Chess
Ajedrez (chaturanga / shatranj)
- Date
- c. 600 · confidence low
- Place
- Northern India (Gupta) to Sasanian Persia
- Credited to
- Gupta India; adapted in Persia and the Islamic world
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A strategy board game of 64 squares with pieces that move in different ways, transmitted from India to Persia (shatranj) and from there to the Islamic world and Europe (al-Andalus, 10th century). An abstract model of combat.
An Indian or Persian origin is debated; the first clear mention is Persian (the Karnamak, c. 600).
What it led to
- European courtly culture (the Book of Games of Alfonso X, 1283)
- the modern 15th-century rules (the long-range queen and bishop, in Spain)
- game theory and computer programming in the 20th century
Built on
- Indian board games (ashtapada)
Made possible
- Torres Quevedo's El Ajedrecista (chess automaton)1912 (presentado en 1914)
- modern chess
- chess-playing automaton