What Got You Into Chaturanga/Chaturaji?

Hello! Just out of curiosity, I wanted to ask - what got you into playing chaturanga and chaturaji? I discovered chaturanga via this site and from there I loved trying out different strategies and learning more about its history and its relation to chess. I learned how to play chaturaji earlier this month, and I find it to be pretty fun. So what got you all into playing these games?

i haven't been playing a lot of Chaturanga lately, but what i like about it is the more positional nature of the game when compared to modern chess. i also like the fact that people played this game more than 1000 years ago. imagining that some indian guy in the 7th century was playing this game with his friends and that now we are playing it after so many time gives me a joy that i can't explain.

I came across shatranj while reading Richard Burton's account of Sindh in 19th century. It was supposed to be the most played game in the region at that time. However, he underlined the fact that chess was played in many different ways. He then proceeded to describe rules of two different similar board games. Those were called "Faranji" and "Rumi" by him. This induced me to check out the history of chess more thoroughly, and eventually, to play shatranj and chaturaji. Never been much of a tactical player, so chaturanga variant suits me well. Very specific, but hope it was fun to read.

I prefer the positional nature of the game as well. And it is really surreal to think that the game has survived into modern times. It's like a piece of living history that we can just go online and play whenever we want. It's kind of beautiful in a way.

Where could I find Burton's writings? I'd quite like to read them! (And maybe learn how to play those two board games!) I also tend to struggle a bit with middlegame tactics, but I find that calculating moves and being able to defend is more of my strong suit, which is definitely a highlight of the game for me.

Burton's works are accessible online through burtoniana.org. He writes about shatranj on pages 201-202 of "Sindh and the Races that inhabit the Valley of the Indus" (1851).

I sometimes feel like defending in Shatranj is ever harder than in regular chess due to limited movement of your pieces. Some squares just cannot be defended sufficiently!

Thanks for letting me know, I'd love to read it!
And I do agree with you on defending. Sometimes in chaturanga, depending on the position I find myself in, defending can be harder or easier, which is where I think calculating moves comes into play.

I just wanna trying some new things:Go, Xiangqi,Shogi.Although i am not a good player,it is fun for discovering new things.Chaturanga or Chaturaji are great.Although Chaturanga is easier to get a draw in greater position--it is possible to win if we have some tiny advantage in chess.