cavalry and infantry. In its native land, the game has been largely overshadowed by Western (international) chess, although it remains popular in the northwest regions. Board The sittuyin board consists of 64 squares, 8 rows and 8 columns, without alternating colors. The board has also two diagonal lines from corner to corner, which are known as sit-ke-myin (, general's lines). Pieces and their moves Pieces are commonly made of wood, and sometimes of ivory. The height of the pieces varies by class. The official colors of the pieces are red and black. Min-gyi (, "king") It can move one step in any direction. Sit-ke (, "general") It can move one step in any diagonal direction (as fers in shatranj). Sin (, "elephant") It can move one step in any diagonal direction or one step forward (as silver general in shogi). Myin (, "horse") It can jump two horizontal squares and one vertical square or two vertical squares and one horizontal square, as knight in Western chess. Yahhta (, "chariot") It can move any number of free squares along four orthogonal directions. Nè (, "feudal lord") It can move one step forward but cannot retreat. It captures one diagonal step forward. Rules Only feudal lords (pawns) are on the board in the initial position. The game starts with the Red player (depicted here having white pieces), followed by the Black player, placing their other pieces arbitrarily on their own halves of the board (known as sit-tee or troops deployment): chariots can be put on any square on the back rank. In official tournaments, a small curtain is used on the middle of the board to prevent the players seeing each other's deployment during the sit-tee phase. One of the possible game openings is shown in the diagram. Feudal lords promote to general when they reach diagonal lines marked on the board. The promotion is possible only if that player's general has been captured. If the player has