History of Chess

Vida, fancifully identified the Rook as an elephant with a tower on his back, as used by Hannibal seventeen centuries earlier. This caught on, but the elephant was costly to carve, and disappeared leaving only the tower. Europe’s first big contribution to Chess came about AD 1,000 - a chequered board to assist the eye (before this time the board was unchequered). Please see Shogi for further details (Japanese Chess). A century later came the second - speeding the :&O (opening) by giving pawns the option of moving two cells on the first move (FMO). About 1580 an Italian suggested making the Queen the strongest piece instead of the weakest. Promotion of a pawn, hitherto a minor incident, became cataclysmic. The average game was halved in length. At the same time, the piece we call a Bishop, previously very restricted was de-limited. The new game was nicknamed ‘Scacchi all rabiosa’ (crazy Chess) by the Italians, and by the French, ‘Echecs de la dame enragee’ (Chess of the maddened Queen).But it swept Europe like a forest fire, except Russia, where the masses stuck to the old game for over two more centuries. Italy took over from Spain as the leading Chess country in the 17th century. In the 18th century, supremacy passed to France. About 1840, London became the main Chess center. The first international Chess tournament was held in London in 1851. It was won by Adolf Anderssen, a German professor of mathematics. The fantastic advance of Chess in the 20th century is best shown by figures. Before 1923 there were rarely more than four international tournaments in a year. Between 1923 and 1939, the average was six. After WW II this quadrupled. In 1974 it jumped to 60, in 1975 to 75, in 1976 to 100. By the end of 1990 the number had increased to well over 1,000 registered tournaments. In 1924 FIDE had a dozen member countries. In 1990 it had 127. Every two years, a world teams’ tourney is held, known as the Chess Olympiad. The number of entries in 1927 was 16. By 1990 it reached 108 teams. Women’s Olympiads started in 1957 with 21 teams, increasing to a record 65 in 1990. Russia (or the former Soviet Union) first competed in an Olympiad in 1952 and has won all but two since then. Only for three years since 1948 has there been a non-Russian (Soviet) champion. Bobby Fischer (USA) won crushingly in 1972 but did not defend in 1975 when the title went to Anatoly Karpov by default. In 1985 Karpov lost the title to 22-year old Garry Kasparov in a marathon struggle lasting 72 games, starting in September 1984. The challenger is found after three years of elimination tournaments, and matches start with Zonal tournaments, continuing with interzonals and culminating with Candidates’ matches. Women’s World Championships are played under similar procedures. The title of Chess Champion of the World dates strictly from 1886, but it has been conferred retrospectively from 1866 by general consent. Before that, there were players recognized as supreme in their time. The following list will not be disputed by most mature players: 01 Andre Danican Philidor (France) 1747-1795 • 02 Louis Charles Mahe de la Bourdonnais (France) 1821-1840 • 03 Howard Staunton (England) 1843-1851 • 04 Adolf Anderssen (Germany) 1851-1858 • 05 Paul Morphy (U.S.A. Irish/Spanish/French) 1958-1959 • 06 William Steinitz (born Austrian) 1866-1894 • 07 Dr Emanuel Lasker (born German) 1894-1921 • 08 Jose Raul Capablanca (Cuba) 1921-1927 • 09 Dr Alexander Alekhine (born Russian) 1927-1935 • 10 Dr Max Euwe (Holland) 1935-1937 • 11 Dr Alexander Alekhine (died still Champion, FIDE took control) 1937-1946 • 12 Dr Mikhail Botvinnik (Russia) 1948-1957 • 13 Vassily Smyslov (Russia) 1957-1958 • 14 Dr Mikhail Botvinnik 1958-1960 • 15 Mikhail Tal (Russia) 1960-1961 • 16 Dr Mikhail Botvinnik 1961-1963 • 17 Tigran Petrosian (U.S.S.R.) 1963-1969 • 18 Boris Spassky (Russia) 1969-1972 • 19 Bobby Fischer (U.S.A.) 1972-1975 • 20 Anatoly Karpov (Russia) 1975-1985 • 21 Garry Kasparov (Russia) 1985-? Until the present century, traditional