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This game has its beginnings in 5th century India, has spawned numerous other games, and has kept pace with technology, thanks to Big Blue. Find out more.
Chess, the game of kings, has its origins appropriately shrouded in mystery. Nearly every country lays claim to having invented it, but no one can offer definitive proof. As a result, the game has a sprawling, international history that this piece will take but a cursory glance at.
Many consider Arabia in general, or Persia in particular, to be the most likely area. In Islamic countries, some effort had to be made to convince the church fathers that the game should not be banned along with other gambling games. Once Muhammad's father-in-law (the second caliph Omar (634-644))saw the benefit of the game for teaching military strategy, he gave it his approval, and the matter rested.
Others feel that India has the best claim to the origin of chess, in the form of the 6th century game Shaturanga, which in turn had its origin in another game, called Ashtapada. A checkered board containing 64 squares was used in Saturanga, had pieces representing infantry, boatmen, calvary, and rajah, and bearing much resemblance to the modern pawn, knights, rooks, and king. However, this was a game for four players (one at each corner of the board) and dice rolls decided turns. Hindu laws forbidding gambling led to the abolishment of the use of dice in play. As well, the game became two person, and some pieces were given different forms-all of these changes led to a 'new' game, called shatranj.
The game of shatranj traveled very far-to Persia, Arabia, and Byzantium. In Islamic countries, some effort had to be made to convince the church fathers that the game should not be banned along with other gambling games. Once Muhammad's father-in-law (the second caliph Omar (634-644))saw the benefit of the game for teaching military strategy, he gave it his approval, and the matter rested.
Although several theories exist as to how the game found its way to Europe, the most likely seems to be through the Crusaders, who brought the game home with them after their struggles. Their version of the game (mysteriously without the checkered board, which would return) would remain popular for about 400 years, and contained a king, prime minister, elephant, war horse, ruhk, and pawn. Interesting the pawn could be promoted to prime minister rank if it were able to completely cross the board.
Gradual changes in the role of different pieces and new rules were added until the game became the one we know today. The first complete analysis of the modern game was written in 1749 by Francois-Andre Danican Philidor.
The shape of the pieces themselves also evolved. The very rich used rather impractical crafted and decorated pieces, while poorer players tended to simply use height as a guide as to which piece was which. However, John Jacques of London solved this problem in 1847 by simple representation that included such guides as a crown for the king, and a miter for a bishop, while still incorporating different heights for the pieces. This design was produced by Harold Staunton, and remains the standard for chess pieces today. The first international tournament took place in London only a few years later, in 1851, and was won by German Adolf Anderssen.
What about the rest of the world? In China, a version of chess (possibly derived from Shatranj, possibly not), is played called Xiang Qi. The pieces in this game are disks with letters drawn on them, and the game is played not in the middle of the board, but largely on its sides. The object is to move from the fortress across the river. The General, much like the European king, cannot however, move from his own fortress. The other pieces represent the mandarins, elephants, horsemen, chariots, cannons, and soldiers. Interestingly, this game does not allow the concept of 'stalemate'; once a player can no longer move, he has lost the game.
In Japan, the game of choice is Shogi, played with identical sets of wooden pieces with Japanese lettering on them. Pieces can be promoted and/or allowed back on the board once taken, creating a much different game than European chess.
Similarly, in Burma, the game of sittuyin is complicated by the starting positions of the pieces changing, depending on the desires of the players.
Chess' most recent movement has been into the realm of computers. The rules of play early intrigued computer scientists-MIT wrote the first chess program in 1957. Although it took many more years for the program to be written that could beat a chess master, 1997 saw the defeat of Kasporov to IBM's Deep Blue 2.
