Where and when was the game of chess invented? Chess

The history of chess goes back at least one and a half thousand years. It is believed that the progenitor game, chaturanga, appeared in India no later than the 6th century AD. As the game spread to the Arab East, then to Europe and Africa, the rules changed. In the form that the game currently has, it was mainly formed by the 15th century; the rules were finally standardized in the 19th century, when international tournaments began to be systematically held.

Indian origins

Al-Biruni in his book “India” tells an ancient legend that attributes the creation of chess to a certain Brahmin. For his invention, he asked the rajah for an insignificant, at first glance, reward: as many wheat grains as would be on the chessboard if one grain was placed on the first square, two grains on the second, four grains on the third, etc. It turned out , that there is no such amount of grain on the entire planet (it is equal to 2 64 -1≈1.845X10 19 grains, which is enough to fill a storage facility with a volume of 180 km 3). It’s hard to say whether it was true or not, but one way or another, India is the birthplace of chess.

No later than the beginning of the 6th century, the first known game related to chess, chaturanga, appeared in northwestern India. It already had a completely recognizable “chess” appearance (a square game board of 8X8 cells, 16 pieces and 16 pawns, similar pieces), but it was fundamentally different from modern chess in two features: there were four players, not two (they played pairs against pairs), and moves were made in accordance with the results of throwing dice. Each player had four pieces (chariot (rook), knight, bishop, king) and four pawns. The horse and the king moved in the same way as in chess, the chariot moved within two squares vertically and horizontally, the bishop moved first one square forward or diagonally, later it began to “jump” across one square diagonally, and, like a knight, during the move he could step over his own and enemy pieces. There was no queen at all. To win the game, it was necessary to destroy the entire enemy army.

Arab transformations

In the same 6th or perhaps 7th century, chaturanga was borrowed by the Arabs. In the Arab East, chaturanga was transformed: there were two players, each received control of two sets of chaturanga pieces, one of the kings became a queen (moved diagonally onto one field). They abandoned the bones and began to walk strictly one by one. Victory began to be recorded not by the destruction of all enemy pieces, but by checkmate or stalemate, as well as by completing the game with a king and at least one piece against one king (the last two options were forced, since checkmate with weak pieces inherited from chaturanga , it was not always possible). The resulting game was called shatranj by the Arabs, and shatranj by the Persians. The Buryat-Mongolian version was called "shatar" or "hiashatar". Later, when it came to the Tajiks, shatranj received the name “chess” in Tajik (translated as “the ruler is defeated”). The first mention of Shatranj dates back to approximately 550. 600 - first mention of Shatranj in fiction- Persian manuscript "Karnamuk". In 819, at the court of Caliph al-Mamun in Khorosan, a tournament was held between the three strongest players of that time: Jabir al-Kufi, Abyljafar Ansari and Zairab Katan. In 847, the first chess book was published, written by Al-Alli.

Chess in Southeast Asia

Simultaneously with the advancement of the chess game to the west, it also spread to the east. Apparently, either a variant of chaturanga for two players, or one of the early variants of shatranj, came to the countries of Southeast Asia, since their features have been preserved in the chess games of this region - the moves of many pieces are made over short distances, there are none characteristic of European chess castling and capturing en passant. Under the influence of the cultural characteristics of the region and the board games that were popular there, the game noticeably changed in appearance and acquired new features, becoming the basis for Chinese game Xiangqi From it, in turn, came the Korean game changi. Both games are original in appearance and mechanism. First of all, this is manifested in a change in the size of the board and in the fact that the pieces are placed not on the squares of the board, but on the intersections of the lines. These games feature limited-area pieces that can only move within part of the board, and the traditional "jumping" pieces are now linear (neither the knight nor the bishop can jump over squares occupied by other pieces), but the new "cannon" piece "- can hit enemy pieces only by jumping over another piece when hitting.

The Japanese version that appeared later - shogi - is considered a descendant of xiangqi, but has its own characteristics. The shogi board is simpler and more similar to the European one: pieces are placed on squares rather than on intersections, the size of the board is 9X9 cells. In shogi, the rules of moves changed and the transformation of pieces appeared, which did not exist in xiangqi. The transformation mechanism is original - a figure (a flat chip with an image printed on it), having reached one of the last three horizontal lines, simply turns over to the other side, where the sign of the transformed figure is depicted. And the most interesting feature of shogi is that the opponent’s pieces taken by the player can, instead of the next move, be placed by him anywhere on the board (with some restrictions) as his own. Because of this, in a shogi set, all the pieces have the same color, and their identity is determined by placement - the player places the piece on the board with its tip facing the opponent. Classical European chess is not particularly widespread in this region; Xiangqi and Shogi are much more popular to this day.

The emergence of chess in Rus'

Around 820, chess (more precisely, the Arabic shatranj under the Central Asian name "chess", in Russian turned into "chess") appeared in Rus', coming, it is believed, either directly from Persia through the Caucasus and the Khazar Khaganate, or from the Central Asian peoples, through Khorezm. Anyway, Russian name games were inherited from the Tajiks or Uzbeks; the names of the figures in Russia are also consonant or similar in meaning to Arabic or Central Asian ones.

Changes in the rules, later introduced by Europeans, penetrated Rus' with some delay, gradually turning old Russian chess into modern ones. It is believed that the European version of the chess game came to Russia in the 10th-11th centuries, from Italy, through Poland.

Penetration into Europe

In the 8th-9th centuries, during the conquest of Spain by the Arabs, shatranj came to Spain, then, within several decades, to Portugal, Italy and France. The game quickly won the sympathy of Europeans; by the 11th century it was already known in all countries of Europe and Scandinavia. European masters continued to transform the rules, eventually transforming shatranj into modern chess. By the 15th century, chess had acquired, in general, modern look, although due to the inconsistency of changes, for several centuries different countries had their own, sometimes quite bizarre, peculiarities of the rules. In Italy, for example, until the 19th century, a pawn that reached the last rank could only be promoted to pieces that had already been removed from the board. At the same time, moving a pawn to the last rank in the absence of such pieces was not prohibited; such a pawn remained a pawn and turned into the first piece captured by the opponent at the moment when the opponent captured it. Castling was also allowed there if there was a piece between the rook and the king and if the king passed a broken square.

As chess spread in Europe, both chess itself and works of art talking about this game. In 1160, the first chess poem written by Ezra appeared. In 1283, the first chess book in Europe was published - a treatise by Alfonso X the Wise. This book is of significant historical interest, as it contains a description of both new European chess and the already obsolete shatranj.

