- Sashité for Developers
- Glossary
Glossary
This glossary defines the canonical terminology for the Sashité ecosystem. Terms are organized hierarchically: each section builds only upon terms defined in previous sections.
Terms in bold within definitions refer to other glossary entries.
1. Architectural layers
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Game Protocol | The structural framework that defines Pieces, Locations, Positions, Actions, and Moves. The Game Protocol specifies what can be represented and which transformations preserve structural integrity. It is rule-agnostic: it does not define what is legal or what outcomes mean. |
| Rule System | A specification of game-specific rules layered on top of the Game Protocol. A Rule System addresses: movement patterns, legality conditions, terminal evaluation, outcome classification, and auxiliary state such as clocks, counters, or repetition tracking. |
2. Primitive labels
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Side | An abstract camp label. The two Sides are first and second. A Side is a pure identifier that acquires meaning when assigned to a Player or Piece. |
| Style | A label denoting a movement tradition or game family (e.g., chess, shogi, xiangqi). A Style is a pure identifier; what movement patterns or rules it implies is defined by a Rule System. |
3. Participants
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Player | A human or computational agent participating in a Match. |
| Player Side | The Side assigned to a Player for a Match. This assignment is fixed for the duration of the Match. |
| Player Style | The Style assigned to a Player for a Match. This assignment is fixed for the duration of the Match. A Player Style indicates which movement tradition the Player nominally represents. |
| Player Identity | The ordered pair (Player Side, Player Style) that characterizes a Player’s attributes within a Match. |
| First Player | The Player whose Player Side is first. |
| Second Player | The Player whose Player Side is second. |
| Active Player | The Player whose turn it currently is in a given Position. |
| Inactive Player | The Player who is not the Active Player in the current Position. |
4. Spatial model
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Location | A place where a Piece may exist. There are three kinds of Location: Squares on the Board, the First Player Hand, and the Second Player Hand. |
| Board | A finite, non-empty set of addressable Squares that serves as the shared spatial structure for a Match. The geometry (shape, size, dimensionality, connectivity) is defined by the Rule System. |
| Square | A discrete cell on the Board that serves as a Location for a Piece. |
| Square Identifier | A unique label or address for a Square within a Board. The format of Square Identifiers is not specified by the Game Protocol; it may be defined by a notation specification (e.g., CELL) or by the Rule System. |
| Hand | A Location representing an off-board holding area associated with a Side. There are two Hands: the First Player Hand and the Second Player Hand. |
| First Player Hand | The Hand associated with Side first. |
| Second Player Hand | The Hand associated with Side second. |
5. Pieces and their attributes
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Piece | An individual game entity that occupies a Location and possesses identity attributes. |
| Piece Side | The Side attribute of a Piece. Unlike Player Side, Piece Side may change during a Match if the Rule System permits. The Piece Side of a Piece located in a Hand is independent of the Hand’s associated Side. |
| Piece Name | A type identifier for a Piece within a game (e.g., king, rook, pawn). Its semantics (movement capabilities, value) are defined by the Rule System. |
| Piece State | A discrete attribute describing the internal status of a Piece (e.g., promoted, unpromoted). The set of valid states and their meanings are defined by the Rule System. |
| Piece Style | The Style attribute of a Piece. A Piece Style may differ from its controlling Player’s Player Style, and may change during a Match if the Rule System permits. |
| Terminal Status | An attribute indicating whether a Piece is designated as terminal. The consequences of this designation are defined by the Rule System. |
| Piece Identity | The tuple (Piece Side, Piece Name, Piece State, Piece Style, Terminal Status) that characterizes a Piece’s functional attributes. Two Pieces with identical Piece Identity are functionally equivalent, though they remain distinct entities. |
6. Terminal pieces
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Terminal Piece | A Piece whose presence, condition, or capacity determines whether play can continue. Which Pieces are terminal and what this entails is defined by the Rule System. |
| Terminal Piece Status | A label describing the situation of a Terminal Piece relative to threats or constraints (e.g., in check, checkmated, stalemated). The mapping from Terminal Piece Status to game outcomes is defined by the Rule System. |
7. Positions
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Position | A snapshot of the game state comprising the Board structure, the Location of every Piece, the Piece Identity of every Piece, and the Active Player. |
| Initial Position | The Position from which a Match begins, as defined by game rules, variant specification, or notation. |
| Position Identity | The equivalence class of Positions sharing the same Board structure, Pieces, attributes, Locations, and Active Player. Two Positions with the same Position Identity are indistinguishable. |
| Canonical Position Representation | A deterministic encoding of a Position suitable for equality comparison or storage. |
8. Atomic transformations
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Action | The smallest atomic transformation of a Position, affecting a single Piece. An Action may include a Displacement, a Mutation, or both. |
| Displacement | The component of an Action that changes a Piece’s Location. |
| Mutation | The component of an Action that changes one or more attributes of a Piece’s Piece Identity. A Mutation may occur with or without an accompanying Displacement. |
9. Moves
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Move | An ordered, finite sequence of Actions performed by the Active Player during a single Turn. Applying a Move transforms a source Position into a target Position and transfers the turn to the other Player. Actions within a Move are applied sequentially in their specified order. |
| Pass Move | A Move containing zero Actions. A Pass Move transfers the turn to the other Player while preserving all Piece Locations and attributes. Whether passing is permitted is defined by the Rule System. |
| Turn | One opportunity for the Active Player to execute a Move. |
| Ply | A single Move by one Player, representing one discrete step in the game’s progression. |
10. Move validity and legality
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Protocol-Valid Move | A Move that satisfies all structural invariants defined by the Game Protocol. Protocol validity is purely structural; it does not consider movement rules or game-specific legality conditions. |
| Pseudo-Legal Move | A Move that is Protocol-Valid and consistent with basic movement patterns, but may violate higher-level constraints such as terminal restrictions or repetition rules. |
| Legal Move | A Move that is Protocol-Valid and fully compliant with all constraints defined by the Rule System in the current Game State. |
11. Matches and game progression
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Match | A concrete instantiation of a game: a sequence of Positions beginning from an Initial Position and evolving through Moves according to a Rule System. A Match involves two Players with fixed Player Identities. |
| History | The ordered sequence of Moves (and optionally Positions) played in a Match up to the current point. |
| Game State | The complete state needed to determine Legal Moves and evaluate outcomes. Game State comprises the current Position plus auxiliary data maintained by the Rule System (clocks, counters, repetition history, etc.). |
| Game | A complete ruleset specifying: an Initial Position (or method for determining one), the criteria for Legal Moves, conditions for termination, and outcome classification. A Game combines the Game Protocol with a specific Rule System. |
12. Common game mechanics
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Capture | A game mechanic in which a Piece is removed from a Square and placed into the Active Player’s Hand. Which captures are permitted and any Mutations applied to the captured Piece are defined by the Rule System. |
| Drop | A game mechanic in which a Piece is removed from the Active Player’s Hand and placed onto a Square. Also called placement. Which drops are permitted is defined by the Rule System. |
| Promotion | A game mechanic in which a Piece’s Piece Name or Piece State changes. Promotion conditions are defined by the Rule System. |
| Conversion | A game mechanic in which a Piece’s Piece Side changes. When conversion occurs is defined by the Rule System. |
13. License
This specification is made available under the terms of the Open Web Foundation Agreement 1.0 (OWFa 1.0).
The authoritative legal text is the OWF “Final Specification Agreement (OWFa 1.0)”.