Chess History: The Astonishing History of Chess (With Timeline)

There is no one in this world that have not played chess at one time or the other. The oldest skill game in the world is said to be chess, but it is not only a skill game but something more than that. Through chess we come to know about the lives of the people of the medieval times.

By looking carefully at the chess board and studying how the pieces are placed and the way they are used we realize that chess is the small form by which the medieval life can be explained. The cross section of the medieval life with all its ceremonies, wars and splendor are all represented through the six different chess pieces in the board.

Overview of Chess History

Chess has a long and interesting history. The game has undergone many changes from its earliest forms in India.

The modern version of the chess that we play and enjoy in the present time wasn’t known until the 16th century, i.e. after a long time from its invention.

There were no chess clocks, not enough standardized rules, the pieces and many other components were not standardized as they are today until the 19th century.

Even the official World Chess Championship title didn’t come into existence until the late 19th century.

This happened shortly after the tournaments were held on such a massive scale. Many players also started developing their unique styles of playing chess.

In today’s world of chess, books are an important component of practice for players. Can you imagine learning and trying to improve without chess books?

But did you know that the first chess book, “Chess Made Easy”, by J. Humphreys back to the 19th century in 1802 was published?

There were no books on the openings till 1843, then the opening theory was unknown to the players at that time.

Let’s take a deep look at the history of chess.

Timeline of Chess History

Have you ever wondered when the game of chess was invented and How it developed to such an extent to reach its present form till now?

Do you know when the various modern rules such as the en passant and castling were introduced? Or who the first official World Champion was?

If you want to know the answers to these questions about chess and much more, then keep reading this article.

Let’s start with the timeline of the most popular moments in the chess

Timeline of Chess History (6th Century – 2020)

Chess came into existence in the 6th century AD.

Chess is an ancient game, approximately 1500 years old. This game originated in northern India in the 6th century AD as Chaturanga and spread to Persia.

If you want to get to know about the complete history of chess, then read this timeline carefully.

Earliest History of Chess

Let’s Know the major events in the History of Chess that had occured back to early 6th century.

• 6th century – The game chaturanga (the common ancestor of the board games chess, shongi, xiangqi, and janggi) evolved into its current form around this time in India. This is the starting of the evolution of one of the earliest games in the world.
• 569 – A Chinese emperor Wu of Northern Zhou wrote a book of xiangqi (Chinese chess), namely Xiang Jing.

• 600 – Persian game of shatranj, the direct ancestor of modern chess, was mentioned in writing known as the Karnamuk-i-Artakhshatr-i-Papaakan. Shatranj was initially called “Chatrang” in Persian, which was later renamed as the Shatranj.
• 720 – The game of Chess spreads across the Islamic world from Persia, which is the starting of the spread of the game of chess, which has become very popular all over the world, gradually.
• 840 – Earliest surviving chess problems by Caliph Billah of England.
• 900 – Paragraph on Chess in the Chinese work Huan Kwai Lu ( ‘Book of Marvels’).
• 997 – The Chess is mentioned at this time in the Versus de scachis which spread the influence of the game of chess in Christian Western Europe.
• 10th century – As Suli introduces the world to Kitab Ash-Shatranj the earliest known work to take a scientific approach to chess strategy.
• late 10th century – Dark and light squares are introduced on a chessboard in the chess theory.
• 1173 – It was the first time when the chess games are been recorded by the use of algebraic chess notation
• 1283 – Alfonso X composed the Libro de Los Juegos with a large collection of chess problems.
• late 13th century – This was The Era of New Rules Formation.  At this time, the new Chess Rule was formulated which allowed the Pawns to move two ranks on the first move.
• late 14th century – The new rule of the en passant is introduced in chess.
• 1422 – In this year, the rule of the draw is changed which states that the situation of the stalemate results in the draw.
• 1471 – The Gottingen manuscript is the first book to deal solely with chess published at this time.
• 1474 – William Caxton published The first chess book in English called ‘The Game and Playe of Chesse’.
• 1497 – Luis Ramirez Lucena, the famous Spanish chess player published his first still-existing chess book named ‘Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez con 101 Juegos de Partido’ in Salamanca, Europe, in this period of time.
• 1475–1525 – The modern moves for the queen, bishop, and castling are adopted for the official games of chess.