Chess (:L01 of Chesmayne) was regarded as a game for the wealthy and leisured classes in society. It is the national sport in Russia, where it is more popular than football. Indeed, Russian Chess players have dominated world Chess since the 1940s, although their superiority is fast being challenged by Britain, which is now established as a strong Chess playing nation. Compare it with draughts or the Japanese game of Go (nearly all strategy). Chess also has the advantage of its finely differentiated playing pieces. They are not merely rounded lumps of wood or stone but individuals, each with h/er own power and attributes.It is easy to identify with one’s Chess pieces. Losing a game of draughts never results in the same sense of deep personal loss that one has when the KI is ++CM. It is a game that involves the mind completely. Chess combines elements of both art and science, what the Dutch call Denksport. Analyzing a Chess game is primarily an exercise in logic, yet arriving at a beautiful checkmating attack or a profound strategical position can bring a genuine sense of creative satisfaction. There is also the competitive aspect of the game. Chess is not a solitary exercise, like solving a crossword puzzle, but a battle between two individuals, a struggle of mind and will. Above all, Chess provides a sense of continuity with the past - of belonging to a great Chess-playing family extending through thousands of years and embracing all nations from the time of the Egyptian Kings to the present day (and probably before as well). In the text you will find games played over a century ago (:L01) which still arouse admiration in those who play through them today. Perhaps one day, new players who are now taking up Chess (Chesmayne) will find some of their own efforts gracing the literature of this fascinating game. Traditional Chess is one of the world’s most played board games. It has an old and distinguished pedigree, developed for over five centuries. The wisdom of antiquity has bequeathed it to succeeding generations. Of the various occidental board games, Chess is the King. It is the one practiced most widely and has the most-documented and carefully written theory to back it up. Goethe called Chess ‘the touchstone of the intellect’. The story of Chess is amongst one of the most extraordinary inventions in our history, which draws extensively on legend, mythology and symbolism and must rank amongst the greatest stories ever told. Its theme is the vast and bewildering complexity of the universe of thought - an inspiring symbol of the desire to explore and penetrate the uttermost reaches of the imagination. An eternal book - somehow impinging on infinity itself - a never-ending story - a mirror of the infinite possibilities of the human mind and one of the purest forms of communication with a unique and unusual set of symbols. This symbolic world of weightless thoughts is real, vital, and filled with significance. It seems we are mysteriously connected to the universe. We are mirrored in it, just as the entire evolution of the universe is mirrored in us. However, like frogs, sooner or later we have to step outside our limited sensorium. In this section the reader is taken through the delightful account of the landmarks and discoveries and pays tribute to the Chess players who made contributions, both large and small, not only as painstaking observers of the game, but also as outstanding wo/men of vision whose conclusions were often ahead of their time. We have traveled through the ages to accumulate a battery of sound Chess theories and along this road circuitous detours carried many thinkers far and wide through a wilderness. At this juncture we must put the whole achievement into perspective and it is well to make some preliminary comments about the state of Chess as it now stands. To settle a group of students a teacher will first tell them a light story when they first come into the classroom, just to put them at ease, focused, and then kind of lead them into.

