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| The game of ] has been attributed to the ]ns both by the ] and by the ]s.<ref name=Wilkinson>Wilkinson 1943</ref> However, the origin of the game remains lost in antiquity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chess.about.com/od/history/p/aa06a14.htm |title=Chess - By Category |publisher=Chess.about.com |date=20-Nov-2008 |accessdate=2008-11-23}}</ref> The words for chess in ] and ] are ''chatrang'' and ''shatranj'' respectively — terms derived from '']'' in ],<ref name=Whyld> Hooper 1992: 74</ref> which literally means an ''army of four divisions''.<ref name = Meri/> | |||
| Chess spread throughout the world and many variants of the game soon began taking shape.<ref name = "Fadul">], ''Lessons in Chess, Lessons in Life'' (Morrisville, North Carolina: Lulu.com, 2008) ISBN 978-0-557-01191-9</ref><ref name=Britannica02/> This game was introduced to the ] from India and became a part of the princely or courtly education of ] nobility.<ref name=Meri/> ] pilgrims, ] traders and others carried it to the ] where it was transformed and assimilated into a game often played on the intersection of the lines of the board rather than within the squares.<ref name=Britannica02/> Chaturanga reached ] through Persia, the ] and the expanding ] empire.<ref name=ChessEurope/> ] carried chess to ], ], and ] by the 10th century.<ref name=Britannica02/> | |||
| The game was developed extensively in Europe, and by late 15th century, it had survived a series of prohibitions and ] sanctions to almost take the shape of the modern game.<ref name=Riddler/> The ] saw reliable references works,<ref name=Britannica02a/> competitive chess tournaments<ref name=Britannica02b/> and exciting new variants add to the popularity of the game,<ref name=Britannica02b/> further bolstered by reliable time mechanisms, effective rules<ref name=Britannica02b/> and charismatic players.<ref name=Britannica02c/> | |||
| ] to the other parts of ], ], and ].]] | |||
| ==India== | |||
| ] and ] playing chaturanga on an 8x8 Ashtāpada.]] | |||
| The earliest precursor of modern chess is a game called ], which flourished in India by the 6th century, and is the earliest known game to have two essential features found in all later chess variations — different pieces having different powers (which was not the case with ] and ]), and victory depended on the fate of one piece, the king of modern chess.<ref name=Britannica02/> Other game pieces, often known as "chess pieces," uncovered in ] findings are considered as coming from other, distantly related, board games, which may even have boards of 100 squares or more.<ref name=Britannica02>Chess: Ancient precursors and related games (Encyclopedia Britannica 2002)</ref> | |||
| As early as the late 19th century, an idea originating mainly from the works of Captain Hiram Cox and Duncan Forbes indicated that a four handed game was the original form of chaturanga.<ref> Encyclopedia Britannica (Ninth Edition)</ref> Other scholars have concluded that a two handed version probably existed before the four handed one and evolved later into many other versions, including the four handed version of chaturanga.<ref name=Whyld/> | |||
| In ], "Chaturanga" literally means "having four limbs (or parts)" and in ] often means army.<ref name=Meri>Meri 2005: 148</ref> The name itself comes from a battle formation mentioned in the Indian epic ].<ref name=Britannica02/> Chaturanga was a battle simulation game<ref name=Meri/> which faithfully rendered Indian military strategy of the time.<ref name=Kulke>Kulke 2004: 9</ref> Initial gambling and dice aspects of the game — facing condemnation from both the ] and Muslim cultures — were removed as the game progressed and branched into newer games.<ref name=Wilkins1>Wilkins 2002: 48</ref> | |||
| Ashtāpada, the uncheckered 8×8 board — sometimes with special markers — served as the main board for playing Chaturanga.<ref name=Wilkins2>Wilkins 2002: 46</ref> Other Indian boards included the 10×10 ''Dasapada'' and the 9×9 ''Saturankam.''<ref name=Wilkins2/> | |||
| The Arab scholar ] detailed the use of chess as a tool for ], ], ] and even its vague association with ] in India and elsewhere.<ref name=Wilkinson/> Mas'ūdī notes that ] in India was chiefly used for the production of chess and ] pieces, and asserts that the game was introduced to Persia from India, along with the book ''],'' during the reign of emperor ].<ref name=Wilkinson/> | |||