16th Century Chess Events

Now, Let’s know the major events in the History of Chess and its formation in the sixteenth century.

In this era, the formation of chess is different from what we have discussed above.

• 1510 – Marco Girolamo Vida wrote Scacchia Ludus (The Game Of Chess) with the first reference to the Goddess Of Chess.
• 1512 – Pedro Damiano published his book named ‘Questo Libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti’, which focuses on the chess strategy in detail.
• 1561 – At this Time, Ruy Lopez, The famous Spaniard Chess player, wrote his book Libro de la invención liberal y Arte del Juego del axedrez, in which he coins the word ‘gambit’ to describe opening sacrifices in chess.
• 1575 – There is a well-known championship held in Madrid which is played between two Italian Players named Giovanni Leonardo and Paolo Boi along with the two Spanish players named Ruy Lopez and Alfonso Ceron. This Tournament was won by Leonardo wins, Boi was the Runner-up, Lopez got the Third position and Ceron had to be satisfied with the fourth position.

17th Century Chess Events

Now, Let’s know the major events in the History of Chess and its formation in the 17th century. So, let’s take a look over some of the Manuscripts from this time period.

• 1620-24 – Gioachino Greco writes several manuscripts on the Chess Strategy. In this, he introduced the first known descriptions of Fool’s Mate and Smothered Mate, as well as in the numerous opening traps in chess. His overall strategy promotes aggressive play. Due to the Greco’s works openings such as the King’s Gambit Accepted or the Giuoco Piano, popularized throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
• 1934 – Alessandro Salvio publishes the II Puttino, a book that describes the  Italian Chess Masters of the previous century.
• 1690 – Openings are now systematically classified under a system of chess by the Traité de Lausanne.

18th Century Chess Events

Now, let’s go through the main events in the history of chess and its formation in the 18th century. At first, take a look over the algebraic chess notation from this time period.

• 1737 – The Famous Syrian Chess player, Philip Stamma published his book named as ‘Essai sur le jeu des échecs’. The main feature of this book is an early form of the algebraic notation (for example, ‘1. e4 e5’ in the modern notation would be written as the ‘p e 5 | p e 5’  in the Stamma’s). The First half of this chess book primarily concerns the opening theory, gambits, and the second half gives a detailed explanation of the endgame theory of chess.
• 1744 – The famous French Chess player, Francois-Andre Danican Philidor plays two opponents blindfolded in Paris, for the first time in the history of chess.
• 1745 – Philip Stamma’s work (Essai sur le jeu des échecs’)  is translated from French to English, and it is published as ‘The Noble Game Of Chess’ and spread to the large part of the world.
• 1747 – Philidor decisively defeats Stamma in 8/9 games while visiting London, instantly gaining international fame.
• 1763 – The Caissa, the chess muse was invented by Sir William Jones at this time.
• 1783 – Philidor plays three blindfolded games simultaneously with three different strong chess players.

19th Century Chess Events

Now, Let’s know the major events, including the formation in the 19th century.

Ivory chess sets shines in this time of chess as a part of a beautiful chess sculpture. They were made from pure ivory of animals and were very expensive.