History of Chess

The laws of Chess and the movement of the traditional Chess pieces have been the same since the sixth century of the second millennium. The changes that took place have quickened up the rate of play, such as allowing the Pawns to move two cells on the first move option (FMO). The origins of Chess are obscure. Some evidence presented by David Li in “Genealogy of Chess” quite clearly shows it was developed in China in the 2nd century B.C. but it is not until the 7th century that there is a reference to the game in literature. The first mention of Chess is found in a Persian poem according to which the advent of the game took place in India. Chess migrated to Persia (Iran) during the reigns of King Chosroe-I Annshiravan (531-579) as described in a Persian book of this period. This book described Chess terminology and the names and function of the pieces in some detail. According to some sources (Forbes, History of Chess, 1860) the game was invented between four or five thousand years ago, by the wife of King Ravana of Ceylon, when the capital was besieged by Rama. Chess is also mentioned in the poems of Firdousi, a Persian poet of the 10th century in which he describes gifts being introduced by a convoy from the Rajah of India at the court of the Persing King Chosroe-I. Amongst these gifts was a game depicting the battle of two armies. Records show that there were originally four types of piece used in Chess. Shatrang (Indian Sanskrit) means ‘four’ and anga means ‘detachment’. In the Sassanid dynasty (242-651 AD) a book was written in the Middle Persian Pahlavi language called ‘Chatrang namakwor’ (A Manual of Chess). Shatrang (Chess) represents the universe, according to ancient Indian mysticism. The four sides being the four elements (fire, air, earth and water), and the four ‘humors’ of man. Although the names of the pieces are different in various countries today, their movements are strikingly similar. In Persia the word ‘Shatranj’ was used for the name of Chess itself. In the 8th century the Moors invaded Spain and Chess spread to Europe. The game found its way to the western world after the Moslems conquered lands from India and Persia to the East, and Spain to the West. The first reference to Chess is found in the Catalonian Testament of 1010 AD. A Chess set was presented as a gift to Charlemagne from the famous Moslem ruler Haroon-al-Rashid. The Muslims also conquered Sicily, and the game reached Russia probably through the Caspian-Volga trade routes. The names of the Russian pieces clearly indicates the Persian and Arabic origin of the game.In Russian folk poems Chess is mentioned as a popular game. The Vikings carried the game to north-western Europe via the Baltic. Chess arrived in Germany around the 11th century, with the earliest reference to Chess being made by a monk ‘Froumund von Tegermsee’. Chess spread to Italy from Germany and later on to England and Ireland. Chess also reached Scandanavia by the 11th century and Bohemia from Italy. The growing popularity of Chess is proven by the vast amount of literature that has been printed over the last few centuries. The oldest of these (Mansubat) were penned by the Arab author Al-Aldi in the 9th century who also mentioned the differences between the Hindu and Persian rules of the game. Blindfold play, qualifying contests, Chess problems (mansubat), the first Chess book and tournaments were known as early as the 7th century. Today, the game of traditional Chess is very similar to the original game that was played in India 1400+ years ago (i.e., the game-tree has not been altered significantly). Chesmayne allows any game-tree to be used for play. Today there are 149 Chess playing countries belonging to FIDE. In the last few centuries traditional Chess has truly become international in appeal. Chess is exciting, demanding skill, and the result is unpredictable. It is not a physical contest, and there is no element of luck as in card games. In oriental warfare, a battle could be decided by the death or capture of the King, which in Chess is known as Shah-mat (checkmate, ++CM). So two armies line up against each other. One can try head-on assault or patient outflanking manoeuvres. One can try bluff, or offer poisoned pawns, or make sacrifices in order to ambush the enemy and capture the commander-in-chief, the King. The Persians took up Indian Chess with enthusiasm. The caliphs, rulers of the Moslem world, kept Chess professionals at court through the 9th and 10th centuries. Chess was brought to Europe by the Moors in Spain before AD 1,000. There was great confusion throughout medieval Europe concerning the pieces names. The elephants became archers in Spain, Standard-Bearers in Italy, couriers in Germany, court jesters in France, and BSs in Portugal, England, Ireland and Iceland. The ‘rukh’ (war chariot) was another enigma. In 1527, an Italian poet,

