Chess Olympics

Chess History

It has always been royal; sometimes considered a game of the royalty, and sometimes a representation of kings of old, the game of chess is known to most, if not all of us. The origin of the game is obscure, and where and when it originated is a question which has no certain answer.Some objects excavated by archaeologists look like what may have been ancient chess pieces, but the probability of them being any other objects is just as much. Most evidence that leads to any conclusion in this regard is literary. References to such a game have been found in texts dating back to 100 A.D. But the widely accepted theory is that the game of chess originated in India around 600 A.D. where it was called “chaturanga” which meant “four divisions of the military”, namely infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots, represented respectively by the pawns, knights, bishops and rooks. A similar version of the game was played around the same time in the Persian Empire, and was given the name “shatranj”. Around the eighth century A.D., Persia was invaded by Arab armies (known by the name of Moors), who carried the game of chess with them. It was mainly the Arabs responsible for the spread of the game to other cultures. It was spread to Europe through conquest, Russia through trade, and by the 15^th century, it had spread throughout the European and Scandinavian regions. Russia’s dominance of the game however, is recent.

The Europeans gave the chess pieces the names by which they are known to us today and it was around this time that the game of chess underwent a revolution of sorts. The rules of the game were changed in way that gave the pieces their present day abilities. The pawn could move two squares in its first move. The bishop could move any number of squares diagonally, and the queen, could do the same in any direction. The queen’s new moves led to the game being called “Queen’s Chess” in certain areas. This new, faster version of the game gained popularity with such speed that it replaced the older version in a matter of decades. And so was born modern day chess.

As time passed , the game of chess turned into a sport enjoyed by people everywhere. The first modern chess tournament was the London Tourney of 1851, which was won by a German by the name of Adolf Anderssen, who was hailed as the chess grandmaster of the world (unofficially). Then came American-born Paul Morphy, who achieved a winning streak by defeating all important players including Anderssen. It was Prague-born Wilhelm Steinitz who won the first official World Chess Championship in 1866, and reigned supreme till 1894, when he lost to German mathematician Emanuel Lasker, who held on to his title for 27 years, the longest till date.

Since then, most chess masters have been Russians, two of whom, namely Anatoly Karpov, and Gary Kasparov, jointly held first place on the world rankings in 1984. The reigning champion is Vishwanathan Anand from India, who won the FIDE (World Chess Federation) Championship in September 2007.