Who invented the game of chess?

Answer 1

Many countries lay claim to the invention of chess. It is presently thought that the game originated in India, since the Arabic, Persian, Greek, Portuguese and Spanish words for chess are all derived from the ancient Indian chaturanga. In addition, only India had in its cavalry all three animals — horse, camel and elephant — represented by the knight, bishop and rook. The present version of chess stems from a form of chaturanga played in India around the 6th century. The first reference in literature to a game called chatrang is from Persia around 600, where the name became shatranj. The earliest documented chess pieces also date to the 7th century. By about 800 the game reached China and was known, with modifications, as Xiangqi. Chaturanga also spread to Japan, where it evolved into shogi. Shatranj was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia, with the pieces largely retaining their Persian names. In Spanish "shatranj" was rendered as ajedrez and in Greek as zatrikion, but in the rest of Europe it was replaced by versions of the Persian shāh ("king"). The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes, the earliest being in the 9th century. By the year 1000 it had spread throughout Europe. Introduced into the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors in the 10th century, it was described in a famous 13th century manuscript covering shatranj, backgammon, and dice named the Libro de los juegos.

Another theory, championed by David H. Li, contends that chess arose from the game Xiangqi, or at least a predecessor thereof, existing in China since the 2nd century BC.
According to popular legends, the chess game was invented by a Brahmin named Sissa. One day the Indian king (rajah) Balhait summoned Sissa and requested of the wise man to create a game which would require pure mental skill and oppose the teaching of games in which fate (luck) decides the outcome by the throw of dice. Moreover, the king requested that this new game should also have the ability to enhance the mental qualities of prudence, foresight, valor, judgment, endurance, circumspection, and analytical and reasoning ability. Sissa created the game chaturanga. Chaturanga was a war game, the first to borrow explicitly and extensively from the vocabulary of military conflict. The pieces were the king (rajah), the general (senapati/mantri, or modern day queen), the elephant (gaja, or the modern day bishop), the cavalry or horse (ashwa, modern day knight), the chariot (ratha/sakata, or modern day rook), and finally, the infantry (sainika/bhata, or modern day pawns). Another legend exists (so called Shahnama theory) that the chess was invented as a replacement for war.

Captain Cox and professor Forbes put forth a theory (the Cox-Forbes theory), that chess originated from the four-handed version of chaturanga, which was called chaturaji.

Answer 2

Chaturanga was the earliest precursor of a modern chess game. Chaturanga flourished in India by the 6th century. In the 7th century, it was adopted as shatranj in Sassanid Persia. It was then taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia (633–644), where it was then named shatranj, with the pieces largely retaining their Persian names. The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes, the earliest being in the 9th century. By the year 1000, it had spread throughout Europe. Around 1200, the rules of shatranj started to be modified in southern Europe, and around 1475, several major changes made the game essentially as it is known today.

It is the earliest known game to have two essential features, different pieces having different powers and victory depending on the fate of one piece, found in all later chess variations of modern chess. The prevalence of a board game that resembles chess was found in the findings in the Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa (2600–1500 BCE) sites of the Indus Valley Civilization. The game Chaturanga, rendered from the Indian military strategy of that time, was a battle simulation game. In Sanskrit, chaturanga literally means having four limbs and often means the four parts are elephants, chariots, horsemen, foot soldiers. The name Chaturanga came from a battle formation mentioned in the Indian epic Mahabharata.

There was an unproven theory formerly that some people played chess using a dice to decide which piece to move and that the gambling and dice were removed from the game due to Hindu religious objections. The game of chess and movement of pieces evolved very much with time. The original move of the advisor (or queen afterward) was to move only one square diagonally while foot soldier can move one square forwards only. Elephant (or bishop as it is known now) can move two squares sideways or front-and-back but could jump over a piece between according to an old Indian version.

Answer 3

This is a direct quote from wikipedia:

"Chess is a recreational and competitive strategy game for two players. Sometimes called Western Chess or International Chess to distinguish it from its predecessors and other chess variants, the current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe in the second half of the 15th century after evolving from similar, much older games of Asian origin. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular sports, played by an estimated 605 million people worldwide in clubs, online, by correspondence (mail and e-mail), in tournaments (amateur and professional) and informally. Aspects of art and science are found in chess composition and theory. Chess is also advocated as a way of enhancing mental prowess."

Answer 4

Elenia Chizfeild from india. It was originally chariots, King, Queen, Nobles and 1 chess peice of a pawn, was actually a 5 lived army. Hope this helped

Answer 5

Only India had in its cavalry all three animals — horse, camel and elephant — represented by the knight, bishop and rook. The present version of chess stems from a form of Khachaturian played in India around the 6th century.

Answer 6

This is a direct quote from wikipedia:

"Chess is a recreational and competitive strategy game for two players. Sometimes called Western Chess or International Chess to distinguish it from its predecessors and other chess variants, the current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe in the second half of the 15th century after evolving from similar, much older games of Asian origin. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular sports, played by an estimated 605 million people worldwide in clubs, online, by correspondence (mail and e-mail), in tournaments (amateur and professional) and informally. Aspects of art and science are found in chess composition and theory. Chess is also advocated as a way of enhancing mental prowess."

Answer 7

A History of Chess:
http://www.answers.com/topic/a-history-of-chess

Answer 8

Indians Invented the game but no one knows who the inventor

Answer 9

I think Indians but you can check this for your answer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_chess.
I hope that this will help you.

Answer 10

That is a tricky question..