Game literature
Reviewed by Kerry Handscomb
Swedish Jetan expert Fredrik Ekman has written about Jetan in AG19, AG21, and the current issue. (Previously, we covered Jetan in AG6, AG7, and AG8.) The original rules of Jetan from Edgar Rice Burroughs' The Chessmen of Mars are confusing and result in a flawed game—whichever way you read them. Nevertheless, Jetan has a unique attraction as one of the first extraterrestrial games, and fans of Burroughs' fantasy writing will always be drawn to this bizarre, large, chess-type game. On the other hand, as a game in itself, Jetan has some original elements that are perhaps unique among the chess variants. Primarily, the pieces all move in a series of step moves, giving rise to a variety of interesting tactics. In addition, the rules concerning the Chief and Princess, while the main source of the Jetan flaws, can provide a range of unusual decisions.
A thorough investigation of Jetan has been seriously lacking up to now. Ekman has filled the gap with his new book, Jetan: The Martian Chess of Edgar Rice Burroughs, published recently by McFarland Books. This book brings together a large amount of Jetan history and commentary from all available sources. The book is over 200 pages long, with five pages of references. I can say confidently that Jetan: The Martian Chess of Edgar Rice Burroughs is now the definitive guide on the topic. Everyone interested in Jetan, or simply collectors of game literature, will need to have a copy.
The first half of the book contains chapters on the history of Jetan and places Jetan within the context of The Chessmen of Mars, and Burroughs' wider project. Ekman also examines the way that Jetan has impacted popular culture and he documents previous attempts to understand the game. As the author writes, "The main reason for my interest is that Jetan has a history, a rich culture both in fictional and in real terms. Jetan is part of a greater literary legacy." The fictional context of Jetan is its "virtual theme," a concept that I discussed with respect also to Zhadu and Tak, for example, in AG17.
Burroughs' original rules are notoriously ambiguous. Moreover, as Ekman writes, "Ever since the 1960s, critics of jetan have argued that jetan is a flawed game; that it needs to be changed in order to be playable. They are partly right, I think. Burroughs was a writer, not a game designer, and as a consequence, the game has some pretty serious flaws." Over the decades, players have tried various ways to overcome the deficiencies of original Jetan. Nevertheless, the author argues that we have no choice but to begin a serious investigation of Jetan with the rules as given to us by Burroughs. And this is exactly what he does. He complements and interprets the rules to make them complete and unambiguous, while sticking to the letter and spirit of Burroughs' original. Additions to Burroughs' version are clearly marked, so that the reader knows exactly what adjustments have been made. With admirable humility, the author does not claim to have produced a universal standard form of Jetan, but given his scholarship and the great care that he takes to stick as closely to Burroughs' original as possible, we can confidently take these rules as the standard, playable form of original Jetan.
While the historical and contextual material is interesting, the major sections of the book of value to potential players of Jetan will be Chapter 1, with the rules, and then Chapters 7, 8, 9, and 10, concerned with tactics, sample games, problems and exercises, and variants, respectively. The discussion of tactics is of special interest because each of the Jetan pieces moves in a series of steps. The tactics of Jetan present an entirely different set of problems than more "normal" chess variants. The pieces interact sometimes in unexpected ways, and this for me is one of the joys of discovering Jetan.
The flaws of Jetan are still present in the standardized rules, but the author discusses tactics that help to minimize these difficulties. The major problem is that capture of the Chief by any piece other than a Chief is a draw. A player who has fallen behind in material can send his Chief on a rampage through enemy lines, hoping to force a capture of his Chief, resulting in a draw. The main way to avoid the rampaging enemy Chief is to station your own Chief so that the enemy Chief stepping beyond its own ranks may be captured by your Chief, rather than by any other piece, thereby winning the game. Otherwise, the author's advice to avoid a draw if you don't want one is to be careful in the placement of your own Chief, so as not to put it at risk of capture by a non-Chief.
The key for any player who is not significantly behind in material is to avoid positions where a draw can be forced. Nevertheless, the author writes, "For two players of equal positional strengths, it is very difficult to stop an opponent who really wants to draw." In order to make Jetan work better with the original rules, then, the players have both to play not to draw—not to draw, that is, just because they can. Of course, relying on the sportsmanship of players to make a better game of Jetan will not work in serious games or tournament games. A player who is nominally much stronger may not be able to prevent a weaker player from forcing a draw, game after game. The author cites Richard Glass, that Jetan is "... a game of honor." Yes, it is in its current form, I agree. Perhaps for native Barsoomians, with their highly developed sense of honour, Jetan in its original form is not flawed; we Earthlings, however, cannot likewise rely on the players' shared sense of honour to make Jetan a better game.
