Brayout

Brayout (Brajөꞇ)

A Zhengian master (on the left) defeating a Bogmian player (on the right) in a game of Dai shogi, one of the direct ancestors of Brayout
Years active	c. 17th century to present (predecessors circa 900 years earlier)
Genre(s)	Board game Abstract strategy game Mind sport
Players	2
Playing time	Casual games usually last 10 to 60 minutes; tournament games last anywhere from about 10 minutes to 6 hours or more, rarely even days.
Random chance	None
Skill(s) required	Strategy, tactics

Brayout (Zhoushi: Brajөꞇ, pronounced /braju͡oc/; historical Zhengian pronounciation: /ɓrajwəːɗ/) is a game that developed in Zhousheng and combines multiple aspects of Chess and Shogi

Brayout board with movements and promotions

History

See also: History of Zhousheng and History of the Zhoushi culture

The game of Brayout developed in Zhengia during the so called "Zhengian Experiment", when the Bogmian settlers in Zhengia brought multiple Chess variants into the country which was predominantly playing multiple variations of Shogi, imported from Kasia.

B HOLDING SPACE (CAPTIVITY) E C F P P F HOLDING SPACE (CAPTIVITY) E

End of the first-ever recorded game Second player ending victorious Last moves:  R(I4-J4)   B̟(G7-I6)#

Despite the rules were generally not stable during most of its existence, during the creation of the Empire of Three Kings and especially during the Zhoushi Cooperation, the currently recognized Brayout rules were established and the new game quickly became one of the cultural symbols to the Zhengians, which later spread into all of Zhousheng and by proxy Monte Blanco, Qazhshava, New Sebronia, Prei Meas, Gadorien, Gabrielland and Kentalis, from where it got across the world.

After multiple semi-official tournaments, Zhengia established the International Brayout Federation (IBF), which served as a central organ and organized the championships. After a row of Zhengian-backed hostings, the championships spread across all of Anteria, with many countries hosting local as well as world championships.

In the present day, Brayout is one of the locally popular games, that is known, but not extremely popular worldwide, with its popularity being the greatest in Mustelaria and by extension southern and central Thuadia.

Current setup

Main article: Brayout piece

See also: Kaȝin Christianity, Kammism, Chess piece, and Shogi piece

Brayout pieces

	Pawn; Dragon
	Rook; Stronghold
	Bishop; Serviceman
	Horse; Knight
	Preacher; Speaker
	Advisor
	Queen
	King; King Challenger

B	HOLDING SPACE (CAPTIVITY)										E
C											F
P											P
F	HOLDING SPACE (CAPTIVITY)										E

Comparation chess setup

The Preacher figure from Brayout uses the letter Yogh as a reference to Kaȝinism

Here is a hypothetical table with the figures used in Chess in correspondence:

B	HOLDING SPACE (CAPTIVITY)										E
C											F
P											P
F	HOLDING SPACE (CAPTIVITY)										E

First movement of pawns

Pawns, to start the game faster, are allowed to move two spaces on their first move (as marked by the circle in their movement chart). Unlike in Chess, pawns in Brayout take the figures directly in front of them. This movement can not be used to skip a figure in front of the pawn or to take opponent's figure two spaces ahead of the pawn.

Horses and knights

Horses () and knights () are the only two figures which can get to their point even if it is blocked by a hostile figure. Preacher () and speaker () can skip to the spots that could be reached as a horse also.

Palaces

B	HOLDING SPACE (CAPTIVITY)										E
C											F
P											P
F	HOLDING SPACE (CAPTIVITY)										E

Palaces are located in the squares E1, E2, F1, F2 (one palace) and E9, Eᚴ, F9, Fᚴ (the other palace). If the king () is located in the palace they began in (not the opposing palace), they can do a move called "king's leap", which allows them to jump two spaces instead of one (as marked by the circle in their movement chart). That doesn't mean, that kings are not allowed to move in the palace normally, just that they can perform the jump.

This move can be performed unlimited number of times, as long as the king doesn't enter opponent's promotion area. The moment the king enters the opponent's promotion zone, the palace is considered "disbanded" and the king may not perform the move anymore. The king may not perform the jump from outside into the palace, only from inside out.