| A notable evolution of chaturanga was '']'' (or chatrang), a popular two-player variant which resembled chaturanga and could be won either by eliminating all of an opponent's pieces (except the king) or by capturing the king itself.<ref name=Britannica02/> The initial positions of the pawns and horses did not change, but there were some regional and temporal alterations for the other pieces.<ref name=Britannica02/> | |||
| ==Iran== | |||
| ] as portrayed in a 1500 painting in a page of a copy of ]'s poem dedicated to Shams. ]] | |||
| 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.<ref name=Bell1>Bell 1979: 57</ref> The oldest recorded game in chess history is a 10th century game played between a historian from ] and a pupil.<ref name=ChessEurope> Chess: Introduction to Europe (Encyclopedia Britannica 2007) </ref> | |||
| In the 11th century '']'', ] describes a ] visiting from India who re-enacts the past battles on the chessboard.<ref name=Wilkinson/> A translation in ], based on the manuscripts in the ], is given below:<ref name=Bell1/> | |||
| <blockquote> | |||
| One day an ambassador from the king of Hind arrived at the Persian court of Chosroes, and after an oriental exchange of courtesies, the ambassador produced rich presents from his sovereign and amongst them was an elaborate board with curiously carved pieces of ebony and ivory. | |||
| <br /><br /> | |||
| He then issued a challenge: <br /> | |||
| "Oh great king, fetch your wise men and let them solve the mysteries of this game. If they succeed my master the king of Hind will pay tribute as an overlord, but if they fail it will be proof that the Persians are of lower intellect and we shall demand tribute from Iran."<br /><br /> | |||
| The courtiers were shown the board, and after a day and a night in deep thought one of them, ], solved the mystery and was richly rewarded by his delighted sovereign. | |||
| </blockquote> | |||
| The appearance of the chess pieces had altered greatly since the times of chaturanga, with ornate pieces and chess pieces depicting animals giving way to abstract shapes.<ref name=chess(Set design)/> The ] sets of later centuries followed a pattern which assigned names and abstract shapes to the chess pieces, as ] forbids depiction of animals and human beings in art.<ref name=chess(Set design)> Chess: Set design (Encyclopedia Britannica 2007)</ref> These pieces were usually made of simple clay and carved stone.<ref name=chess(Set design)/> | |||
| ==East Asia== | |||
| As a strategy board game played in ], chess is believed to have been derived from the Indian Chaturanga.<ref name=Chinesechess/> Chaturanga was transformed and assimilated into a game often placed on the intersection of the lines of the board rather than within the squares.<ref name=Britannica02/> The object of the Chinese variation is similar to Chaturanga, i.e. to render helpless the opponent's king, sometimes known as ''general.''<ref name=Chinesechess> Chinese chess (Encyclopedia Britannica 2007) </ref> Chinese chess also borrows elements from the game of ], which was played in ] since at least the 6th century BC.<ref name=Chinesechess/> Owing to the influence of Go, Chinese chess is played on the intersections of the lines on the board, rather than in the squares.<ref name=Chinesechess/> Chinese chess pieces are usually flat and resemble those used in ].<ref name=Chinesechess/> | |||
| ] posits that "image-chess," a recreational game associated with ], was developed in China and transmitted to India,<ref name=Needham1a>Needham 1962</ref> where it evolved into the form of modern military chess.<ref>Needham 1985: 57</ref> Needham notes that ] were transmitted to China from India,<ref>Needham 1986: 55</ref> and were used in the game of "image-chess."<ref name=Needham1a/> | |||
| Another alternative theory contends that chess arose from ] or a predecessor thereof, existing in ] since the 2nd century BC.<ref name="li">Li 1998</ref> ], a retired accountant, professor of accounting and translator of ancient Chinese texts, hypothesizes that general ] drew on the earlier game of ] to develop an early form of Chinese chess in the winter of 204–203 BC.<ref name="li"/> The German chess historian Peter Banaschak points to the many inconsistencies in Li's theories while noting that the "Xuanguai lu," authored by the ] minister Niu Sengru (779-847), remains the first real source on Chinese chess.<ref>Banaschak: A story well told is not necessarily true - being a critical assessment of David H. Li's "The Genealogy of Chess" </ref> | |||
