"John Norman - Gor 20 - Players of Gor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norman John)

Players of Gor
John Norman
Chronicles of Counter-Earth Volume 20

1 Samos
page 7
I looked up from the board, idly, as the woman, struggling, in the grasp of two guards, was thrust
into the vicinity of our table.
тАЬIt is your move,тАЭ said Samos.
I regarded the board. I moved my UbarтАЩs Tarnsman to UbaraтАЩs Tarnsman Five. It was a
positioning move. The Tarnsman can move only one space on the positioning move. It attacks
only on a flight move.
The woman struggled fiercely in the grasp of the two guards. She could not, of course, free
herself.
Samos studied the board. He positioned his Home Stone. It was, looking at the tiny counter at the
edge of the board, his tenth move. Most Kaissa boards do not have this counter. It consisted of
ten small, cylindrical wooden beads strung on a wire. The Home Stone must be placed by the
tenth move. He had placed it at his now-vacated UbarтАЩs Initiate One. In this position, as at the
UbaraтАЩs Initiate One, it is subject to only three lines of attack. Other legitimate placements
subject it to five lines of attack. He was also fond of placing the Home Stone late, usually on the
ninth or tenth move. In this way, his decision could take into consideration his opponentтАЩs early
play, his opening, or response to an opening, or development.
I myself, whoтАЩs Home Stone was already placed, preferred a much earlier and more central
placement of the Home Stone. I did not wish to be forced to sacrifice a move for Home-Stone
placement in a situation that might, for all I knew, not turn out to be to my liking, a situation in
which the obligatory placement might
page 8
even cost me a tempo. Similarly, although a somewhat more central location of the Home Stone
exposes it to more lines of attack, it also increases its mobility, and thereby its capacities to
evade attack. These considerations are controversial in the theory of Kaissa. Much depends on
the psychology of the individual player.
Incidentally, there are many versions of Kaissa played on Gor. In some of these versions, the
names of the pieces differ, and, in some, even more alarmingly, their nature and power. The
caste of Players, to its credit, has been attempting to standardize Kaissa for years.
A major victory in this matter was secured a few years ago when the caste of Merchants, which
organizes and manages the Sardar Fairs, agreed to a standardized version, proposed by, and
provisionally approved by, the high council of the caste of Players, for the Sardar tournaments,
one of the attractions of the Sardar Fairs. This for of Kaissa, now utilized in the tournaments is
generally referred to, like the other variations, simply as Kaissa. Sometimes, however, to
distinguish it from differing forms of the game, it is spoken of as Merchant Kaissa, from the role
of the Merchants in making it the official form of Kaissa for the fairs, Player Kaissa, from the
role of the Players in its codification, or the Kaissa of EnтАЩKara, for it was officially promulgated
for the first time at one of the fairs of EnтАЩKara, that which occurred in 10,124 C.A., Contasta Ar,
from the Founding of Ar, or in year 5 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains, in Port Kar.
The fair of EnтАЩKara occurs in the spring. It is the first fair in the annual cycle of the Sardar Fairs,
gigantic fairs which take place on the plains lying below the western slopes of the Sardar
Mountains. These fairs, and others like them, play an important role in the Gorean culture and
economy. They are an important clearing house for ideas and goods, among them female slaves.
The woman stifled a cry and stamped her foot.
Samos, his Home Stone positioned, looked up.