Promotion

B	HOLDING SPACE (CAPTIVITY)										E
C											F
P											P
F	HOLDING SPACE (CAPTIVITY)										E

The promotion of a figure is done by flipping it. The promotion of a figure can (but doesn't have to) be done when the figure enters the opposing player's promotion zone, which are the three last rows of the board.

The promotions are:

• Pawn → Dragon
• Rook → Stronghold
• Bishop → Serviceman
• Horse → Knight
• Preacher → Speaker
• King, Queen and Advisor can not be promoted.

Once any figure is promoted, it can not be un-promoted (which may be eventual disadvantage in the case of a preacher/speaker)

Captivity

B	HOLDING SPACE (CAPTIVITY)										E
C											F
P											P
F	HOLDING SPACE (CAPTIVITY)										E

Just like in Shogi or Crazyhouse, captured enemy pieces may be introduced as your own piece.

The difference with the above mentioned mechanics, in Brayout, that this system is merged with Chess promotion system. There is a total of 10 captivity slots. Due to obvious reasons, pawns, advisors and a king can not be taken captive, as they can not be used in this mechanic, which leaves 9 figures that can realistically be taken hostage. That leaves unavoidably one space on the captivity line unoccupied.

This rule changes, if enemy uses your captured pieces in their promotions, in which case you may capture more than 10 opponent's pieces. In that case, you must make a decision which of those captured pieces you wish to remove from the game forever (this action is called "killing the prisoners"). If you kill a less strong piece, you are risking, that later on in the game, if you place some of the stonger pieces on the board, it may be captured and used against you. If you kill a stronger piece, it may give you material disadvantage in hypothetical future situation.

If the taken figure is promoted, it will be placed back on the board in its unpromoted state and must leave and re-enter the promotion zone to get promoted.

Replacement of a pawn/advisor with a figure is not considered a move on its own and is done at the end of the player's move. Both pawns and advisors must be promoted once they reach the end of the board, no matter the captive slots.

Rules

See also: Rules of chess, Rules of shogi, and Rules of xiangqi

The game begins with 7 pawns being thrown onto the board. The person throwing has the unpromoted () side, while the opponent has the dragon/promoted () side (similairly to Shogi). The person who gets more of their type (pawn/dragon) starts the game. Then the players do moves interchangably, each moving one piece at the time. Promotions and upgrades from captivity are not considered moves on their own and are done after the player moves one of its pieces.

The pieces are taken captive (or in case of advisors and pawns killed) when the opponent's piece enters the same square they are located in. Player can not take captive their own piece or have multiple pieces in one square. Unlike Chess, there is usually no timer, so some games may take up hours, if not days. Although there is no timer, "filibustering" (AKA putting the game on halt with no intention to make the next move in a reasonable timeframe) is not allowed and the player may not be allowed to leave the playing table or do anything unrelated to the game unless agreed by their opponent.

The game end when:

• There are only kings remaining on the board - ends with a tie

• A king is pinned in a position where it is under attack and has no way of avoiding the attack - equivalent to Checkmate in Chess - The attacked king's player loses the match

• A player can not do any moves because that would pin their king in a Checkmate - The player unable to move loses the match

This rule applies as well when the moving figure wouldn't be a king:

But doesn't apply if there is such a move that may be done and not result in a direct checkmate (that is a checkmate of your own king at the end of your round, not the opponent's round after)

• Both players agree to settle on a tie
• A player is caught cheating - automatic loss (unless previously agreed that cheating is allowed)
• Both players agree to settle on a status quo ante ludum - no points are given to anybody as if the game never happened

There used to be a option for players to preemptively agree on who lost and who won, but this option was abused by people filibustering the game and was removed by the International Brayout Federation in 1915.