A Brief History of the World Chess Championship

Chess is one of the few sporting events in which the concept of a single world champion exists. The idea dates back to Wilhelm Steinitz, who was in fact the strongest player in the world in the 1860's, and proved this with a clear victory in a match versus Adolf Anderssen in 1866. When Steinitz finished second in the Great Tournament of London in 1883, well behind the Polish master Hermann Zukertort, he challenged Zukertort to a match for the World Championship. The match was held in 1886, in 3 cities: New York, St. Louis and New Orleans. Although Zukertort lead after the first portion of the match 4-1, he eventually lost 10-5. Even though Steinitz was then 50 years old, he searched out the best players and challenged them to title matches: first, the Russian player Chigorin, whom he defeated in 1889 and 1892, and later, the British master Gunsberg, whom he defeated in 1890. Steinitz finally lost his title at the age of 58 to the young German master and mathematician Dr. Emmanuel Lasker, by the score of 10-5 in a match in New York in 1894. The new World Champion also strove to legitimize his title by challenging the best players to matches, first defending his title against Steinitz (10-2, in Moscow in 1896), and later against Marshall (1907), Tarrasch (1908), Janowski (1909), Schlecter (1910) and again versus Janowski (1911) and Tarrasch (1916). The rules of these matches varied, some including a fixed number of games, while some required a set number of wins to claim the title with draws not counting. Lasker's famous psychological style, in which he would play moves which he felt were most uncomfortable for the specific opponent, was very successful, and he was able to hold the title until 1921. The great Cuban master José Raul Capablanca has been a child prodigy, defeating strong masters by the age of 7. By 1921, it was clear that he was the strongest challenge to Lasker. The match was held in Havana, and Capablanca was victorious 4-0 with 10 draws. The fact that Capablanca did not lose a single game was typical - during his career, he managed a 10-year span without losing a single game! His endgame technique was far better than his rivals, and is still studied closely to this day. However, he was not overly inclined to defend his title, and did not allow a title match until 1927. During this time, a Russian emigrant to England, Alexander Alekhine, rose to the top of the tournament circuit. A great match was planned between Alekhine and Capablanca, at the time called the "Match of the Century." The feared attacker, Alekhine, was to try and defeat the unbeatable Capablanca. This critical match took place in Buenos Aires in 1927, and was played under the rules that the winner was the first to win 6 games, draws not counting. The match foreshadowed a number of events within the chess world: the domination of the world championship by players from the Soviet Union, the problem of scheduling a match with an unlimited number of games, and the question of the right of the champion to a return match. After 34 games, Alekhine successfully overcame Capablanca by the score of 6-3. While Alekhine was a fearsome attacking player, his personal problems lead him to refuse Capablanca a return match. He instead challenged the relatively weaker Russian opponent Yefim Bogolubov, whom he defeated in 1929 and 1934. In 1935, Alekhine lost a match to Max Euwe of the Netherlands, 8-9 with 13 draws, probably due to overuse of alcohol. Two years later, Alekhine reclaimed the title in a rematch in Holland, 10-4. During the Second World War, most chess activity was halted. The rules of Nazi Germany did hold some tournaments in the occupied countries of Eastern Europe, and participation in these tournaments was to be held against some players for the rest of their lives. In 1946, Alekhine committed suicide. During the post-war period, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was formed, with strong influence by the Soviet chess authorities. It took over control of the World Championship, and took away the right of the champion to choose their own challenger. Instead, a system of zonal tournaments, interzonal tournaments and matches was put in place, with a challenger for the World Champion to be found every three years. Since no World Champion was currently in place, FIDE held a tournament in 1948 among the strongest players in the world at the time: The