Introduction
The history of chess is one of the most interesting subjects to dive into as there are a plethora of mysteries that surround its roots. The legends that are told of the history of chess and of the reasons for its creation are as numerous as the number of possible moves in a chess game. The history of chess dates back 1500 years to the Gupta empire in India where it gained major popularity before being spread to the rest of the world. One of the questions that naturally comes to mind upon further thought on the subject is who exactly invented chess. Many of the legends pertaining to the history of chess speak of wise individuals inventing chess for various reasons. Some of these legends speak of chess being invented as a tool to reconstruct events on the battlefield, other legends speak of the god’s creating chess to teach humanity vital lessons on morality and wisdom. Whenever the history of a subject stretches back past a threshold of time there is always room for the truth of the matter to be mythicised and altered in a way that makes it difficult to decipher.
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Where Did Chess Originally Come From?
Chess originated in India in the Gupta Empire around the 6th century. Chess was originally called chaturanga and was later pronounced as Shatranj by the Persians. After the Arabic invasion of Persia, the Moors carried chess into Europe where the term chess was ultimately adopted.
The history of chess dates back to the 6th century in India. The Gupta Empire in India was the birthplace of modern chess although there have been many adaptations to the original style of play as chess was introduced to different cultures around the world. The original form of chess from India was called Chaturanga, in Persia it took on the term Shatranj and the rules of the game was modified lastly the term chess was adopted In Europe as an anglicised version of the term Shatranj when chess was introduced into Europe by the Moors in the 8th century. Chess was highly favoured by the Indian royals since its inception as the legends around chess state that chess was specifically invented to please the reigning Indian king at the time while other stories speak of chess being used to re-enact the specifics of an ancient Indian battle. Just in India alone there are numerous legends that describe the invention of chess. From wise sages to cunning mathematicians not forgetting the gods themselves, there are a plethora of prominent figures in history that have been proclaimed to be the inventors of chess. The characteristics of chess and the complexities of the game would indeed take the mind of a genius to invent so it is not unreasonable to speculate that the inventor of chess was a highly intellectual sage or mathematician. However, most historians lean more towards the more fathomable notion of chess being invented by a wise sage or mathematician rather than by the gods for obvious reasons.
The most plausible and prominent legends place the origins of chess in present day India, although there are also many theories that place the origins of chess in areas that are in close proximity to India and the Silk Road such as Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Israel, Egypt, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China, and Mongolia due to the flexible nature of the geographic borders of the past. The Silk Road is a significant location regarding the origin of chess as it is speculated that the inventor of chess hailed from regions in or around the Silk Road, and it is well known that the Silk Road also played a vital role in the distribution of chess around the world. Following the traditional story of how chess made its way around the globe we can trace the movement of chess eastwards through the Silk Road starting in India then to Persia, then to North Africa and lastly into Europe and westwards into China then to Mongolia then to North and South Korea and lastly into Japan. A pattern that should be noted is that chess was also modified in every country it encountered along its journey around the world with the western versions of chess differing significantly from the eastern versions of chess which raises the question of whether the Indian version of chess, Chaturanga, was also a modified version of a board game from an earlier period in history.
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When Did Chess Become Popular In India?
Chess became popular in India in the 6th century and the popularity of chess in India reached its peak in the 8th century which is when Indian travellers began to take chess to neighbouring countries like Persia and China.
Before chess could gain worldwide popularity, it first had to gain popularity at home in India which is where most historians believe it was initially invented in the 6th century. The first people in India to become aware of chess and make use of it as a pastime were the royals and the nobles during the 6th , 7th and 8th century which is one of the reasons why chess is now known as the game of kings. Chess was assimilated into Indian culture in the 6th century and became widely popular during the 8th century in the same way it was assimilated into most other continents and nation states such as Europe and Spain by first becoming popular with the royals and noble classes and then later gaining popularity with the poor and working-class citizens. The acknowledgement of chess by the royals was a major supporting factor in the promotion of chess worldwide, the promotion of chess by figures in society who were held to high esteem made it easy for the lower classes to embrace chess and to see it in a positive light. Being modelled after the royal court it’s obvious why the royals and the noble classes of India were infatuated with chess as the game reflected the lifestyle they were accustomed to living. Having a game like chess that reflected the ongoings of the typical challenges of life at court with chess pieces to match each position in the royal system allowed those with a strategic mind to utilise a medium that had a strong correlation to their particular occupation and that was able to enhance their strategic prowess and enable them to express their thoughts via the chess board.