Noting of moves

See also: Chess algebraic notation

There is a system to denote moves, using multiple symbols to denote actions:

Notation	Meaning
(A1-B2)	Movement from position A1 to position B2
×A0	Figure is taken and moved to captivity place A0
+	Move ends with a king being in a check
#	Move ends with a king being in a checkmate
⁙	Move ends with a king being unable to move
½	Players agreed to a draw after this move
⧞	Opponent surrendered after this move
^	Special movement of the figure (for pawns and kings)
↑	Figure is promoted (if reaching the promotion zone)
⇑A0	Pawn is being promoted on the end of the board to the figure on place A0
⤊B	Advisor is being promoted on the end of the board to a Preacher

Order of the symbols

Figure code (P,P̟,V,V̟,S,S̟,K,K̟,B,B̟,I,D,R,℞) - Movement (e.g. A1-A2) - Taking (×) - Special action (^,↑,⇑,⤊) - Special state (+,#,⁙) - Status (½,⧞)

Examples of denotion

Notation	Meaning
P(F3-F4)	Pawn moved from F3 to F4
P(F3-F5)^	Pawn moved from F3 to F5, as it was their first move
P(F6-F7)×F0	Pawn moved from F6 to F7 and took a figure standing on F7, which was moved to a captivity spot F0
P(F7-F8)↑	Pawn moved from F7 to F8 and was promoted into a dragon
P̟(F9-Fᚴ)⇑F0	Dragon moved from F9 to Fᚴ and was in turn promoted to the figure in captivity on spot F0
B(H2-A9)×D0↑+	Preacher moved from H2 to A9, where it took a figure captive and moved it to D0, got promoted and ended the move with putting a king in a check
I(G9-Hᚴ)×E0⤊D#	Advisor moved frp, G9 to Hᚴ and was in turn promoted into a Queen, which caused a checkmate to the opponent
B̟(B7-D9)⁙	Speaker moved from B7 to D9 and in turn caused the opponent's king to not be able to make a valid move, ending the match
℞(Eᚴ-F8)×Cⵒ^	Challenger's king moved from Eᚴ to F8, using the king's leap, in turn taking a figure and moving it to captivity space Cⵒ
R(E1-F3)^½	King moved from E1 to F3, using the king's leap. After this move, players agreed to a tie

Champions

See also: Empire of Three Kings and List of Brayout Champions

Year Host country Host city World champion Runner(s)-up Won (+) Lost (−) Draw (=) Format Unofficial tournaments 1834 In the Polyashi Empire In Preimand 4 Single-elimination tournament 1839 In the Polyashi Empire In Nadgorica 4 1844 In the Polyashi Empire In Ukadsk 3 1849 In the Polyashi Empire In Ukadsk 4 1854 In the Polyashi Empire In Kandan 7 Round-robin tournament 1859 In the Polyashi Empire Nadgorica 9 1864 In Zhengia Kandan 10 1869 In Bogmia Zhousheng City 11 1874 In Zhengia Ukadsk 8 Zhengian-backed host championship 1879 Zhengia Ukadsk 9 Round-robin tournament 1884 Zhengia Ukadsk 11 1890 Zhengia Ukadsk 10 first-to-10 wins + tiebreak 1895 Zhengia Ukadsk 10 1900 Zhengia Kandan 10 1905 Zhengia Kandan 10 1909 Zhengia Ukadsk 10 1913 Zhoushi Union Kandan 10 International championship 1918 Prei Meas Dǒr Ōnŏtōra 10 first-to-10 wins + tiebreak 1922 Gadorien Behmring 10 1926 Hatstheput Victoria 10 1930 Qazhshava Dolinagore 10 1934 Gabrielland Sangur 10 1938 New Sebronia Haæstre 10 1942 Monte Blanco Pinžak 12 first-to-12 wins + tiebreak 1946 Riamo Maremo City 12 1950 Gadorien Colonia 12 1954 San Calia Alstra 12 1957 Kentalis Čuradin 12 1961 Bakyern Kållaby 12 1965 New Sebronia Pistora 12 1969 Template:Country data Layfet 12 1971 San Calia Carlsbad 12 1973 Monte Blanco 12 1977 Zhousheng Zhousheng City best-of-24 + tiebreak 1981 Qazhshava Belingil 1985 Monte Blanco Montginia 1989 Kentalis Apačin 1993 Template:Country data Layfet best-of-20 + tiebreak 1997 Gadorien Aȝoꭈsheim 1999 Gabrielland Vailhims 2000 Hoterallia Oracloer 2003 Bakyern Östervask best-of-16 + tiebreak 2006 Kentalis Apačin 2009 Zhousheng Kandan 2012 Qazhshava Mishi kray best-of-12 + tiebreak 2015 Prei Meas D̐a Nt̩̐ả 2018 Kentalis Polácica 2021 Mustelaria