Where was Chess Invented?

There are a few popular games today that have been around for as long as chess. Basketball was invented in 1891. American football was invented in 1869. Hockey was invented in 1875. Modern Soccer was first played in 1863. But people have been kicking rocks into targets for thousands of years! Friends have been tackling eachother since the beginning of time. Chess is similar. The first recorded chess tournament took place in 1575, but modern tournaments and rules have been similar since the 1800s. But where did chess come from?

The Origins of Chess

Chess actually has a history going back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. It's easy to look at any game played on a board and think of it as similar to chess, but in fact there are direct lines that tie chess back to India around the seventh century AD. Think about that the next time you play a game, that the history of chess goes back over a thousand years! Some of the pieces have been changed, mostly to make them more powerful, but much of the game has remained similar to its ancient counterpart. Not only that, but as the game spread, it became immensely popular over the years, showing how fun and long-lasting chess and chess-like games can be.

Chaturanga: Chess History’s Ancestor

Chess has been an analogy for war since the beginning! The earliest recorded version of chess was a game in India that was called chaturanga. The word chaturanga derives from the Sanskrit “caturaṅga,” a compound meaning "having four limbs or parts." Usually, that word was also used to refer to an army or various battle formations. So why did they use it to describe this game?

What are the Pieces in Chaturanga called?

As in modern chess, there were four main kinds of pieces in chaturanga, which gave it its name. This is one of the main parts of Chaturanga that makes it most similar to chess and causes historians to label chess as an ancient game. These pieces, and the four parts of the army, can still be seen reflected in modern chess, just with different names, and some more modern movements. Particularly, some pieces gained more mobility and became stronger.

Raja 

Raja is the King! In chaturanga, the goal is for one side to checkmate the opponent's raja (king) or to leave the other side with only the raja. Just like in modern chess, the raja only moves one step at a time in any direction. But, unlike in modern chess, there was no such thing as castling back when chaturanga was played!

Mantri (minister) or senāpati (general)

The proto-queen! Moves one step diagonally in any direction. Maybe not as powerful as our modern Queen, but still a versatile piece.

Ratha or sakaṭa (chariot; rook)

The rook might be the least changed piece over the years. In chaturanga, it moved in basically the same way as it does in modern chess. moves the same as a rook in chess: horizontally or vertically through any number of unoccupied squares. I wish the piece today were represented by a chariot; I think that better represents the way a rook runs down an open file.

Gaja or hastin (elephant; early form of bishop) 

There are a few different explanations for how this piece used to move, but most of them are some version of a slightly less powerful bishop. We see in the evolution of chess, how many pieces are made to be more powerful, and rules are changed to make action happen more quickly. Perhaps the people playing chaturanga had more patience than modern chess players.

Aśva (horse; knight)

The Aśva actually moves the same as the knight in chess. It’s a timeless movement the “up two over one.” In many ways, it is the move that makes chess, chess. If you don’t understand how the knight moves, then do you really understand chess? Or chaturanga?

Padàti, bhata, or sainika (foot-soldier, infantry, or pawn)

This piece moves and captures the same as a pawn in chess, but can’t move forward two squares on its first move. In fact, that particular rule in chess was introduced in Europe in the 15th-century.

When was Chess Invented?

How old the game of Chaturanga, and therefore chess, is can be debated. It may also have an even older history dating back 5,000 years. Archeological remains from 2000 to 3000 BC have been found to have pieces on a board resembling chess. Another argument suggesting that chaturanga is much older is that the chariot is the most powerful piece on the board, even though chariots seem to have been obsolete in warfare for at least five or six centuries. Regardless, we know that chess, or at least a chess-like game, has been played for centuries and centuries. Even if chaturanga had slightly different rules, and was played on an 8×8 uncheckered board.

Certain Chess Rules and Pieces Change

When did chess start to look like it does today? Well, the appearance of chess pieces has changed significantly since the times of chaturanga. The ornate animals eventually gave way to more abstract shapes, partly because of a Muslim ban on the game's lifelike pieces, which were considered too close to idols. The game moved from India to Persia, then to the Arab world, and eventually to Western Europe.

Philosophers Opinion on Chess

Was chess loved from the beginning? It was certainly loved, maybe too much! There is a Medium.com article from 2017 titled, “Chess was the Candy Crush of ancient times, seen as a dangerous time suck.”  And it’s true! In 1061, Saint Peter Damian condemned the bishop of Florence for playing chess despite knowing its negative social effects. There were two 13th-century London incidents, where Essex men resorted to deadly violence over chess, and that made the church concerned.

Gambling on Chess Matches

Not only violence, but there was also the practice of playing chess for money! It became so prevalent in the 13th century that Louis IX of France enacted an ordinance banning it in 1254. At least today, when you lose a chess tournament, you only lose the entry fee! Still, chess hustling seems to be an ancient art.

The Birth of Modern Chess Matches

Okay, so maybe there was a game kind of like chess in India over a thousand years ago, but when did chess, as we know it, get played? Firstly, chaturanga had many similarities to chess, especially in the pieces that became the rook and knight. However, the queen and bishop stayed relatively weak until roughly 1475 to 1500 AD. In Spain, the queen and bishop moves evolved, bringing chess closer to its modern form. 

More Power Than When Chess Was Invented

With more powerful pieces, checkmate became easier and even more important. The new rules spread across the rest of Western Europe as the game evolved, becoming closer and closer to what we know today. By the early 1600’s, there were even famous chess writers! An Italian player, Gioacchino Greco (a name you may recognize), wrote an analysis of several composed games.

More Modern Competitive Chess

As chess advanced, so did its level of competition. No longer did the best simply wish to play peasants and plebeians! They wanted to play with each other! The best sought out the best. At this time, you start to see many famous names appear if you are familiar with chess openings. People like Greco, Philidor, and Ruy Lopez were all writing down their methods. The first recorded chess tournament took place in 1575 at El Escorial, Spain.

Tournament Play When Chess Was Invented

It wasn’t until the 1800s that we started to see tournaments that looked similar to what we have today. Time was implemented as more of an element. In 1861, sandglasses were first used to time a tournament in Bristol. Many methods were tried in the following years, with the sand later replaced by pendulums, and modern clocks with two timers finally emerged. A small latch, called a flag, also helped resolve disputes over time limits in the late 19th century. This is where the term “flagging” comes from, meaning your time has run out.

Rule Changes in Chess History

• Since the beginning of chess, how to win and how to draw have been points of contention. Initially, stalemate was viewed as a lesser form of victory; at different points, it has been seen as a win, a draw, or even a defeat for the player who delivers it. Since the 18th century, it has been regarded as a draw.
• The rules for castling have changed over time, but the current version was first established in France in 1620 and then in England in 1640.
• White moving first was established in the 19th century.
• The London 1883 chess tournament introduced chess clocks, creating a new rule for loss on time.

Shapes of Pieces

The pieces changed shape in Christian cultures to carved images of men and animals. By the mid-12th century, chess pieces included kings, queens, bishops, knights, and men-at-arms, with ivory Chessmen appearing in North-West Europe. The pawn has now come to represent the infantry, with all of the pieces representing an army more specifically.