Christian Church against chess

Since the advent of chess, the Christian Church has taken a sharply negative position towards it. Chess was equated with gambling and drunkenness. It is noteworthy that representatives of various directions of Christianity were united in this. In 1061, the Catholic Cardinal Damiani issued a decree banning the game of chess among the clergy. In his letter to Pope Alexander II, he called chess “an invention of the devil,” “an obscene and unacceptable game.” The founder of the Templar Order, Bernard, spoke in 1128 about the need to combat the passion for chess. The French bishop Hades Sully in 1208 forbade priests “to touch chess and have them in their homes.” The head of the reformist wing of the Protestant Church, Jan Hus, was also an opponent of chess. Under the influence of church rejection, the game of chess was prohibited by the Polish King Casimir II, the French Louis IX (the Saint), and the English Edward IV. In Rus', the Orthodox Church also banned the game of chess under threat of excommunication, which was officially enshrined in the helmsman's book of 1262 and confirmed in 1551 by the Stoglavy Cathedral.

Despite church prohibitions, chess spread both in Europe and in Russia, and among the clergy the passion for the game was no less (if not more) than among other classes. In Europe, in 1393, the Council of Regenburg removed chess from the list of prohibited games. In Russia, there is no information about the official lifting of the church ban on chess, but at least since the 17th-18th centuries, this ban has not actually been in effect. Ivan the Terrible played chess. Under Alexei Mikhailovich, chess was common among courtiers, and the ability to play it was common among diplomats. Documents from that time have been preserved in Europe, which, in particular, say that Russian envoys are familiar with chess and play it very well. Princess Sophia was fond of chess. Under Peter I, assemblies could not be held without chess.

Development of chess theory

By the 15th-16th centuries, chess rules were basically established, thanks to which the development of systematic chess theory began. In 1561, Rui Lopez published the first complete chess textbook, which covered the now distinguished stages of the game - opening, middlegame and endgame. He was the first to describe a characteristic type of opening - a “gambit”, in which an advantage in development is achieved by sacrificing material.

Philidor made a great contribution to the development of chess theory in the 18th century. He seriously revised the views of his predecessors, primarily Italian masters, who believed that in the best style The game is a massive attack on the enemy king with all available means and using pawns only as auxiliary material. Philidor developed what is now called a positional style of play. He believed that a player should not rush into reckless attacks, but systematically build a strong, stable position, deliver precisely calculated attacks on the weaknesses of the enemy’s position, and, if necessary, resort to exchanges and simplifications if they lead to a profitable endgame. The correct position, according to Philidor, is, first of all, the correct placement of the pawns. According to Philidor, “Pawns are the soul of chess; Only they create attack and defense; victory or defeat entirely depends on their good or bad position.” Philidor developed tactics for advancing the pawn chain, insisted on the importance of the pawn center, and analyzed the struggle for the center. In many ways, his ideas formed the basis of the chess theory of the next century. Philidor's book “Analysis of the Chess Game” became a classic; it went through 42 editions in the 18th century alone and was reprinted many times later.

Making chess an international sport

Since the 16th century, chess clubs began to appear, where amateurs and semi-professionals gathered, often playing for a monetary stake. Over the next two centuries, the spread of chess led to the emergence of national tournaments in most European countries. Chess publications are published, at first sporadic and irregular, but over time they become increasingly popular.

In the 19th century, international matches (since 1821) and tournaments (since 1851) began to be held. At the first such tournament, held in London in 1851, Adolf Andersen won. It was he who became the unofficial “chess king,” that is, the one who was considered the strongest chess player in the world. Subsequently, this title was challenged by Paul Morphy (USA), who won the match in 1858 with a score of +7-2=2, but after Morphy left the chess scene in 1859, Andersen again became the first, and only in 1866 Wilhelm Steinitz won the match against Andersen with a score of +8-6 and became the new “uncrowned king”.

The first world chess champion to officially bear this title was the same Wilhelm Steinitz, defeating Johann Zukertort in the first match in history, in the agreement about which the expression “world championship match” appeared. Thus, a system of title succession was established: the new world champion was the one who won the match against the previous one, while the current champion reserved the right to agree to the match or reject the opponent, and also determined the conditions and location of the match. Typically, the match agreement provided for the champion's right to a rematch if he lost; a victory in such a match returned the championship title to the previous owner.

In the second half of the 19th century, time control began to be used in chess tournaments. At first, an ordinary hourglass was used for this (the time per move was limited), which was quite inconvenient, but soon a special chess clock was invented that made it possible to conveniently implement a time limit for the entire game or for a certain number of moves. Time control quickly became part of chess practice and soon began to be used everywhere. By the end of the 19th century, official tournaments and matches without time control were practically no longer held. Simultaneously with the advent of time control, the concept of “time pressure” appeared.

Chess in the 20th century

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the development of chess in Europe and America was very active, chess organizations became larger, and more and more international tournaments were held. In 1924, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was created, initially organizing the World Chess Olympiads.

Until 1948, the system of succession of the world champion title that had developed in the 19th century was preserved: the challenger challenged the champion to a match, the winner of which became the new champion. Until 1921, Emanuel Lasker remained the champion (the second, after Steinitz, official world champion, who won this title in 1894), from 1921 to 1927 - Jose Raul Capablanca, from 1927 to 1946 - Alexander Alekhine (in 1935 Alekhine lost the championship match peace to Max Euwe, but in 1937 in a rematch he returned the title and held it until his death in 1946).

After the death of Alekhine in 1946, who remained undefeated, FIDE took over the organization of the world championship. The first official world chess championship was held in 1948, won by Soviet grandmaster Mikhail Botvinnik. FIDE introduced a system of tournaments to win the champion title: the winners of the qualifying stages advanced to the zonal tournaments, the winners of the zonal competitions advanced to the interzonal tournament, and the holders of the best results in the latter took part in the candidate tournament, where a series of knockout games determined the winner, who had to play a match against the reigning champion. The formula for the title match changed several times. Now the winners of zonal tournaments participate in a single tournament with the best (rated) players in the world; the winner becomes world champion.

The Soviet chess school played a huge role in the history of chess, especially in the second half of the 20th century. The wide popularity of chess, active, targeted teaching of it and the identification of capable players from childhood (a chess section, a children's chess school was in every city of the USSR, there were chess clubs in educational institutions, enterprises and organizations, tournaments were constantly held, a large number of specialized literature) contributed to the high level of play of Soviet chess players. Attention to chess was shown at the highest level. The result was that from the late 1940s until the collapse of the USSR, Soviet chess players virtually reigned supreme in world chess. Of the 21 chess Olympiads held from 1950 to 1990, the USSR team won 18 and became a silver medalist in another; of the 14 chess Olympiads for women during the same period, 11 were won and 2 silvers were taken. Of the 18 draws for the title of world champion among men over 40 years, only once the winner was a non-Soviet chess player (this was the American Robert Fischer), and twice more the contender for the title was not from the USSR (and the contender also represented the Soviet chess school, it was Viktor Korchnoi, fled from the USSR to the West).

