History Of Chess
Did you know that chess is older than your grandparents? In fact, it's much, much older than them! The first form of chess is more than 2000-years-old, making it one of the oldest board games in history that people are still playing today.
Here's a brief overview of the history of chess:
- Chaturanga, The Origin Of Chess
- How Chess Spread Around The World
- Wrapping Up
- History of Chess Video
Chaturanga, The Origin Of Chess
It's hard to really tell who created chess and when it happened. Some people suppose chess was born in China. However, most historians believe that Persians invented the game about 1500 years ago. Besides, many people agree that the Persian game was an adaptation of an older Indian game called chaturanga, which is more than 2400 years old!
Image: a 14th century manuscript describing how an Indian ambassador brought chess to Persia.
Although very similar to our beloved game of chess, chaturanga had a few different rules. There was no castling, and stalemates were not a draw. Promotions also worked differently, en passant captures were impossible, and pawns couldn't even jump two squares on their first move.
Speaking of pawns, there was something even more strange about chaturanga. The game had different pieces than the ones we're used to!
Image: Hindu gods Krishna and Radha playing chaturanga.
People called pawns foot-soldiers. The queen was actually a minister and could only move diagonally one square at a time. Rooks moved the same but players called them chariots. Finally, bishops were elephants and could leap over other pieces but were very weak—they could only move two squares diagonally.
How Chess Spread Around The World
After chaturanga spread all over India and was then taken up and modified by the Persians, the Arabs spread it to the Middle East and North Africa. Then, the Moorish people took the game to Southern Europe.
Image: 1283 illustration of Templar knights playing chess.
Chess reached Europe in Medieval times. The game went through a series of modifications throughout the years to reflect the royal society of that time. The minister became the queen, the elephant turned into a bishop, and chariots became "castles," which we call the rook.
Image: 1474 illustration found in an English chess book.
Historians think that it was only between 1475 and 1485 that a game similar to modern chess appeared in Italy, Spain, or France. The queen and bishop gained new powers and started moving like they do today.
Wrapping Up
You now know how our beloved chess game was born and got to where it is today. Head over to our Play page to challenge kids from all over the world and enjoy the wonderful game of chess!