The History of Chess & Checkers
Chess, the game of kings, and checkers have both a long history, migrating from the Middle East and Asia to the west. Both are still popular today, played for leisure and competitively. The games are often taught and passed down from generation to generation.
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Ancient Chess History
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Chess is estimated to have been created somewhere in the Northern part of India about the sixth century. At that time the game was named catura...ga. The game was renamed to chatrang at approximately the same time, and with Islamic migration into Indian territories and Persia it moved in Arabic culture. Upon adoption by the Muslims between 633 and 644 A.D., chess was renamed again as shatranj.
Migration to the West
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Along with Islamic culture and religion, chess was carried to Europe in the 10th century by the Islamic Moors conquering of Spain and Portugal. The Arabic term of shatranj then translated in Spanish to ajedrez, or in Portugal it was xadrez. However, the Latin-based languages did not carry over this name along with game to Germanic territories and in the rest of Europe chess was simply shortened to shah as the game was adopted. Eventually, Germanic and English variants brought the game name closer to how it is known today.
During this entire migration the game rules stayed relatively the same with two competing armies of figures following specific rules to eliminate each other from the board. The endgame move was killing the opposing player's king piece.
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Modern Rules
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As chess established itself through Europe over the next two centuries, the game rules began to change by 1200 A.D., and by 1475 A.D. it became consistent with modern chess rules. This includes rules establishing the roles of pawns as limited in function and the expanded powers of bishop and queen pieces. As the 15th century arrived the queen piece was well established as the most powerful piece in the game.
Checkers: Ancient Beginnings
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Similar to chess, checkers has been around for centuries as well. In fact, the game is much older than chess, being referenced by both Homer in the Odyssey and Plato in his writings as a game played in ancient Greece. Checkers first came from Egypt where it was played as early as 200 B.C., according to ancient hieroglyphic records. While simple in approach, even the ancient game required thinking steps well ahead of current play to have a successful winning strategy.
Checkers: European Development
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From the North of Africa, checkers was carried via traders and merchants to Greece and then into Europe. As the game moved from person to person in learning, it eventually made its way into English-based countries where the game was named draughts.
Board Changes
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Checkers had a significant game design change in the 18th century when the board it was played on was modified. This split those following the rules of checkers into two camps: the 100-space board following and the 64-space board devotees. The 64-space board became known as the short king version of the game with the 100-space version being aptly named the long king game.
The majority of English-speaking countries today use the short king board version (64 spaces), but much of Europe, Asia, Russia and international competition conforms to the long king version (100 spaces). There is even a 144-space board used in Canada.
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- Photo Credit chess image by Robby Weinberg from Fotolia.com