In 1993, Garry Kasparov, who was the world champion at that time, and Nigel Short, who became the winner of the qualifying round, refused to play another world championship match under the auspices of FIDE, accusing the federation leadership of unprofessionalism and corruption. Kasparov and Short formed new organization- PSA, and played the match under its auspices. There was a split in the chess movement. FIDE deprived Kasparov of the title, the title of world champion according to FIDE was played between Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman, who at that time had the highest chess rating after Kasparov and Short. At the same time, Kasparov continued to consider himself a “real” world champion, since he defended the title in a match with a legitimate contender - Short, and part of the chess community was in solidarity with him. In 1996, the PCA ceased to exist as a result of the loss of a sponsor, after which the PCA champions began to be called “world classical chess champions.” In essence, Kasparov revived the old system of title transfer, when the champion himself accepted the challenge of the challenger and played a match with him. The next “classical” champion was Vladimir Kramnik, who won a match against Kasparov in 2000 and defended the title in a match with Peter Leko in 2004. Until 1998, FIDE continued to play out the champion title in the traditional manner (Anatoly Karpov remained the FIDE champion during this period), but with From 1999 to 2004, the format of the championship changed dramatically: instead of a match between a challenger and a champion, the title began to be played out in a knockout tournament, in which the current champion had to participate on a general basis. As a result, the title constantly changed hands and five champions changed in six years.

In general, in the 1990s, FIDE made a number of attempts to make chess competitions more dynamic and interesting, and therefore attractive to potential sponsors. First of all, this was expressed in the transition in a number of competitions from the Swiss or round-robin system to the knockout system (in each round there is a match of three knockout games). Since the knockout system requires an unambiguous outcome of the round, additional games of rapid chess and even blitz games have appeared in the tournament regulations: if the main series of games with regular time control ends in a draw, an additional game is played with a shortened time control. Complicated time control schemes began to be used, protecting against severe time pressure, in particular, the “Fischer clock” - time control with addition after each move.

The last decade of the 20th century in chess was marked by another important event - computer chess has reached quite a high level to beat a human chess player. In 1996, Garry Kasparov lost a game to a computer for the first time, and in 1997, he lost a match to the Deep Blue computer by one point. The avalanche-like growth in computer performance and memory, combined with improved algorithms, has led to beginning of XXI century, publicly available programs have appeared that can play at the grandmaster level in real time. The ability to connect to them pre-accumulated databases of openings and a table of small-figure endings further increases the strength of the machine’s play and completely eliminates the danger of making a mistake in a known position. Now the computer can effectively advise a human chess player even at the highest level of competitions. The consequence of this was changes in the format of high-level competitions: tournaments began to use special measures to protect against computer hints, in addition, the practice of postponing games was completely abandoned. The time allotted for the game was also reduced: if in the middle of the 20th century the norm was 2.5 hours for 40 moves, then by the end of the century it decreased to 2 hours (in other cases - even 100 minutes) for 40 moves.

Current status and prospects

After the unification match Kramnik - Topalov in 2006, FIDE's monopoly on holding the world championship and awarding the title of world chess champion was restored. The first “unified” world champion was Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), who won this match.

The current world chess champion is Viswanathan Anand, who won the 2007 World Championship. In 2008, a rematch took place between Anand and Kramnik, Anand retained his title. The next match is scheduled for the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010, in which Anand and Veselin Topalov will take part.

The formula for the championship title is being adjusted by FIDE. In the last championship, the title was played in a tournament with the participation of the champion, four winners of the candidate tournament and three personally selected players with the highest rating. However, FIDE has also retained the tradition of holding personal matches between the champion and the challenger: existing rules, a grandmaster with a rating of 2700 or higher has the right to challenge the champion to a match (the champion cannot refuse), provided that funding is provided and deadlines are met: the match must end no later than six months before the start of the next world championship.

The progress of computer chess mentioned above has become one of the reasons for the growing popularity of non-classical chess variants. Since 2000, Fischer chess tournaments have been held, in which the initial arrangement of pieces is chosen randomly before the game from 960 options. In such conditions, the huge array of opening variations accumulated by chess theory becomes useless, which, as many believe, has a positive effect on the creative component of the game, and when playing against a machine, it noticeably limits the advantage of the computer in the opening stage of the game. Other options for solving this problem could be the drawing of openings proposed by Vladimir Kramnik or one of the variants of modified chess - kingchess or battle chess. It’s still difficult to say which of these or other options for “revitalizing” the game will be in demand in the future.

According to archaeological excavations, games involving the movement of chips on a board were known back in the 3rd-4th centuries. BC e. The true age of the game known in the Western world as chess, shrouded in mystery.

Al-Biruni in the book "India" tells a legend that attributes the creation of chess to a certain Brahmin mathematician around 1000 BC. When the ruler asked how to reward him for this wonderful game, the mathematician replied: “Let's put one grain on the first square of the chessboard, two on the second, four on the third, and so on. So give me the amount of grain that will turn out.” if you fill all 64 cells." The ruler was delighted, believing that we're talking about about 2-3 bags, but if you count 2 to the 64th power, it turns out that this number is greater than all the grain in the world.

According to another legend, chess was invented by an eastern sage, whose name was Shishakh, and he lived in Babylon. Under him, the young king of Amolny sat on the throne, who greatly oppressed the lower strata of society, especially the peasants. In the greatest despair, the peasants turned to Shishakh, who was highly respected at the royal court, and asked him for help. Basically, they persuaded him to convince the king that the peasant was also a person who benefited the state. To convince the king of this, Shishakh invented chess and taught the king how to play chess. In this way he proved to him that the peasants, i.e. pawns on the board are still the best protection for the king. The king understood in this way the main idea of ​​the chess game and stopped oppressing the peasants, and generously rewarded his adviser.

Based on another legend, chess was invented by the wife of King Ravana of Ceylon. When everyone in his besieged capital had already lost heart and lost all courage to continue the fight, the desperate King Ravan decided to give the city to the enemy. But the king had a wife, Queen Ranalana, a heroic woman, and she invented the game of chess to prove to her husband that he should not surrender to the enemy until all means of defense were exhausted, until at least one pawn soldier remained on the board, until there is at least a faint hope of victory!

