|
Chess has an amazing history dating back to the medevil era. Amazingly while much is unknown, we know a great deal about the history of the game. Chess has evolved hugely from its rarliest manuifestation in India. Many might noteven recognize it. Chess ismentiind inn the Bible and Jews olayed a cebtral Euroope in bringing shess to Christian Europe and have been central to the chess world ever since. What we today know as chess did not coalese until it became esrabkished in Europe (16th cenhtury). And even then the fully modern version did not yet exist. The induividual chess pieces were not standardized until even later (19th century). Published works on ches are mostly moderrn (mid-19th century). Clocks are a very recent innovation. Actual tournaments are very modrrn events (19th century). The formal world championship title only came into existence a little over a century ago (late-19th century). Russia played a huge role in modern chess history and after the Revioklution, the Soviet Union dominated the chess workd until challenfed byb a modernn American upstart--Bobby Fischer (1972).
The origin of chess are largely unknown. There is considerabke speculation. A variety of game pieces have been found in Europe (Russia), China, Central Asia, South Asia (India and Pakistan). This proves thatv biard games of some nature were played in ancient times, but does not prove any connection to chess. There is no convincing evidence of this. They may be distantly related board games, but mmnyinvolved using dice. There are literary references as well s archeological finds. The Talmud mentions a game called Naradshir. 【Ketubot 59a】 Some did have playing boards with squares, but none seem to have pieces wih different moving characterustics or ann end game of capturing one piece. .
There is no real evidence that anything apprioaching modern chess exited before the 6th century AD.
The most likely antecedent for modern chess. is an Indian war game called Chaturanga. This a Sanskrit term for a battle formation/four divisions. Lengend dates the beginning of Chess in India (6th century). This suggests that Gupta prince was killed in battle. And his brither dvised a ay of depicting his death to their greiving mother. This may or not be true. But what we do know is that there was a tradition of board games in India, including a 64 square board used in chess today--the Ashtappada board. While this had special squares along the sides and in the center, it was a square board divided into 64 squares that chess players would recognize today. There is actual historical evidence dating Chaturanga. It appears in the Indian epic 'Mahabharata'. Chaturanga is known to have been played in northwestern India (7th century). And it had two of the central and unique features of chess. Pieces with duifferent movement characteristics and a single piece that determined who won--the king.
The game spread throughout both Asia and Europe. The specifics of how chaturanga evolved is complicated and not well documented. The basic process, however, is understood. Some maintain that that chaturanga, perhaps played with dice on a 64-square board, gradually transformed into shatranj (or chatrang), a two-player game which became popular in northern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and southern parts of Central Asia (after thev 7th century). Shatranj resembled chaturanga but added a new piece, a firzān (counselor), which had nothing to do with any troop formation. TYhis bcame the vuzar in the Caliphste. Shatranj could end by either by caspturing all of an an opponent's plying pieces or cvhck mating the king. The opening of the pawns and knights did not change, but there enumeravle regional variations over time as the game spread. The game once in reach Persia and the Caliphate spread the east, north, and west, acquiring strikingly different characteristics so that they took on the identity of different games.
In the process, the game gradually evolved in Europe and other Western countries into what we would recignize as our modern chess. India was largely protected by the Himalayan Mountains, but the northwest friontier waas open. And a series of invasion took oplace from the niorthwest. One export that went he otherway was chess, reaching Persiawhich bordered cthe Gupta Empire. Persia of course was one of the great powers of the age with a vast empire. A game resembling chaturanga or shatranj has been noted in Persia, the expanding Caliphate, and the Byzatine Empire. It was in Persia that the name 'chess' first appeared. The name of the king piece was changed from the Sanskrit name Rajah to the Persian Shah. Shah of course meant king. Check mate was 'shah mat' meaning the kingb is helpless. The Arabs conquered Persia (632-54 AD). And among other cultural attributes, the Arabs embraced chess. It would be played throughout the Cliphate and eventually Muslim world. The Arabs trans fornmed chess from a tactical game to a cultural phenomenon. Chess terms appeared in Arab poetry--the most imporabnt expression of Arab literature. It was embrced by cortiers and diplomats. The Arab histoirian philoopher Al Masudi used it as a metaphor for free will incontrast to the many popular dice games of the age. The oldest actual recorded game was noted in a medieval Arab manuscript (10th cebntury). The players were a Baghdad historian, associated wuith three caliphs, and one of his pupils. The game was known to have been a faviorite of many caliphs and their vizars. In the Arab world what we know as the queen was the vizar or advisr to the caliph. .
The Silk Road provide the conduit of chess from Persia and the Arab Caliphate to to the Far East and Southeast Asia. The game was carried by Buddhist pilgrims, merchants, and others. Along the way it began mutating into a game with inscribed disks that were commonly placed on criss-cross lines of the squares rather than within the squares. This was presumably an influence of the popular stategy game 'go'. The Mongol Empire dominated much of cental Asia including the Silk Road, but this was after chess variants had been well established nn Asia (13th century). Mongol leader Tamberlane who would inmvade India played on an 11 by 10 board with safe squares called citedels. Here in the many countries involved, numerous variants developed, espcially in both China and eventually Japan. Chess reached China (about 750 AD). Xiangqi, Chinese chess, was the most popular Asian game. Xiangqi uses carved disks on a board marked by intersecting lines rather than the checkerboard patternb used for chess. It had 9 files and 10 ranks as well as an added boundary river. This was placed between the 5th and 6th ranks. The effect wasc tomlimit access to the opposing enemy camp. It made the Chinese game slowerv than than Western chess.
