Bashni (1875)

Bashni is a traditional Russian game in the Checkers family.

The game is identical to Shashki (Russian Checkers) in the rules regarding movement, capture, and promotion, but every time a piece is captured, it is put at the bottom of the capturing piece or stack. If the captured piece is itself on a stack, only the top piece is captured, and the underlying pieces are thus "liberated". This means pieces are never permanently removed, but stacks get steadily higher throughout the game.

According to Abstract Games magazine issue 1, the game has a revival in Russia, with tournaments being held in St. Petersburg regularly.

Bashni was the inspiration for Laska, Chess world champion Emanuel Lasker's stacking game, that is better known in the west.

Bashni and its suicide (misère) variant Bashni Poddavki can be played online on http://www.iggamecenter.com (igGameCenter)