Scientific hypotheses push back the time of the creation of chess even further, to 2-3 millennia BC, based on archaeological discoveries in Egypt, Iraq, and India. However, since there is no mention in the literature of this game before 570 AD, many historians recognize this date as the birth of chess. The first mention of the game of chess was in a Persian poem of 600 AD, and in this poem the invention of chess is attributed to India.

Raja Krishna playing ancient chess chaturanga

The oldest form of chess is war game chaturanga - appeared in the first centuries AD. e. In India, chaturanga was an army formation that included war chariots (ratha), elephants (hasti), cavalry (ashva) and foot soldiers (padati). The game symbolized a battle involving four branches of troops, led by a leader. They were located at the corners of a 64-point square board (ashtapada), and 4 people participated in the game. The movement of the figures was determined by throwing the dice. Chaturanga existed in India until the beginning of the 20th century. and over time began to be called “chaturraja” - the game of four kings; at the same time, the figures began to be painted in 4 colors - black, red, yellow and green.

In the first centuries of our era, the game was so widespread in Persia that it was considered a shame when an intelligent person did not know how to play it. The game of chess left traces in the language of the time, in symbols and metaphors, as well as in the poetry of that time.

The successor to chaturanga was the game shatrang (chatrang), which arose in Central Asia at the end of the 5th - beginning of the 6th centuries. It had two “camps” of figures and a new figure depicting the king’s advisor - farzin; two opponents played. The goal of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. So the “game of chance” was replaced by the “game of the mind”.

The penetration of chess from India into ancient Iran (Persia) during the reign of Chosroy I Anushiravan (531-579) is described in a Persian book of 650-750. The same book describes chess terminology and the names and actions of various chess pieces in great detail. Since there are no written references to chess in literature before the 6th century AD prior to this book, many historians recognize this period as the birth of chess.

The game of chess is also mentioned in the poems of Firdusi, a Persian poet who lived in the 10th century AD. The poem describes the gifts presented by the envoys of the Indian Rajah to the court of the Persian sheikh Chosroy I Anushiravan. Among these gifts, according to the poem, was a game depicting the battle of two armies. After the Persian Empire was conquered by the Muslim Arabs, the game of chess began to spread throughout the civilized world.

It has been proven that in Byzantium in the 6th and 7th centuries AD, the game of chess was very popular. The Byzantine Emperor Nikophorus himself, in a letter to Caliph Harun al Rashid, makes a comparison between the queen on the board and his predecessor on the throne, Empress Irene.

In the 8th-9th centuries. Shatrant spread from Central Asia to the East and West, where it became known under the Arabic name Shatranj.

In shatranj (9-15 centuries), the terminology and arrangement of shatranj figures were preserved, but changed appearance figures. Due to Islam's prohibition of depicting living creatures, the Arabs used miniature abstract figures in the form of small cylinders and cones, which simplified their production and contributed to the spread of the game.

The strongest players of shatranj, along with the Arabs - Al-Adli and others, were people from Central Asia - Abu Naim, al Khadim, al-Razi, al-Supi, al-Lajlaj, Abu Fath, etc. Among the patrons of the game were famous caliphs Harun-ar-Rashid, al-Amin, ap-Mamun, etc. The game developed slowly, since only the rook, king and knight moved according to modern rules, while the range of action of other pieces was extremely limited. For example, the queen moved only one square diagonally.

Thanks to abstract figures, the game gradually ceased to be perceived by the people as a symbol of a military battle and was increasingly associated with everyday vicissitudes, which was reflected in the epic and treatises dedicated to the game of chess (Omar Khayyam, Saadi, Nizami).

The appearance of the so-called descriptive notation is also associated with the Arab period, thanks to which it became possible to record played games.

Shatranj was brought directly to Western Europe by the Arabs during the early Middle Ages. Here chess became known in the 10th-11th centuries, after the Arabs conquered Spain and Sicily. The game had a pronounced military character, so it was very well received in the knightly countries of medieval Europe.

From Spain the game reached France, where, for example, Charlemagne was a big fan of it.

Chess in medieval France

Also from Spain and Sicily, chess gradually penetrated into Italy, England, Scandinavian and other European countries, despite the severe persecution of the church, which prohibited chess along with the game of dice and other “demonic obsessions.”

Chess was brought to Spain by the Moors, and the first mention of chess in Christendom contained in the Catalan Testament of 1010 AD. Although chess was known in Europe in earlier times. According to some legends, an expensive set of chess pieces was presented as a gift to Carloman (8th-9th century) from the famous Muslim ruler Harun al-Rashid.

There is a poem describing how chess also existed in the court of the legendary King Arthur. Chess came to Germany in the 10th-11th centuries, the earliest mention in literature was made by the monk Frumun von Tegermsee, in 1030-1050. It records that Svetoslav Šurin from Croatia defeated the Venetian Dodge Peter II in a game for the right to rule the Dalmatian cities. By the 10th-11th centuries, chess was known in Scandinavia and later in the late 11th century it reached Bohemia from Italy.

"Two ladies playing chess"
illustration from the Book of Games by King Alfonso X the Wise of Castile, grandson of Frederick Barbarossa

Despite the fierce opposition of the initially Muslim and then Christian churches (which equated chess with gambling with dice and considered it a “demonic obsession”), chess was banned in Europe for some time, since it was often used for gambling and it was argued that that they bear signs of paganism), nothing could stop the growing popularity of the game, which is confirmed by numerous literary evidence. The popularity of chess continues to grow and soon the whole world knows and plays this most popular game of the ancient world.

In the 14th-15th centuries. the traditions of oriental chess were lost in Europe, and in the 15th-16th centuries. a departure from them became obvious after a number of changes in the rules for the moves of pawns, bishops and queens.

On the territory of Rus', in Bulgaria the game became known around the 10th-12th centuries. Important archaeological finds in Novgorod indicate that chess, which was mainly spread by the Arabs, came to Russia directly from the Middle East. To this day, the names of chess pieces in Russia indicate their Persian and Arabic roots.

A unique find has reached our time - a chess piece made by Novgorod craftsmen in the 14th century. The figurine was discovered near the Vladychny Chamber, the former residence of the Novgorod archbishop. The found figure is a king, it was made of strong wood, most likely juniper (see right).

In ancient Russian folk poems there are references to chess as a popular game. At a later time, European chess came to Russia from Italy, through Poland. There is an incorrect version, allegedly chess was brought to Russia during the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the Mongol-Tatars, in turn, learned about this game from the Persians and Arabs.

