Indians invented chess?! Shaazaaam ! ( no, I am not Gomer ) I wonder if Geronimo played ? 
"patron goddess"
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Dear HM Reb
I am talking about India- 2nd highest populated country and 2nd fastest growing economy in the World and an ancient civilization and its people- which besided inventing Chess discovered the concept of "Zero" leading to a transformation of the system of writing numbers.Being from Portugal,don't you know that there was a small Portugese ruled province of Goa in India, from where the colonists were driven out by Indian armed forces in ignominy in 1961?
Dear NM Reb,
Sorry to have mistyped your name as HM Reb. I suppose errors are contiguous.
I know that they were good at scalping!
This forum through my eyes:
The original post is interesting and informative. Writing credit should
not be an issue, and because it was cut and paste, it is accurate. Batgirl's
additional information is greatly appreciated and as always, very accurate.
I saw nothing in her post to discredit or discount anything in the original.
So why all the fuss?
well, the current women's world chess champion is a modern "goddess" in my opinion!!! she is named Alexandra Kosteniuk, check out her official chess site at www.kosteniuk.com but that's just my opinion!!!
Dear thegab03,
Jokes about people whether about the "Red" Indians being the original inhabitants of America who scalped their enemies or the inhabitants of"India" who invented Chess are in poor taste and do not befit players of the King of Games.
Feb 23, 2009
0
#29
rvsakhadeo,
I don't know much about the history of India and when I read what you wrote about how Goa was only freed from Portuguese as late as 1961, I was taken back a bit. So, as a result, I just finished reading about Operation Vijay. What an amazing story. Being an American, I was particularly drawn to the US response. I noted that the USA decried the use of force against the colonists (some other countries praised it while still others remained neutral). Kennedy claimed that the invasion negated all the work of Ghandi, at least on the surface, by showing India to be an aggressive country capable of violence, thus losing its moral high ground. But then, when other leaders in America called for a severe cut in aid to India, Kennedy opposed the measure. Anyway, thanks for the history lesson.
camels are cool
Dear Batgirl,
I am sorry I must point out an error in your message regarding the spelling of the word Gandhi.You have misspelt it as Ghandi.It is a mistake often made by British people also.We pronounce "Gh" as in Admiral Ghormley. Gandhi is pronounced as spelt i.e. with a soft G.We don't know why westerners do not care about things like spelling of names of Indian leaders like Gandhi.
Before Indian armed forces drove the colonists out in 1961,there had been going on a peaceful agitation to liberate Goa from colonial rule by unarmed volunteers entering Goa from the Indian border ,singinng songs,waving flags etc.,perfectly orderly and truly Gandhian.It did not move the Portugese in the least and they just killed the Indians in dozens by showering them with a hail of bullets.There was a storm of protests in India regarding the apathy of the then Indian Government regarding its position about Goa,which in truly Nehruvian fashion consisted of writing nicely worded letters to the colonists asking them to vacate Goa.Finally under pressure of a strong anti government feeling and also an underground terrorist movement of Goanese people,Nehru ordered the Indian armed forces to take Goa.
I don't think Kennedy ever understood India. Certainly not Nixon and Kissinger.
Dear jpd303,
Many thanks for appreciating the word "Camel'" being used in India for "bishop".In a battle where kills are taking place right and left what is the Bishop doing?
Feb 23, 2009
0
#33
"I am sorry I must point out an error in your message regarding the spelling of the word Gandhi.You have misspelt it . . ."
Well, we just call it a typo. Much the same as we would type "misspelt" as "misspelled."
"We don't know why westerners do not care about things like spelling of names of Indian leaders like Gandhi."
Whether or not Kennedy understood India or whether or not Nehru (not Nehru) understood America didn't interest me as much as the paradox that the US was critical of a state seeking independence from foreign domination.
rvsakhadeo might also note that in providing the aetiology of chess, William Jones's poem suppresses the game's eastern origins and gives it a respectable Graeco-Roman pedigree. And forget about the word chess being derived from the Persian shah: chess was really named after a nice Greek girl by the Brits who, in case you weren't aware, "its praise most confess." It makes my (post-)colonial blood boil, I tell you!
