Among us, there are few who have never played a game of chess or at least set up the pieces on a chessboard. Is there anyone who hasn’t heard of the pawn, bishop, rook, knight, queen, and king, or the terms “check” and “checkmate”? We will surely remember many photographs of famous politicians, rulers, and artists, but also ordinary “little” people engrossed in front of a chessboard. This game, essentially defined by a few simple and clear rules, can evolve into an endless series of different combinations where each player, to defeat their opponent, must exercise their ability for logical reasoning, imagination, intuition, and persevere in seeking hidden possibilities. That is why chess has been a challenge that many could not resist for centuries.
The Origin of Chess
There are several legends about the origin of chess, and the most famous one is about the cruel Indian ruler Sheram and the sage Seti. In order to teach the ruler better behavior towards his subjects, Seti invented a game in which the king, although the main p The chessboard is a symbol of teamwork, where each piece is essential for the final outcome of the game, even the weakest one. The king was thrilled with the new game and decided to reward Set with whatever he desired. After some thought, Set requested that one grain of wheat be placed on the first square of the chessboard, two on the second, four on the third, and so on until the sixty-fourth square. Sheram, thinking that Set was underestimating his generosity, became angry. However, Set was persistent, and the king ordered his servants to prepare the requested reward. For several days, the court mathematicians calculated the total number of grains, and when they finally finished, the king realized that he would have to drain all the oceans, melt all the ice in the distant northern lands, and convert all the earth’s expanses into farmland in order to fulfill his promise. Legend has it that this is why chessboards in India are called “kohtazara”, or “ambar”. India is undoubtedly the birthplace of chess. The oldest record of chess dates back to the 6th century, where it is mentioned as “chaturanga” (chaturanga), which is a compound of two Sanskrit words, “chatur” meaning four and “anga” meaning part, and translates to “four divisions”. The chessboard in chaturanga was called “ashtapada” (from Sanskrit “ashta” meaning eight and “pada” meaning foot, field), and it was identical to the modern 64-square board. The pieces were very similar to the ones we have today. There were five different pieces – “rajan” (king), “mantrin” (advisor, now queen), “ratha” (war chariot, now rook), “ashwa” (horse or knight), “hastin” (elephant, now bishop), and “pada” (pawns). The movement of the queen, rook, and bishop was more limited compared to modern chess, which made the game slower-paced.
It is commonly believed that “chaturanga” was a war game in which, along with the king and advisor, all four branches of the Indian army – elephants, horses, war chariots, and foot soldiers – were represented. However, the game itself likely developed from much older magical rituals They are familiar with ancient Indian philosophy and mysticism of numbers. According to this key, the figures symbolize the elements of matter, with ratha representing earth, ashwa representing water, hastin representing air, mantrin representing fire, and rajan or king representing ether. The way the figures move reflects the main characteristics of each individual element. Padas, or pawns, represent the elements in potential, undergoing stages of transformation as they move from one square to another, until they reach the final eighth square, where they can be promoted to one of the figures, depending on their initial position on the board, following the rule known today as pawn promotion. Thus, the game of chess was actually a symbolic game of life. Over time, its mystical meaning was lost, and chess eventually became a simple depiction of a war game.
From the Persians to the Arabs
In the 6th century, the Persians adopted Čaturangu from the Indians and called it čatrang. When the caliph Omar conquered Persia in the mid-7th century, the Arabs became acquainted with the game and called it šatra. ndž. The game of chess reached its peak of popularity during the 9th and 10th centuries in the courts of Baghdad’s viziers and caliphs, and the greatest masters of chess were known as al-Adli and as-Suli, who was not only the best player of his time but also a distinguished chess writer. Later, in the 15th century, Ala’addin as Tabrizi, a legal advisor at the court of Timur Lenk in Samarkand, became famous. He was such a successful player that he was called Ali Šatrandži (Ali the Chess Player). He was also a strong blindfold player. The library of the Royal Asiatic Society in London preserves a manuscript containing a collection of his chess problems, in which he states, among other things: “I played on four boards with four opponents, not looking at the boards and talking to my friends at the same time, and with God’s help, I defeated them all.”
In chess, there were three ways to end a game. Checkmate (Arabic: šah maht – the king is dead) is a situation where the king is attacked and there is no way to defend it. In the case of a stalemate, the game is a draw. He was a player whose king was not in check, but was unable to make any move without putting his king in check. Such a game is now considered a draw. The third way to end the game symbolically represented the surrender of the sovereign who was left without an army and had nothing else to do but lay down his weapons.
Since the movement of the pieces was quite slow, it took a lot of time for the game to develop from the starting position. That is why in Arabic chess, games often did not start from the initial position of the pieces on the board, but from agreed upon, already developed positions. These typical positions were called tabiya, and about thirty of them have been preserved.