When Peter I went on campaigns, he took with him not only chess, but also two permanent partners. Catherine II was also fond of chess. In 1796 Count A.S. Stroganov arranged a game of live chess for Catherine II and the Swedish king Gustav IV, who were visiting his country palace. In the meadow, where a “chessboard” was laid out with green and yellow turf, servants dressed in medieval clothes moved in accordance with the moves of the chess pargay.

Chess was widespread among the Russian intelligentsia. In the library of A. S. Pushkin, a book published in 1824 by A. D. Petrov, who was the strongest chess player in Russia for half a century, has been preserved - “The Chess Game, Put into Systematic Order” with the author’s dedicatory inscription; Pushkin was a subscriber to the first chess magazine "Palamed", which began publishing in Paris in 1836.

Despite the fact that chess was popular game, until the end of the 19th century, Russia noticeably lagged behind England, France, and Germany in terms of chess development. The first Russian chess club opened in St. Petersburg only in 1853, and the first Russian chess magazine was published in 1859.

The situation changed at the beginning of the 20th century, when the St. Petersburg Chess Assembly, which emerged from a private circle, was founded, whose activities in popularizing chess turned out to be very fruitful.

The club was opened on January 17, 1904, and in April 1914, the All-Russian Chess Union was established in the meeting premises at 10 Liteiny Prospekt.

The club held professional and amateur tournaments, friendly matches between the teams of Moscow and St. Petersburg, sessions simultaneous game, published special literature. The richest chess library in the country was located within the walls of the Assembly.

Historical chess variants

Historically, it is established that chess, in its original form, was a game for four people with four sets of pieces. This game was original title Shatranj (in Sanskrit Shatr means "four" and anga means "squad"). In the Persian literature of the Sassanid dynasty (242-651 centuries AD), a book was found written in Pahlavi (Middle Persian language), which was called "Chess Textbook". In modern Persian the same word shatranj serves to designate modern chess. A popular historical theory is that shatranj (chess), according to Indian mysticism, represents the universe. The four sides represent the four elements - earth, air, fire and water; as well as the four seasons and four human temperaments. It is also argued that the word chess comes from the Persian "king" (check) and the term chess comes from the Persian "The king is dead." Below is the evolution of European names for chess pieces from their ancient variant names, which are still used in India, Iran, and many other parts of the world.

It should be noted that although the names of the chess pieces differ slightly in different parts light, but their shape and rules of movement are almost identical.

The Muslim Arabs have probably had the greatest influence on the game of chess than any other culture. The word "chess" originally comes from the Persian word Shah (king) and the Arabic word checkmate (died). Early Muslim contributions to the game include: blind play mentioned as early as 700 AD, early tournaments and qualifying tournaments, chess problems described in the first book on chess by Al-Adli. Al-Adli's books contain openings, the first chess problems of "mansuba", and differences in Persian and Indian rules of the game are discussed. Unfortunately, this valuable book has now been lost. However, the Yugoslav library contains a valuable Arabic manuscript from the early 9th century, which contains mansubs. This manuscript was discovered in 1958. Some of these mansubs (chess problems) were based on the legend of "Mat Dilarama". According to legend, Dilaram was a chess player who played for money and lost all his property. In the last game he bet his wife, but he played recklessly and almost lost the game. However, his wife pointed out that he could checkmate his opponent if he sacrificed both of his rooks. His wife whispered this in his ear, and he won the game.

The following table lists some of the ancient Arabic names for the figures, and their meanings:

It was played on a round board, but the pieces and their movement were similar to Arab chess from the same time period.

After the penetration of chess into Europe, many books dedicated to this game appeared. Probably one of the most important and valuable of these books was written during the Middle Ages by the Spanish King Alfonso the Wise in 1283. This wonderful book contains 150 color miniatures based on the original Persian drawings. This book also includes a collection of endgames borrowed from Arabic literature. Chess has gone through the history of many cultures and has been influenced by them. The modern official rules of the game of chess are perfectly preserved and differ little from those that were used 1430 years ago.

Chess is a real mirror of culture. Countries changed, the structure of society changed, and the rules changed.

For example, the figure of the queen, the “queen,” appeared only in the Middle Ages, when the noble lady began to play an important role and began to be honored at knightly tournaments. In the game, she took on the role of the king's advisor - the vizier in the eastern version of chess. The current freedom of movement, independence, and “emancipation” of the queen were unthinkable until the end of the 15th century.

Ancient versions of the game are generally less dynamic, like ancient society. In traditional Chinese chess, the “master” is inactive, he maneuvers in a very small space - as if within the walls of an imperial palace. Indian "chaturanga" followed a strict division of figures into castes - priests, rulers, peasants, servants.

But in Japan, the military-aristocratic system since the 12th century allowed a person of noble birth, willing to put in due diligence, to achieve rapid rise. And the chess pieces were given the opportunity to raise their status. And in European chess, a pawn that reaches the opposite edge of the board is promoted to any piece - even a queen.

In modern times, they wanted to bring chess closer to the changing reality. During Nazi times in Germany, they tried to turn the “game of kings” into a “game of Fuhrers”: several leaders entered the battle, one of them had to be defeated. The game didn't catch on. Just like the Fuhrers.

A more diplomatic option was proposed by the famous Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951). In the chess game he invented, planes and submarines appeared on the board, but negotiations and alliances were allowed. Moreover, four “powers” ​​played the game at once - one on each side of the board, as in the ancient Indian “four chess”

A 1909 engraving allegedly depicts Hitler and Lenin playing chess. It's even signed by both of them on the back.

According to one legend, chess was invented around 1000 BC. an Indian mathematician or Brahmin (according to another version), or maybe a Brahmin mathematician who also invented the mathematical operation of exponentiation.

When the ruler asked how to reward him for this wonderful game, the mathematician replied: “Let's put one grain on the first square of the chessboard, two on the second, four on the third, and so on. So give me the amount of grain that will be obtained if you fill all 64 cells.” The ruler was delighted, believing that we were talking about 2-3 bags, but if you count 2 to the 64th power, it turns out that this number is greater than all the grain in the world.

However, since there is no mention in the literature of this game before 570 AD, many historians recognize this date as the birth of chess. The first mention of the game of chess was in a Persian poem of 600 AD, and in this poem the invention of chess is attributed to India. Then chess began to penetrate from India to ancient Iran (Persia) and this process is described in a Persian book of 650-750.

The same book describes chess terminology and the names and actions of various chess pieces in great detail. The game of chess is also mentioned in the poems of Firdusi, a Persian poet who lived in the 10th century AD. The poem describes the gifts presented by the envoys of the Indian Rajah to the court of the Persian Sheikh Chosroy I Anushiravan.

Among these gifts, according to the poem, was a game depicting the battle of two armies. After the Persian Empire was conquered by the Muslim Arabs, the game of chess began to spread throughout the civilized world.

