Chess
At Masters Traditional Games, we like to find things that are a bit special or unusual. With Chess, it is particularly easy to go and buy any old Chess set from a mundane high-street shop. Why do that, when we can sell you something a lot more interesting?
Quality Staunton Chess Sets
| Wooden Staunton Chess Pieces 
£52.90 | Ebony and Boxwood Staunton Chess Pieces 
Due 14/11/2009 | Staunton Chess Set Based on 1890 Design 
From £99.00 |
Chess Set Cabinets
| Jaques Folding Book-Style Chess 
£39.00 | Jaques Inlaid Chess Cabinet 
From £89.00 | Jaques Chess and Backgammon Set 
Due 03/12/2009 | Debiut Chess
£53.90 |
Consul Chess
£44.90 | Games Compendia
From £29.00 | Folding Book Case Chess Set 
£27.90 |
Unusual & Interesting Chess Sets
Three Player Chess
From £35.90 | Old Polish Chess
Out of stock. | 10 x 10 Jester Chess
From £114.90 |
Travel Chess Sets
| Magnetic 9" Round Travel Chess 
£36.90 | Magnetic 10" Square Travel Chess 
£45.90 |
Non-European Chess
| Chinese Chess - Xiang Qi 
From £44.90 | Shogi
£32.90 |
Historical Chess
| Staunton 1850 Replica Chess Set 
From £1999.00 | Staunton 1890 Replica Chess Set 
From £749.00 | Lewis Chessmen Replica Set 
£79.00 |
| Fischer Spassky Replica Chess Set 
£499.00 | Fischer Spassky Chess Set - Boxwood 
£395.00 | Chaturanga
Currently unavailable |
Chess Accessories + Separate Boards
Checkers / Chess Boards
|
Inlaid Chess Tables
|
Chess Clocks
|
Product Index
View Basket
About Us
Game Rules
Shortcuts
Go
Bowls
Chess
Skittles
Croquet
Mah Jong
Dominoes
Poker
Sets
Fair Games
Party Games
Casino Games
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.