The History of Chess by William Shepard Walsh 1913
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Chess. All sorts of hypotheses as to the origin and antiquity of this game have been put forward by many authorities, learned and unlearned, wise or otherwise. Clearing away all the smoke of controversy, these facts alone can be accepted as settled: That the game was known in Persia and in Arabia by the middle of the sixth century, and that it originated in India, where it was known as chaturanga, "a complete army." The Persian catrang and Arabic shatrasj are merely phonetic variations of the Sanskrit chaturanga.
According to Persian tradition, an Indian king presented a game of catrang to a Persian king between the years 531 and 579 A.d. In return the Persian king sent the Indian the game of nard or backgammon. This tradition was afterward utilized by Firdusi, the Persian poet, in a famous passage in his Shanamah (1000 A.d.), and is corroborated by Arabic authors. The latter not only report that nard was sent to India, but also state that satranj was invented in India. Their authority is later, however, than that of the Persian tradition. In the (Sanskrit) literature of India the earliest known reference to chess is found in the Horschacavita. This work dates from the seventh century. But both the board and the game are referred to as familiar matters. The inference is obvious, that neither was a novelty in the India of the seventh century.
Here then we have corroborative evidence from three sources, Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit, all pointing to the same period, the middle of the sixth century, as that in which chess flourished in India. Furthermore we have the independent evidence of a Chinese writer of the tenth century, that chess was introduced into China in the sixth century, presumably from its Hindu neighbor.
But there is every reason to believe that some primitive form of the chaturanga, or chess, existed in India long before the sixth century A.d. As early as the second century b.c. (some authorities say the fifth) references are found to a board of eight squares in distinction to the board used for backgammon and parchesi. (washburn Hopkins, New York Nation, June 14, 1900.)
Consequently the history of chess divides itself into three distinct periods:
The first is that of the ancient Hindu game called chaturanga, in which the moves and powers of all the pieces employed (with the exception of the queen) were the same as they are at this day. The origin of this game is lost in the twilight of fable; but there can be no question that it was invented in India. The board consisted then, as it does now, of sixty-four squares. The game was played by four persons, each having a king, a rook, a knight, and, lastly, a bishop (then represented by a ship), together with four pawns. The two opposite players were allied against the other two, and the moves were decided by the turn of an oblong die having four faces marked with the numbers two, three, four, and five; the two and five being opposites, as were the three and four.
The second or mediaeval period in the history of chess occupies one thousand years—that is, from the sixth to the sixteenth century of our era. At the commencement of this period the improvement made in the game is very decided. The board and the powers of the pieces still remain the same, but the two allied forces have each united on one side of the board, whilst the adversaries have done the same on the other. One of the allied kings then becomes a subordinate piece, called farzin, or vizier— i.e., counsellor or minister,—with only half the power that he had previously possessed as an independent sovereign. At the same time the rook is transferred to the corner of the board and the bishop to the place he now occupies. Finally, the die is dismissed, and the whole game is reduced to a pure trial of mental power and intellectual skill.
The third or modern period commences with the sixteenth century. The change made here consists, first, in extending the power of the bishop, allowing him to command the whole diagonal, instead of every third square, as formerly; secondly, in transforming the vizier into the queen and giving her the enormous power of the rook and bishop combined; and, lastly, in allowing the pawns to advance one or two squares of pleasure, at the first move. To these improvements we may add that of castling the king, either according to the Italian method or that of the Anglo-French school. It is just probable that our go-ahead posterity will introduce some further modifications— such, for instance, as giving the queen the additional power of the knight. (dr. Forbes Duncan, Illustrated London News, July 8, 1854.)
Whoever was the inventor of chess had the game of war in his mind's eye. Chess is a battle, the chess-board a battle-field, the pieces are opposing armies. And the last were Asiatic armies, as may be gathered from the composition of the forces. For aught we know, chess may have been the prehistoric kriegspiel, or war-game, designed to give, in miniature, instruction in the then theory of war. More than any other game, it demands the military quality of instant seizure of the right moment for the right move. In whist the effect of a wrong lead may often be recovered, but in chess, against equal play, the effect of a false move is not to be undone. In the former case the penalty may be only the loss of a point, whereas in the latter, unless error answers error, the first mistake must lead to the loss of the game. Finally, in chess as in war, reading must supplement practice.
Perhaps the race of warriors is not even yet extinct who look down on book study as a means of developing military capacity. But the experience of every succeeding war proves the truth of Napoleon's dictum: "Study the campaigns of Caesar, Hannibal, Alexander, Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne; penetrate yourself with the spirit of those great men. That is the way to become a leader and to understand war." The advice applies in every pursuit of art or science, and most especially to chess. Book study is indispensable to all players who have the ambition to become masters.
