The Byzantine Empire (which was then known as the Eastern Roman Empire) also has a very long history, spanning 330 BCE to 1445 CE. It was centered around its capital, Constantinople – today known as Istanbul. It was an economic crossroads, situated along the silk road, and was essentially the gateway between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. They would have had an exchange of ideas and goods from all over the western hemisphere, and games were no exception. In fact, games were often brought to new places by tradespeople and travelers, not necessarily as goods, but as personal possessions to keep themselves and their traveling companions entertained along the journey. They were not so different from modern travelers, who bring a pack of cards in a carry-on, or keep a magnetic chess set in the car to distract their children on a long road trip.

Around the 9th century CE, when Byzantine Chess emerged, the Byzantines were familiar with Chaturanga, which they called Zatrikion. In addition to the traditional square 8×8 version, they also created a circular variation. This alternate game uses the same number of squares but they are situated in 4 rings. This new shape required new strategies.

The pieces they used had a different set of characters from the chess we know today. Elephants instead of bishops, a counselor or vizier  instead of a queen, and the knight would have been just a horse – representing a cavalry. The rook was called “rukh”, the Persian word for chariot. These pieces also had slight differences in the way they move, which we’ll discuss in the rules section later on.

Zatrikion was likely introduced to the Byzantines via merchants from Persia (who called the game Shatranj). Many of the chess artifacts that are attributed to the Byzantines have abstract game piece designs that resemble those found in Persia, rather than the ornate realistic carvings that were prominent in India. These more abstract designs emerged when Islam became more dominant in Persia, as it would have been inappropriate to use realistic carvings of people and animals. At this time, Constantinople would likely have had exposure to goods from both India and Persia, so it’s possible that they would have been aware of the two different styles but chose more abstract pieces deliberately because of the ongoing Iconoclasm in the Christian Byzantine Empire.  This was a period of time where religious images and statues were banned and destroyed to avoid icon worship. While chess was not a religious game, it’s possible that artisans were influenced by this, and wouldn’t have wanted to risk the devastation of having their work destroyed. 

Today there is also a modern version of circular chess where the movements of the game pieces correspond to modern chess. This version was adapted in 1983 by historian David Reynolds.