Dejarik/Legends

"No game of dejarik can be won without pawns..."

- Kreia

Dejarik, also known as vrax, was a popular game which withstood the test of time better than nearly any other game in the Galaxy. It originated as a Jedi game, though became much more widespread in more recent times.

Description


A hologram generator sat within a table-sized cylindrical base, with a black-and-white checkerboard pattern on the top surface. When active, a full-color, three-dimensional hologram of the playing pieces (which measure between 5-30 cm tall) would be projected on the board. The pieces all resembled creatures, real and mythic, from throughout the galaxy, including the Mantellian Savrip, Grimtaash the Molator, Ghhhk, Houjix, Ng'ok, Kintan Strider, K'lor'slug, and the Monnok. These pieces, when moved by the player, actually acted out the moves as if really specimens of their species. If the pieces were not used for a certain amount of time or the game was abandoned by both players, they would simulate boredom.

Major dejarik tournaments included the Galactic Core Interzonals. The kintan strider death gambit was a notable tactic.

The Millennium Falcon had a dejarik table in its lounge. It was around this table that preliminary peace talks between Gilad Pellaeon of the Imperial Remnant and Leia Organa Solo of the New Republic were held.

During the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the Galaxy, Warmaster Tsavong Lah took a liking to the game, and had his shapers create a version of the game with actual living pieces.

Rules of play
The dejarik was a two-player game where both players confronted themselves in a 5 to 10 minutes gameplay. The circular board had 25 squares. Each player had four black or white pawns at his command. The chess was divided in three areas:

1) The center (1 square) Also called the "dejarik" square, enabled any pawn to cross the board in two moves only. This square was safe, a pawn placed on it couldn't be killed.

2) The inner ring (12 squares) Combat zone. Any pawn on its squares could be killed.

3) The outer ring (12 squares) The outer squares were considered "home." Pawns couldn't be killed there. As long as a pawn was on the outer ring or on the central square, it couldn't be killed. Squares were side to side, from the left or the right when they were on the same ring and they were front to front if they are on different rings. One could play several games, counting the points and deciding when to stop. Wookiees used to play until a player reach 12 points, while Corellian space traders used to play one credit or more for each point won, sometimes until one of them ran out of credits.

Winning Three Points
Each player had to line up his 4 pawns on the inner ring and they had be touching each other. In this case, the white player won and marked 3 points.

Winning One Point
If one has lost a pawn he could still win by lining up your 3 pawns left on the inner ring. In this case, the white player won and marked 1 point.

Winning Two Points
A third way to win was by killing two of the opponent's pawns. In this case, the white player won by klling two black pawns, and marked 2 points.

Behind the scenes



 * Dejarik is in many ways reminiscent of the earthly game of chess. It should be noted, however, that a game named chess actually exists in Star Wars.
 * In many biographies (both official and unofficial) Palpatine is compared to a Dejarik Grand Master.
 * The exact rules of the game are not known. However, fans have invented rules of how the game could have been played. See link below.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan: Last Stand on Ord Mantell
 * Cloak of Deception
 * Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
 * Shatterpoint
 * CIS Shadowfeed Dispatch 14:7:01 Edition
 * ''MedStar II: Jedi Healer
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novel
 * Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (novel)
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Deadly Reunion
 * The Star Wars Holiday Special
 * Shadows of the Empire novel
 * ''Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: In the Empire's Service
 * Young Jedi Knights: The Lost Ones
 * Vector Prime
 * Star by Star
 * Dark Journey
 * The Unifying Force
 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
 * Tempest
 * Star Wars Adventure Journal 12
 * Tempest
 * Star Wars Adventure Journal 12