Generally, Russians refer to this events as 'The Great Game' (rus. Большая игра). It is worth noting that the term, as in the case of many historical designation, was not contemporary and has been applied only well into the conflict. The expression itself generally attributed to Lt. Arthur Connolly, and officer in East India Company, although it is not present in his 1834 memoir Journey to the North of India, Overland from England, through Russia, Persia, and Affghaunistaun. Nevertheless, it hasn't received popularity until in has been used by John Rudyard Kipling in his novel 'Kim' published in 1901, although it is not used there to denote rivalry between Great Britain and Russia per se, but rather the activities of the intelligence in Asia as such (not to mention the metaphorical usage of the term throughout the book). Russians largely adopted the term from Kipling or rather, from its use in common parlance by the British and thus it might be considered a calque of English expression. It is worth noting, that in Russian it is written within quoting marks much more often than in English, what suggests acknowledgement of its foreign origin. This is especially visible in the titles of the books and articles, where English expression is generally not quoted, while Russian usually is. This might have been cause by the fact that the rivalry in Central Asia in the second half of 19th century was, from Russian perspective, secondary in relation to their politics regarding Ottoman Empire and especially Caucasus region.

One might also sometimes find the information that this particular set of political influences was also called 'War of Shadows' (rus. война теней), often rendered in German as 'Tournament of Shadows' (ger. Schattenturnier), although this term is of German, rather than Russian origin and has never been used to any serious extent. It is largely attributed to the Karl Robert Nesselrode, Minister of the Foreign Affairs appointed by Nicholas I and serving throughout the reign of his son, Alexander II until Nesselrode's death in 1856. The expression was pretty much an equivalent to what in 20th century will become known as 'Cold War', i.e. a period of diplomatic and political tensions that, although able to cause local conflicts, never evolve into the open hostilities between the main 'players'.

​

Kazantsev, A., «Большая игра» с неизвестными правилами: мировая политика и Центральная Азия ["The Great Game" with unknown rules: global politics and Central Asia], Eurasian Heritage Foundation, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Moscow 2008.

Sarila, N.S., The Shadow of the Great Game: The Untold Story of India’s Partition. Basic Books, New York 2006.