A History of Chess

One day, a man called H. J. R. Murray was keen on getting closer to the roots of the game of
chess.
He decided to share his discoveries with the world by writing a book, “A History of Chess”, in
1913.
In his book, Murray assumes that the history of chess started in the North of India, traveled to
Persia, and then spread throughout the Asian continent.
In the Eastern World, for example in India or Persia, chess became a part of the courtly
education of the nobility.
In those days words like “Shāh!” – Persian for the king – or “Shāh Māt!” – the king is helpless
– were used in the games.
These words are very similar to the terms we use today with “check” and “checkmate”. The
rules were already quite similar to the chess rules we know nowadays.
Murray describes the original mold of chess, called Shatranj. Then he presents the role of
medieval chess in Europe during the Middle Ages, how it traveled from the Middle East to
Russia and then to Western Europe.
Finally, in the third part of his book on chess history, the author arrives at the beginning of
modern chess in the 19th century as we know it today.

Chinese Roots
There are not only those who believe chess comes from India, but some people believe that
chess was invented in China.
The legend says that chess was invented around 200 B.C. by a commander, Hán Xin, who
invented the game to represent a particular battle.
Soon after the battle, an important battle in Chinese history, the game was forgotten and then
resurfaced in the 7th century A.D. with several new rules.
The game became popular under the name “XiangQi” which means the “elephant game”, losing
its reference to the ancient battle. The elephant game was very dissimilar to the chess game that
we know today.
They had other pieces, another board, and even other rules. According to this belief, chess went
from China to India and Persia afterward, where it slowly modified into the chess game we
know today with an 8×8 square chessboard and the chess pieces that we are familiar with.

Chess History: From The Romantic Era To The Digitalized Era

Until the end of the 15th century, chess changed numerous times, survived sanctions by the
Christian Church as well as complete prohibitions from time to time.
Right up until the 1880’s, the game developed into the shape of the modern chess game. This
period is known as “the romantic era of chess”.
Let’s take a closer look at one of the most famous games from the romantic era of chess, the
“Immortal Game” between Anderssen and Kieseritky.
Chess slowly gained its competitive character and concrete rules, growing in popularity among
the people. Strategical planning or long study of the theory were pretty subordinate topics. In
the foreground, there were issues like quick tactical motifs and the reliance on intuitive moves.
The first chess tournaments started to take place and even the first official World Championship
was hosted in 1886 where Wilhelm Steinitz became the first official World Chess Champion.
Until the middle of the 20th century, there were tendencies towards romantic chess play, when
players relied on tactics and extremely dynamic play. However, the 20th century revolutionized
chess with the invention of databases, chess engines and several methods for comfortable and
efficient strategical preparations.
Chess websites and online games were invented so that the romantic era was finalized and a
new technological, digitalized era began.

Conclusion – Chess History In A Nutshell

All in all, there are a variety of hypotheses about the history of chess and there is no specific
person who invented this well-known game. It has changed throughout the centuries and will
probably keep changing with the times.
Hence, we presented you with the main and most popular legends and roots of the chess game.
Please comment on the article and let us know any other interesting facts or your personal
remarks about the history of chess.
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