The true origins of chess are shrouded in the mists of pre-history, obscure and hidden in darkness. This is a good thing. It allows us to say just about anything we want to about how the game started without fear of contradiction. Chess or a game very much like chess, originated in Northern India that is thought to be sometime around 600 AD in the 14th century. Approximately 1400 Years ago, it eventually migrated to Europe through China and Persia (Modern day Iran) The ancient Indian game was based on Indian armies and was undoubtedly a pastime for their rulers.

There is no doubt that this game, called Chaturanga, in India at that time, was much like the present-day chess. It was played on a eight by eight board and used six different kinds of pieces, just like today. Some people think that it may have originally involved the use of dice in order to determine which piece to move and so forth. ( I am not one of those people and I don't believe that ) This speculation seems to be based on little else other than the coincidence that there were six types of pieces and six different spots on the dice. It seem far, far more likely that the rulers playing the game preferred to exercise complete control over their armies, just as they would try to do so in the battlefields that they fought in. (This does sound more reasonable, don't you think so?)

This Indian Army was led by the Rajah or King and his chief advisor, the Mantri, sometimes referred to as the Vizier. A Vizier is a high executive officer of various Muslim countries and especially of the Ottoman Empire, (1453) Or a civil officer in ancient Egypt being a viceregal, relating to a viceroy or viceroyalty with administrative deputy vicarage powers, a vicar.(14th century term)

This explains why a game such as chess could evolve in the 14th century much like it is today being that such leaders of large warring armies would want to test their powers of strategy and tactics in defeating a opponent in a war game.

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In their chess game of that time, the army was represented by foot soldiers, cavalry, chariots, and elephants. Of course, one can't spend all one's time waging war, and it must have been amusing and a source of recreation for Indian royalty to pretend to wage war when they weren't engaged in actual battles.

By the time the game got to Europe, it had changed considerably and continued to change until about the end of the 15th century. The changes basically altered the game to make it more familiar to the Europeans who were then playing it. The Rajah became the King, the Mantri the Queen, the foot soldiers the Pawns, the cavalry the Knights, the chariots the Rooks, and the elephants the Bishops. The game has been essentially stable since that time. Now days chess is played all over the world by the same rules under the control of the Federation Internationale des Echecs or, FIDE, which is French for the International Chess Federation.

So now you know about the Origin of Chess!

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