Chess was brought to Western countries by Muslims, who conquered territories from India and Persia in the East to Spain in the West.

Historically, it is established that chess, in its original form, was a game for four people with four sets of pieces. This game was originally called Shatranj (in Sanskrit, Shatr means "four" and anga means "squad"). In the Persian literature of the Sassanid dynasty (242-651 centuries AD), a book was found written in Pahlavi (Middle Persian language), which was called “The Chess Textbook”.

In modern Persian, the same word shatranj serves to refer to modern chess. A popular historical theory is that shatranj (chess), according to Indian mysticism, represents the universe. The four sides represent the four elements - earth, air, fire and water; as well as the four seasons and four human temperaments. It is also argued that the word chess comes from the Persian "king" (check) and the term chess comes from the Persian "King is dead".

There is another theory that proves that at the beginning of the 6th century, the first known game related to chess, chaturanga (presumably from Sanskrit chatur - four and anga - part), appeared in the north-west of India. It was this game with this name that was the direct ancestor of shatranj, which originated in the east and later came to Europe.

It was chaturanga that already had a completely recognizable “chess” appearance, but was fundamentally different from modern chess in two features: there were four players, not two (they played pairs against pairs), and moves were made in accordance with the results of throwing dice. The exact rules of the game are unknown, the available information is incomplete and contradictory. The main source of information is the treatise of the 11th century Khorezm scholar Al Biruni, which contains only incomplete description chaturanga.

The rules of the game below are a reconstruction and may not be accurate. In addition, the rules of chaturanga most likely had local variations and, most certainly, changed over time.

The game was based on the structure of the Indian army, which consisted of 5 parts:

1. Infantry, represented in the game by a line of pawns
2. The king and his advisor (vizier) or general in the center
3. War elephants in the center of the army
4. Cavalry, represented in the game by horses
5. War chariots represented by rooks (modern name)

Due to the low mobility of the pieces, the chaturanga game lasted a very long time - 100-200 moves. The game was somewhat reminiscent of bridge. Two partners sitting opposite each other play with another pair. The player who placed his king on a friendly partner's king square took command of both armies. The goal of the game is to capture 2 enemy kings.

“Grand chess” also enjoyed great recognition in Ancient India. There were 48 pieces fighting on a 12x12 chessboard. Each player had 12 pawns, a king, an Aants bird, crocodiles, giraffes, unicorns, lions and rooks.

Source - http://www.kailash.ru/420.html

I propose to take a break from direct contact with the world of IT and turn your attention to this type of brain simulators such as board games.
Nowadays, in many offices, collective table games are specially held, which help to take a break from the routine (which increases labor productivity) and have a positive effect on the establishment of good relations a team. This article will provide short excursion into the history of the emergence of one of the main games of mankind - CHESS.
IN modern form such a famous and well-known board game as chess did not appear immediately. Before the version familiar to everyone, the board game had to go through a number of changes and forms. Currently, “chess” is a whole class of games.

Some of the board games in this class are independent, original and significantly different from the modern concept of chess.
In addition to the well-known classical chess, there are a large number of other variants of the chess game. There are national variants of chess, for example, Xiangqi, Shogi, Changi, and Makruk, which are common in South Asia. Some variants use additional pieces and/or unusual boards, for example, variants are known on large boards, on round boards, with pieces combining the moves of a knight and a rook and/or a knight and a bishop, with a maharaja (a piece combining the moves of a queen and a knight ) instead of a queen, hexagonal chess (played on a hexagonal board consisting of hexagonal fields).
There are chess for more than two players: three- and four-sided chess, in which three or four players (pair for a pair or each for themselves) play on the same board, each controlling their own set of pieces, as well as “team” versions of chess, where the game It is played team to team on one or more boards, with the course of the game on one board being influenced by the actions of more than one player from each team (for example, Swedish chess).

Many “chess composers,” as well as scientists, amateur and professional chess players, were interested in the invention of new variations of chess. For example, Capablanca's chess is known - on a 10x8 board, with two new pieces. Recently, Fischer chess has become increasingly popular; it is played according to classical rules, but with a random initial arrangement of figures on the last horizontal lines. In some of the variants, the rules remained unchanged (or minimally changed), and only the initial arrangement of the pieces was changed. In addition to the already mentioned Fischer chess and free chess, these are kingchess and battle chess.
According to Robert Bell's classification, chess belongs to the group of board games of the same name and is a “war game.”
The following games can be distinguished in the “Chess” group:
- shaturanga (chaturanga);
- shatranj;
- circular chess (a type of shatranj);
- courier chess (another type of shatranj);
- Maharaja and sepoys;
- Chinese chess (Xiangqi);
- Japanese chess (shogi);
- jungle game;
- Tibetan chess.
Each of these games is played, as a rule, on square field, divided into squares and/or lined in accordance with the requirements of the rules of the game.
And so, let's start by considering the games of the ancestors of CHESS. Let us turn to the history of the Ancient East.

SHATURANGA (CHATURANGA)

In the agricultural regions of Ancient India, the game TAAYAM was popular among the population during the ripening period of the harvest. It was played on a square field consisting of 64 squares, which were marked on plain ground. The game itself does not belong to the class of chess games and was a pursuit game in which the pieces moved counterclockwise across the field in order to quickly reach the center of the field. Whichever player was the first to remove his pieces from the field won.
Around the 5th century AD, a new game began to be played on the TAAYAM board, SHATURANGA, which in miniature represents the battle of four armies, each controlled by its own commander (raja in the original) and consisting of four branches of troops: infantry, cavalry, war bishops and war boats (I think our name for this piece “rook” is related to this).
SHATURANGA (in some sources - CHATURANGA) is an ancient Indian game, considered the progenitor of chess, shogi and many other games. Shaturanga is a game common in the East and later came to Europe, from which modern chess originated.
The name "shaturanga" translates as "four-part" and is presumably explained by the fact that it was originally played by four people. Shaturanga in ancient India was the name of an army consisting of war chariots (ratha) and elephants (hasti), cavalry (ashva) and foot soldiers (padati). The game symbolized a battle involving four branches of troops, led by a leader (raja).
The game involved four players, and the “battle” on the playing field was organized between player unions (a “two-on-two” game).
Description of SHATURANGA is present in one of early works in Sanskrit, Bhavishya Purana.
This work tells the story of one of the rulers losing all his property (including his own wife) in dice. After this, he went to his old friend to learn the secrets of playing shaturanga in order to get even.
The exact rules of the game are unknown, the available information is incomplete and contradictory. The main source of information is the treatise of the 11th century Khorezm scholar Al-Biruni, which contains only an incomplete description of shaturanga. In addition, the rules of shaturanga probably had local variations and, most certainly, changed over time.
Due to the low mobility of the pieces, the chaturanga game lasted a very long time - 100 - 200 moves.
The game for four players used sets of figures of four colors: black, green, yellow and red. They played pairs against pairs. Each set contained eight pieces: a raja (king), a bishop, a knight, a chariot (similar to a rook) and four pawns. The players took places on the sides of the playing field. The pieces were lined up in the lower left corner of the board (relative to the player). On the first line (from the player): a bishop in the corner, followed by a horse, a chariot and a raja. On the second line there is a row of pawns.

