#Chess piece names in olden days full#

This is makruk, the national chess of Thailand, still played avidly throughout that country. The pieces here are so similar to each other that you might at first have trouble t elling them apart. The board is the same, and you can still recognize the horse…but the other pieces have been replaced by neatly lathed abstractions. Throughout the history of chess, this desire to make lathed pieces has been at work, changing the shape of chessmen.

_ Compare these pieces to the ones we were just examining. ancient and modern knights, ancient and modern pawns His forward move and forward-diagonal capture were the same then as they are today. And the ancient pawn, although it could move only one space forward (never two spaces like our modern pawn), was always considered to be a foot soldier. The modern knight also retains its ancient move and is still depicted, as it has been for centuries, as a horse. ancient and modern kings, ancient and modern rooks The ancient rook also had exactly the same move as our modern rook. The rook was called “rukh” which meant “chariot.” It’s interesting that we maintain essentially the same word in English, although the meaning of “rook” or “rukh” has long been lost to us. The king of the old game was a king, like our king, and had the same move. reproduction of the early Persian chess set The pieces were arranged like ours are, but some of their identities were a little different. The game was played on a board of 8 by 8 squares, just as our game is, but the board was not checkered. Let’s look at the old game, known throughout ancient Islam as shatranj,starting with features that are familiar to a modern chess player. earliest known abstract chess set, Persia, 9th c. It is easy to learn the ancient rules of play, and to get a feeling for chess as it was experienced by Persians and Arabs long ago. Though different from the chess we play today, the ancient game has striking similarities to the modern game. The game became very popular in the Muslim world, and it was carried back, throughout Islam, across North Africa and eventually into Europe. The form of chess which finally arrived in Europe was already being played in Persia some 1,350 years ago, when that area of the world was conquered by Muslim armies in the mid 7th century.

But myths, theories and opinions abound! Most historians believe it started in India, Persia, or China.īut there is much that we do know. There are few ancient texts referring to the very beginning of chess, and fewer chess pieces left as physical evidence of the game’s early existence. The exact origin of chess is a great mystery. A look at the game’s development throughout history opens a fascinating window on cultural evolution, transporting our minds to distant lands and eras.

#Chess piece names in olden days full#

Please view this page in a full screen window or it may be harder to readĬhess has been with us for centuries, through countless cultures and historic moments.