History of Chess

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Chess is an intellectually demanding and elegant game. The original form of chess was invented in India more than 1,300 years ago. Over the course of the centuries, chess has become the undisputed queen of all board games. It has been subject to more exhaustive analysis and it has had more books and articles written about it than all the rest of the board games put together. It was once calculated that- on a worldwide basis- an average of more than one book a day is published on some aspect of the game or another! In more than one country chess is regarded as the national game. Those who play at the elite levels can earn large sums in prize money and receive many special privileges. They are considered just as much as a celebrity as baseball and basketball players in the United States or the best soccer players in Europe or South America.

The modern game of chess, however, bears little relation to the original game invented in India. That game was called chaturanga, a Sanskrit word that literally means “four limbs”. This word refers to elephants, horses, chariots and foot soldiers, the four components of an army in those days. From India, the game made its way to Persia, where it was known as chatranj. Persia was later invaded by the Arabs who quickly took this new game and became the first people to study and play it in a scientific way. After the Moors (as the Arabs were known in Europe) had conquered Spain, they introduced the game there and from Spain chess spread north into France. It was very popular among the Vikings, who may well have learned the game from the Persians, with whom they had trade links. The Vikings were probably responsible for introducing chess into much of northwest mainland Europe and into the British Isles.

As the game spread from the Middle East to Europe, the names and character of the pieces and moves were changed to adapt to the different cultures. The Persian “shah” acquired the name “king” and shahmat (translated: “the shah is helpless”), became checkmate. The “vizir” –or counselor- who occupied a position next to the shah, became the queen. Elephants and their use as instruments of war were practically unknown in Europe; the piece underwent several changes until it eventually became the modern bishop. This is not so strange as it may appear at first: in the Middle Ages, bishops often combined their religious duties with more warlike behavior. It was easy to identify the original horse with the knight who fought on horseback. The baidag (foot solider) has remained more or less unchanged as the pawn. The last piece, the original chariot, has become the modern castle or rook, but how this metamorphosis took place remains something of a mystery. Some experts seem to think the rook symbolizes the howdah on the back of the elephant (from which the archer’s arrows were loosed). If that is true, it was the chariot that somehow became the modern bishop.

In its early form, chess was a slow and ponderous game, particularly in its opening phases, but toward the end of the Middle Ages important changes were made in the rules governing the moves of the queen and bishop. The queen, formerly the humble counselor with severely limited powers, became the most versatile and influential piece on the board. The powers of the bishop were also considerably increased and pawns were allowed to move two squares instead of one on the opening move. These changes not only increased the tempo of the game, they also changed the entire strategy. The opening moves became much more important for they now had a more decisive effect on the outcome of the game. The end of the 15th century marked the completion of these changes. Since then, the game has in effect remained unchanged.

History of Chess