Mansubas, records of chess games and problems, appeared in the 9th century. Interesting positions from the endgame, in which the game had to be completed in a certain number of moves, served as a template for creating new similar problems. That is when the first chess compositions were created. Over 1700 different mansubas have been discovered in manuscripts. One of the most famous is called “Mat Dilaram” or “Mat of the Good Heart.”
legend has it that Dilaram was the beloved wife of a vizier. He lost his entire estate while playing chess with an acquaintance. In the end, he placed his wife as the last stake but found himself in a hopeless situation once again. That’s when Dilaram told him, “By sacrificing both rooks, you won’t have to sacrifice me!” The vizier understood what game plan to execute and won the game in six moves. This mansuba is found in an old manuscript from Sultan Abdul-Hamid’s library. The richly illustrated manuscript dates back to 1140 but it is believed that the puzzles in it originated in the 9th or 10th century and are attributed to as-Suli.
The Arabs played chess according to the original and unchanged rules until the 17th century, and it remained a game of the court and learned people among them.
Europe
Chess appeared in Europe through the Arabs as early as the 9th century, spreading through Arab trade routes first to Spain and then throughout Europe. The Vikings particularly contributed to the spread of chess in Western Europe. The oldest fully preserved chess set was found on the English island of Lewis, and it is believed to have been brought there by the Vikings from Iceland. Another important direction of the spread of chess was the Crusades, as it is mentioned that the Arab Sultan Saladin was an avid player, and that he taught the game to Richard the Lionheart, who made peace with Saladin as a participant in the Third Crusade.
In Europe, chess reached its peak popularity in Spain during the reign of the Moors. In the 13th century, King Alfonso the Wise (El Sabio) ordered the monks in the Escorial to prepare a manuscript on chess and related games. This work, known as Alfonso’s manuscript, is the oldest fully preserved European work on chess. It discusses an ancient form of the game, but with some minor rule changes that foreshadow modern chess.
The form of chess that we know today was developed during the Renaissance, when new rules were introduced to speed up the game, giving it a new dynamic. has been growing steadily, especially among artists and scientists. With the emergence of civil society and the middle class in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, chess became a game for almost all social classes. Its popularity was due to the reformulation of the rules, which gave it a more dynamic character. In Italy, this reformed chess became known as alla rabiosa, “on the attack.” At that time, the Spaniard Luis Ramirez de Lucena printed the first book on chess in Salamanca, which included openings and studies according to the old and new rules. Among other things, he said: “When playing at night, one should sit so that the light is on the left side, so that the hand does not cast a shadow. During the day, it is preferable for the opponent to sit facing the light. It is important to ensure that the opponent eats and drinks more than necessary before the game. During the game, players should drink water. Pawns in front of their king should not be moved unnecessarily, so as not to expose the weakened king to attack.” Until then, chess had been a game of courts and nobility in Europe, but with the new rules, more and more people became fans of the game. “It is large, played everywhere, especially in the cafes that were then in vogue. London’s Slaughter’s Coffee House and Paris’ Café de la Régence were gathering places for all the leading players, as well as intellectuals and philosophers like Diderot, Voltaire, Rousseau.
Thus, chess becomes an integral part of Western culture. Chess is often mentioned in French romances, and in 1624, Thomas Middleton wrote the play “The Game of Chess”, in which the action is indicated in the prologue:
What can be done with this game
Will be played on the stage today.
First, you will see people in lines
States and their pawns,
When both sides meet.
References to chess are frequent not only in literature and everyday language, but also in philosophy where some philosophers, perhaps not by chance, recognized this game as the most suitable metaphor for their ideas about the world. Thomas Henry Huxley writes: “The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe, and the rules of the game are what we call natural laws.” Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguist, is also known for using chess metaphors in his linguistic theories.” The imperial linguist and creator of structuralism used chess to explain his doctrine because “the most fruitful comparison that can be made is the one drawn between the functioning of language and a game of chess,” which he extensively elaborates in his works.
At the same time, chess theory is rapidly developing, and by its characteristics, top-level chess can almost be considered a scientific discipline. The first major breakthrough in this direction was made by the genius Frenchman François-André Danican Philidor (1726 – 1795), who was not only a leading player and theorist of his time but also a great opera composer. He was called “the greatest chess player among musicians and the greatest musician among chess players.” Philidor, ahead of his time, never had an equal opponent throughout his life and therefore almost always played with one fewer piece.
The first official world champion was Wilhelm Steinitz, an Austrian, in 1886, and after him, great players from our country have adorned themselves with this flattering title. Close past: Lasker, Capablanca, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, and others. At the beginning of the 20th century, FIDE, the World Chess Federation, was established, under whose patronage all major chess competitions are held. Although the competitive aspect of the game has become very pronounced, chess has never become a sport in the usual sense.
In recent times, the emergence of computers and their ability to perform fast and accurate calculations has brought about significant changes in the way and style of playing. However, the beauty of the game of chess lies not in mathematical calculations but in those rare moments when a player, intuitively rather than rationally, recognizes a new solution and the path that leads to victory. A machine can defeat a human, but only because it can calculate quickly and accurately. An authentically inspired, imaginative, and beautiful victory can only be achieved by a human.