• 1802 –  J. Humphreys published the famous American chess book named as the  Chess Made Easy.
• 1824 – The Earliest known British correspondence chess match was held in the city of London.
• 1834 – Earliest recorded international challenge match was held between Alexander McDonnell (Ireland) and Louis de la Bourdonnais (France) at the Westminster Chess Club, London.
• 1845 – The use of the Telegraph had been started to transmit moves in a match between London and Portsmouth.
• 1846 – Deutsche Schachzeitung became the first German chess magazine that was published in Germany.
• 1848 – The famous incidence of a game played between the blind players happened.
• 1849 – The history of the chess set came out with a spectacular change at this time. At this time, a wonderful chess set: the Staunton chess set is created by Nathaniel Cooke.
• 1851 – First international chess tournament was held in London, which was won by Adolf Anderssen, the player of Prussia.
• 1852 – This time brought a major change in the game of chess. At this time, the chess matches are timed for the first time by the use of Sandglasses.
• 1857 – The United Kingdom Chess Association was formed which boosted the level of development of chess in the U.K.
• 1859 – Paul Morphy was declared as an unofficial world champion after two years of international play against the world’s top players in the area of the USA and Europe.
• 1861 – For the first time the Chess Games are played via the transoceanic cables from Dublin and Liverpool.
• 1867 – The use of mechanical chess clocks are started in games in the official tournaments. Mechanical Chess Clocks is the biggest change in this era of a Chess game. Now the timings of the Chess games could be recorded.
• 1871 – The first chess book on endgames was published by Durand.
• 1873 – The Neustadtl Score system is used for the first time in the chess tournaments.
• 1877 – The Deutsche Schachbund was formed in this year.
• 1879 – The New Zealand Chess Championship which became the longest-running national chess championship in the world in chess history.
• 1883 – The Forsyth-Edwards Notation which is a type of notation that was used to describe any possible chess Position of The chessboard, was invented this year.
• 1886 – First World Chess Championship: The First official World Chess Championship match held between GM Wilhelm Steinitz and GM Johannes Zukertort, which was won by GM Steinitz with the score of 12½–7½ to become the first official world chess champion in Chess History.
• 1888 – The First international correspondence Chess tournament was organized this year.
• 1889 – Second World Chess Championship: GM Wilhelm Steinitz successfully regains his title in World Championship Held in Havana.
• 1891 – Third  World Chess Championship: GM Wilhelm Steinitz successfully regains his title in the world championship held in New York.
• 1892 – Fourth World Chess Championship: GM Wilhelm Steinitz successfully regains his title in World Championship Held in Havana.
• 1894 – Fifth World Chess Championship: GM Emmanuel Lasker defeats GM Wilhelm Steinitz in a world chess championship match to become the fifth official world chess champion held in New York of chess history.
• 1897 – Sixth World Chess Championship: GM Emanuel Lasker successfully regains his title in World Championship Held in Moscow.
• 1899 – Chess clocks now have timeout flags for the first time.

20th Century Chess Events

Now, Let’s know the major events in the History of Chess and its formation in the 19th century. So, let’s take a look over some of the chess clocks and world chess champions from this time period.

• 1902 – First radio chess match was played by the players on two American ships.
• 1904 – The Establishment of the British  Chess Federation (BCF).
• 1907 – Seventh World Chess Championship: GM Emanuel Lasker successfully regains his title in World Championship Held in the USA.
• 1908 – Eight World Chess Championship: GM Emanuel Lasker successfully regains his title in World Championship Held in Germany.
• 1910 – Ninth World Chess Championship: GM Emanuel Lasker successfully regains his title in World Championship Held in Germany.
• 1910 – The famous Cuban Chess Player José Raúl Capablanca is the first chess player to win a major tournament chess tournament that was held in the City of New York by winning all the matches.
• 1911 – The simultaneous exhibition came into existence in chess with more than 100 participants at a time.
• 1912 –  Akiba Rubinstein became the first chess Grandmaster in chess world history.
• 1913 – The invention of the grasshopper as the first fairy chess piece which traced its origin from the Renaissance incidence.
• 1921 – Tenth World Chess Championship: José Raúl Capablanca defeats Emmanuel Lasker in Havana to become the tenth official world chess champion.
• 1924 – Establishment of the international chess federation, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), which is the most important incident in chess history.
• 1927 – The First official Chess Olympiad is organized in London.
• 1927 – Eleventh World Chess Championship: Alexander Alekhine defeats Capablanca at Buenos Aires and becomes the eleventh official world chess champion in chess history.
• 1929 – Twelfth World Chess Championship: GM Alexander Alekhine successfully regains his title in World Championship Held in Germany and Netherlands.
• 1934 – Thirteenth World Chess Championship: The famous Russian Chess GM Alexander Alekhine defeats Capablanca at Buenos Aires and becomes the thirteenth official world chess champion in chess history.
• 1935 – Fourteenth World Chess Championship: The Famous Dutch GM Max Euwe wins the world championship title from Alexander Alekhine in the Netherlands and became the fourteenth official world chess champion.
• 1937 – Fifteenth World Chess Championship: The Famous Russian GM Alexander Alekhine wins the world championship title from Max Euwe in the Netherlands and became the fifteenth official world chess champion.
• 1937 – Famous Belgium born American Chess Player George Koltanowski sets a world record for simultaneous blindfold play against 34 opponents.
• 1948 – Sixteenth World Chess Championship: The famous Soviet chess player Mikhail Botvinnik wins the 1948 World Chess Championship, which was held at The Hague (Netherlands) and Moscow (USSR) and became the sixteenth official world chess champion of chess history.
• 1950 – The Official Titles of the International Grandmaster (GM) and International Master (IM) were introduced by the FIDE  to indicate the chess achievements of the chess player for the first time in chess history.
• 1951 –  Seventeenth World Chess Championship: The Famous Russian GM Mikhail Botvinnik wins the world championship title held in Moscow and became the seventeenth official world chess champion.
• 1951 – The first World Junior Chess Championship held for the players of the age under 20 years. In which Borislav Ivkov won the First World Junior Chess Champion Title.
• 1954 – Eighteenth World Chess Championship: The Famous Russian GM Mikhail Botvinnik wins the world championship title held in Moscow and became the eighteenth official world chess champion.

