Chess History 1(531-999)

0531 INDIA; Chess introduced into Persia from India during reign of Khusrau Nushirwan. (531-578).

0550 Chaturanga, earliest chess precursor, created in the Punjab.

0570 CHINA; Form of chess being played in China with dice.

0570 FABLES OF PILPAY written for Khusraw I Nushirawan (531-578)

0570 Muhammad born in Mecca.

0575 AFFAN; Uthman ibn Affan born. Muhammad's son-in-law.

0581 Umar I (Omar ibn al-Khattab) born. 2nd caliph. (ibn is 'son of')

0590 Chatrang was an accepted noble accomplishment.

0590 Khusraw II Parwiz, Sasanian king of Persia, comes to power

0600 Chaturanga reaches Persia.

0600 KARNAMAK; 1st reference to chess in literature, the Persian romantic KARNAMAK.

0600 VASAV; Chessmen mentioned in the Sanskrit fantasy romance, Vasavadatta by Subandhu.

0602 Muawiyah I born. Governor of Syria.

0606 SANSKRIT; Chess mentioned in a Sanskrit romance.

0610 Earliest chess pieces identified.

0610 Muhammad starts to preach.

0619 TALIB; Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle, died.

0620 EGYPT; Chess introduced in Egypt.

0624 Hasan, Ali's son, born.

0625 Chaturanga mentioned in the Sanskrit, Harshacharita, by Bana.

0626 Husayn, Ali's 2nd son, born.

0628 PARWIZ; Khusraw II Parwiz dies; KARNAMAK written under his reign

0630 Chatrang (old Persian word for chess) developed from chaturanga.

0632 ALLAH; Rasul Allah (successor to the Messenger of God) was new name for Abu Bakr.

0632 BAKR; Abu Bakr, Muhammad's father-in-law, elected in Medina to lead. 1st caliph.

0632.06.08 Muhammad died.

0634 BAKR; Abu Bakr died.

0634 Umar I becomes 2nd caliph.

0638 Islamic conquest of Persia changes chatrang to shatranj.

0638 OMAR; The Caliph Omar sanctions chess among the Islamic people.

0638 PERSIA; start of conquest of Persia.

0640 Buddhists spread chatrang eastward.

0643 Omar b. al-Khattab, father-in-law of Muhammad, asked if chess was legal.

0644 AFFAN; Uthman ibn Affan becomes 3rd caliph.

0644 Umar I died.

0650 CHATRANG-NAMAK; Short romance written in Persian, Chatrang-namak, describing chess.

0651 Arabic conquest of Persia completed; shatranj popular.

0655 TALIB; Caliph Ali Ben Abu Talib, son-in-law of Muhammad, disapproves of chess for Muslims.

0656 AFFAN; Uthman ibn Affan assassinated in Medina by troops from Iraq and Egypt.

0656 Muawiyah does not recognize Ali. 1st Umayyad caliph.

0656 TALIB; Ali ibn Abu Talib, cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad becomes 4th caliph. (Shiite)

0657 Rival parties met to arbitrate dispute of successor.

0661 Hasan claimed caliph, but abdicated later.

0661 Muawiyah, 1st Umayyad (caravan merchants) Caliph, comes to power. Moves from Medina to Damascas.

0661 TALIB; Ali ibn Abu Talib assassinated.

0665 AL-ASI; Amr ibn al-Asi, Muslim general and conqueror of Egypt died. Chessplayer.

0665 JUBAIR; Sa'id Bin Jubair born. 1st to play blindfold.

0679 Hasan died.

0680 ALI; Imam Husayn ibn Ali, recognized as caliph by Kufan Shiites.

0680 CANONS; 50th rule of the canons forbids chess.

0680 Husayn assassinated in Iraq by Yazid. Shiite schism.

0680 Muawiyah I died.

0683 Yazid I ibn Muawiya, becomes caliph.

0683 Yazid, son of Muawiyah, died.

0685 Abdal-Malik ibn Marwan reigned. A chessplayer.

0690 JAPAN; Chess prohibited in Japan by the Emperor Jito.

0700 JUBAIR; Sa'id Bin Jubair, a Black judge, plays blindfold chess.

0705 MARWAN; Abdalmalik b. Marwan died. Earliest Umayyad calph associated with chess.

0705 Walid I ibn Abdalmalik becomes caliph.

0710 Walid I kills chessplayer when the player purposely played bad against him.

0712 Seville conquered by Arabs. Moorish invaders bring chess to Iberia.

0714 JUBAIR; Sa'id Bin Jubair died.

0714 Waldi I died. Killed a chessplayer who avoided beating the caliph.

0718 Abbasids (descendents of the Phophet's uncle Abbas) try to take the caliphate.

0720 LITERARY; 1st literary references to chess in Arabic.

0721 Abu al-Abbas born. 1st Abbasid caliph.

0725 Sulaiman ibn Yashar died. Disapproved chess.

0728 AL-FARAZDAQ; Arabic poet al-Farazdaq died. His will mentions pawns of chess.

0728 al-Ahwas died. Noted poet.

0735 Living chess introduced in Europe by Charles Martel (688-741).

0742 Hisham ibn Abdal-Malik died. Caliph and chessplayer.

0742 az-Zuhi died. Great laywer of the Umayyad period and chessplayer.