The goal of the game was the conditional destruction of the entire enemy army. The game continued until all the pieces on one side were destroyed. In a two-player game, victory was also achieved by capturing the enemy king. There were no such concepts as checkmate, checkmate and stalemate. Capturing all the pieces except the king (exposing the king) was also a victory, except in the case where the opponent could take your last piece on the next move. Then it was declared a draw. In addition, SHATURANGA had a number of features.
For example, the right to “first move” was determined by the number that came up when throwing a game dice (the ancestor of the modern game dice with dots from 1 to 6). Before making a move, the player threw a dice and the dropped value indicated the piece he should make a move with.
Judging by historical sources, shaturanga was invented precisely in India, where it was a game mainly of intellectuals of the upper castes. No information about the holding of official competitions in those days has been preserved. There are no records of the games played. Shaturanga existed in India until the beginning of the 20th century and, according to the Bengali author Raghunanda (XV-XVI centuries), eventually became known as “chaturraja” - “the game of four kings.”
In the 6th or perhaps 7th century, chaturanga came to China, as well as Persia (Iran). In China, the two-player version of the game was significantly transformed, eventually becoming Chinese Xiangqi. In the countries of the Arab East, chaturanga has been modified over the course of several centuries, although retaining its main features. Ultimately, a descendant game appeared - shatranj, which later turned into chess.
Moreover, SHATURANGA was originally a game of chance. Before the game started, all players bet a certain amount of money. The winnings were divided among the winners.
Gambling was prohibited in early periods Hindu culture. This is stated in the ninth book of the Law of Manu:
“Let the ruler punish corporally at his discretion both the player and the owner of the gambling establishment, even if they deal with inanimate objects, such as bones or shaturanga, or with living creatures, for example, the fighting of roosters until blood is drawn and the fighting of rams.”
Players circumvented the requirements of this law by refusing dice. After this, a number of other changes occurred to the game:
First, in the game there was a unification of the allied forces in unified army. The game has been transformed into a game for two. The two-player game used two sets of pieces. Each set contained eight pawns, two bishops, two knights, two chariots, a rajah and an adviser (vizier) - an analogue of a queen. The order of formation of pieces before the game became the same as in modern chess.
Secondly, the figure of the Raja of the Allies, after being demoted to an adviser (vizier), lost part of its “influence” on the gameplay.
Third, the way the figures of chariots (ratha) and elephants (hasti) move across the playing field has changed.
After the introduction of such transformations, the game ceased to be called SHATURANGA and turned into the initial version of medieval chess - SHATRANG.

SHATRANJ

Shatranj was formed in the 7th - 8th centuries in the Arab East, as a modified version of shaturanga, which came from India.
The poet Ferdowsi in his poem “Shahnameh” talked about how chess games appeared in Persia:
“An embassy from the ruler of Hind arrived at the court of Shah Shosroes I. After the exchange of pleasantries, Ambassador Hind presented the Shah with many gifts, among which was an amazing checkered board on which stood intricate carved figures. The ambassador invited the Shah and his sages to understand the rules of this game and then the supreme ruler of Hind would recognize him as his supreme ruler. The board was shown to all the courtiers and a day later one of them (according to the poem - Buzurjamihr) unraveled the secret of this game. The rulers of Ancient India recognized their vassalage from Persia.
Most likely, it took a day to bribe the ambassador in order to find out the rules of the game from him.
In subsequent years, SHATRANJ penetrates throughout the Arab world and into Byzantium.

