History Of Chess

Chess, as we know it today, was born out of the Indian game Chaturanga before the 600s AD. The game spread throughout Asia and Europe over the coming centuries and eventually evolved into what we know as chess around the 16th century. One of the first masters of the game was a Spanish priest named Ruy Lopez.

Chess has a long and storied history. The game has changed quite a bit from its earliest forms in India. The modern iteration we enjoy today wasn't known until the 16th century. There were no clocks, and the pieces were not standardized until the 19th century.

The official world championship title came into existence by the late 19th century, shortly after the first big tournaments were held and multiple styles of play had begun to fully develop. Although the first book on openings was published as early as 1843, theory as we know it didn't truly evolve until the early/mid 20th century. Computer engines and databases didn't come into play until the very late 20th century. The history of chess can be traced back nearly 1500 years to its earliest known predecessor, called chaturanga, in India; its prehistory is the subject of speculation. The earliest precursor of modern chess is a game called chaturanga, which flourished in India by the 6th century, and is the earliest known game to have two essential features found in all later chess variations—different pieces having different powers (which was not the case with checkers and Go), and victory depending on the fate of one piece, the king of modern chess.