Tobit

Tobit is a 2-player strategy game from the Republic of Khakassia in central Asia. The age of the game is unknown, except that it's been a tradition in the region for many generations. The game board is interesting in the lack of corner spaces, and the odd number of rows in most examples. The pieces start the game as expected, on the near rows of spaces. It's basically played like orthogonal Checkers, just like other Middle Eastern jump-and-capture games. The difference appears when a piece reaches the far row and is promoted to a Tobit. Tobits can move like chess rooks and make long jumps to capture. Once they leave that back row, however, they lose their Tobit status. It's a very fun game for all ages, right alongside Checkers.