What makes Chess... Chess? A series on evolution.
Hello there!
I am an analyst and games designer and these are my humble musings on the state of chess , where it has come from and where it is going. Lets discuss and learn together.
We tend to think of Chess as a finalised product. A polished and perfect game... And why not? It hasn't changed in out lifetimes , or has it? The funny thing is that we are online now , playing , watching and reading about Chess. When I grew up the internet would scream at me as the modem dialled in and I would say that in itself is already a big change. Playing over the board was the only way I played. No timers , other than friends, opponents or spectators urging us to hurry up. Not long ago , we had our last hurrah - now , we as humans can no longer compete against machines that think 30+ moves ahead. This did not happen over night , it was gradual and incremental, Chess AI took 50 years to surpass us. This doesn't make anybody bat an eyelid - it is simply understood and accepted. I wonder what it must have been like to live and play chess before stalemate was a thing ( when do you think that was - probably a lot later than you would guess ) or the reasoning for altering the 4 player nature of Chaturanga down to 2 players that makes chess what it is now. The alterations and changes where much bigger in the past - when people did not have anywhere near the amount of ability to communicate - although it was a very slow process. It has been over 1400 years since Chess diverged from Chaturanga.
So , what makes Chess - Chess?
You indubitably play chess , but what would it take to break it? Would it be a small change or lots of them? The answer depends.
Here are the pillars of Chess - imho
1. Parity — Balance by Design
Chess begins with two identical armies arrayed in mirror symmetry. This baseline fairness lets a players skill and understanding dictate the outcome. Asymmetry can exist but not to a point where one side has a distinct advantage.
2. Power & Value ( Pieces hierarchy)
The pieces and their characteristics - they embody the parity by opposing it completely each piece is distinct and unequal even when they are technically worth the same , eg bishop vs knight. They all serve a purpose.
3. Takes, Takes, Takes (Capture by replacement)
Is there anything more Chess? Occupy an enemy square, remove the piece. Laud it Infront of your opponent. The act of removing a piece and replacing it with your own is very much a staple - a knight can jump over pieces but its doesn't take them in passing.
4. Battlefield - board
Some might say the chequered polarised board is the most significant aspect but its really the constrictions and limitations that it imposes that scream Chess. The pieces live in the confines of it and serve no purpose outside of it. No piece is above being taken with one move...
5. Long Live the King
One royal piece embodies victory and defeat. Every battle pivots on the king safety: threaten it (check), trap it (checkmate), or stalemate ( It was in the early part of the 19th century btw ). Remove the king and most players no longer recognise the game as chess.
6. Perfect information
The only things that are hidden are the opponents thoughts, they hide in plain sight on the board. The only obfuscation is that of understanding. Everything is visible on the board to the esoteric. Blunders and misses are relative and when things become heated linear calculations arise.
7. Alternating turns
It may almost seem so trite that it is taken for granted; One player moves , then the other and so on and so on.
They can be collapsed into each other - somewhat. I expand them as when I create variants I ask myself - does the change completely destroy one pillar? By giving some thought to these pillars and bearing them in mind - it is really simple to come up with a variant that is still Chess , even by tweaking numerous pillars the end result can often still be seen as Chess. What happens when it isn't - well I will go into this at another point.
A quick history of the alterations to chess :
| Era & Region | Local Name / Board | Key Rule Shifts | Why it changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 600 CE – North‑West India | Chaturanga on 8×8 ashtāpada | Four armies merged into two; elephant leapt 2 diag; counsellor (vizier) stepped 1 diag; pawns promoted only to vizier. | Indian court war‑game reflecting four‑fold armies; pieces mirrored military divisions of the Gupta period |
| 7th–10th C – Sassanid Persia → Abbasid Caliphate | Shatranj | Names Persianised (firzān, rūkh); alfil remains 2‑square leap; no castling, no pawn double‑step. | Game valued for intellect; poetic problem culture flourishes under Islamic patronage—rules stabilise in Arabic treatises. |
| 11th–15th C – Moorish Spain → Medieval Europe | Early European Chess | Pawns gain double‑step (speeds opening), en passant appears, castling proto‑forms (king’s leap) emerge. | Boards & sets mass‑produced; cafés and courts favour faster openings; need to protect king from early queen/bishop raids. |
| c. 1475 – Valencia & Northern Italy | “Mad‑Queen” Chess | Bishop & Queen upgraded to long‑range sliders; checkmate now reachable quickly. | Printing press spreads rule pamphlets; players bored by slow shatranj endgames—power boost revitalises excitement. |
| 16th–18th C – Renaissance to Enlightenment | Italian/Spanish Schools → Philidor | Pawns get en passant codified (1580s); castling unified into one move (king two, rook three squares then standardised to king two/rook two). | Need for uniform rules across Italian & Spanish states to allow correspondence and cross‑border wagering games. |
| 19th C – Industrial Revolution | Romantic Chess (London, Paris) | Staunton pattern (1849) standardises piece design; clocks (1861) curb endless deliberation; stalemate = draw (universal by 19th C end). | International tournaments & telegraph matches require common equipment and timing; Staunton set patents mass‑manufacture. |
| 20th C – Globalisation | FIDE Era | FIDE founded 1924; Elo rating (1970); algebraic notation adopted; rapid & blitz time controls formalised. | Global federation enforces single ruleset for titles; television & later internet demand faster formats and universal notation. |
| 21st Century | Current | An explosion in the number of variants and ways to play. | We the players will write its future. |
I have spent around 2 years - a relatively low amount of time reconstructing , warping and analysing the pillars of Chess. I do not profess to be an expert - I am in no way a master but I do love the game.
Let me know what you think.
