Info about Chess
All about chess pieces history
The chess game is supposed to come from ancient India, Persia or China. The name “chess” comes from the ancient “shah”, which means king, leader. It is supposed to be two-thousands years old, but it may have appeared in III-IV century AD. A legend says that its inventor vas Sessaibn Dahar, and that the game as invented in Persia.
It is said that the Persian king Seram liked the game very much, so he wanted to reward the inventor. He asked him to claim his reward. As Sessaibn was a humble man, he first refused any reward. As the king insisted, he decided to give the king a lesson. So, he asked the king to give him a grain for the first square from the table, two grains for he second one, four grains for the third square, sixteen grains for the fourth square and so on. The result was that the king didn’t know how much grains he had to give Sessaibn, so now this would be upset.
Another legend says that chess game appeared in India, and his initial name as “chaturanga”. Its figures and their position meant the war position and composition of the Indian army at that time: cavalry, infantry, war chariots and elephants. When chess arrived in nowadays Iran, in 6th century AD, the Arabian adopted it and called it “satrandj” (from the Persian word satrang). It reached here maximum development, in the 9th and 10th centuries AD. The manuscripts show us that the Arabians were not only interested in the game itself, but also in the composition (problems, studies) and research (analysis) of positions.
At that time, the moves were different from today. Only the king, the tower and the horse had strong positions, as today. The queen was the weakest of all – only one square in diagonal.
The other pieces could move only one square, too. In this way, the game was very slow and it took a long time to actually attack. The purpose was the same as it is today: to isolate the king and beat him by leaving him no way out. So this way, the partner would win the game.
Once brought to Europe, the interest for chess decreased, because the Church get involved and said it is a waste of time and lack of morality and became a forbidden game. After centuries, when chess was rehabilitated, new rules were set and the time for a game was shortened. Those rules are available today, too and many people enjoy this game of brains.