For a list of all of my disks and ebooks (PDF and Amazon) click here
Chess. All sorts of hypotheses as to the origin and antiquity of this game have been put forward by many authorities, learned and unlearned, wise or otherwise. Clearing away all the smoke of controversy, these facts alone can be accepted as settled: That the game was known in Persia and in Arabia by the middle of the sixth century, and that it originated in India, where it was known as chaturanga, "a complete army." The Persian catrang and Arabic shatrasj are merely phonetic variations of the Sanskrit chaturanga.
According to Persian tradition, an Indian king presented a game of catrang to a Persian king between the years 531 and 579 A.d. In return the Persian king sent the Indian the game of nard or backgammon. This tradition was afterward utilized by Firdusi, the Persian poet, in a famous passage in his Shanamah (1000 A.d.), and is corroborated by Arabic authors. The latter not only report that nard was sent to India, but also state that satranj was invented in India. Their authority is later, however, than that of the Persian tradition. In the (Sanskrit) literature of India the earliest known reference to chess is found in the Horschacavita. This work dates from the seventh century. But both the board and the game are referred to as familiar matters. The inference is obvious, that neither was a novelty in the India of the seventh century.
Here then we have corroborative evidence from three sources, Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit, all pointing to the same period, the middle of the sixth century, as that in which chess flourished in India. Furthermore we have the independent evidence of a Chinese writer of the tenth century, that chess was introduced into China in the sixth century, presumably from its Hindu neighbor.
But there is every reason to believe that some primitive form of the chaturanga, or chess, existed in India long before the sixth century A.d. As early as the second century b.c. (some authorities say the fifth) references are found to a board of eight squares in distinction to the board used for backgammon and parchesi. (washburn Hopkins, New York Nation, June 14, 1900.)
Consequently the history of chess divides itself into three distinct periods:
The first is that of the ancient Hindu game called chaturanga, in which the moves and powers of all the pieces employed (with the exception of the queen) were the same as they are at this day. The origin of this game is lost in the twilight of fable; but there can be no question that it was invented in India. The board consisted then, as it does now, of sixty-four squares. The game was played by four persons, each having a king, a rook, a knight, and, lastly, a bishop (then represented by a ship), together with four pawns. The two opposite players were allied against the other two, and the moves were decided by the turn of an oblong die having four faces marked with the numbers two, three, four, and five; the two and five being opposites, as were the three and four.
The second or mediaeval period in the history of chess occupies one thousand years—that is, from the sixth to the sixteenth century of our era. At the commencement of this period the improvement made in the game is very decided. The board and the powers of the pieces still remain the same, but the two allied forces have each united on one side of the board, whilst the adversaries have done the same on the other. One of the allied kings then becomes a subordinate piece, called farzin, or vizier— i.e., counsellor or minister,—with only half the power that he had previously possessed as an independent sovereign. At the same time the rook is transferred to the corner of the board and the bishop to the place he now occupies. Finally, the die is dismissed, and the whole game is reduced to a pure trial of mental power and intellectual skill.
The third or modern period commences with the sixteenth century. The change made here consists, first, in extending the power of the bishop, allowing him to command the whole diagonal, instead of every third square, as formerly; secondly, in transforming the vizier into the queen and giving her the enormous power of the rook and bishop combined; and, lastly, in allowing the pawns to advance one or two squares of pleasure, at the first move. To these improvements we may add that of castling the king, either according to the Italian method or that of the Anglo-French school. It is just probable that our go-ahead posterity will introduce some further modifications— such, for instance, as giving the queen the additional power of the knight. (dr. Forbes Duncan, Illustrated London News, July 8, 1854.)
Whoever was the inventor of chess had the game of war in his mind's eye. Chess is a battle, the chess-board a battle-field, the pieces are opposing armies. And the last were Asiatic armies, as may be gathered from the composition of the forces. For aught we know, chess may have been the prehistoric kriegspiel, or war-game, designed to give, in miniature, instruction in the then theory of war. More than any other game, it demands the military quality of instant seizure of the right moment for the right move. In whist the effect of a wrong lead may often be recovered, but in chess, against equal play, the effect of a false move is not to be undone. In the former case the penalty may be only the loss of a point, whereas in the latter, unless error answers error, the first mistake must lead to the loss of the game. Finally, in chess as in war, reading must supplement practice.
Perhaps the race of warriors is not even yet extinct who look down on book study as a means of developing military capacity. But the experience of every succeeding war proves the truth of Napoleon's dictum: "Study the campaigns of Caesar, Hannibal, Alexander, Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne; penetrate yourself with the spirit of those great men. That is the way to become a leader and to understand war." The advice applies in every pursuit of art or science, and most especially to chess. Book study is indispensable to all players who have the ambition to become masters.
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