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| ] and ] are shown playing ] on an 8x8 Ashtāpada.]] | |||
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| Many countries lay claim to the '''origins of chess'''. It is presently thought that the game originated in ],<ref>{{cite book | author=] | title=A History of Chess |publisher=Benjamin Press (originally published by Oxford University Press)| year=1913 | id=ISBN 0-936317-01-9}}</ref> since the Persian word for chess, ''shatranj'', is derived from the ] ], i.e. "four divisions of the military", infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots, represented respectively by pawn, knight, bishop and rook. | |||
| The words for chess in ] and ] are ''chatrang'' and ''shatranj'' respectively. These terms are derived from ''chaturanga'' in ], which literally translates into army of four divisions.<ref name=Meri>Meri 2005: 148</ref> This game was introduced to the ] from India and became a part of the princely or courtly education of ] nobility.<ref name=Meri/> The earliest Persian reference to chess is found in the ] book '']'', which was written between the 3rd to 7th century. This ancient Persian text refers to Shah ], who ruled from ]–], as a master of the game. However, ''Karnamak'' contains many fables and legends, and this only establishes the popularity of chatrang at the time of its composition. | |||
| == Early history == | |||
| ] | |||
| Many of the early works on chess gave a legendary history of the invention of chess, often associating it with ] (a game of the ] variety like ]). However, only limited credence can be given to these. Even as early as the tenth century Zakaria Yahya commented on the chess myths, "It is said to have been played by ], by ] (] son of ]), by Sam ben Nuh (]), by ] for the loss of his son, and even by ] when he grieved for ]." In one case the invention of chess was attributed to ] (by the rabbi ] in ]). | |||
| ===India=== | |||
| In ], "Chaturanga" literally means "having four limbs (or parts)" and in ] often means "]": The Indian army contained four groups namely ''hasty-asva-nauka-padata'' which translates as "elephant, horse, ship, foot soldiers."<ref name=Meri>Meri 2005: 148</ref> The game reflects fourfold division of the ancient Indian army. Besides the king and his counsellor or ] in the center, the army consisted of the following units: | |||
| * ] represented by a line of advancing pawns. | |||
| * Thundering ]s near the center of the army. | |||
| ** Later, this rather weak piece was thought not to be a suitable representation for the power of the real elephant in war in India. This caused a change of move and of name, and often in India nowadays the ] is called the elephant and the ] is called the ]. (Note: The name Camel is also used for a ] with a different move, a (3,1) leaper.) | |||
| * Mounted ] represented by the ] with a move that facilitated ]ing. | |||
| * ]s on the wings which move quickly but linearly and became the ] in Europe, but a ] as chess moved north into ] and east to ] and the ]. | |||
| Indian military strategy has been faithfully rendered in the game of chess.<ref name=Kulke>Kulke 2004: 9</ref> In India the game was meant as a simulation for battle.<ref name=Meri/> | |||
| ===China=== | |||
| As a strategy board game played in ], chess is believed to have been derived from the Indian Chaturanga. The object of the Chinese variation is similar to Chaturanga, i.e. to capture the opponent's king, sometimes known as ''general.''<ref name=Britannica > Chinese chess. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 31, 2007, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9024151 </ref> | |||
| Chinese chess also borrows elements from an earlier game of ], which was known to the ] before chess arrived from India. Owing to the influence of Go, Chinese Chess is played on a 9x10 board with 90 points, rather than 64 squares. Chinese chess pieces may be flat and may resemble those used in ].<ref name=Britannica /> | |||
| A theory, championed by ], contends that chess arose from ] or a predecessor thereof, existing in ] since the ].<ref name="li">{{cite book | author=] | title=The Genealogy of Chess |publisher=Premier Pub. Co | year=1998 | id=ISBN 0-9637852-2-2}}</ref> | |||
| According to Li, literary sources indicate that ] may have been played as early as the 2nd century BC. The oldest surviving remnant of ancient Chinese ] dates to circa ]. Nevertheless, Liubo, though sometimes considered a battle game, was played with dice. According to a hypothesis by ], general ] drew on Liubo to develop a Chinese form of chess in the winter of ]-].<ref name="li"/> | |||
| ===Middle East=== | |||
| ] as early as the 3rd century.]] | |||
| The ], a ] epical treatise about the founder of the ] ], mentions the game of ''chatrang'' as one of the accomplishments of the legendary hero, ], founder of the Empire. | |||
| The appearance of the chess pieces had altered greatly since the times of Chaturanga. Chaturanga had ornate pieces, and the chess pieces could depict animals. The ] sets of later centuries followed a pattern which assigned names but not shape to the chess pieces, as ] forbids depiction of animals and human beings in art. The pieces were made of simple clay and carved stone.<ref> chess (Set design). (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-80432/chess </ref> | |||
| A variation of chaturanga made its way to ] through Persia, the ] and the expanding ] empire. The oldest recording game in Chess history dates to a ] game played between a historian from ] and a pupil.<ref> Chess: Introduction to Europe. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-80430/chess </ref> | |||
| ==Further development of chess== | |||
