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Checkers / Chess Boards

8 x 8 Checkers / Chess Boards

Chess & Nine Mens Morris

Chess & Nine Mens Morris

Currently unavailable
Westnedge 17 1/2 inch
Inlaid Chequerboard
Westnedge 17 1/2 inch Inlaid Chequerboard

£21.90
Jaques 16 inch
Chequerboard
Jaques 16 inch Chequerboard

£31.30
Jaques 18 inch
Chequerboard
Jaques 18 inch Chequerboard

£39.00
Jaques 20 inch
Chequerboard
Jaques 20 inch Chequerboard

£49.00
Jaques 23 inch
Chequerboard
Jaques 23 inch Chequerboard

Due 01/03/2010
Dal Negro 36cm
Chess Board
Dal Negro 36cm Chess Board

£43.90
Dal Negro 40cm
Chess Board
Dal Negro 40cm Chess Board

£49.90


10 x 10 Checkers / Chess Boards

10x10 Chequerboard
- 63cm
10x10 Chequerboard - 63cm

From £49.90
10x10 Chequerboard
- 45cm
10x10 Chequerboard - 45cm

£41.90

Masters Traditional Games


 

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Back to Chess

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The Origin of Chess

A great deal has been written about the origins of chess and there is still a lot of debate on the subject. The earliest clear ancestor of chess is shaturanga or chaturanga which was invented by a 6th century Indian philosopher. It was a battle between four armies each under the control of a Rajah (king), two players being loosely allied against the other two and and each containing 4 corps - Infantry, Cavalry, Elephants and Boatmen. The board of 64 squares used for shaturanga, was borrowed from an earlier game called ashtapada, which was a race game played in ancient India.

Under Hindu law, gambling became forbidden early on in the Hindu civilisation and, to avoid the gambling laws, shaturanga players dispensed with the dice. Another early modification was the merging of the allied armies into a single army making the game a two player form and duplicating the pieces, both developments which have survived until today. Other changes also occurred; and the resulting game was called shatranj. 

There are three versions of the story of arrival of shatranj in Europe - did it come from the Saracens via Spain, from the Byzantine empire as a present to Charlemagne or was it brought back from the Middle East by Knights returning from the Crusades?. Nonetheless, in Europe, the game developed into modern European chess now played worldwide while in China, Japan, Burma, Thailand and Korea, other variants became just as popular.

You can learn more about the History of Chess from The Online Guide to Traditional Games.

 

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