How Chess has Changed Through the Ages

While many view the game of chess that we play today as an old and ancient game it has not always been as we see it. Type of pieces, names and even the board we play on have changed through the ages. While the traditional game of chess we play was established around the 1840’s the history of chess is long and rich with lots of diversity. Here is a brief look at how chess has changed through the ages.

Speed of the game-Historical documents show that there was no speed chess back when the game began. While the origins of the game remain unclear one theory persists that the game was invented between four or five thousand years ago, by the wife of King Ravana of Ceylon, when the capital was being held under siege. Clearly waiting out the siege gave the budding chess players time to perfect their moves. It is speculated that the Chinese first devised moves that quickened the rate of play sometime during the sixth century.

Pieces on the chessboard-The biggest changes in chess have occurred with both the number of pieces and the type of pieces used in the game. Records show that there were originally four types of pieces used in Chess. While the original names seem to indicate that chess pieces are Persian in origin the functions of the pieces have changed dramatically through the years. The original pieces of chess were:

Boatmen-This was a ship which could only move two squares diagonally but could jump over intervening pieces

Cavalry (riders)-This piece was a horse which could move like a knight (and became the knight) in present day chess

Elephants-This piece was an elephant which could move like a rook (and became the rook) in present day chess

Infantry (soldiers)-These pieces moved as pawns do (and became the pawn) in present day chess

There were also two Rajahs, human-like pieces who moved like modern day chess kings

Later on other pieces were added-

Queen-Until 1475 there was not a Queen on the chess board. This piece was simply a counselor to the King who could move diagonally one space at a time.

King-This is considered the most valuable piece on the board. At first this piece would be known as the Rajah (see above) then Prime Minister and then finally the King piece we know today. The King is considered the most valuable historically since anciently when the King was captured the empire or kingdom would collapse.

Bishop- He was represented as an armed attendant who sat on the back of an elephant. He was separated from the elephant piece as listed above as chess progressed. The bishops were interpreted differently by the different nations since in Central Europe there was no knowledge of elephants. That is why the bishop is a “Laufer”(runner) in Germany, a “fou” (fool) in France and an “alfiere” (standard-bearer) in Italy.

The bishop was also upgraded by the development of chess in the 15th century. At first he could jump one field diagonally but later the jump was abolished and he could move diagonally as far as he wanted.

The number of players-Early chess was a four person game. The game was played by four players with dice on a 64-square board. The players were loosely united into two teams. Any figure’s movement depended on a roll of the dice. A short time before chess reached Persia; it changed from a gambling game with four players to a game of intelligence with only two players.

The chess board- Europe’s first big contribution to Chess came about AD 1,000 with a checkered board to assist the eye (before this time the board was un- checkered).

The popularity of chess-Once considered a game only for the highly educated and wealthy chess has become widely popular worldwide. It is the national sport in Russia, where it is more popular than football. (With many Russian players dominating the world of chess through the last century). As of today there are almost 2000 registered tournaments all over the world.