• 1957 – Nineteenth World Chess Championship: The famous Soviet Chess player Vasily Smyslov defeats USSR player Botvinnik and becomes the Nineteenth official world chess champion of chess history.
• 1958 – Twentieth World Chess Championship: GM Mikhail Botvinnik defeats Smyslov in a rematch by the score 12½–10½ to regain the title of World Chess Champion.
• 1958 – The Famous Chess player Bobby Fischer qualifies for the 1959 Candidates Match, becoming the youngest ever Grandmaster. This record would stand until 1991.
• 1960 – Twenty-First World Chess Championship: The Famous USSR chess player Mikhail Tal, who is known as the ‘magician of the chess’ defeats GM Botvinnik to become the eighth official world champion and the youngest-ever world champion (a record later broken by Garry Kasparov, who earned the title at 22) in chess history.
• 1961 – Twenty-Second World Chess Championship: Botvinnik defeats Mikhail Tal in a rematch to regain the title.
• 1963 – Twenty-Third World Chess Championship: GM Tigran Petrosian defeats GM Botvinnik 12½–9½ to become the Twenty Third World Chess Champion of chess history.
• 1966 – Twenty-Fourth World Chess Championship: GM Tigran Petrosian retains its title of The World Chess Champion.
• 1967 – The famous Denmark player Bent Larsen won the Sousse Interzonal. Bent Larsen also wins the first Chess Oscar.
• 1969 – Twenty-Fifth World Chess Championship: The Russian Chess GM Boris Spassky defeats GM Petrosian to become the Twenty-Fifth World Chess Champion in Chess History held in Moscow.
• 1972 – Twenty-Sixth World Chess Championship: GM Bobby Fischer beats GM Boris Spassky for the World Chess Championship 1972. Due to its status as the Cold War sporting confrontation, this chess game received an unprecedented level of publicity worldwide and Bobby Fisher became the twenty-sixth World Chess Champion of chess history.
• 1975 – Twenty-Seventh World Chess Championship: The Famous Russian Chess GM Anatoly Karpov becomes the twenty-seventh World Chess Champion in Manila of chess history without having defeated the reigning champion as Fischer forfeits his crown.
• 1978 – Twenty-Eighth World Chess Championship: GM Anatoly Karpov retains its title of The World Chess Champion.
• 1978 – The Female Soviet Chess player Nona Gaprindashvili wins the Men’s Tournament, held at Lone Pine. Nona Gaprindashvili becomes the first woman to become the FIDE Chess Grandmaster title.
• 1978 – The Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) introduced the FIDE Master (FM) as a chess title below International Master.
• 1978 – The Sargon is the first chess-playing software that was developed for personal computers.
• 1981 – Twenty-Ninth World Chess Championship: The Famous Russian GM Anatoly Karpov defeats Viktor Korchnoi to retain the title of World Chess Champion.
• 1985 – Thirtieth World Chess Championship: Russian Chess GM Garry Kasparov defeats GM Anatoly Karpov to become the thirtieth World Chess Champion in Moscow, and then dominates the chess world for the next 15 years.

