Where Did Chess Come From?
Was it invented by a single person or did it evolve over time? Many eminent chess historians have been fascinated by these questions. While there is considerable controversy over the facts, the most widely accepted scenario is that chess appeared in India around 600 A.D., was adopted in Persia around 700 A.D., and was absorbed by Arab culture around 800 A.D. The Arab / Muslim influence was responsible for its later introduction into other cultures. The Evidence for Early Chess: There is no confirmed physical evidence from the early days of chess. No chess boards or complete chess sets have been found. Some objects excavated by archaeologists might have been early chess pieces, but they might just as easily have served a purpose that had nothing to do with a game. The evidence that we have is taken from literature, and even that is subject to interpretation. Does a certain word translate as ‘chess’, as some other board game, or as something else entirely? The Early Chess Historians: Man
When Alexander of Macedonia invaded India with his army from Greece, over 2,300 years ago, he tried to combine the two cultures. Chess resulted from the combination of the logic games of Greece and the race games of India. Think of the logic of how the pieces move, and the racing of pawns to the opposite sides of the board. The board represents a battlefield. The pieces represent the Indian armys leader (king); advisor to the leader (queen); and four components: infantry (pawn), cavalry (knight), chariotry (rook) and elephantry (bishop). Chess spread to the East to China and Japan, as well as across the Arabic world and into Europe. From there, chess came to Canada around the 17th century, brought from England and France by explorers and the military.
No one knows for certain where the game of chess was first played. Most likely, the game began in ancient India, where it was called chaturanga. This word refers to the four members of an Indian army: the foot soldier, the elephant, the chariot, and the horse. During the 6th or 7th century, the game traveled from India to neighb
