History of chess

The history of chess goes back almost 1500 years. The game originated in northern India in the 6th
century AD and spread to Persia. When the Arabs conquered Persia, chess was taken up by the Muslim world
and subsequently, through the Moorish conquest of Spain, spread to Southern Europe. But in early Russia, the
game came directly from the Khanates (muslim territories) to the south
In Europe, the moves of the pieces changed in the 15th century. The modern game starts with these changes.
In the second half of the 19th century, modern tournament play began. Chess clocks were first used in 1883,
and the first world chess championship was held in 1886. The 20th century saw advances in chess theory, and
the establishment of the World Chess Federation (FIDE).[4] Chess engines (programs that play chess), and
chess data bases became important.
The precursors of chess originated in northern India during the Gupta empire,[1]where its early form in the 6th
century was known as Chaturanga.

This translates as 'the four divisions', meaning infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry, represented by the
pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively

Persian and Arabic chess

In Sassanid Persia around 600 the name became Chatrang and the rules were developed further, and
players started calling Shāh! (Persian for 'King') when threatening the opponent's king, and Shāh māt! (Persian
for 'the king is finished') when the king could not escape from attack. These exclamations persisted in chess as
it traveled to other lands.
The game was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia, with the pieces
largely retaining their Persian names; in Arabic "māt" or "māta" ‫ َماَت‬means "died", "is dead". In Arabic, the
game became Shatranj. In all other languages, the name of the game is derived either from shatranj or
from shah.
Changes in names of pieces
The following table provides a glimpse of the changes in the names and character of chess pieces, as
they passed from one culture to another, from India through Persia to Europe.
Changes in the Arabic names of pieces happened over several centuries after the game arrived in Europe.
Most changed were the pieces which had no equivalent in Europe, such as the elephant (eh-l-fh-ant), the visier
(an advisor: the firzan or wazir), and the chariot (rukhkh). The greatest variety of names was for the
elephant, which was not seen in Europe, and so not used in war. In Spain names derived from Arabic lasted for
centuries (alfil, aufin, orfil.). Eventually, all but France used a word for "bishop". In a similar manner, vizir
eventually became "queen", and the chariot became a word for "castle". Except, that is, in English, where
"rook" is obviously a version of "rukh". The following table does not capture all these complicated changes.

Europe and the East

The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes, the earliest being in the 9th
century. By the year 1000 it had spread throughout Europe.[5] Introduced into the Iberian Peninsula by
the Moors in the 10th century, it was described in a famous 13th century manuscript covering
shatranj, backgammon and dice named the Libro de los juegos.
Buddhist pilgrims, Silk Road traders and others carried it to the Far East, where it was transformed into a game
often played on the intersection of the lines of the board rather than within the squares. [6] Chinese
chess and Shogi are the most important of the oriental chess variants. However, it was the changes made in
medieval Europe which led to our modern game.[4]p71

Rule changes
The game of chess is really two games. There is the original Indo-Arabic game, and there is the modern game,
usually called 'international chess'. The transition between the two happened during the change from
the medieval world to the modern world, in the Europe of the later 15th century. In fact, the new game of chess
was one of the early topics chosen for the new technology of printing.
Movements of pieces
Pawn- moves two squares forward on its first move and captures diagonally according to color. It has a special
move in capturing called en passant or pass pawn.
Rook – moves vertically and horizontally
Bishop – moves diagonally according to color
Knight – moves four squares in an L – shape. The only piece that can jump over another piece.
Queen - moves in any direction but can not jump over another piece. It is considered as the most powerful
piece.
King – the most important piece can move only one square in any direction. It can move two squares on its first
move by using its special move called castling.

Evidence in print and manuscripts

The first printed work on chess to survive to the present day is Luis de Lucena's Arte de axedres,
printed in Salamanca, Spain. It can be dated to 1496 or 1497. It presents a number of chess problems, some of
which are in the old rules (del viejo), some in the new rules (dela dama). This suggests that the transition is not
quite complete, and some readers might not know about the new rules. By 1512, when Damiano published
his Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi in Rome, it only included problems with the new rules, and
does not mention the medieval game. The same applies to the Gottingen manuscript, probably written in Spain
or Portugal. Though it has been claimed to be earlier, its content suggests it was not written before
1500. England and Germany received the reformed game by 1530. After that, the old game was effectively
dead—in Europe, at any rate. A version of the old game survived in India until recently.

Theory of the game

Modern chess theory was slow in developing. After the new moves of the pieces, players spent their
time playing gambits, and trying to mate each other. The games of Gioacchino Greco (1600– ~1634) clearly
show this. The first ideas as to how to win indirectly, 'positionally', started with Philidor. Modern chess has a lot
of indirect manoeuvering of a kind the old Arabic players would have understood. They could not attack directly,
because their Alfil and Firzān (our bishop and queen) had such limited moves.
One interesting fact is that the Arabs divided their game into the same three stages which we do
today: opening, middlegame and endgame.
At the start of a game, the Arabic masters took a number of moves before the pieces were in contact with the
other side.

Milestones of the game

 600AD: First clear reference to chess, in a Persian manuscript.
 ~700AD: Date of first undoubted chess pieces.
 800AD: Moors bring chess to Spain and Sicily.
 900AD: Early Muslim chess masters, as-Suli and al-Lajlaj write works on the technique of chess.
 1000AD: Chess widespread in Europe, including Russia.
 1300AD: First European comments on chess in sermons and stories.
 1475–1500AD: Birth of the modern game: especially, new moves for queen and bishop.
 1495: First printed chess book.
 1497: First printed chess book to survive to the present day.
 1600: First professional player-writers.
 1780s: First master games to be recorded as they were played.
 1836: First chess magazine.
 1849: First US chess tournament.
 1851: First international chess tournament.
 1866: First match to be timed by clock.
 1883: First tournament to use specially designed chess clocks.
 1886: First acknowledged world championship match.

En passant – special movement of pawn in capturing which can be done by the pawn on its first move and it
can be done only once every set.

When the pawn reaches the opposite end of the board it is called promotion. It can be promoted in an
official or a queen.

Castling is the special movement of the rook and king.

Castling is allowed when:

1. It is the first move of the rook and the king.

2. There is an open space between the rook and the king.
3. The king is not under attack or check.
How does the game ends?

1. Game ends when the king is checkmate

2. The king has nowhere to move (stalemate)
3. Time expires.