History of Chess Champions

• 1986-1995 – Garry Kasparov dominated the chess world by winning all the world chess Championships.
• 1991 – The World Famous Hungary player Judit Polgár becomes the youngest ever Chess Grandmaster, breaking Bobby Fischer’s record by about a month.
• 1993 – A beautiful motion picture called, “Searching for Bobby Fischer” was released. The story takes you through the early life of chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin, who went on to become an International Master and was compared to the legendary Bobby Fischer. The film is now considered one of the best chess movies ever made.
• 1993 – Two famous players Garry Kasparov of Russia and Nigel Short of England break from FIDE to play their world championship match, forming the Professional Chess Association (PCA) in the year of 1993.
• 1996 – The AI Deep Blue is the first chess-playing computer to beat the reigning world champion, Garry Kasparov, under normal chess tournament conditions.
• 1997 – The World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov loses a rematch to chess supercomputer Deep Blue (2½–3½), becoming the first World Champion to lose a match to a computer.
• 1999 – Garry Kasparov becomes the first Chess player who plays and wins against The World whose moves were determined by the plurality of vote via the Internet.
• 2000 – Thirty Sixth World Chess Championship: The defending World Champion Garry Kasparov loses his title to the Russian Vladimir Kramnik (8½–6½). Kramnik became the thirty-sixth World Chess Champion in Chess.

21st Century Chess Events

Now, Let’s know the major events in the History of Chess and its formation in the 21st century.

• 2001 – This year could be considered as the turning point in chess history. This year, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) introduced the world with the shortened time controls for the knockout World Chess Championship held later in that year.
• 2002 – The Russian Chess player Sergey Karjakin sets the world record of being the youngest ever Chess Grandmaster at age 12 years and 7 months. Sergey Karjakin holds this world record till now.
• 2003 – Garry Kasparov battles with two AI Deep Junior and X3D Fritz in two different matches which results in draws. These chess battles were considered as the last human-computer chess matches that did not end in the victory of the AI machines.
• 2004 – The Uzbekistan Chess GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov defeats the English Chess GM Michael Adams in the final match winning the title of the FIDE World Chess Champion 2004.
• 2004 – Vladimir Kramnik successfully defends his title in the Classical World Chess Championship 2004 against the GM Peter Leko of Hungary.
• 2005 – World Chess Championship 2005: The Bulgarian Chess GM Veselin Topalov wins the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005.
• 2006 – World Chess Championship reunited.
• 2007 – World Chess Championship 2007: The Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand becomes the fifteenth World Chess Champion after winning the World Chess Championship 2007 tournament held in Mexico City. Vishy Anand finished the tournament with a score of 9/14 (+4 −0 =10).
• 2008 – The Death of the famous chess player Bobby Fischer.
• 2008 – World Chess Championship 2008: Viswanathan Anand successfully defends his World Chess Champion title against GM Vladimir Kramnik in the World Chess Championship 2008.
• 2010 – World Chess Championship 2010: Viswanathan Anand successfully defends his World Chess Champion title against Veselin Topalov in the World Chess Championship 2008.
• 2012 – World Chess Championship 2012: Viswanathan Anand successfully defends his World Chess Champion title against Boris Gelfand in the World Chess Championship 2012.
• 2012 – Magnus Carlsen achieved a record-breaking ELO rating of 2861 surpassing Garry Kasparov’s record of 2851.
• 2013 – World Chess Championship 2013: The Norway Chess Magnus Carlsen defeated Vishy Anand winning the title of World Chess Champion 2013 held in India.
• 2014 – 2018 – Magnus Carlsen has dominated the chess world by winning All the World Chess Championship Titles.
• 2019-2020 – Magnus Carlsen set a world record of longest unbeaten streak at the elite level in the classical chess format with a Long streak of 120 games unbeaten.

Origins of Chess

The history of chess goes back many centuries. Traced to its roots, chess can be seen as a game with 1500 years of history. Although it wasn’t always known as chess, similar games first began being played in the 7th century.

Today, the name Wilhelm Steinitz is often thrown about as the father of modern chess. However, by the time he began playing, chess had already been a popular game for many centuries. Over the years, rules have shifted so that games wouldn’t take as long. Still, Wilhelm did analyze the game thoroughly, creating many of the most popular modern strategies.

