Chess can be described as a turn-based tabletop strategy board game played between two players, but realistically, the game needs no introduction.
With over 600 million players worldwide, Chess is easily the most popular board game of all time, and can be argued to be one of the most popular games overall. This overwhelming dominance is owed to its long history, actively growing in popularity across multiple regions of the world.
Chess is also known to be a surprisingly simple game to learn but with an ocean of depth when it comes to complexity, making it the perfect game to pick up and compete with. A child could easily understand the basic rules, but there are more possible games of chess than there are atoms in the universe. However, as well known as the game is, its origins are relatively obscure.
The origin of chess can be traced back to Chaturanga, an ancient Indian board game that has been recognized as the common ancestor to many historical board games all over the world, such as the Japanese Shogi, Chinese Xiangqi, and of course, European Chess.
However, while the origins of these games can be traced back to Chaturanga, the history of Chaturanga itself is a mystery too old to know for sure. The earliest known mention of Chaturanga was around the 6th Century CE though it could easily be older than that.
The rules of the game are also not known for sure but studies have theorized it to closely resemble the rules of Shatranj, an ancient prototype of chess directly inspired by Chaturanga. It was played on a 8x8 board, though colored the same, and had pieces with different roles much like chess.
In the 7th Century, Chaturanga was introduced to the Sasanian Empire of Persia, the period of Iranian history considered to be the high point of their culture prior to being conquered by the Arab Muslims.
Initially called Chatrang, the game was eventually called Shatranj following the Persian conquest. The game was held in high regard in Persia and was considered to be a part of courtly education for Persian nobility. The rule of declaring Check, and Checkmate in Chess was developed in this period, as players would call ‘Shāh!’, King in Persian, when attacking the king, and ‘Shāh Māt!’, ‘The king is helpless’ in Persian, when the King was successfully cornered.
Once Arab Muslims adopted the game of Shatranj, the game spread rapidly across the known world through the Arab trade routes. It was through them that the game would reach Europe and eventually evolve into Western Chess.
Over the centuries since its introduction to Europe in the 10th Century CE, Chess would adopt new rules that not only resemble modern Chess but would go on to define modern competitive Chess play. Such as the development of the Queen’s and Bishop’s movement, which used to be limited to one space but eventually stretched out across the board.
Castling and En Passant were adopted as official rules. Pawns were also allowed to be promoted to any piece once reaching the end of the board, regardless of what pieces were or were not lost. These changes dramatically sped up games, made pawn promotion a game changing tactic and greatly increased the complexity of Chess.
Despite these early complexities, early chess in Europe was a fast paced affair that relied on quick, reactive decision making instead of the long term strategic planning that is so common in modern chess. This period from the 1700s to near the beginning of the 20th century, was called the romantic era of chess and saw Chess getting an explosive rise in popularity across Europe. By the 1900s, Chess had its first world championship, and a great many more annual tournaments, turning Chess into a full blown international sport.