Human chess in Vietnam

Human chess in Vietnam

Whenever taking part in Vietnamese village and temple festivals, you will have a chance to watch a traditional game - human chess (“cờ người”), which is the favourite to a great deal of Viet people .

Human chess is a variant of chess, often played by people who take on the roles of the various chess pieces (king, knight, bishop and so on). This is typically done on an outdoor field, with the squares of the board marked out on the grass. A move resulting in a piece being taken from the board will cause a choreographed fight to be played out to determine whether the piece is actually taken.