Russians Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov, the Estonian Paul Keres, former champion Max Euwe, and the Americans Samuel Reshevsky and Reuben Fine. The tournament was held in Moscow, and Fine declined to take part. Botvinnik won the tournament with 14 points out of 20 games, but it is now known that Keres was pressured to lose to Botvinnik due to Keres' activities in Nazi occupied Estonia during the war. The Russians wanted a true Russian as World Champion, and used their influence when necessary to keep Botvinnik in that role. After the 1948 match tournament, a long string of matches was held, all in Moscow. The Soviet Chess Federation was able to set the rules for these matches, and chose each match to be 24 games in length. In the case of a tie, the title would remain with the champion. Furthermore, if the challenger did win the match, the former champion was given a return match within one year, without having to qualify through the tournament and match system. This system clearly favored the champion, and Botvinnik used it to hold his title with two interruptions from 1948 - 1963. While Botvinnik was clearly one of the greatest players of all time, he was not significantly stronger than his competition during this period. His first title defense, against David Bronstein in 1951, finished with the score 12-12. Bronstein has later admitted that he was ordered by Soviet authorities to throw the match to Botvinnik. Again in 1954 Botvinnik was only able to hold his title by a 12-12 score, this time against Vassily Smyslov. In 1957, Botvinnik lost to Smyslov by the score of 12.5 - 9.5. Botvinnik then spent the entire year preparing to regain his title, which he did in 1958 by winning the return match 12.5 - 10.5 . The great Latvian attacking player Mikhail Tal defeated Botvinnik in 1960 by the score of 12.5 - 8.5, and only lost the return match in 1961 due to health problems (and perhaps the bane of many chess players, alcohol). After 1961, the right of a return match was removed. The Georgian grandmaster Tigran Petrosian was Botvinnik's next challenger, and he defeated Botvinnik in 1963 by the score of 12.5 - 9.5. Petrosian's strength lied in the accumulation of small advantages, patient positional play, and flawless endgame technique. He defended his title in 1966 against the young star Boris Spassky by the narrow margin of 12.5 -11.5, but lost a second match against Spassky in 1969 by the score of 12.5 -10.5. Spassky's first challenger was to be the first non-Soviet player to play in a World Championship match since 1948. During the 1960's, a young player from America was honing his skills and preparing to break down the Russian hegemony. Bobby Fischer, born in 1943, had been dominating nearly every tournament he played in, and reached the rank of grandmaster by the age of 11. His difficulties dealing with tournament officials and FIDE were many, however, and it was only through the kindness of another grandmaster that he was able to play in the interzonal tournament of 1970. Not only did he win that tournament, but he went on to beat two leading grandmasters, Taimanov of the USSR and Larsen of Denmark, by the incredible score of 6-0 with no draws in the preliminary matches. After overcoming former champion Petrosian in the finals, Fischer qualified to play a match for the title against Boris Spassky in 1972. This was truly the match of the century, with political overtones and issues relating to the conduct of both sides. The match was held at Reykjavik in Iceland, a chess-mad country which was truly a fitting setting for such an event. Fischer lost the first game, and refused to play the second due to differences with the organizers. Since Spassky would win the match in the case of a tie, this essentially put Fischer 3 games behind. Fischer was convinced to resume the match, and went on to overcome Spassky's lead and defeat him by the score of 12.5 - 8.5. This result had a major effect in the US, which saw a huge increase in the popularity of chess, and for Spassky, who never was able to return to favor within Soviet chess circles, and eventually emigrated to France. Fischer's unstable mental state made him ever more suspicious of FIDE, and he refused to defend his title in 1975. His challenger then became champion by default: Anatoly Karpov, born 1951 in Leningrad. Karpov successfully defended his title three times against the same challenger, Viktor Korchnoi, a defector from Russia living in Switzerland. These matches were filled with strange political happenings as well, including the use of hypnotists to try to distract the opponent, and the unfortunate threat by the Soviets to retaliate