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The History of Chess

It is thought that chess probably evolved from a game played in India in the 6th century A.D. A variety of it was known as chaturanga, "the four parts" of an army, the infantry, chariots, horses and elephants. This game was adapted by the Persians, and from them comes the word "checkmate," from shah mat, meaning "the king is dead." The Arabs learned the game from the Persians, and it was probably through the occupation of Spain by the Moors that chess was first introduced to western Europe.

The earliest documentary evidence of chess in Europe was in an 11th-century Spanish will. It is also mentioned in the 12th-century Alexiad, the history of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I, but it was the Italian and not the Byzantine form of chess that was finally adopted in Europe.

There are many references to chess in medieval Europe. The first book on the subject printed in England was "The Game and Plays of the Chesse," printed by William Caxton in 1474. From about that time chess took on a more modern form.

In the medieval game, the position of the pieces was the same as today but the move known as "castling" did not exist, the queen could only moye to the adjacent diagonal square, and the bishop's move was a leap over the adjacent diagonal square to the one beyond. Because of this, the game was much slower, and therefore when the rules were amended to allow the queen to move more freely, and to speed up the action of the bishop, the game became considerably faster. The main source of these changes was Italy.

In the 17th century there were no developments of any importance, however there was a revival in the popularity of chess in the 18th century. The 19th century saw the beginning of international tournaments. The first international chess tournament was held in London in 1851.

Chess has been standardized through much of the world by these international contests, instituted by the Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE). Variants of chess are, however, still played in China, Japan, and a few other countries. The Federation also supervises revisions of the chess rules.