The game of chess is a game where strategy is the strong point. A game consists of the challenge of two opponents who are called Black and White. It is one of the most popular games in the world. Are you a Chess fan? About 8% of the population in the world is Chess Fan who plays it regularly. Chess, beyond being a sport, is a social, educational and therapeutic activity with multiple benefits that go beyond the intellectual level. Chess has never gone out of fashion and is always on the top of the list of indoor games.
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The Origins of Chess: The India
The origin of the game of chess is somewhat of a mystery. No one knows who invented the chess game. Although chess appeared and was invested in Asia, possibly in India. According to some studies, the origin of chess dates back to 600 AD. The game spread around the world over the centuries and eventually evolved into the current chess with rules.
The primary myth about the inception of chess is related to an Indian king named Belkib. Seeking to end his boredom, he offered a reward in exchange for some distraction. It is said it was chess, a game that involved a little war on a wooden board, which was suggested to him by the wise Sissa. The king, excited, offered him whatever he wanted as a reward. In return, Sissa requested a wheat grain on the first square of the chessboard. Then, two on top of the second and so on, doubling the amount each time. The king accepted, believing it to be a small quantity; nevertheless, upon starting the calculation, it was found that nearly nine billion grains of wheat would have to be deposited in the last box.
According to a different chess mythology, the game was created by the Greeks as a kind of entertainment during the protracted siege of Troy, which began after the year 1000 BC. In actuality, the only trustworthy account of the origins of chess comes from a game called chaturanga that was referenced in some literature as early as the fifth century in northwest India.
Hence, The inventor of chess is the wise man Sissa, in India, during the 6th century. It is difficult to say who invented chess, but the above theory is considered the most accepted. During the 6th century, the philosopher and Brahmin Sissa, son of Dagir, invented a game for the recreation and entertainment of his lord (King Belkib). game he called chaturanga or “four-part game.”
It was a strategy or war game with original pieces that included a monarch, a minister, horses, chariots, and pawns or soldiers. It included concepts for organising, distributing, and moving army wings in battle. They didn’t move like they do now; instead, they went in a straight line because the carts didn’t have a turning angle. They matched the existing towers. The monarch could jump up to three spaces, unlike now.
It was sent to China from India. The Persians called it Shatranj: from the word sha = king, from which it was said sha-mat = checkmate: the king is dead. The Arabs discovered this game in Persia, and 1000 years they brought it to Spain. Likewise, this Indian Chaturanga game spread around the corner and evolved into what it is right now.
Evolution Of Chess
Regarding the evolution and expansion of chess, it has travelled to many countries. It is believed that it develops and evolves in China or that it is strongly influenced by the proximity of its borders. In the year 600, the game spread to Russia and also to Persia, where it was called Chatrang, and the Arabs copied it as shatranj.
Between the 9th and 10th centuries, it just developed, except that some elements are different, for example, the bishop is an elephant, and instead of a queen, we have a vizier who can only advance one square. Chess enters Europe thanks to the Spanish Arabs.
The first modern chess tournament was held in 1851 in London and was won by the German Adolf Anderssen against the Estonian Lionel Kieseritzky in the so-called “Immortal game.”
The first master of chess was a Spanish priest named Ruy Lopez. He did not create it, but he did analyse it in a book that he wrote and published in 1561. In those days, chess theory was so archaic that Lopez recommended playing with the sun in your opponent’s eyes.
The current rules of the game of chess date from that time. The first international chess competition was organised in Castile in 1562, and the Spanish masters Alfonso Ceron and Rui Lopez faced off against the Italians El Putino and El Siracusano. The Italians won because El Putino honoured his striking surname and incurred numerous irregularities.
Some say that the first world chess champion was the Spanish Ruy Lopez de Segura. This author of the Book of the Liberal Invention and Art of the Game of Chess published in Alcaa de Henares in 1561.
In 1560 he defeated the most renowned Italian masters, including Maestro Leonardo da Cutri, Italy’s best player, whom he beat twice in his country. However, when Philip II summoned the best players in Italy to compete with the Spanish chess players in Madrid. In what is considered the first international chess tournament, in 1575.
It was Leonardo who won, pocketing the prize’s thousand ducats, an ermine cape, and exemption from paying taxes. That game is the first documented, and the first in which the opening called The King’s gambit is played.
Chess In Today’s World
Chess is now in the Olympic Games. The game was not included in the Olympic Games until 2000, limited only to being an exhibition game. But now, it holds a world games position in the Olympic Games which can be played by men and women. Alexey Shirov and Vishy Anand played their first chess game in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.