| A prominent variant of chess in East Asia is the game of ], transmitted from India to China and ] before finally reaching ].<ref name=EBshogi>Shogi (Encyclopedia Britannica 2002)</ref> The two distinguishing features of Shogi are: 1) The captured pieces may be reused by the captor and played as a part of the captor's forces, and 2) Pawns capture as they move, one square straight ahead.<ref name=EBshogi/> | |||
| ==Europe== | |||
| ===Early History=== | |||
| ] | |||
| A variation of chaturanga made its way to ] through Persia, the ] and the expanding ] empire.<ref name=ChessEurope/> Chess appeared in ] during the end of the first millennium, often introduced to new lands by conquering armies, such as the ].<ref name=Riddler>Riddler 1998</ref> Chess remained largely unpopular among the ] people — who could not relate to the abstract shapes — but started gaining popularity as soon as figural pieces were introduced.<ref name=Riddler/> | |||
| ]. The top row shows king, queen, and bishop. The bottom row shows knight, rook, and a pawn.]] | |||
| The social value attached to the game — seen as a prestigious pastime associated with nobility and high culture — is clear from the expensive and exquisitely made chessboards of the medieval era.<ref name=Vale1a/> The popularity of chess in the Western courtly society peaked between the 12th and the 15th centuries.<ref name=Gamer1>Gamer 1954</ref> The game found mention in the ] and ] language literature throughout Europe, and many works were written on or about chess between the 12th and the 15th centuries.<ref name=Gamer1/> ] divides the works into three distinct parts: the ] works eg. ]'s ''De scaccis'' (approx. 1180); works of morality like ''Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium sive super ludo scacchorum'' (Book of the customs of men and the duties of nobles or the Book of Chess), written by ]; and the works related to various chess problems, written largely after 1205.<ref name=Gamer1/> Chess terms, like ''check,'' were used by authors as a metaphor for various situations.<ref name=Vale2b> Vale 2001: 177</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| Chess was soon incorporated into the knightly style of life in Europe.<ref name=Vale1b/> ], in his work ''Disciplina Clericalis,'' listed chess among the seven skills that a good ] must acquire.<ref name=Vale1b>Vale 2001: 171</ref> Chess also became a subject of art during this period, with caskets and pendants decorated in various chess forms.<ref>Vale 2001: 152</ref> ]'s green and red chess sets — made of jasper and crystal — symbolized chess's position in royal art treasures.<ref name=Vale2b/> Kings ], ] and ] of England were chess patrons.<ref name=Britannica02/> Other monarchs who gained similar status were ] of ] and ].<ref name=Britannica02/> | |||
| ] denounced the bishop of Florence in 1061 for playing chess even when aware of its evil effects on the society.<ref name=Riddler/> The bishop of Florence defended himself by declaring that chess involved skill and was therefore "unlike other games," similar arguments followed in the coming centuries.<ref name=Riddler/> Two separate incidents in 13th century ] involving men of ] resorting to violence resulting in death as an outcome of playing chess further caused sensation and alarm.<ref name=Riddler/> The growing popularity of the game — now associated with revelry and violence — alarmed the Church.<ref name=Riddler/> | |||
| The practice of playing chess for money became so widespread during the 13th century that ] issued an ordinance against gambling in 1254.<ref name=Vale1a>Vale 2001: 172</ref> This ordinance turned out to be unenforceable and was largely neglected by the common public, and even the courtly society, which continued to enjoy the now prohibited chess tournaments uninterrupted.<ref name=Vale1a/> | |||
