Chess History 101
Chess is a board game that two players engage in. Each standard board has sixty four squares and each player plays with sixteen pieces; one king and one queen, two rooks, knights, and bishops, and eight pawns. But that is just common knowledge, here are some historical chess facts you may not have been aware of.
The modern version of the game originated from Europe and came about in the second half of the fifteenth century. It is commonly thought that the Europeans acquired the game through Indian origins. In India, during the Gupta Empire of the early sixth century, a game called caturanga (which translates to the four divisions of the military) was played that is very similar to modern day chess. This game had pieces like infantry, chariotry, elephants, and cavalry in it, which have now become pawns, rooks, bishops, and knights.
It also began being played in Persia under the name chatrang. After the Islamic conquest of Persia, Muslims adopted the game and called it Shatrani. It is thought that Europe became aware of it when traders from Muslim countries entered their seaports and sold the king pieces to them as curios.
Once the game became played by Europeans, the game was given a different name per country. For instance, in Spain it was ajedrez, in Portugal it was xadrez, and in Greece it was zatrikion. Later, it became known as chess throughout Europe and then the rest of the world.
In the sixteenth century, the game began being played competitively. The first official world champion of chess was Wilhelm Steinitz who won the game in 1886. Internationally, chess is recognized as a sport. That was a few historical chess facts that a lot of people do not know. Chess is played by millions of people all over the world and is a very popular game. It is played for recreation, in tournaments, in clubs, and also online.
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