against Korchnoi's family if he were to win. A change in the rules also took place - the last two of these matches were played with the rule that the first player to win six games would be declared champion, with draws not counting. The qualification for the World Championship in 1984 saw a new player rise to the top - Garry Kasparov, an Armenian Jew from Baku. Garry had changed his name from Harry Weinstein as a youth to become more acceptable to Soviet officials. Kasparov breezed through the qualification tournaments and matches and reached the finals. Kasparov, just twenty years old, took on the veteran Karpov in Moscow. Karpov seemed to have an easy time at first, winning four of the first nine games with no losses. Kasparov decided to try to hold draws in the remaining games, hoping that his older opponent would eventually wear down. After an amazing string of seventeen straight draws, Karpov won game twenty-seven to come within one point of victory. However, after four more draws, Kasparov achieved his first win in game thirty-two. After this point, the momentum of the match shifted. Fourteen more draws were played, but by this point, Karpov was spent. The Soviet organizers, desperate for a win by the "model" citizen Karpov, tried to declare extra holidays to give rest days to Karpov. However, this did not help, and Kasparov won games 47 and 48. Then, an amazing event occured - FIDE, under pressure from the Soviets, annulled the match and declared a new one be played. Did Karpov support this idea, to save himself, or did this actually help Kasparov, who was still only one loss from defeat? The exact chain of events leading to this decision is still unclear, but in any case, a new match was played the following year, with a maximum of 24 games, and with Karpov holding his title in the case of a draw. This match was narrowly won by Kasparov, 13-11, with a win by Kasparov in the final game. Karpov retained the right to a return match, however, and this match was played in London in 1986. Kasparov won the third match between the two rivals by the score of 12.5 - 11.5. Karpov was thus forced to return to the preliminary matches to attempt to regain his title. He was successful in qualifying for another title match in 1987, and nearly regained his title that year. Leading Kasparov by the score of 12-11 in the 24 game match, Karpov needed only a draw to return to his previous post. But Kasparov ground down Karpov in a long ending, and drew the match, thereby retaining his title. Karpov again qualified for the title match in 1990, and only narrowly lost this match, 12.5 - 7.5. The qualification for the World Championship in 1993 saw a surprising twist: Karpov was upset by the English grandmaster Nigel Short. Short then defeated Jan Timman of the Netherlands to earn the right to challenge Kasparov. FIDE organized the title match, but failed to involve the players in the negotiations. This caused Short and Kasparov to form a new organization, the Professional Chessplayers Association or PCA, and to hold their match under its auspices. Kasparov easily won this match 12.5 - 7.5 . FIDE staged a parallel championship match, featuring Karpov and Timman, and Karpov's win then provided the chess world with two World Champions: an official FIDE-sanctioned one, and a player unbeaten in match play who was clearly the world's best. The PCA held one more World Championship match, between Kasparov and Vishy Anand of India, which was again won by Kasparov in 1996. The PCA folded after this event, and now Kasparov found himself in the same situation as the Champion 100 years previous: a great player looking for worthy opponents. While FIDE turned to yearly knock-out tournaments to provide a champion, Kasparov scheduled a match with Alexei Shirov, a Latvian who emigrated to Spain. The sponsorship of this match fell through, however, leaving Shirov with no chance to obtain the title. Kasparov was eventually able to organize a match with the Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Kramnik prepared amazingly thoroughly for this match, and was able to defeat Kasparov, being the first human to do so since the first K-K match in 1984. The future of the World Championship is currently in doubt. Will Kasparov be able to play a rematch with Kramnik, and could Kramnik perform the same feat again? Will FIDE eventually return to the previous system in which the Champion held the title until beaten in a match? Is a reunification possible? So long as the political climate in Russia and the former Soviet republics remains unstable, it seems likely that the World Championship of chess will remain as murky and unclear as ever.

