senterej

thumb|Ethiopian nobles "Dejazmatch Gebre Selassie" and "[[Dejazmatch Ali" playing chess in the early 20th century]]

Senterej (Amharic: ሰንጠረዥ sänṭäräž), also known as Ethiopian chess, is a regional chess variant, the form of chess traditionally played in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It was the last popular survival of shatranj. According to Richard Pankhurst, the game became extinct sometime after the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930s. A distinctive feature of Senterej is the opening phase – players make as many moves as they like without regard for how many moves the opponent has made; this continues until the first capture is made. Memorization of opening lines is therefore not a feature of the game.