| By the Mid 12th century, the pieces of the chess set were depicted as kings, queens, bishops, knights and ].<ref name=Vale2a>Vale 2001: 173</ref> Chessmen made of ivory began to appear in ], and ornate pieces of traditional knight warriors were used as early as the mid 13th century.<ref>Vale 2001: 151</ref> The initially nondescript pawn had now found association with the ''pedes'', ''pedinus,'' or the ], which symbolized both infantry and loyal domestic service.<ref name=Vale2a/> | |||
| The following table provides a glimpse of the changes in names and character of chess pieces as they transitioned from India through Persia to Europe:<ref>Vale 2001: 174</ref><ref> Murray, H. J. R.: 1913</ref> | |||
| {| class="wikitable" border="1" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto" | |||
| |+ '''A comparison of the Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Latin and English terms for chessmen''' | |||
| ! Sanskrit || Persian || Arabic || Latin || English | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] (King) || ] || ] || ] || ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] (Minister)|| Vazir (]) || Wazir/Firz || ] || ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ]h (war elephant)|| Fil || Al-Phil/Fil ||Episcopus/]/Calvus||]/]/] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] (horse) || Asb || Fars/Hisan || Miles/] || ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] (chariot) || Rokh || Qalaah/Rukh || Rochus/Marchio || ]/] | |||
| |- | |||
| | Padati (footman/footsoldier) || Piadeh || Baidaq/Jondi || Pedes/Pedinus || ] | |||
| |} | |||
| The game, as played during the early Middle Ages, was slow, with many games lasting for days.<ref name=Riddler/> Some variations in rules began to change the shape of the game in by 1300 AD.<ref name=Britannica02d/> A notable, but initially unpopular, change was the ability of the pawn to move two places in the first move instead of one.<ref name=Britannica02d>Chess (History): Standardization of rules (Encyclopedia Britannica 2002)</ref> | |||
| New alterations, made after 1475 AD, led to further evolution of the game: the queen — a powerful new piece — was introduced, leading to additional value being attached to the previously minor tactic of ].<ref name=Britannica02d/> The war elephant of the chaturanga also evolved into the bishop, giving the piece more range.<ref name=Britannica02d/> This rise of "unwarlike" figures and a departure from the pure military symbolism prevalent in India and Persia may have bought these pieces closer to the court and ordinary household.<ref name=Vale2a/> Furthermore, ] became easier and games could now be won using a smaller number of moves.<ref name=Britannica02d/> | |||
| The queen and bishop pieces remained relatively weak until the game reached an evolved form, very close to the modern form of chess, by the late 15th century.<ref name=Riddler/> | |||
| An Italian player, ], regarded as one of the first true professionals of the game, authored an analysis of a number of composed games that illustrated two differing approaches to chess.<ref name=Britannica02a/> This influential work went to some extent in popularizing chess and demonstrated the many theories regarding gameplay and tactics.<ref name=Britannica02a>Chess: Development of Theory (Encyclopedia Britannica 2002)</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| The first full work dealing with the various winning combinations was written by ] of France, regarded as the best chess player in the world for nearly 50 years, and published in the 18th century.<ref name=Britannica02a/> He wrote and published ''L'Analyze des échecs'' (Chess Analyzed), an influential work which appeared in more than 100 editions.<ref name=Britannica02a/> | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| {{reflist|colwidth=30em}} | |||
| ==References== | |||
| <div class="references-small"> | |||
| </div> | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| <div class="references-small"> | |||
| * {{cite book | |||
| | last = Davidson | |||
| | first = Henry | |||
| | year = 1949, 1981 | |||
| | title = A Short History of Chess | |||
| | publisher = McKay | |||
| | isbn = 0-679-14550-8 | |||
| }} | |||
| </div> | |||
| == External links == | |||
| * ]: History of Chess, by ]] | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| {{Chess}} | |||
| ] | |||
Revision as of 11:54, 11 December 2008
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