Chess reimagined in the age of the barangay kingdoms —
carved narra and kamagong, torchlight above the sea.
A complete game of chess — check, castling, en passant, promotion —
against a friend beside you, or a rival court.
The Narra Court prevails.
Offer a draw?
The game will end in resignation.
The game in progress will be abandoned.
RAJAH is a work of imagination. Chess reached the Philippine islands with the Spanish in the sixteenth century — we have no evidence it was played among the barangay kingdoms before 1521. This simulator asks a playful what if: how might the game look carved in kamagong and narra, played by torchlight in a great hall above the water, among the courts of datus and rajahs?
Every rule of chess is kept whole — the pieces simply wear different names:
Controls. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom, right-drag or two fingers to pan. WASD or the arrow keys orbit the camera; Q/E zoom; F flips sides; U undoes a move; M mutes; Esc deselects. Tap or drag a piece to move it.