Chess

Time Line

3nd Century BC

Little evidence suggests a game similar to chess was being played in China around 204-203 BC.

6th Century

The Developement of Chess as a Game

• Chaturauga devloped in India during this time period.
• 531 - Chess was introduced into Persia from India during the reign of Khusrau Nushirwau. Oranate figures were replaced with simplified versions cast from clay or carved from stone. Dice is still continued to be used to determine moves.
• 569 Chinese protochess, Xiangi, is invented by Emperor Wu Ti. The game was more than likely influenced by the popular game, Go.

9th Century

• 800s - Moors bring Chess to Spain. Chess reaches Italy.
• 800s - Charlemagne is introduced to chess via a gift from Haroon-al-Rashid.
• 820 - Chess is introduced in Russia possibly through the Caspian-Volga trade route.
• 895 - Chess is introduced to the Greeks; they call it Zatrikion.

10th Century

• 900s - Chess is introduced to Europe.
• 997 - Versas de Scashis is the earliest work mentioning chess in Western Europe. It is a 98 lined poem describing the game and it's rules.
• As-Suli writes Kitah Ash Shtraji. This is the earliest known work that views chess scientifically.
• Popularity of chess is increasing as chess becomes a royal pasttime.
• There is an increased amount of literature revolving around chess and it's themes.
• Churches begin to condemn chess as a sinful game due to chess's use of dice.
• The elephant chess piece is converted to an archer in Spain, a standard bearer in Italy, a courier in Germany, a court jester in France and finally a Bishop in Portugal, England, Ireland, and Iceland.

11th Century

List of Influential People

• 1008 - Mention of chess in the will of Count Uregal.
• 1061 - scandals involving bishops and priests gambling and playing games of chance eventually led to a banning of chess in the church and knightly orders.
• 1090 - Alternating dark and light squares are found common place on chess boards.

12th Century

• 1100 - Because chess has become associated with royality the game spreads further through Europe.
• 1115 - Byzantine Emporer is described as being a chess 'adict'.
• 1125 - Chess is banned in some Byzantine Churches.
• 1173 - Earliest recorded use of algebraic chess notation.

• Caliph Al-Muktafi
• Empress Adelaide and Empress Theophano
• Eleanor of Aquitaine
• Queen Constance
• Queen Margaret of England
• Kings Henry I
• Henry II
• Richard I
• Alfonso X of Castile
• Ivan IV of Russia.
• Louis IX of France
• Aladdin
• Al-Rushid

13 Century

• 1200 - Courier Chess played on 12x8 board.
• 1200 - Great Chess is played on a 100 square board.
• 1275 - Pawns can move two ranks on the first move.
• 1283 - Alfonso X complies the Libro de los juegos. This has an extensive collection of chess problems.

14th Century

Chess Pieces

• Late 14th Century - The en passant rule is introduced.

15th Century

Chaturanga board set up

Elephant and Bull playing pieces from the 2nd century.

Illustration of Shatranj piece in Thomas Hyde's book (Mandragorias, seu, Historia shahiludii, 1694)

• 1422 - A manuscript from Kraków sets the rule that stalemate is a draw.
• 1471 - The Göttingen manuscript is the first book to deal solely with chess.
• 1474 - William Caxton publishes The Game and Playe of Chesse, the first chess book in English.
• 1475 - The modern moves for the queen, bishop, and castling are slowly adopted.
• 1475 - Scachs d'amor the first published game of modern chess, written as a poem.
• 1497 - Luis Ramirez Lucena publishes the first European work on chess openings.

Chess set from North Afghanistan that ranges from the 6th to 8th century.

5th century Persian elephant piece.

Unproven chess piece with a wide time range. Piece is dated between the 2nd and 5th century around Northern India.

16th Century

Made in the 11th century. This set is often wrongly named 'The Charlemagne Set'.

Lewis Chessmen - a 78 piece collection of 12th century chess pieces.

Late 10th century Italian Chess set made from bone with ivory topping.

An early 6th century terracotta knight.

• 1510 - Marco Girolamo Vida wrote Scacchia ludus(The Game of Chess) with the first reference to a goddess of chess.[3]
• 1512 - Pedro Damiano publishes one of the first chess treatises, Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti
• 1527 - An Italian poet, Vida, fancifully identified the Rook as an elephant with a tower on his back, as used by Hannibal seventeen centuries earlier. This caught on, but the elephant was costly to carve, and disappeared leaving only the tower.
• 1561 - Ruy López coins the word gambit to describe opening sacrifices.
• 1580s - Queen becomes the strongest piece instead of the weakest. The average game was halved in length. Bishops were given the same treatment as queens. The pieces were now long range attacking pieces.