As for why the little pawn cannot retreat and is not allowed to move sideways before crossing the river, Ma Lin just made it up.
However, teaching these primitive people the Chinese characters is a difficult task. It's unknown how long it will take for them to recognize all the chess pieces.
Ma Lin is crafting some black and white chess pieces to facilitate playing Gomoku.
The intensity of Gomoku surely isn't as high as chess or Go, but it's simple and easy to understand, convenient to play, and thus very popular.
He uses a saw to cut small wooden blocks, then shapes them with a chisel and knife, and finally polishes them on a grinding wheel.
The manual grinding wheel isn't that efficient, but it's much faster than hand-polishing.
He ensures each chess piece is crafted round and smooth. If the wood itself is poor or has blemishes, he discards it.
Besides, he also made two iron rings for children to push and play with.