The First Chess Game

In the 7th Century, Chaturanga began growing in popularity throughout India. The first game that could be compared to chess would have been the game Chaturanga.

In this game, there were pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop and rook. These pieces were meant to resemble the 4 divisions of the Indian military of the time. It wouldn’t take long for Chaturanga to spread, on account of India’s high-traffic trade routes.

By the end of the 7th century, it had been spread to the Sassanid Empire in Persia. Once there, its name changed from Chaturanga to Shatranj. This is where the first examples of “checkmates” started to appear. When players found themselves stuck, with their king helpless, their opponents would exclaim, “the king is helpless.” Even though the game left the Sassanid Empire, those exclamations would follow it wherever it went.

From There, Precursors to Chess Spread Over the Silk Road

At the time, India was at the center of a massive trade network, called the Silk Road. Anyone who has heard about the silk road knows how important it was to ancient trade. Linking millions together, this trade network extended from one end of the Eurasian continent to the other.

Following the 7th century, the Muslim world picked up the game. The Islamic conquest of Persia gave the game a brand-new audience, quickly becoming popular with the new nobility. In no time, it had been spread from one end of Eurasia to the other.

Europe adopted the game by the 9th century. By the year 1000, it was available across the whole continent. It first entered Europe by way of the Moors, who spread it from the Iberian Peninsula. Rules were changed in Europe to help prevent its prohibition by the church. By the end of these rule changes, chess had begun to resemble its modern form.

At the same time, chess had been gaining popularity in the Far East as well. Disseminated by Buddhist monks, chaturanga would be played by people as far as the South China Sea. However, in the Far East, it would evolve into something a little different. Most of the time, people would start playing the game based on the lines, rather than within the squares.

Changes to the Rules Over Time

Despite being quite similar, Chaturanga was played using a different ruleset than the modern version of the game. Still, compared to the modern version, there are several key commonalities. First, in each case, all the pieces have their own set of characteristics. Second, in both the old and modern versions, victory depends on the fate of a single piece. Finally, there were several pieces that would later become what we know of today as modern chess pieces.

In the original game, the king was identical to the modern piece. Victory depended on whether the king was still in play. The queen was known as the “advisor,” and it only moved one square at a time. Thus, it was far less powerful than in the modern rendition. The modern bishop was originally known as the “elephant.” It would move in an L shape, and it could jump over a piece if needed. Both the Rook and the Knight were the same as in the modern edition. Pawns were a bit more limited, only capable of moving a single square at a time.

Rise of Modern Chess

Both the Queen and the Bishop would remain weaker until around the 1500s. Somewhere in Spain, around that time, the pieces would gain their modern move sets. It wouldn’t take long for those updated moves to spread throughout Europe. Thus, making the game take on nearly its modern form. It wouldn’t be until the mid-1800s, when modern time-keeping devices were invented, that the game would take on its final form.

The First Chess Tournament

Modern competitive chess first gained prominence in the mid-1800s. There was a small tournament in 1834 that showcased its potential popularity.

In less than 20 years, the world’s first major competition was held in London, 1851. At the time, players would take up to 20 minutes to deliberate a single move. After the first tournament, people decided they’d rather play a speedier version of the game. Therefore, they invented what we know of today as “Speed Chess.”

Modern History of Chess

From there, the game would change a few of its rules. The main pieces would remain the same, and only minor variations would be introduced.

Many theorists would gain prominence over the years, popularizing different strategies. Nowadays, chess is still among the most popular board games ever invented. However, it’s important for us to remember its long history. As such, it’s next to impossible to say for certain who invented the game. There were many who were instrumental in the rise of modern chess.

History of Chess Pieces

In order to reflect the way the Europeans lived they modernized the words that were used while playing chess and gave them the names that we know today as they could not pronounce nor spell the names given by the Persians. In the present day if seen the names do not seem modern but about thousands of years ago they represented the way in which high ranking officials as well as ordinary people lived their lives.

History of Pawns

The laborers or serfs were represented in the chess board as pawns. It is seen that their number is much more than the other pieces in the chess board and they are made to sacrifice their lives for the more important pieces.

