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Chess, where did it come from?


  • 4 years ago · Quote · #1

    xt8088

    I know there is no clearly defined answer.  But I'm curious to know what you have all heard, or read on the subject of chess' origins.

  • 4 years ago · Quote · #2

    Charlie91

    Just to make a springboard (I guess everybody has an idea on its origin), I borrowed the following from Wikipedia: "Chess originated in India, where its early form in the 6th century was chaturanga, which translates as "four divisions of the military", infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots, represented respectively by pawn, knight, bishop and rook. In Persia around 600 A.D. the name became shatranj and the rules were developed further. Shatranj was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia, with the pieces largely retaining their Persian names. In Spanish "shatranj" was rendered as ajedrez and in Greek as zatrikion, but in the rest of Europe it was replaced by versions of the Persian shāh ("king")."

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