chess : history

Is chess the game of kings or the game of the proletariat?

As the King of the Jungle, I say "Game of Kings" 

The game of kings and the king of games chess is.

It's the game of proletariat who move the kings

It has proved popular in Communist countries, and defies class boundaries but maybe it also a tool of the Ruling Class by keeping the masses in servitude.

It has been called: The Game of the Gods.   

I challenge any reigning monarch to beat me at chess...

I would love to watch that game.  Your ego may suffer. 

 But, like the best Internet bully, I know no monarch will take up my challenge.  Scared, obviously.

Why don't you send a chess challenge to Muammar Gadaffi? After all, wasn't he titled King of Kings by his African fellow leaders? 

I thought I would start off with QE2, that wise old bird.

Historically it was probably played more among the higher classes, simply because it's a leisure time activity. The names of pieces resembling an aristocratic community also suggests this I think.

Chess has been called: The Game of the Gods.  

Well, obviously, both royal figures and plain ordinary folks play chess. So it's a game of both classes. But the game is structured along the lines of feudal societies, with a whole bunch of proletariat (pawns) clergy (bishops) livestock (knights) and buildings (rooks) being sacrificed to save this one lazy, good-for nothing monarch who barely manages to move his butt one measley square at a time. Even his wife gets killed sometimes to save his sorry posterior. No, there's no doubt about it: If Karl Marx designed this game, it would have a whole different look and lot of different rules......