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    The earliest written mention of a chesslike game appeared around 600 A.D., and the fact that it was mentioned without explanation suggests that it was already well known by that time. The game was called chaturanga, and it is believed to be originated from India. Chaturanga spread eastward to China, and then through Korea to Japan. It appeared in Persia after the Islamic conquest (638-651). In Persia the game was called shatranj, the Arabic form of the word chaturanga. The spread of Islam to Sicily and the invasion of Spain by the Moors brought shatranj to Western Europe, and it reached Russia through trade routes from several directions. By the end of the 10th century, the game was well known throughout Europe. The game of chess as it exists today emerged in Southern Europe toward the end of the 15th century. Some of the old shatranj rules were modified, and the new rules we have today were added.

 

    Chess is a game of great strategic depth and, at times, immense tactical complexity. When starting out, a player needs to learn to see the most basic tactical threats pieces under attack, pin and fork possibilities, threats of checkmate. After a while, many of these threats are seen automatically, and the player can begin to look ahead a bit and envision the effect of making various moves. Eventually, a player can begin to put more effort into thinking strategically, specifically, analyzing the position to determine its important features and then finding a plan that takes these features into account.

 

    The great world champion José Capablanca once commented that he never looked ahead that he simply chose the best move. This was an exaggeration, but one thing is true: When you get good at chess, you know when you are following the "thread" of the game. When you can sense what's important, you can play intuitive moves and see your way through all kinds of tactical complexities with surprising accuracy. That's one way humans beat computers at chess. On the other hand, when a player hesitates and seems confused, he or she has usually lost the thread, and will have to rely on pure calculation. That's when humans lose to computers, as well as to other humans.

© David Leckner 2002