From the vantage point of someone living in the digital age it is interesting to look back in time and see the major advances civilisation has made since the days of the horse and carriage but more importantly in relation to chess, how chess reflected the life of those in ancient times. It is also interesting to see how the design of modern chess sets often reflect the times that we are currently in with themed chess sets that are inspired by popular movies, Tv shows as well as common hobbies and interests. Playing chess as a form of entertainment for the royals of the past would be equivalent to a sports star playing a popular sports game in which they were one of the main characters. Not only was chess promoted by the ancient kings of India it was said to be invented by the gods themselves. What higher authority can there be but the gods themselves to authorise the promotion of chess. The approval of chess by the royal and noble classes of India and the stories surrounding the inventors of chess played a massive role in chess becoming so popular in India. The popularity of chess in India during the 6th to the 8th century paved the way for other nations states to become acquainted with chess, particularly the nations in close proximity to the Silk Road.
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Was Chess Invented By Man Or The Gods?
According to the legends, chess was either invented by the god Krishna or wise sages and mathematicians who were subjects of the Indian royal family. One of the most famous legends regarding the story of the invention of chess speaks of Krishna taking the form of man and presenting chess to the king of India as a gift.
The uncertainties regarding who the inventor or inventors of chess were have puzzled historians for decades. There are many theories about who invented chess as well as where chess was invented as numerous cultures around the world have origin stories about chess and board games that resemble chess, and some of the board games predate chess by centuries. Some of the board games that resemble chess, and which could possibly be the progenitors of chess include ancient Egyptian Senet, ancient Greek Petteia, ancient Roman Ludus Latrunculorum, Checkers, the ancient Mesopotamian Royal Game of Ur, Mancala, Nine Men’s Morris and ancient Chinese Go. There are many board games that have God, or a deity attached to the story of its creation, and It is also said that the inventors of the Chinese board game Go also has supernatural entities as the source of its creation. Chess and Go both have some striking similarities as both strategy games have an unfathomable number of possible moves that can be played in a game. Most historians are uncertain of exactly when chess was invented as they are also unsure of who exactly can be credited as the inventor of chess. An analysis of how chess evolved throughout history as it travelled to different nations may shed some light on some of the mysteries about it’s invention as it demonstrates the propensity for different cultures to make modifications to both chess’ appearance and the rules used to play it.
The original form of chess, Chaturanga, is very different from the modern form of chess and the many variations of chess that’s played around the world. Over the years chess has taken on many different forms and a plethora of playing styles and accepted rules of play have been adopted. The original playing style of chess reflected the society and the occurrences that were common at the time of its creation. The use of rooks in the stead of chariots in modern chess and knights in the stead of Elephants speaks to the differences in the societal norms of the past and the present. One of the main stories that attribute a deity, Krishna in particular, as the inventor of chess is the legend of the grain of rice and the chess board. The legend is set in the Indian town of Ambalapuzha sometime during the 5th to the 7th century and is based on the deity Krishna disguising himself as a Sage and challenging the King to a game of chess with the intention of teaching the king a powerful lesson on exponential growth, discernment and foresight. Whilst this legend does not exactly mention the invention of chess as it speaks of Krishna presenting the King with a chess board and challenging the King to a chess game in which the King assumedly already had knowledge of, it is one of the oldest legends on chess and when considering the nature of legends there is usually a lack of specificity about the details of the events and a greater amount of focus on the principles within the story. Although there is a lack of clarity on how chess was invented in this legend the timeframe and the location in which this story took place does corroborate the viewpoints held by many historians in that chess was created or emerged sometime in India during the 5th to the 7th century.
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How Was Chess Invented?
There are many legends that speak of how chess was created. In one of these legends it is stated that chess was invented as an entertaining replacement for war at the request of the war hungry king of India and other legends speak of chess being invented for the purpose of reconstructing the specifics of a battle in ancient India.
There are many legends that speak of how chess was invented with the most famous of these legends deriving from ancient India. Within these stories there are many different reasons for the invention of chess which includes for educational purposes, as an entertaining replacement for real war, and to reconstruct the events of a battle between two princes. Chess is one of the most unique board games in the world with numerous features that makes it indistinguishable from other board games and it is often reputed to be a representation of the cosmos by many historians with the chess board representing the universe and each chess piece representing a particular star or star system. The chess board has also been theorised to represent various ideologies and social groups such as the ancient Chinese ying and yang symbol and Freemasonry both of which are inextricably linked to the alternating black and white motif. There are many other intriguing correlations between chess, spirituality and advanced knowledge which includes the black and white chess pieces portraying the ageless battle over good and evil, the five types of chess pieces and the five elements of air, water, earth, fire and ether, and the five types of chess pieces portraying the five physical senses in the body such as sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing.
