Some History
Chess is one of the oldest games still popular today. Its origins are commonly attributed
to the military aristocrats of northern India who, dating back at least as far as the
seventh century A.D., may have played it as a type of duel in lieu of battle.
It spread and modified in form, assuming such names as asthapada, chaturanga and
shatranj. The Silk Road of the late 8th century likely brought the game to China, where it became known as
xiangqi.
The most popular theory of how chess reached Europe is that crusaders brought it back with them from Arabia.
The game remained much the same until the late 15th century, when the first known approximation of a modern chess game was recorded.
The bishop and, especially, the queen had been given increased powers. Madrid was the site of the first documented chess tournament,
occurring in the 16th century. By that time Spanish settlers had already brought the game with them to the New World.
In the colonies, Benjamin Franklin was an avid early player.
However, chess didn’t really catch on in the U.S. until the 19th century.
Interestingly, the rise of baseball and chess occurred simultaneously in the 1850s, both forming national organizations in 1857.
The two sports were closely linked in the public’s mind, as demonstrated by a "double header" that was held in 1859 between Amherst College and Williams College, featuring both the first intercollegiate baseball game and the first intercollegiate chess match.
Today, many date their interest in chess back to Bobby Fischer’s famous victory over Boris Spassky in
1972. Fischer is the only American to ever officially become
world champion.
Approximately 25-30 million Americans play chess today. The worldwide total is estimated to exceed 150 million.
Few games offer as many challenges...requiring focus, logic, memory, patience, technical skill, experience and mental toughness.
It's also a lot of fun! Many interesting variations
of chess have evolved over the years, including bughouse
(4 players) and Fischerandom (the pieces on the back rank are randomly shuffled), but it is unlikely
that any of these will ever outpopularize the classic royal game.
For further details and opinions on the evolution of chess, click here or
here. To view chess history year by year, click
here.
Click here
for a gallery of world champions through Kasparov, and here
for biographical information about several great chess players in history.
References:
History of Chess
(Murray)
Chess: The History of
a Game (Eales)
The Oxford Companion
to Chess
Links
of Historical Interest:
Anderson
Chess Collection--Melbourne
U.S.
Chess Hall of Fame--now in
Miami, Florida
World Chess Hall of Fame & Sidney Samole Chess Museum--Miami, Florida
Ken
Whyld Association--international organization headquartered in Amsterdam
John G. White Collection at
the Cleveland Public Library--the world's largest chess collection
Chess Collection at The Hague (Netherlands)--click on English & search
for 'chess'
Hastings International
Chess Congress--England
Manhattan Chess Club--New York
City
Marshall Chess Club--New York City
Mechanics' Institute-- San Francisco
Hall
of Columns--Moscow
© 2002-2004 Chess Odyssey, Inc. All rights reserved.