The chapter on tactics contains some of the strongest portions of the book, at least for me. Ekman writes about opening, middle game and endgame tactics. He speaks of interesting concepts involving the Chief, such as "suffocation" and "sandwiching," as well as tactics such as the pin, fork, and skewer, which would be familiar to Chess players. A further investigation of tactics, perhaps beyond the scope of the book, would be to compare small sets of pieces—for example, in what manner do specific pairs of pieces interact defensively or offensively because of the unique capabilities of their respective step moves. In this manner, we may reach some of the features of Jetan that make it such an interesting game.
Chapter 9 covers Jetan problems and exercises. After the section of the book dealing with tactics, the problems are particularly welcome. Ekman presents ten Jetan problems with some detailed analysis of their solutions. This is fascinating stuff, and the first I have seen of constructed Jetan problems. In addition, the author presents five artificial Jetan positions, which readers may play around with to learn more about some of the key concepts for good play. For me, the book would be worth getting for this chapter alone. It contains the original fruits of Ekman's extensive investigation of Jetan.
Towards the end of the book, Ekman includes a chapter on Jetan variants. Some of these look interesting. In particular, however, he discusses Thuria Jetan, which I am partial to, as I was involved in developing the game. To my mind, Thuria with the "major win" and "minor win" distinction resolves all the difficulties of the original game. We still have the fascinating interaction between the step moves of the different pieces, but the strength of the Chief is substantially diminished compared with that of the Fliers. The pair of Fliers on each side combine to provide much of the power in the game, at least until many of the Panthans have been cleared away and the Dwars and Thoats can get into the action. I may be biased, but I think Thuria Jetan is worthy of serious investigation and a potential tournament game.
So there it is, a unique book on an unusual game. Over the years, because of its perceived flaws, Jetan has struggled to achieve recognition among serious gamers; in addition, fans of Burroughs' fantasy fiction, though intrigued by the game, have overall failed to demonstrate effectively why Jetan is worthy of further study. This new book by Fredrik Ekman is an excellent introduction to the game, complete as far as it goes in bringing together the various strands that make up Jetan culture. The author makes a clear and compelling argument for coming back to Jetan to better understand its special fascination, both as a game in itself and because of its "virtual theme." The author concludes, "Let there be jetan!" and his enthusiasm is infectious. I highly recommend this book. ◾️
A thorough investigation of Jetan has been seriously lacking up to now. Ekman has filled the gap with his new book, Jetan: The Martian Chess of Edgar Rice Burroughs, published recently by McFarland Books. This book brings together a large amount of Jetan history and commentary from all available sources. The book is over 200 pages long, with five pages of references. I can say confidently that Jetan: The Martian Chess of Edgar Rice Burroughs is now the definitive guide on the topic. Everyone interested in Jetan, or simply collectors of game literature, will need to have a copy.
The first half of the book contains chapters on the history of Jetan and places Jetan within the context of The Chessmen of Mars, and Burroughs' wider project. Ekman also examines the way that Jetan has impacted popular culture and he documents previous attempts to understand the game. As the author writes, "The main reason for my interest is that Jetan has a history, a rich culture both in fictional and in real terms. Jetan is part of a greater literary legacy." The fictional context of Jetan is its "virtual theme," a concept that I discussed with respect also to Zhadu and Tak, for example, in AG17.
Burroughs' original rules are notoriously ambiguous. Moreover, as Ekman writes, "Ever since the 1960s, critics of jetan have argued that jetan is a flawed game; that it needs to be changed in order to be playable. They are partly right, I think. Burroughs was a writer, not a game designer, and as a consequence, the game has some pretty serious flaws." Over the decades, players have tried various ways to overcome the deficiencies of original Jetan. Nevertheless, the author argues that we have no choice but to begin a serious investigation of Jetan with the rules as given to us by Burroughs. And this is exactly what he does. He complements and interprets the rules to make them complete and unambiguous, while sticking to the letter and spirit of Burroughs' original. Additions to Burroughs' version are clearly marked, so that the reader knows exactly what adjustments have been made. With admirable humility, the author does not claim to have produced a universal standard form of Jetan, but given his scholarship and the great care that he takes to stick as closely to Burroughs' original as possible, we can confidently take these rules as the standard, playable form of original Jetan.
