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THEHISTORYOFCHESS

The document discusses the history of chess. While the true origin of chess cannot be pinpointed, the earliest documented records come from East Asia in the 9th century AD. Chess was introduced into Western Europe before 1000 AD but the exact route is unknown. By 1100, chess had become popular among European nobility. During the Middle Ages, experiments were conducted with the rules to speed up gameplay. Around 1500, major rule reforms created the game that is still played today.

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Leon Kennedy
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28 views1 page

THEHISTORYOFCHESS

The document discusses the history of chess. While the true origin of chess cannot be pinpointed, the earliest documented records come from East Asia in the 9th century AD. Chess was introduced into Western Europe before 1000 AD but the exact route is unknown. By 1100, chess had become popular among European nobility. During the Middle Ages, experiments were conducted with the rules to speed up gameplay. Around 1500, major rule reforms created the game that is still played today.

Uploaded by

Leon Kennedy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE HISTORY OF CHESS

T
he true origin of chess is a controversial topic and cannot be
accurately pinpointed. The first documented records of chess
have been found in the East in Islam, Persia, India, and China.
The oldest known chess books were written as early as 850 A.D.,
and with references to the game found in other documents it can be
traced back to around the year 600. Before that there is only
archaeology and conjecture.
Chess was introduced into Western Europe at an unknown date
before 1000 A.D. The earliest references to the game in Europe are
dated to around 1050, but they are short and ambiguous. Thusly, a
definite route of introduction into Europe cannot be accurately
traced. After the year 1100, chess had become a regular feature of
noble life, and there were many stories explaining its origin in the
west. The invention of chess was attributed indifferently to the court
of Charlemange, the court of King Arthur, and the siege of Troy.
The latter was extremely popular among westerners as the date for
the invention of chess.
During the Middle Ages there was much experimentation with the rules of chess. There were
demands for new rules to be applied in order to speed the game up. Such rules included allowing
pawns to move two spaces on their first move, and allowing the king and queen to jump squares in the
opening turns so as to get them into play faster. Despite many modifications to the rules of chess
during the Middle Ages, it was essentially the same game at the end of the period as the one taken
from Islam 500 years before.
In the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance, chess was a part of noble culture; it was used to
teach war strategy and was dubbed the "King's Game." Gentlemen are "to be meanly seene in the play
at Chestes," says the overview at the beginning of The Book of the Courtier. The author explains it further:
“And what say you to the game at chestes? It is truely an honest kynde of enterteynmente and
wittie…”
Chess was often used as a basis of sermons on morality. Different chess pieces were used as
metaphors for different classes of people, and human duties were derived from the rules of the game or
from visual properties of the chess pieces: “The knyght ought to be made alle armed upon an hors in
suche wyse that he haue an helme on his heed and a spere in his ryght hande/ and coueryd wyth his
sheld/ a swerde and a mace on his lyft syde/ Cladd wyth an hawberk and plates to fore his breste/
legge harnoys on his legges/ Spores on his heelis on his handes his gauntelettes/ his hors well broken
and taught and apte to bataylle and couerid with his armes…”
Around the year 1500 there is evidence of a sudden reform in the rules, creating a game almost
identical to chess played today. There were three major modifications to the rules of chess. Each pawn
was allowed an extended move on its initial turn. Another change was in the extending of the range of
the bishop, which made rethinking of strategies necessary. The final change was to the movement of
the queen. The medieval queen was an extremely weak piece, even weaker than the king. The reformed
queen, however, became the most powerful piece on the board with its ability to move as both a rook
and bishop. It can be seen that from actions in Europe around the year 1500 that chess had become
strongly engrained in western society and has remained so ever since.

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