Board games have a special place in Indian culture as a bonding activity, allowing people to gather for community-making, recreation, or simply as a merry pastime. The game Carrom for instance, a fixture in most homes, entails players flicking white and black discs into the board's pockets. Similar to Pool,  players are tasked with scoring as high as possible by clearing the board, putting them in competition with themselves more than each other.

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Chess, another game originating from India, works differently.

Unlike Pool or Carrom, Chess does not permit accidental collisions between objects on the board. Its use of a cartesian grid compels players into strategically playing towards predefined locations, therefore necessitating encounters with opponents' pieces that can result in dodging, retreating, or striking (capturing). These encounters are oriented by the logic of a feudal hierarchy between the pieces, which are represented visually through design, and enacted through a player's strategy.

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In the table below, the similarities and differences between the pieces are examined by plotting their entwined hierarchy against the abilities they possess. I define 'Abilities' as moves that pieces can legally make, as well as moves that support the evolving strategy of the players. The table thus simultaneously represents a description of possible moves, as well an analysis of how those moves may be necessitated.