Already in the 9th century, the game was extremely popular in Central Asia. Shatranj was played by representatives of all social strata. There were recognized masters of the game, and there was a hierarchy of player classes. The theory was actively developing. Books were published teaching the art of shatranj. Mansubas (tasks, mainly for quickly winning with a combination) were popular. "Chess legends" have survived, in which a dramatic story (for example, of a player who bet something last, especially expensive, and found himself in a position that looked hopeless in the last game) was combined with a problem, the solution of which was usually achieved by an unexpected and beautiful combination .
The organic disadvantage of shatranj is the lack of dynamism, especially in the opening, caused by the weakness of the figures inherited from chaturanga. At the beginning of the game, players could long time make moves without coming into contact with the enemy. To revive the game, Arab masters began to use tabiyas - artificially formed conditional positions, usually more or less symmetrical, in which the players' chances were, as in the initial position of the game, approximately equal. By agreement, the players began the game not from the starting position, but from one of the tabias, so that they could immediately move on to active actions. Tabias were widespread and used very widely, as evidenced by the following fact: when books cited fragments from games played from the initial position, without tabias, this was always specially noted.
There was enough interesting shape Shatranj games: the master developed a position and invited those wishing to play with him from this position for a bet, and the opponent was asked to choose which color to play. For such games, positions were developed in which, at first glance, one of the parties had a serious advantage, however, this advantage could be reduced by some unexpected move.
In the 9th century, during the period of the Arab conquest of Spain, shatranj came to Western Europe, where it turned into modern chess. At the same time or a little earlier, the game came to Rus' through Central Asia, already under the modern name “chess,” which was adopted by the Persians and Tajiks.
Shatranj was played on square board 8x8 fields in size, similar to chess. The game involved two players, each of them had one set of pieces of their own color (black and white). The set includes: king, queen, two bishops, two knights, two rooks, eight pawns. At the beginning of the game, the pieces are placed on opposite sides of the board, completely analogous to classical chess, except that the kings and queens could be swapped (but the kings had to stand opposite each other in any case).
The order of moves in SHATRANJ is close to modern chess.
The first move is made by the player playing with white pieces. Then the moves are made one by one. You can't skip a move. Each move consists of moving one of your pieces according to the rules. A piece can be placed on an empty board square or on a square occupied by an opponent's piece. In the second case, the enemy piece is considered captured, removed from the board and no longer participates in the game.
The winner is the player who checkmate the opponent's king or put him in a stalemate position. In addition, the player is declared the winner if the opponent's last piece is captured (leaving him with a naked king; in some variants of Shatranja a draw could be declared if the opponent also took the last piece in response).
The pieces of SHATRANJ are almost identical to the pieces of modern chess, but the rules of movement are slightly different:
The king (check) moves one square in any direction. The situation when the king is under battle (can be taken by the enemy on the next move) is called “check”. The player whose king is in check must take him out of check with his next move; he cannot make other moves leaving the king in check.
The rook (roc) moves vertically or horizontally to any number of squares.
Knight (faras) - similar to a chess knight (this is the only piece whose moving rules have not changed over the entire period from shaturanga to modern chess).
The bishop (alfil) moves diagonally across one square, and the square through which the move is made can be occupied (in modern chess, the bishop can only move along a free diagonal to any number of squares). A very weak piece, it could only move on eight squares of the board (a modern bishop can move on half of the fields).
The queen (queen) moves and attacks one square diagonally (in modern chess, the queen can move any number of squares in any direction, except in the case when the queen’s path is blocked by another piece).
The pawn (kayak) moves only forward one square, or shoots diagonally one square forward. A pawn that reaches the end of the board is promoted to a queen. With the first move, the new queen had the right to move to the second square vertically or diagonally, regardless of whether this square was occupied.
According to the rules of SHATRANG, castling of the king and rook was not allowed (appeared in much later chess rules).
Today we know the following variants of shatranj:
Shatranj Kamil I is a variant of the game on a 10x10 board with two camels, additional pieces that are the orthogonal analogue of bishops. Perhaps this is the very first version of chess on an enlarged board with unconventional pieces.
Shatranj Kamil II - a variant of the game on a 10x10 board with two combat vehicles ( siege weapons), having the same moves as the king.
Citadel - also played on a 10x10 board, but there were additional fields (“citadels”) in the corners. In addition, the game included additional figures - combat vehicles, which had the same moves as a modern elephant.
Extended chess - has the same pieces as regular shatranj, but is played on a 4x16 board. Often played with six-sided dice, limiting the moves of the pieces.
Byzantine chess - the game is played with ordinary pieces, but on a round board. There is also a modern version with the same board, but modern figures and rules (circular chess).
The Four Seasons is a shatranj for four players on a regular board.
Tamerlane Chess is a version of the game on an 11x10 board with citadel fields, several types of additional pieces and different pawns (apparently different types of troops were introduced for infantry). The invention of the game is attributed directly to Tamerlane.
Courier chess is a European version of the game on a 12x8 board with several types of additional pieces, including a courier with a modern bishop move.
Many researchers believe that classical chess appeared precisely thanks to the courier chess.

Thus, after going through a number of modifications, the game of CHESS appeared in Europe and the Middle East. But chess movements were not limited to the West. With merchants, travelers and conquerors, ancient chess games spread to Asia. Here the rules of these games were mixed with the rules of local national games, imbued with the views of the inhabitants of this region and the idea of ​​​​strategic games.
Fascinating and original games of Xiangqi (China), Makruk (Thailand) and Shogi (Japan) appeared in Southeast Asia. In Asia, these games are even more popular than classical chess. But that's the next story.

Chess is a board game that involves not a person’s physical dexterity or strength, but his intelligence and ability to logic. In some schools, chess is included in the curriculum to develop students' logical thinking.


Chess is played on a board of 64 black and white (other contrasting colors) squares by two people, using special pieces with different capabilities in the game. The rules of the game are regulated by the International Chess Federation.

Modern chess is both a sport and an industry like football. Armies of coaches, officials, and journalists serve chess tournaments, congresses, and leagues of various levels.

Originally from India

The history of chess goes back more than one and a half thousand years: the invention of the game is a gift to the world from India, where in the 5th-6th centuries. chess fields and figures appeared. There are known ancient Indian treatises that mention them in the 7th century AD.

There is information about chess in the ancient Indian “Vedas”: at that time chess was called “chaturanga”. The game was then widespread in the East. Much later it came to Europe.

Chess is "war"

Modern name The game is borrowed from the Persian language and means “the Shah is dead.” The name of the game translated from the ancient Indian language, Sanskrit, means “four-component”. This term in India was used to describe a certain formation of troops. It was borrowed for the arrangement of pieces on the chessboard.


The figures included war chariots, elephants, horses and foot warriors. The chess game was led by the head of the game, and the “military” type of chess was played by four people.

Old rules of the game

The old rules of the game resembled the modern ones and differed only slightly from each other in different regions of India. The players took turns making moves. The one who won the opponent's piece received an extra move. There was no control over playing time.

For this reason, and also due to the presence of four players, the games lasted a long time, several hours. The “troops” of each rival differed in the color of the figures: the “warriors” were yellow, green, black and red.

This ancient version of chess was played on a board measuring eight by eight squares. The arrangement was reminiscent of modern chess. Each army consisted of a bishop, a chariot (the prototype of the now famous rook), a king and four pawns. Four troops were placed at the four corners of the chessboard.

The composition of the army was somewhat different when playing “pair-on-pair”. These were two elephants, two horses, two chariots and eight foot soldiers (analogues of modern pawns).

Chess in the Arab East. The emergence of the game in its modern form.

In the 11th century, chess “moved” to the Arab East. The first mention of them is found in the Arab historian Albiruni, who even dedicated a separate work to this game.

The Arabic version of the game of chess was called "shatranj". There were two players in the game. The composition of the “army” included a king, a queen, eight pawns, two knights and two rooks. The pieces were located on two sides of the board and had two colors - black and white.

Shatranj was almost a complete analogue of modern chess. The king could only move one square in any direction. A move when the opponent's king was under attack was called "check". The rook moved horizontally or vertically to any number of squares. And the knight, as in modern chess, could only move in the letter “r”.

After the Arab conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the game spread widely throughout Western Europe. Much later it came to Central Asia, and from there to the Russian state. Great supporters of chess in Rus' were Tsar Ivan the Terrible and Emperor Peter I.

Chess in the confrontation between man and computer

The game has received recognition as the most intellectual, where “sleight of hand” has absolutely no meaning. For this reason, since the 70s of the twentieth century, games between a person and a computer have been held as demonstration competitions between biological and artificial intelligence.

David Levy was the first to fight with the smart machine and won. This happened in 1978. In 1989, he was defeated - the Deep Thought program turned out to be “smarter”.

But she also lost to the Russian (then Soviet) chess player Garry Kasparov, who managed to beat Deep Thought twice in 1991. But in 1996, Kasparov gave up, losing to the computer Deep Blue. After an epoch-making match IBM company, who owned the computer, disassembled it.

Such competitions are held quite often. And computers are winning more and more often.