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Shatranj Online — Play the Ancient Persian Chess 6+

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Shatranj is a game you play right here, free in the browser — this is not another article about Persian chess history. It is the medieval game modern chess grew out of, and it is a far kinder teacher: the vizier steps one square, the alfil jumps over heads, the pawn has no double first move, so a six-year-old can hold the whole board in their head from the very first minute.

Eighty puzzles are built as a ladder: a tiny 4×4 board where a single piece hunts the guards, then the knight and the jumping alfil on 6×6, then the full board with its three Persian ways to win, and at the end the real mansubas — mate in two, paid for with a sacrificed rook.

How to play

  1. Tap a piece — the board lights up every square it may go to.
  2. Take the guards or deliver mate: every puzzle has exactly one right plan, proved by the solver.
  3. Step wrong and the piece just shakes its head and names the rule out loud — no crosses, no buzzer, nothing lost.

What your child learns

The science behind the games

Every Dad4Kids game is built on one simple truth: children want to play, not study — so we turn learning into a game worth replaying. The method draws on peer-reviewed research in game-based learning, motivation, and how memory works.

FAQ

Can I actually play shatranj here, or is this a history page?
You play it. The board opens in the browser, it is free, nothing to install and no account needed — 80 Persian chess puzzles you solve move by move. The history is one line in the lesson, the rest is the game.
How is shatranj different from chess?
The vizier moves one square diagonally instead of a queen's sweep, the alfil jumps exactly two squares diagonally over anything, the pawn has no double first move and promotes only to a vizier, and there is no castling. Stalemating the opponent wins the game, and so does leaving them with a bare king.
Does my child need to know chess first?
No. Every piece is introduced by a short spoken lesson on the level where it first appears, and the first move is made by the child along the highlighted squares.
Can a puzzle be solved by tapping at random?
No. Each level is checked by an independent solver: it must have exactly one winning plan, and a measured random-play test must fail to stumble into it.
What happens when a child makes a wrong move?
Nothing bad. The piece shakes its head, a short voice line explains the rule it broke, and the position rolls softly back. There is no score to lose and no time limit.

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By Evgeny Arsentiev, PhD · Last updated: September 2026