![]() ![]() It was in its journey west, however, that chess would be transformed significantly. It reached Japan and China where it developed into variants such as shogi, go, and xianggi. With the flourishing of inter-continental trade and the Arabs’ expanding expire, chess was flung into all corners of Asia and Europe. The pieces are very abstract, as Islam prohibits the production of life-like figures. Pieces of Shatranj, the Islamic version of chess that evolved from the Persian game, chatrang. Arabic sets are said to have made the game very popular, as it made the production of sets very easy. They are generally made of stones and clay instead of ivory. Arabic pieces are abstract, but follow the general shape and size proportion of their Indian and Persian counterparts. In Moslem hands the pieces lost their detail and character as Islam forbids and takes the production of life-like figures as idolatry. Persia came to be conquered by the Muslims, who then called the game by its Arabic name, shatranj. The left piece is probably the Elephant (Pil), while the right one is the Horse (Ashva). As every chess player knows, checkmate means “Shah mat,” the Persian expression that the king is dead.Ĭhatrang ivory pieces from about 760 AD found in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Chaturangas’s Raja became the Shah, the Mantri became the Wazir, the Gajah became the Pil, the Ashva became the Asp, the Ratha became the Rokh, and the Padati became the Piadeh. Chaturanga refers to a battle formation of olden India’s army, and the game, like present-day chess, was played with six pieces of differing powers, namely: the Raja (King), the Mantri (Minister), the Gajah (War Elephant), the Ashva (Horse), the Ratha (Chariot), and the Padati (Footsoldier).Ĭhaturanga spread to Persia where it became known as chatrang, and there the pieces took different names. Scholars believe that it is a derivative of an ancient Indian game called chaturanga, which was flourishing in northern India by the 7th century. ![]() What they once were, and how they have come to be the inspiring figures we play with today, after all, is the story of chess itself.Ĭhess did indeed start as the war game that it is. These pieces impress us in more ways than one, and whether they move us artistically or whet our longing to know more about the societies where chess took root, it is worth knowing their development over a thousand years. They hearken to an old world with all its warfare and social hierarchy, and stir the imagination of their real-life equivalents and the battles they took part in. Far from being just beautiful figures of many shapes and sizes, they are really symbols. Chess pieces have always been very alluring, quite apart from the game itself.
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