What is Jéquier's Senet?
Jéquier's rules are a reconstruction of Senet credited to the Swiss Egyptologist Gustave Jéquier. They use the same board, five pieces a side and four casting sticks as the standard game, but the opening, the throws and the end of the race work differently, and a blocked player may have to move backwards.
The game opens with a throw-off. The pieces stand alternately on squares 1 to 10, and the players throw the sticks in turn until one of them throws a 1. That player takes the pieces on the even squares 2 to 10, moves the piece on square 10 to square 11 and throws again. From then on a throw counts the sticks that land face up, with none up counting 6, and throws of 1, 4 and 6 earn another throw.
As in the standard game, you cannot land on your own piece, landing on a lone opponent's piece swaps the two, and two or more pieces of one colour side by side protect each other. New here is the blockade: a piece may not jump over three or more opponent pieces in a row. If none of your pieces can move forward, you must move one backwards onto an empty square, and if no move is possible at all the turn is lost, even after a 1, 4 or 6.
The House of Beauty is the 26th square and the House of Water the 27th; a piece that lands in the water goes back to the first empty square on the board. A piece bears off by reaching square 30 or going past it, but only once all your pieces stand on the last row, squares 21 to 30. The first player to bear off all five pieces wins.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Senet | Jéquier's Senet |
|---|---|---|
| Who starts | Standard SenetThe first player starts, with the pieces on the odd squares 1 to 9. | Jéquier's SenetThe players throw in turn until someone throws a 1. That player takes the pieces on the even squares 2 to 10 and must move the piece on square 10 to square 11. |
| Throws | Standard SenetFour casting sticks: count the sticks that land face up, 1 to 4, with none up counting 5. | Jéquier's SenetThe same sticks, but none up counts 6. |
| Extra throws | Standard SenetA throw of 1, 4 or 5 earns another throw after the move. | Jéquier's SenetA throw of 1, 4 or 6 earns another throw after the move. |
| Blockades | Standard SenetNone: a piece may jump over any number of pieces. | Jéquier's SenetA piece may not jump over three or more opponent pieces standing in a row, forwards or backwards. |
| Safe squares | Standard SenetThe four houses on squares 27 to 30, and any piece with a piece of its own colour next to it. | Jéquier's SenetSquares 26, 28, 29 and 30, and any piece with a piece of its own colour next to it. |
| House of Water | Standard SenetSquare 28. A piece that lands there goes back to square 15, or the nearest empty square before it. | Jéquier's SenetSquare 27. A piece that lands there goes back to the first empty square on the board. |
| Moving backwards | Standard SenetNever: pieces only move forward. | Jéquier's SenetIf no piece can move forward, you must move one backwards by the throw, onto an empty square. |
| No move possible | Standard SenetYou pass, and a throw of 1, 4 or 5 still earns another throw. | Jéquier's SenetThe turn is lost, even after a throw of 1, 4 or 6. |
| Bearing off | Standard SenetFrom square 27 or beyond, with a throw that carries the piece past square 30; from square 29 only a 3 and from square 30 only a 2. | Jéquier's SenetBy reaching square 30 or going past it, with any throw, but only once all your pieces stand on the last row, squares 21 to 30. |
History
Gustave Jéquier (1868–1946) was a Swiss Egyptologist, best known for his excavations at South Saqqara. A set of rules for Senet is credited to him, and it reached modern players mainly through the summary in The World of Games by Jack Botermans and his co-authors. Jéquier's own publication was not available when this version was made, so it follows that summary, checked against the Ludii games database, which lists Jéquier's rules among several Senet reconstructions.
The accounts differ on some details, and this version makes these choices. A piece that is hit swaps places with the attacker, as The World of Games describes; Ludii instead sends it to the first empty square. A piece bears off both by landing on square 30 and by going past it, the readings of the two sources, but only once all its side's pieces are on the last row. The blockade of three pieces also stops backward moves. Two details found only in Ludii, pieces on their starting squares waiting for the piece in front of them and a points score, are not used.
Like every Senet ruleset, these rules are a modern reconstruction. Senet boards and paintings survive from Egyptian tombs over more than two thousand years, but no complete set of rules has been found, which is why Jéquier, R. C. Bell and later Timothy Kendall each arrived at a different game. The standard game played here is a modern reconstruction too, with five pieces a side and the houses on the last four squares.