While the historical and contextual material is interesting, the major sections of the book of value to potential players of Jetan will be Chapter 1, with the rules, and then Chapters 7, 8, 9, and 10, concerned with tactics, sample games, problems and exercises, and variants, respectively. The discussion of tactics is of special interest because each of the Jetan pieces moves in a series of steps. The tactics of Jetan present an entirely different set of problems than more "normal" chess variants. The pieces interact sometimes in unexpected ways, and this for me is one of the joys of discovering Jetan.
The flaws of Jetan are still present in the standardized rules, but the author discusses tactics that help to minimize these difficulties. The major problem is that capture of the Chief by any piece other than a Chief is a draw. A player who has fallen behind in material can send his Chief on a rampage through enemy lines, hoping to force a capture of his Chief, resulting in a draw. The main way to avoid the rampaging enemy Chief is to station your own Chief so that the enemy Chief stepping beyond its own ranks may be captured by your Chief, rather than by any other piece, thereby winning the game. Otherwise, the author's advice to avoid a draw if you don't want one is to be careful in the placement of your own Chief, so as not to put it at risk of capture by a non-Chief.
The key for any player who is not significantly behind in material is to avoid positions where a draw can be forced. Nevertheless, the author writes, "For two players of equal positional strengths, it is very difficult to stop an opponent who really wants to draw." In order to make Jetan work better with the original rules, then, the players have both to play not to draw—not to draw, that is, just because they can. Of course, relying on the sportsmanship of players to make a better game of Jetan will not work in serious games or tournament games. A player who is nominally much stronger may not be able to prevent a weaker player from forcing a draw, game after game. The author cites Richard Glass, that Jetan is "... a game of honor." Yes, it is in its current form, I agree. Perhaps for native Barsoomians, with their highly developed sense of honour, Jetan in its original form is not flawed; we Earthlings, however, cannot likewise rely on the players' shared sense of honour to make Jetan a better game.
The chapter on tactics contains some of the strongest portions of the book, at least for me. Ekman writes about opening, middle game and endgame tactics. He speaks of interesting concepts involving the Chief, such as "suffocation" and "sandwiching," as well as tactics such as the pin, fork, and skewer, which would be familiar to Chess players. A further investigation of tactics, perhaps beyond the scope of the book, would be to compare small sets of pieces—for example, in what manner do specific pairs of pieces interact defensively or offensively because of the unique capabilities of their respective step moves. In this manner, we may reach some of the features of Jetan that make it such an interesting game.
Chapter 9 covers Jetan problems and exercises. After the section of the book dealing with tactics, the problems are particularly welcome. Ekman presents ten Jetan problems with some detailed analysis of their solutions. This is fascinating stuff, and the first I have seen of constructed Jetan problems. In addition, the author presents five artificial Jetan positions, which readers may play around with to learn more about some of the key concepts for good play. For me, the book would be worth getting for this chapter alone. It contains the original fruits of Ekman's extensive investigation of Jetan.
Towards the end of the book, Ekman includes a chapter on Jetan variants. Some of these look interesting. In particular, however, he discusses Thuria Jetan, which I am partial to, as I was involved in developing the game. To my mind, Thuria with the "major win" and "minor win" distinction resolves all the difficulties of the original game. We still have the fascinating interaction between the step moves of the different pieces, but the strength of the Chief is substantially diminished compared with that of the Fliers. The pair of Fliers on each side combine to provide much of the power in the game, at least until many of the Panthans have been cleared away and the Dwars and Thoats can get into the action. I may be biased, but I think Thuria Jetan is worthy of serious investigation and a potential tournament game.
So there it is, a unique book on an unusual game. Over the years, because of its perceived flaws, Jetan has struggled to achieve recognition among serious gamers; in addition, fans of Burroughs' fantasy fiction, though intrigued by the game, have overall failed to demonstrate effectively why Jetan is worthy of further study. This new book by Fredrik Ekman is an excellent introduction to the game, complete as far as it goes in bringing together the various strands that make up Jetan culture. The author makes a clear and compelling argument for coming back to Jetan to better understand its special fascination, both as a game in itself and because of its "virtual theme." The author concludes, "Let there be jetan!" and his enthusiasm is infectious. I highly recommend this book. ◾️
- Jetan: The Martian Chess of Edgar Rice Burroughs was written by Fredrik Ekman and published by McFarland Books in 2022.