The Origin of Chess

The Origin of Chess Is Obscure: Where did chess come from? Was it invented by a single person or did it evolve over time? Many eminent chess historians have been fascinated by these questions. While there is considerable controversy over the facts, the most widely accepted scenario is that chess appeared in India around 600 A.D., was adopted in Persia around 700 A.D., and was absorbed by Arab culture around 800 A.D. The Arab / Muslim influence was responsible for its later introduction into other cultures. The Evidence for Early Chess: There is no confirmed physical evidence from the early days of chess. No chess boards or complete chess sets have been found. Some objects excavated by archaeologists might have been early chess pieces, but they might just as easily have served a purpose that had nothing to do with a game. The evidence that we have is taken from literature, and even that is subject to interpretation. Does a certain word translate as 'chess', as some other board game, or as something else entirely? The Early Chess Historians: Many chess players know Sir William Jones (1746-1794) as the author of 'Caissa', a poem composed in 1763. He was also an accomplished linguist; knew Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit; and while living in India, published a paper ‘On the Indian game of Chess’ (1790), which identified India as the birthplace of chess. Later, Duncan Forbes (1798-1868), a professor of oriental languages, published 'The History of Chess' (1860), confirming his theory of India as birthplace 5000 years earlier. Harold James Ruthven Murray (1868-1955) : Forbes' work was soon shown to be riddled with errors, and the integrity of his scholarship was called into question. The task fell upon H.J.R.Murray to consolidate and verify the work of his predecessors : Thomas Hyde (1636-1703), Jones, Forbes, Antonius van der Linde (1833-1897), and Tassilo von der Lasa (1818-1899), among others. Murray's 900 page 'History of Chess' (1913) was based on 14 years of research using original material from the best chess libraries, translated by specialists. Murray Established the Baseline for Future Investigation: Murray's monumental work was supplemented by 'A History of Board Games other than Chess' (1952) and, to be more accessible for non-scholars, 'A Short History of Chess' (1963). He quoted Daniel Willard Fiske (1831-1904), 'Before the seventh century of our era, the existence of chess in any land is not demonstrable by a single shred of contemporary or trustworthy documentary evidence... Down to that date, it is all impenetrable darkness.' After that date, it is all interpretation of the record.
India - Chaturanga: It is not surprising that the earliest evidence of chess is also the murkiest. Forbes believed that the game called chaturanga, which means 'quadripartite' in Sanskrit, referred to a four-player version of the game using dice and was mentioned in the Puranas, which he dated to 3000 B.C. Murray showed that the four-player version came after the two-player version, discarded the notion of dice, and refuted the dating of the Puranas. This left literary evidence pointing to 620 A.D. Persia - Chatrang: The period of the Persian Empire relevant to the origin of chess, was known as the Sasanian dynasty or the Sassanid Empire and ruled Iran for over four centuries. One chapter of the 'Shahnama' ('Book of Kings'), describes how the Raja of Hind (India) sent the game via an emissary to King Nushirwan. The same chapter relates the legend of the invention of chess following a civil war between the two sons of a Queen. The game is also mentioned in the 'Karnamak' ('Book of Deeds'). Arabia - Shatranj: After the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 A.D., one of the world's great conquests spread out from Arabia. By 656, the Persian Empire had been conquered by the Moslem Empire. Even though the status of chess was uncertain in the codes established by the Koran [Quran], chess flourished in the Moslem world. The great culture of early Islam gave us the first works of chess literature, first recorded the names of early chess players, and spread the game as far as Spain. Early Shatranj Players: The chess (shatranj) player as-Suli (d.946) was the strongest player during the reign (902-908) of Abbasid Caliph al-Muktafi of Baghdad. His strongest student was al-Lajlaj ('the stammerer'; d.970). In 988, Ibn an-Nadim wrote of the earliest known chess match, between al-Adli and ar-Razi, during the court of Caliph al-Mutawakkil (847-861). As-Suli, who wrote about the history of the Abbasid caliphate as well as about chess, mentioned that match plus the even earlier players Rabrab and Jabir. Myths, Legends, and Theories: Before these historical personalities of the 9th and 10th centuries, we have only myths and legends. The 'Shahnama' tells us that Bozorgmehr, the vizier of King Nushirwan, deduced the secret of the riddle ('To find out how that goodly game is played, To find out what the name is of each piece, The way to move it and its proper square, To find out footman, elephant, and host, Rukh, horse, and how to move wazír and king') and described the game of chess. • It also tells us how chess was used to explain the death of a Queen's son Talhand at the hand of her first son Gav ('Once on a time there lived a king in Hind...'). Another legend is how the inventor of chess asked only to be paid by a grain of cereal, doubled on each of the 64 squares of a chess board. It is unknown whether it is Arabic, Persian, or earlier. The references to chess in Indian literature are only in passing. • From the 'Vasavadatta' by Subandhu (~600 A.D.): 'The time of the rains played its game with frogs for chessmen which yellow and green in color, as if mottled by lac, leapt up on the black field squares'. • From the 'Harshacharita' by Bana (~625): 'under this king only bees (shatpada) quarrel in collecting dews (dues), the only feet cut off are those in meter, only chess boards (ashtapada) teach the positions of the chaturanga (army or chess)'. • After these, there are no Indian literary references to chess until the ninth century. These brief references from India, together with the lack of archaeological evidence, leave a flimsy theoretical foundation for India as the birthplace of chess. It is no wonder that historians have tried to identify other cultures, most notably China, as a more likely birthplace. Here the evidence is even flimsier and the theory fails to reconcile other accepted facts about the relationship between Chinese chess and Western chess.