Most of the symbolic connections that exist between chess and life often go unnoticed aside from the obvious correlation chess has with the concept of good and evil which is usually the first connection most people make. It’s highly unlikely that the inventors of chess accidentally incorporated some of the most fundamental components of life into the design of chess and it’s much more plausible that aside from being a form of entertainment and a method for reenacting the scenes of a battle, the main reason for its creation was to disseminate vital information about the mysteries of life and to promote education. Another notable legend that speaks of the invention of chess states that it was invented in order to replace the spilling of blood in war which the King of India at the time had a predilection for. During and before the period when chess was said to be invented, which is during the early Middle Ages, there were numerous wars taking place on the planet which includes the fall of and the sacking of Rome in the 5th century, the battle of Hastings in the 11th century, and the crusades which occurred during the 11th to the 13th century, to name just a few, which claimed the lives of hundreds of millions of people over a fairly short period of time. By observing the past and present cultural trends and taking a proactive approach to promote the pursuit of knowledge instead of war, it is possible that the inventors of chess embedded vital lessons on wisdom and spiritual development into chess to cultivate greater levels of discernment and harmony around the world for the preservation of future generations.
How Chess Evolved Over The Years
Chess has experienced numerous modifications in its appearance and the rules used to play it over the years as it travelled around the world. Each nation that adopted chess has made some adaptations to the game to reflect the culture of the society it resided in. Some of the main modifications include the removal of the counsellor, the elephant and the chariot and the introduction of the queen, the bishop, and the rook.
As chess travelled around the world each nation that adopted the game made adaptations to its appearance and how it was played starting from the introduction of Chaturanga to Persia in the 7th century. The Persians were one of the first nations to become acquainted with chess and they were also the first nation to modify how the game was played. The Persians introduced the term “ShahMat” which translates to checkmate and signalled the end of the game, and check which announced that the King was under attack to prevent the game from ending too quickly which was common in Chaturanga, and introduced the counsellor piece which replaced the minister piece in Chaturanga although both pieces moved identically. The introduction of chess into Europe resulted in the most noticeable adaptations which lead to the creation of modern chess as we know it today with the introduction of the queen, the bishops, and the rooks as well as the introduction of the pawns being able to move two squares forward instead of one on their first move. The movement of the queen and the bishop also changed as a result of chess being introduced into Europe as the queen replaced the counsellor which could only move one square at a time diagonally and the bishop replaced the elephant which could only move two squares diagonally and had the ability to jump over the first diagonal square.
Chess pieces have always reflected the environment in which they were used, a great example of this is the use of the elephant, the chariot, the counsellor, and the knight in Chaturanga and Shatranj from ancient India and ancient Persia, even China utilised the war elephant occasionally in times of war. Elephants were a crucial component of ancient warfare in the east and are the progenitors of modern day tanks, countries such as India, (Persia) Iran, (Carthage) Tunisa, Egypt, and Sudan utilised the war elephant for battle which gave them a significant advantage against their adversaries, even Rome eventually adopted the use of the war elephant after observing their effectiveness during the Punic wars. The chariot also played a key role in ancient warfare and were heavily implemented during the bronze age in countries such as Greece, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, India, and many other countries throughout Eurasia, chariots provided a safe platform for warriors to launch melee attacks from close to mid-range as well as to launch long range assaults with archers and javelins and were typically used in conjunction with war horses. Horses have been utilised in war since and possibly before 4000 BC up until the 20th century and they were used in almost every major war during this period, however the introduction of gunpowder significantly reduced their effectiveness in battle along with advances in technology. King’s and Queens have always held their advisor’s and counsellors in high regard and sought their wisdom and guidance for a wide range of tasks such as governance, legislation, and other arbitrary dilemmas monarchs required assistance with. The design of the pieces that were used in Chaturanga and Shatranj accurately depicted the main features of ancient warfare and the social hierarchy of the period in which they were used and were modified to reflect the environment that characterised their new environments. Chess is often seen as a reflection of real life as it has always adapted to the resemble the ongoings of current events.
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Conclusion
According to the many legends that speak of the invention of chess, the invention of chess stemmed from the need to address the many different issues faced by the Indian royals of ancient times. Due to the amount of time that has passed since the invention of chaturanga or chess as we know it today many legends have arisen which describe the details of the event. It is almost impossible to distinguish with any certainty the accurateness of these legends and therefore who actually invented chess due to the lack of physical evidence that exist pertaining to these legends, however the striking similarities found within the legends that speak of the invention of chess would lead one to believe that the truth can be found somewhere in the middle of these infamous tales as it is possible that there is some truth within each story.