0747 Abbasids organize a rebellion in Iran.

0750 ABBASID; start of the Abbasid caliphs. Capital moved to Baghdad.

0750 Abbasid caliphs come to power in Baghdad. Document chess.

0750 Abu al-Abbas, 1st Abbasid caliph, comes to power.

0750 UMAYYAD; end of Umayyad Caliphs.

0763 AR-RASHID; Haran ar-Rashid born. Abbasid caliph of Islam (786-809). Patron.

0763 Harun ar-Rashid born. Abbasid caliph of Islam 786-809. 1st in his dynasty to playt chess.

0767 Abu Hanifa died

0770 WOMEN; 1st mention of women chessplayers.

0775 al-Mahdi ibn al-Mansur is 3rd Abbasid caliph.

0775 al-Mansur died. 2nd caliph of the new dynasty (Abbasids).

0776 ABDALAZIZ; Poet Abu Hafs Omar ibn Abdalaziz called ash-Shatranji, the chessplayer.

0780 Moorish invaders of Spain introduce chess to Western Europe.

0780 al-Mahdi write a letter to Mecca to give up chess, dice, and archery.

0785 al-Mahdi ibn al-Mansur died. 3rd of the Abbasid caliphs.

0786 al-Mumun born. A caliph.

0786 al-Rashid, Caliph of Islam, comes to power.

0790 CHESS PIECE; Earliest known chess piece dates to this period.

0795 CHINA; 1st reference to Chinese chess in the HUAN KWAI LU (Book of Marvels).

0795 Malik ibn Anas died.

0800 Al-Rushid, Caliph of Baghdad, 1st caliph to play chess.

0800 Chinese chess (Hsiang ch'i) introduced.

0800 Corr. game by Emperor Nicephorus and Haron Al-Rashid.

0800 Moors bring chess to Spain. Chess reaches Italy.

0800 ? al-Adli ar-Rumi born.

0801 Charlemagne (742-814) introduced to chess.

0802 Nicephorus of Byzantium writes to al-Rashid about chess.

0805 Ash-shafi'i, famous muslim lawyer, plays blindfold.

0808 AL AMON; Caliph Al Amon of Baghdad protested at being disturbed while playing.

0809 Harun ar-Rashid died. Abbasid caliph of Islam 786-809. 1st in his dynasty to playt chess.

0809 al-Amin ibn ar-Rashid reigns.

0809 ar-Rashid died.

0813 Abdullah al-Mamun, son of Harun ar-Rashid, reigned. Chessplayer.

0813 al-Amin ibn Harun ar-Rashid died. Chessplayer

0818 ALIYAT; Top players were Jabir al-Kufi, Rabrab, and Abu'n-Na'am. (aliyat)

0819 GM; Caliph Al-Ma'mun gives 4 players the grandmaster title.

0819 al-Mamum watched Rabrab, Jabir al-Kufi, and Abdalghaffar al-Ansari play chess in Baghdad.

0820 RUSSIA; Chess introduced in Russia thru the Caspian-Volga trade route..

0820 ash-Shafii died.

0833 Abdullah al-Mamun died.

0840 BILLAH; 1st chess problem composed by the caliph Billah.

0840 al-Aldi is considered the best chessplayer (aliyat)

0842 al-Aldi, authors 'a book of chess.'

0842 al-Mutasim ibn Harun ar-Rashid died. Chess problem attributed to him.

0842 al-Wathiq died.

0845 ar-Razi defeats al-Aldi in the presence of al-Mutawakki.

0847 al-Mutawakkil died.

0849 Reference to chess in Kashmir Haravijaya (Victory of Siva) by Ratnakara.

0850 Decimal chess invented. Board is 10 x 10. 1st use of dice in chess.

0855 Hanbal, Ahmad ibn died.

0858 al-Hallaj born.

0866 Al-Mutazz was playing chess when the head of his chief arrival was brought to him.

0869 al-Mutazz died.

0873 al-Ashari born. Philosopher.

0875 knight tour; 1st reference to knight's tour (turaga) in the Sanskrit Kavyalankara of Rudrata.

0880 AS-SULI; Abu as-Suli b. Author of 1st book on shatranj.

0880 Coordinate notation used in the Arab countries.

0892 al-Mutadid comes to power. Chessplayer.

0895 GREEKS; Chess introduced to the Greeks; call it zatrikion.

0900 EUROPE; Chess introduced into Europe.

0900 INDIA; Chessplayers in india wages their fingers in chess matches.

0902 al-Muktafi reigns; as-Suli is his best chess player.

0902 al-Mutadid died.

0905 AS-SULI; Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Yahya as-Suli, historian and top chess player.

0905 as-Suli defeats al-Mawardi in front of al-Muktafi.

0908 al-Muktafi died.

0908 al-Muqtadir reigns.

0910 al-lajlaj (the stammerer) is the first to publish openings.

0920 Chess pieces are given Persian names.

0922 al-Hallaj executed in Baghdad.

0932 al-Muqtadir died.

0932 ar-Radi reigns. Taught chess by as-Suli.

0935 al-Ashari died. Philospher.

0940 ar-Radi died.

0946 As-Suli died at Basra; strongest shatranj player in Baghdad.

0947 al-Ma'sudi, writes on the history of chess in India and Byzantine chess.

0960 CHINA; Further references of Chinese chess in the sung period.

0970 AL LAJLAJ; Abul Faraj Muhammad ibn Obaidallah, or al Lajlaj (the Stammerer) died. Pupil of as-Suli.

0973 Al-Beruni born. Wrote INDIA, which mentioned chess.

0975 Daqiqi begins the SHAHAMA, national epic of Persia

0980 YACHIA; Rabbi Abu Yachia describes chess in his Hebrew writings.

0988 Ibn an-Nadim writes on a whole succession of leading players and chessbooks.

0999 EINSIEDELIN; Earlist known literary account of chess in Europe, the Einsiedeln Verses, Switzerland.

0999 Versus de scachis is a 98-line poem describing the game & its rules.