The history of the pieces is really interesting. The Bishop was originally (I think) an elephant, whose tusk explains the familiar bishop's groove. In England (and Iceland) the groove was interpreted as a bishop's mitre, whereas in France it was interpreted as a fool's cap (hence fou "fool"). In German-speaking countries the bishop is the Laeufer "runner" (not "walker"), having originally been called the Schuetzer ("archer"). My infallible sources at Wikipedia say that it's still called Archer in some Slavonic languages. And also in Vida's poem in Latin hexameters (sagittifer).
The English word Rook derives from the Persian rokh, which comes in turn from rath, the Sanskrit word for "chariot". Apparently because Indian chariots were turreted back in the day, when the game came to Europe the piece was interpreted as a castle or tower. I believe the term Castle was commonly used in England up until the nineteenth century, and it's still called the "Tower" in most European languages (It. torre; Fr. tour; Ger. Turm). I've been told that the Russian word for Rook (Ladia) means "boat"!
The Knight is simply the Horse in most languages (It. cavallo; Sp. caballo; Gr. ippos; but Fr. cavalier "horseman"). The German word is best: Springer.
The Queen is simply the "Lady" in most Euro-languages (It. donna; Fr. Dame; Ger. Dame) but I think she's understood in those languages to be the King's consort, even if she isn't explicitly called "Queen".
That's enough from Pedants' Corner for this week. Please correct any mistakes and misconceptions. Thanks to batgirl and others for adding to our store of fascinating-but-useless knowledge.
Feb 23, 2009
0
#36
"Thanks to batgirl and others for adding to our store of fascinating-but-useless knowledge."
. . . for a fascinating, yet useless, game.
rvsakhadeo wrote:
Dear thegab03,
Jokes about people whether about the "Red" Indians being the original inhabitants of America who scalped their enemies or the inhabitants of"India" who invented Chess are in poor taste and do not befit players of the King of Games.
I ain't joking, I'm very serious, I had a good friend Onehunglow, who thought me the inns & outs of scalping, crazy stuff but not to be taken as a fools glance. Now this was the same bro that got my in to plucking chickens & ever since, I do be plucking chickens while watching the owl box!
By the way, I stayed in Goa for 18 months, I avoided the hippie collonies like the plague but had a great time there, I'd love to go back!
India doesn't even make the top ten in fastest growing economies in the world, you must have meant in the G-20.
It's rather disingenuous to baldly state 'India' invented either zero or chess, ignoring older variants and influences. One of two interesting examples of a distorted perception of one's own country, the other being Batgirl's surprise that the US's foreign policy could have failed to live up to its supposed ideals.
Feb 23, 2009
0
#40
"the other being Batgirl's surprise that the US's foreign policy could have failed to live up to its supposed ideals. "
sigh. . . since I said I was fascinated by the paradox and not that I was surprised by America's failure to live up to its own ideals, don't you find your own assumption of my perceptions a bit distorted as well as presumptuous?
MM how do you know that she cut and pasted this forum?
MM reply: here's the link, have a look yourself
http://www.caissa.com/about/who-is-caissa.php
If she did there's nothing wrong with that, people do it all the time.
MM reply: Firstly I didn't say there was anything wrong with it did I? Secondly just because people do something all the time doesn't mean it's right. Thirdly, you are a writer, isn't it normal to acknowledge if you've taken quite a substantial quote from someone? In fairness popinjay didn't claim to have written it which is why i made no comment.
you guys had better be careful when you try and slay someone character, this site might be virtual but the laws of slander still apply.
MM reply: This is written medium so it would be the laws of libel not slander and I'm quite confident of not having written anything libelous about the lady, I can justify the comment that it was a cut and paste as fair comment.
Pop I apologize for the troglodytes who visit your forums
MM reply: You mean I'm a primitive cave dweller or a fictional monster? Either way false and malicious...therefore libellous :-)
I really don't have any problem with the poster or her forums. Your chivalry is to be commended.