Origin
Precursors to chess originated in India during the Gupta Empire. There, its early form in the 6th
century was known as chaturaṅga, which translates as "four divisions (of the military)": infantry,
cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry. These forms are represented by the pieces that would evolve
into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively.
Chess was introduced to Persia from India and became a part of the princely or courtly education
of Persian nobility.[6] In Sassanid Persia around 600 the name became chatrang, which
subsequently evolved to shatranj, due to Arab Muslims' lack of ch and ng native sounds, and the
rules were developed further. Players started calling "Shāh!" (Persian for "King!") when attacking the
opponent's king, and "Shāh Māt!" (Persian for "the king is helpless" – see checkmate) when the king
was attacked and could not escape from attack. These exclamations persisted in chess as it traveled
to other lands.
The game was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia, with the pieces
largely keeping their Persian names. The Moors of North Africa rendered Persian "shatranj" as
shaṭerej, which gave rise to the Spanish acedrex, axedrez and ajedrez; in Portuguese it became
xadrez, and in Greek zatrikion, but in the rest of Europe it was replaced by versions of the Persian
shāh ("king"). Thus, the game came to be called ludus scacchorum or scacc(h)i in Latin, scacchi in
Italian, escacs in Catalan, échecs in French (Old French eschecs); schaken in Dutch, Schach in
German, szachy in Polish, šahs in Latvian, skak in Danish, sjakk in Norwegian, schack in Swedish,
šakki in Finnish, šah in South Slavic languages, sakk in Hungarian and şah in Romanian; there are
two theories about why this change happened:
From the exclamation "check" or "checkmate" as it was pronounced in various languages.
From the first chessmen known of in Western Europe (except Iberia and Greece) being
ornamental chess kings brought in as curios by Muslim traders.
The Mongols call the game shatar, and in Ethiopia it is called senterej, both evidently derived from
shatranj.
Chess spread directly from the Middle East to Russia, where chess became known as шахматы
(shakhmaty, literally "checkmates", a plurale tantum).
The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes, the earliest being in the 9th
century. By the year 1000 it had spread throughout Europe.Introduced into the Iberian Peninsula
by the Moors in the 10th century, it was described in a famous 13th-century manuscript covering
shatranj, backgammon and dice named the Libro de los juegos.
Chess spread throughout the world and many variants of the game soon began taking shape.
Buddhist pilgrims, Silk Road traders and others carried it to the Far East where it was transformed
and assimilated into a game often played on the intersection of the lines of the board rather than
within the squares. Chaturanga reached Europe through Persia, the Byzantine empire and the
expanding Arabian empire. Muslims carried chess to North Africa, Sicily, and Iberia by the 10th
century.
The game was developed extensively in Europe. By the late 15th century, it had survived a series of
prohibitions and Christian Church sanctions to almost take the shape of the modern game. Modern
history saw reliable reference works, competitive chess tournaments, and exciting new variants.
These factors added to the game's popularity, further bolstered by reliable timing mechanisms (first
introduced in 1861), effective rules, and charismatic players
Precursors to chess originated in India during the Gupta Empire. There, its early form in the 6th
century was known as chaturaṅga, which translates as "four divisions (of the military)": infantry,
cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry. These forms are represented by the pieces that would evolve
into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively.
Chess was introduced to Persia from India and became a part of the princely or courtly education
of Persian nobility.[6] In Sassanid Persia around 600 the name became chatrang, which
subsequently evolved to shatranj, due to Arab Muslims' lack of ch and ng native sounds, and the
rules were developed further. Players started calling "Shāh!" (Persian for "King!") when attacking the
opponent's king, and "Shāh Māt!" (Persian for "the king is helpless" – see checkmate) when the king
was attacked and could not escape from attack. These exclamations persisted in chess as it traveled
to other lands.
The game was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia, with the pieces
largely keeping their Persian names. The Moors of North Africa rendered Persian "shatranj" as
shaṭerej, which gave rise to the Spanish acedrex, axedrez and ajedrez; in Portuguese it became
xadrez, and in Greek zatrikion, but in the rest of Europe it was replaced by versions of the Persian
shāh ("king"). Thus, the game came to be called ludus scacchorum or scacc(h)i in Latin, scacchi in
Italian, escacs in Catalan, échecs in French (Old French eschecs); schaken in Dutch, Schach in
German, szachy in Polish, šahs in Latvian, skak in Danish, sjakk in Norwegian, schack in Swedish,
šakki in Finnish, šah in South Slavic languages, sakk in Hungarian and şah in Romanian; there are
two theories about why this change happened:
From the exclamation "check" or "checkmate" as it was pronounced in various languages.
From the first chessmen known of in Western Europe (except Iberia and Greece) being
ornamental chess kings brought in as curios by Muslim traders.
The Mongols call the game shatar, and in Ethiopia it is called senterej, both evidently derived from
shatranj.
Chess spread directly from the Middle East to Russia, where chess became known as шахматы
(shakhmaty, literally "checkmates", a plurale tantum).
The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes, the earliest being in the 9th
century. By the year 1000 it had spread throughout Europe.Introduced into the Iberian Peninsula
by the Moors in the 10th century, it was described in a famous 13th-century manuscript covering
shatranj, backgammon and dice named the Libro de los juegos.
Chess spread throughout the world and many variants of the game soon began taking shape.
Buddhist pilgrims, Silk Road traders and others carried it to the Far East where it was transformed
and assimilated into a game often played on the intersection of the lines of the board rather than
within the squares. Chaturanga reached Europe through Persia, the Byzantine empire and the
expanding Arabian empire. Muslims carried chess to North Africa, Sicily, and Iberia by the 10th
century.
The game was developed extensively in Europe. By the late 15th century, it had survived a series of
prohibitions and Christian Church sanctions to almost take the shape of the modern game. Modern
history saw reliable reference works, competitive chess tournaments, and exciting new variants.
These factors added to the game's popularity, further bolstered by reliable timing mechanisms (first
introduced in 1861), effective rules, and charismatic players
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