A Very Short History of Chess

Chess is commonly thought to have originated in India around the 6th century AD. It was then called "caturanga" which means: four military divisions - infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariotry. These game pieces would eventually evolve into our modern pawn, knight, bishop and rook respectively. Chess arrived in Western Europe and Russia as early as the 9th century and by the year 1000 had spread throughout the continent.



There is another theory that attributes the origins of chess to a Chinese game "Xiangqi" (Chinese Chess) or one of its many predecessors, but most historians give the game its Indian origins.

Chess as the King of Strategy Games

Chess is certainly a game which requires knowledge, strategy and tactics. There is no element of chance, luck or risk as in many party games.



The game is played on a board with 64 squares arranged in an eight by eight grid. The squares are usually black and white. Each player starts out with sixteen pieces, one player has white pieces, and the other has black. Each player has one king, one queen, two rooks (also called castles), two knights, two bishops and eight pawns.



The aim of the game of chess is to "checkmate" the opponent's king: In other words to corner the king so that no matter how he tries to move, he will be removed from the board.



Each of the chess pieces has a distinctive method of movement on the board, and this is what actually creates its distinguishing characteristics in the world of strategy games. It means that a tremendous amount of effort must be put into the tactical side of the game. Each player has not only to create his tactics of attack, but he must also be prepared for the attack methods which will be used by his opponent.

Competitive Chess and Chess Tournaments

The tradition of organized competitive chess actually began in the 16th century and continued to develop till modern times. Today chess is a recognized "sport" of the International Olympics, and there are world champion chess tournaments held every year.



Newspapers carry competitive chess games. It can also be played online with global participants. Much has been done with computers to create a chess-playing program, or chess-playing computer that would be able to compete with a human chess player. In 1997 the "Deep Blue" computer was the first to beat the world champion, Barry Kasparov.

Personal Chess Games as Party Games

My father taught me to play chess when I was about ten years old. Later, after I married, my husband and I used to hold chess parties once a week at home. We were four couples (friends) who used to meet every Friday or Saturday night to play the game. In that kind of an atmosphere one could actually include chess under the heading of party games. However, it is far better suited to the classification of "strategy games".



It is not an easy game to play and requires total concentration in order not to make a mistake or misstep which might lead one to lose with a sudden surprising "checkmate".