History of Chess

Chess – a board game of strategic skill for two players, played on a checkered board. Each player begins the game with sixteen pieces that are moved and used to capture opposing pieces according to precise rules. The object is to put the opponent’s king under a direct attack from which escape is impossible ( checkmate ). The precursors of chess originated in India during the Gupta Empire, where its early form in the 6th century was known as chaturaṅga, which translates as “four divisions (of the military)”: infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry, represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively.

Chess was introduced to Persia from India and became a part of the princely or courtly education of Persian nobility. In Sassanid Persia around 600 the name became chatrang, which subsequently evolved to shatranj, and the rules were developed further. Players started calling “Shāh!” (Persian for “King!”) when attacking the opponent’s king, and “Shāh Māt!” (Persian for “the king is helpless”) when the king was attacked and could not escape from attack. These exclamations persisted in chess as it traveled to other lands. Chess spread throughout the world and many variants of the game soon began taking shape. Buddhist pilgrims, Silk Road traders and others carried it to the Far East where it was transformed and assimilated into a game often played on the intersection of the lines of the board rather than within the squares.Chaturanga reached Europe through Persia, the Byzantine empire and the expanding Arabian empire. Muslims carried chess to North Africa, Sicily, and Iberia by the 10th century. The game was developed extensively in Europe, and by the late 15th century, it had survived a series of prohibitions and Christian Church sanctions to almost take the shape of the modern game. Modern history saw reliable reference works, competitive chess tournaments and exciting new variants which added to the game’s popularity, further bolstered by reliable timing mechanisms (first introduced in 1861), effective rules and charismatic players.

Famous Chess Players in the world:

1. Garry Kasparov

2. Anatoly Karpov

3. Emanuel Lasker(1868-1941)

4. Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900)

5. Bobby Fischer (1943-2008)

History of players

1. Garry Kasparov – Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in the Soviet Union in 1963, Garry Kasparov became the under-18 chess champion of the USSR at the age of 12 and the world under-20 champion at 17. He came to international fame at the age of 22 as the youngest world chess champion in history in 1985.

2. Anatoly Karpov – Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Russian: Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, Anatolij Evgen’evič Karpov; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov.

3. Emanuel Lasker -(December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years (from 1894 to 1921). In his prime. Lasker was one of the most dominant champions, and he is still generally regarded as one of the strongest players ever.

4. Wilhelm – (later William) Steinitz (May 17, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and later American chess Master player, and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894. He was also a highly influential writer and chess theoretician.

5. Bobby Fischer – Robert James “Bobby” Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster, the eleventh World Chess Champion. Many consider him to be the greatest chess player of all time.