The laborers or serfs were thought of as a property which belonged to the landowners or treated as personal property during the medieval period. Life was very hard for the serfs during this period of history. They died young as they were not protected during the war .If the landowner was in any problem they could be sacrificed or traded in place of the owner.

History of Rooks

Each side has two rooks. The rooks in chess are also sometimes referred to castles as the rook is considered to be the home or the refuge. One of the special moves in chess is actually called castling and is made with a rook and the king.

History of Knights

There are two knights on each side on the chess board. The knights were the trained soldiers of the medieval times whose duty was to protect the high ranking officials and the chess board knight also has the same duty. Though a knight in chess are of far more importance than the pawns, they are less important than the kings, queens and bishop. The more important pieces are protected by the knight in the game of chess and they too can be sacrificed to save the important piece when in danger .

History of Bishops

The church is represented in the game of chess through the bishop. The church was regarded as the mighty and rich force during the medieval times and religion played an important role in everybody’s life. The name for the priest of the Catholic Church who had risen to a high and powerful position through ranks was known as the bishop. There are two bishops in the chess game on each side.

History of Queens

The queen is the most powerful piece of the chess game and the only piece on the board that represents women. The chess board has only one queen for each side. Many people are still not aware that during the medieval times the queen held an unstable yet powerful position.

The king often took her advice in many things and many times the queen is said to have played games against the king just to make her position secure in the court. With the permission of the church the king could imprison the queen in nunneries or set her aside. The approval of the queen was required.

Tallest Chess Piece in History

The tallest piece on the chess board is the king and he is defined from all sides as he was during the medieval period. During the medieval times if the king surrendered to the opposing army it meant giving up his kingdom to the other king and that was like getting into a situation that was worse.

The king is the most important piece in the chess board and it’s for the welfare of everyone from the serf who holds the lowest rank to the high ranking official to protect the king from any sort of harm.

The history of the Western chess is about 1500 years old. During the 6th century AD the earliest form of the chess game originated in India from where it spread it Persia. The Chess was adapted by the Muslim world from which it moved to Southern Europe after the Arabs conquered Persia.

In the 15th century the game evolved into its current form in Europe. The modern tournament plays began in the 2nd half of the 19th century and in 1886 the first world chess tournament was held where top chess players took part. The World Chess Federation was established in the 20th century and along with it chess also jumped way ahead.

The Chess is a recognized sport of International Olympic Committee today. The first World Chess champion was the father of Chess, Wilhehn Sleinitz who got his title in 1886 and the present day World Chess Champion is Magnus Carlsen.

First Breakthrough in Chess Engines

Today we play today is strongly influenced by the ability of the chess program and the chance to be played online. In 1997, Deep Blue was the chess computer to defeat the World Champion of that time, Garry Kasparov in a match.

The 21st century has seen massive improvement in chess engines and are used by players everyday for reasons such as looking for chess players’ ratings, to check the analysis, online gaming like grand masters, to check chess players’ ratings and team consultations.

What Was Chess Originally Called?

Chess wasn’t always called Chess, there’s much more to the story on how Chess got its name. But for this post, we’ll briefly go over why Chess is called Chess.

The ancestors of chess is said to have its origin in India during the Gupta period in the 6th century. At that time chess was known as “chaturanga” which meant the four divisions of the military namely the infantry, cavalry, elephantry and chariotary.

So we can say that they were great chess players of that time. They are now represented in the modern chess board with the names like pawn, knight, bishop and rook respectively. In some part of Persia around 600 chess became “chantrang” and the chess rules also got more developed.

The players said “Shah” when they attacked the opponents’ king and “Shah Maat “when the king after being attacked could not escape. These exclamations were still used in chess as they moved from one country to the other.

Many centuries ago Chess was played in India, China and Persia, so they can be said to be old chess players of the world. The origin of chess is yet to be known.

During the 8th century the moors who were the armies of the Arabs invaded Persia, thus the Persians are the people who taught chess to the Arabs. When the Moors invaded Spain they had taken the chess along with them thus the Spanish people also got introduced to this game after which it quickly spread to different parts of Europe.

If you liked learning about the history of Chess, you may also be interested in reading some more interesting facts about Chess.

Sources

1. Chess History
2. Chess Beginning