Xiangqi or Chinese Chess (or possibly one of its variants – Janggi, Korean Chess or Chaturanga, the Indian version) probably qualify for that position of gaming honor.

Consider that Chess in all of its incarnations imitates real warfare as it was waged in antiquity.

Catapults are certainly ancient weapons of mass destruction, and these Asian games are the only ones known to this writer featuring a piece which mimics them. And reflecting feudal chieftains in that fortress and last line of defense from times gone by known as the castle keep, the Xiangqi kings and their respective pairs of chief advisors never leave their playing board palaces.

Finally, like the macho armies they portray, the playing pieces of this venerable diversion do not include a queen...but the playing board does boast a river, and lumbering elephants which cannot cross it.

Intrigued? As one who has learned to love these games that have been played for thousands of years, this writer hopes that you will as well, and that you will help keep them alive to provide not only refined entertainment but beneficial cerebral exercise on through this the new millenium!