chess merit badge chess history: an ancient & popular strategy game © 2011 by joseph l. bell...

Chess Merit Badge

Chess History:An Ancient & Popular Strategy Game

© 2011

by Joseph L. Bell

with a lot of material from Dr. John McCrary

History of Chess

• Origin in India as “Chaturanga”• Spread to Persia, Middle East, & Europe• Changes to piece moves in Europe• Ben Franklin and “The Morals of Chess”• Development of tournaments• Chess organizations: FIDE and USCF• World Championships

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Chaturanga

• Chess originated in India around A.D 600 as “Chaturanga”

• Chaturanga meant “four-limbed”, which referred to the four parts of the army: Chariots, Horses, Elephants, and Foot soldiers, as well as pieces representing the ruler and his minister

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Chaturanga


Chaturanga

• Chaturanga Pieces:– The Chariot moved swiftly horizontally and

vertically. The chariot became the Rook.– The Horse could leap obstacles and turn

quickly. The horse became the Knight.– The Elephant was limited to moving two

squares diagonally. It became the Bishop.– The Foot Soldier became the Pawn, which

cannot move backward to retreat.


Chaturanga

• Chaturanga pieces (Cont’d):– The Minister could move only one square

diagonally. This became the Queen.– The Ruler became the King.

• The initial board setup in Chaturanga did not have Kings on the same file (It had the White Queen & Black King on d-file, and reversed on the e-file.)


Chaturanga

• Checkmate was a win (in Persia, called “Shah mat” or “the King is helpless”)

• Stalemate, or a “bare king” (no pieces left), were also considered a win

• Pawns could promote, but only to a Minister (a weak piece)

• Chaturanga spread to Europe, and to China and Japan in different forms


Chess in the Middle East

• Chess spread with Moslem conquests in the Middle Ages

• By the 9th century, chess had complex literature, champions and professionals

• Moslem players were ranked, not mathematically, but by titles ranging from “Grandee” to “beneath contempt”


Medieval Chess Game


A game of chess between a Spanish crusader and Saracen (1221-1284),

1252, Alfonso X “the Wise” of Castile,Chess (circa 13th century)

Chess Spreads to Europe

• Chess reached Europe by A.D. 1000 from contacts with the Moslem world

• It was very popular with the knights and nobility

• English changed to elephant to Bishop

• The horse became the Knight• Other Christian countries adopted

other names (Germans use “Springer” for Knight) © 2011Chess Merit Badge

Lewis Chess Set (12th century)


Woodcut from an 1841 article, shortly after discovery of the Lewis set

Chess in Europe

• The Minister changed to Queen and kept its weak moves until about 1475

• The game with stronger Queen moves was called “Mad Queen” Chess by some

• Around the 13th century, players were allowing the King to move two squares (or like a Knight) in its first move.


Chess in Europe (cont’d)

• The Minister changed to Queen and kept its weak moves until about 1475

• In the 13th century pawns were allowed to move 2 squares on the first move.

• En passant capture was not allowed in some areas into the 19th century



• In the 13th century, players were allowed to move the King 2 squares in any direction (and like a Knight) on the King’s first move

• By the 17th century, modern castling in a single move was established, but this was not universally standardized until the late 1800’s.


Chess in Europe

• Moves of the Queen and Bishop changed to modern form around 1475 in either Spain, France or Italy

• The game with stronger Queen moves was called “Chess of the Mad Queen” by some

• The new game was so superior, the medieval chess was extinct in a few decades


Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez, by Luis Ramirez de Lucena (1497)


As of today, this is the oldest known book about Chess.

The title translated into English is: “Repeat Loves and Art of Chess”


• Some played that Pawn promotion was only to an already captured piece, until the pawn promotion rule standardized in modern form in early 19th century



• Medieval chess treated stalemate as a win, but an English book in 1614 said “a stale is very dishonorable to him that giveth it” and declared a stalemate a loss for the player giving it

• The loss by stalemate rule was used in England and America until the early 19th century, when the stalemate draw rule became universal


Spanish Chess

• Opening theory had to be totally revised for the new Queen and Bishop moves.

• One of the early opening analysts was a Spanish priest named Ruy Lopez

• The Spanish were the most active chess players at this time

• Chess was brought to the New World as early as 1533, when Inca Chief Atahualpa was taught the moves


Chess in the 18th Century

• Paris and London were major centers of chess activity. Play was largely limited to nobility early in the 1700’s.

• Philidor of France was considered the best chess player in the world

• Phildor wrote out moves in his books, without using notation

• Phillip Stamma introduced Algebraic Notation in 1737, which is now standard


Chess in the (future) United States

• Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was playing Chess by the 1730’s, among the first Chess players in the American colonies known by name

• Franklin used Chess in his diplomatic efforts in England

• In 1786, Franklin published a famous essay “The Morals of Chess” about important educational benefits of Chess


Benjamin Franklin Playing Chess in England


Lady Howe Checkmates Benjamin Franklin,

Painting by Edward Harrison May (circa 1865)

US Chess in the 1800’s

• By mid-century, railroad and telegraph brought chess players together on a scale never seen before

• National gatherings began in the 1840’s in the US (Kentucky) & England (Yorkshire)

• Formal championship titles began to emerge


Staunton Design


Chess sets of unusual design gave an advantage to the player who was used to it. The Staunton design introduced in 1849 by Jacques of London became the standard required for competitive Chess games.

Early Champions

• First US Championship match in 1845 won by Charles Stanley (1819-1901)

• Paul Morphy (1837-84) of New Orleans won the American Chess Congress in 1857, and soundly defeated champions of the Old World in matches

• The first international chess tournament was held in London in 1851


World Champions & 20th Century

• A match in 1886 between Wilhelm Steinitz & Johann Zukertort established the world championship as a title to be won by regular formal matches

• Steinitz became a US citizen in 1888• Chess interest exploded in the 20th

century to almost every nation in the world.


Chess Organizations

• Federation Internationale des Esches (FIDE) was formed in 1924

• US Chess Federation (USCF) was formed in 1939.

• USCF popularized the “Swiss system” tournament, which allows a large number of players to complete over a few days

• USCF played a major role in developing the chess rating system, which FIDE adopted


Soviet Chess Champions

• The USSR rose to prominence as the leading chess-playing nation, as a result of major government support

• Soviet or Russian players were the World Champions from 1948 to 1972, and 1975 to 2000– Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail

Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov


Bobby Fischer (1943-2008)

• Born in Chicago, learned Chess after moving to Brooklyn as a small child

• US Chess Champion at age 14, and won all 8 US championships he played in

• Perfect 11-0 score at 1964 US Championship• Won two qualifying matches with perfect 6-0• Overwhelmingly defeated two past world

champions to become World Champion in 1972


Photos – Bobby Fischer


Fischer vs. Michael Tal, 1965 (age 17)

Fischer in Iceland, 1972

Requirements

1. Discuss with your merit badge counselor the history of the game of chess. Explain why it is considered a game of planning and strategy.


chess merit badge chess history: an ancient & popular strategy game © 2011 by joseph l. bell...

Documents

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europe chess

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lewis chess

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time chess