Chess reached Japan and Korea (11th century). In Japanese shogi meaning general's (shō) board game, commonly translated as Japanese chess. World War II admiraln Yamamoto was an invenerate shogi player. (The admiral also enjoyed Western poker.) In shogi, captured pieces could return to the board by the player who captured them.
Chess also reacged nedieval Christian europe, but thriugh infidel Musklims or pagan vikings. This may explain why sone Church fathers were suspicious of it. There were two primary routres, a southern and northern route. While the origins of European chess is clear for the northn and south. We are not entirely sure how chs reached France and Gernany.
The Northern route:The Byzantine Empire provided the beginning of the northern route. They infkunced the Eastern Slavs as well as the Swedish Vikings who travekled south on the eastern rivers to dominate Kievian Rus and asttack Constaninople. They were also traders and became enthusiastic chess players. The Vikings which had reached the Kevian Rus asrried chess west to a mpre northerrly route, reaching England, Scotland, and Iceland. This nrthern route mean access to wakrus ivory--the perfect material for carving beautiful chess pieces. A beautiful collection of ivory chessmen were found on Isle of Lewis Scotland (the Outer Hebrides) in 1831. They have been dated (11th or 12th centuries).
The Southern route: The Arab armies of the Caliphate created the southern route. Thev asrabs conquered huge areas to the West, including North Africa<, Sicily, and Spain. Of all of the Christin principaslities, Italy had the most contact witth the Arabs and then the Ottomans. This included both war and peacefuln trade. Venice in particular bcanme rich by trading with the Byzantines, Arabs, and Ottomans. Ann as part of these commercial contacts chess was introduced to Italy. The Italian name for chess is 'scacchī'--a word of Arabic origins. Italians became great traders and in their dealings wiyh nothern Europe, chess spread. The Arabs conqueredc Egypt (639-42) and then swept across Chritian North Africa, they brought brining chess with them. They reached Spain (710). While North Africa was Islamicized, Spain was only partially Islamicized. The term for chess in Spanish is ajedrez, an obviouly Arabic word. While the Moors brought chess to Spain (7th century), as the Reconquista began (8th century), chess gradually became widely accepted in he Chritian courts. It was played in both Mooriush and Christian kingdoms.
Chess became known as the 'royal game'. Some monarchs and religious kleaders banned chess and otherv games, especially dice games. Dice ganes of course were games of chance. This was not the case of chess where thought developing strategy was the primary fator. Many more kings were fascinaed by the game. Rulers enamored wuith chess incuded Kings Henry I, Henry II, John, and Richard I of England, of Philip II and Alfonso X (the Wise) of Spain, and of Ivan IV beter known to history as the Terrible of Russia. As a result it acquired the reputation as the as the Royal Game (15th century). There is an important social component to games. Many games night be played by men and women. But chess throughout history has primarily been played by men. This continues to be the case today. Chess became assoviated with wealth, knowledge, and power. Europeans made a major change. The Arab vizar piece became the queen--unthinkable in Arab culture. And of course bishops appeared. In the erarly medieval period, cgurchmen might be the only literate people at court. And throughout the medieval period they were important advisers, although there were also imoprtant conflicts between church and state.
Chess in Europe began to acquire its modern form. Many of the chess terms retained their Persian forms.
The rook or castle is thought to sound like the Persian word for chariot. Which seems like the oposite of a castle. Ancient Persia war chariots, hiwever, were built like tiny fortresses. Such fiortifications at the time were surrounded by stone walls and turrets. hich is why modern chess sets usually depict a rook as a, much like today’s rooks on the chess board. While the English word chess comes from the French echec, other languages have different names for the game. In Hebrew, chess is called shechmet, which sounds like the Persian terms shah or sheikh (king) and the Persian (and Hebrew) words for death, met. (In German, a checkmate is known by the same term: Schachmatt.)terms. Rook” sounds like the Persian word for chariot. In ancient Persia, war chariots were built like mini fortresses, surrounded by stone walls and turrets, much like today’s rooks on the chess board. While the English word chess comes from the French echec, other languages have different names for the game. In Hebrew, chess is called shechmet, which sounds like the Persian terms shah or sheikh (king) and the Persian (and Hebrew) words for death, met. (In German, a checkmate is known by the same term: Schachmatt.)
The powerful vizar/advisor became the queen, It is not alrogether clar why this occurred. There were some queens who played imprtant roles in the medieval era. Both in Anglo-Saxon and Norman times in England. Isabelloa is ine if Spain's great monarchs. France's national hero was if course Joan. Perhaps it was just to placate the ladies at court. No one really knows. And the powerful bishop reflected the importance of the church.
One of the first known masters of the game was a Spanish priest named Ruy Lopez. A famous opening is named after him. He published a book on chess anly openings and stress strategy (1561). There was little real discussion of stress strategies. Lopez even suggested playing so gthe sun is in your opponent's eyes. It wasn't until much later that we see any sophisticated discussion of chess strategy (18th century). The French Master Francois-Andre Philidor published the first really sophisticated book on chess strategy--Analyse du jeu des Échecs (1749).
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main games page ]
[Return to the Main activities page]
[Return to the Main home play page]
[Return to the Main activities page]
[Introduction]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Photography]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