| ] ] is a depiction of what ] calls the ajedrex de los quatro tiempos ("chess of the four seasons"). This game is a chess variant for four players, described as representing a conflict between the four elements and the four humors. The chessmen are marked correspondingly in green, red, black, and white, and pieces are moved according to the roll of dice.<ref name="wollesen">Wollesen, Jens T. "Sub specie ludi...: Text and Images in Alfonso El Sabio's Libro de Acedrex, Dados e Tablas", ''Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte'' 53:3, 1990. pp. 277-308.</ref>]] | |||
| Chess eventually spread westward to Europe and eastward as far as ], spawning variants as it went. The names of its pieces were translated into ] along the way. Although the existing evidence is weak, it is commonly speculated that chess entered Persia during the reign of ] (]–] CE). | |||
| When Persia was conquered for Islam, chatrang entered the Islamic world, where the names of its pieces largely remained in their Persian forms in early Islamic times. Its name became '']'', which continued in ] as ''xadrez'', in ] as ''ajedrez'' and in ] as ''zatrikion'', but in most of Europe was replaced by versions of the Persian word ''shāh'' = "king". There is a theory that this name replacement happened because, before the game of chess came to Europe, merchants coming to Europe brought ornamental chess kings as curiosities and with them their name ''shāh'', which Europeans mispronounced in various ways | |||
| ] at the ], ].|300px|thumb|left]] | |||
| The game spread throughout the ]ic world after the Muslim conquest of Persia. From the Muslim world it may have penetrated into Europe through Spain from Morocco, or through Italy from Sicily and Tunisia, or through Byzantium from Syria; perhaps by all three routes. | |||
| The commonly held view is that chess reached Europe in 10th century. However in ] a group of British archaeologists found in the ancient city ] an object which looks like a chess king or queen. If it really is a chess piece, this would mean that chess reached Europe already in 6th century. Still, no other chess pieces were found there, and the artifact could be also something else. <ref> by Jean-Louis Cazaux</ref> | |||
| Chess was introduced into ] by the Persian ] in the ],<ref>Singular and plural: the heritage of al-Andalus - Spain under the Moors - Al-Andalus: where three worlds met | |||
| UNESCO Courier, Dec, 1991 by Rachel Arie</ref> and described in a famous ] manuscript covering chess, ], and ] named the '']''. Chess with dice from the ] period was found in ] with ] figure sculpted on king pieces.{{Fact|date=September 2007}} | |||
| == Origins of chess pieces == | |||
| === Chess-like pieces === | |||
| Ever since the earliest times, and especially with regards to the most ancient of preliterate societies, ''chess-like pieces'' — isolated from whatever boards they could have been played on — were only simple ]s cut from stone, or made from clay and fired. As some researchers have come to believe, some tokens represented goods or merchandise in transit; including them in a caravan made the trading trip that much more legitimate, and may have invested in them a degree of ] luck. Trading partners relied upon the tokens as representatives of the real thing: a cube could represent a crate, a tiny horse figure could represent a horse, and a pod on a stalk could represent a bushel of grain. Insofar as ancient commerce goes, this sort of thing has immense practicality when it comes to balancing one's ledgers, and indicating whether partial shipments are meant to be completed with future shipments. No less important is the matter of exacting tribute from a subject people, and keeping track of how much tribute has been arrived at. This becomes all the more important in an economic network having no common currency, and where debts are satisfied with payments in kind. | |||
| === Chess pieces as talismans === | |||
| An argument can also be advanced that chess pieces hewn from stone were miniature versions of ], useful for representing and predicting the conflict of divine forces in nature or society. As did many other ancient people, the ]s kept little wood statues — ] — by them in their houses and at work for good luck and good health, and considered spiritual power to be present in them, and emanate from them, wherever they were placed. | |||
| === Chess pieces as objects of art === | |||
| It was not until significant advancements in technology were made that little stone figures were placed on a rectangular grid, and used for some game pieces, that chess came close to being invented. The existence of sets of miniature figures could well have made the invention of ''chesslike games'' inevitable, and a mere matter of time. | |||
| == See also == | |||
| *] | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| ==References== | |||
| *Murray, H. J. R. ''A History of Chess'' (Northampton, MA: Benjamin Press, 1985) ISBN 0-936317-01-9 | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last =Kulke | |||
| | first =Hermann | |||
| | coauthors = Dietmar Rothermund | |||
| | title =A History of India | |||
| | publisher =Routledge | |||
| | date =2004 | |||
| | isbn = ISBN 0415329205 | |||
| }} | |||
| *{{cite book | |||
| | last =Meri | |||
| | first =Josef W. | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | coauthors = | |||
| | title =Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia | |||
| | publisher =Routledge | |||
| | date =2005 | |||
| | isbn =ISBN 0415966906 | |||
| }} | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| * {{cite book | |||
| | last = Davidson | |||
| | first = Henry | |||
| | year = 1949, 1981 | |||
| | title = A Short History of Chess | |||
| | publisher = McKay | |||
| |id = ISBN 0-679-14550-8 | |||
| }} | |||
| == External links == | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| *, different authors on origin of chess. | |||
| *, various authors on the origins of chess, the feminine in chess, and other subjects. | |||
| *The history and origin of Chess. | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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