History Of Chess

Many historians believe that chess is the oldest game of skill in the history of mankind. It is thought to have originated in what is now northern India or Afghanistan sometime before 600 AD. The oldest written references to chess date from that era, but there are unverified claims that chess existed as early as 100 AD. It was in Persia that the terms “chess” and “checkmate” found their origins. The Persian word for king was “shah.” Over the course of time, shah was somehow translated into, among other variations, the Old French (e)sches, plural of (e)schek, which translated into English, means “check.” From there it was simplified to the Saxon and Modern English word “chess.” The term “checkmate” (used to signify victory over the opponent’s king) is derived from the Persian “shah mat,” which means “the king (shah) is dead (mat).” “Mat” is related to the Latin stem “mort” (death) as found in the word “mortuary.” Early traders coming out of India took the game back with them to their native homelands, and as a result, variations on the game of chess exist in nearly every country of the world. But the most common variation played by Europeans and Americans today traveled from Persia (now Iran) to Spain via the Moors. In the eighth century, the Moors invaded Persia and, as the two cultures intertwined, chess became popular with the Moorish soldiers. When the Moors later invaded Spain, the soldiers brought the game with them, and soon after, chess spread throughout all of Europe.By 1400 AD, the game of chess was well-established across Europe, and the rules for chess were almost identical to those still accepted today. The names and ranks of the pieces represent the very way in which both ordinary people and persons of rank lived their lives in Europe back in that time. The pawns on the chess board represent serfs, or laborers. These pieces are often sacrificed to save the more valuable pieces, and there are more of them on the board than any other piece. In medieval times, serfs were considered simple property of landowners, and were often left unprotected during times of war. During battle, serfs were often traded, used as diversions, or even sacrificed to keep landowners out of harm’s way.The knight in chess represents the professional soldier of medieval times, whose purpose was to protect persons of rank. In the game, knights are more important than pawns, but rank lower than bishops, kings, or queens. Their purpose in the game is to protect the more important pieces, and like pawns, they can be sacrificed to ensure the safety of the ranking officials. The castle piece is the home, or refuge, just as it was hundreds of years ago. The bishop, who represents the church, was an important figure in medieval times, a figure of power. Behind the king and queen, the bishop is the highest ranking piece on the board. The most powerful piece in the game of chess is the Queen, and it is the only piece that represents a female figure. Many people are unaware that queens in medieval times often held great influence with the kings, who relied on them for support and advice. There are many instances in history of queens working either for or against their kings, and behind the scenes some queens held more power than the kings themselves. In chess, just as in medieval times, the king must be defended at all costs. Surrender of the king means defeat, and hundreds of years ago, defeat of the king meant loss of the kingdom to invading armies. So it was to everyone’s advantage, from the lowest serf to the highest ranking bishop, to keep the king safe from harm. The king is the most important, but not the most powerful piece in chess. Loss of the king…means loss of the game.