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Indian chess is the name given to regional variations of chess played in India in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is distinct from chaturanga. There are several such variations, all quite similar to modern rules, with variants regarding castling, pawn promotion, etc.
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The following table describes one version of Indian chess terminology for the various pieces (including Hindi and Urdu pronunciations; orange indicates most common terminology in Hindi, green indicates that in Urdu): [1] [2]
| Standard chess piece | Indian chess piece | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Hindi | Urdu | ISO 15919 | Other | Telugu | Malayalam | Tamil | Assamese | |
| king | king | राजा | راجا | rājā | రాజు | രാജാവ് | ராஜா | ৰজা | |
| बादशाह | بادشاہ | bādśāh | |||||||
| queen | ferz/minister | मन्त्री | منتری | mantrī | మంత్రి | മന്ത്രി | মন্ত্ৰী | ||
| वज़ीर | وزیر | vazīr | |||||||
| queen | रानी | رانی | rānī | ராணி / அரசி | ৰাণী | ||||
| मलिका | ملکہ | malikā | |||||||
| general | सेनापति | سیناپتی | sēnāpati | ||||||
| rook | rook/chariot | रथ | رتھ | rath | തേര് | নাওঁ | |||
| रुख़ | رخ | rux | rukkha [3] | ||||||
| castle | क़िला | قلعہ | qilā | கோட்டை | |||||
| elephant | हाथी | ہاتھی | hāthī | hattī [4] | ఏనుగు | யானை | |||
| knight | horse | घोड़ा | گھوڑا | ghōṛā | గుర్రం | കുതിര | குதிரை | ঘোঁৰা | |
| bishop | alfil/elephant | फ़ियला | فیلہ | fiyalā/fīlā | ആന | হাতী | |||
| camel | ऊँट | اونٹ | ū̃ṭ | ||||||
| chariot | శకటు/ఒంటె | ||||||||
| minister | அமைச்சர் | ||||||||
| pawn | infantryman | पैदल | پیدل | paidal | കാലാള് / പടയാളി | காலாள் | পুণী | ||
| प्यादा | پیادہ | pyādā | |||||||
| soldier | सैनिक | سینک | sainik | సిపాయి | சிப்பாய் | ||||
| सिपाही | سپاہی | sipāhī | |||||||
Chess is a board game for two players. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to distinguish it from related games such as xiangqi and shogi.
Baroque chess is a chess variant invented in 1962 by Robert Abbott. In 1963, at the suggestion of his publisher, he changed the name to Ultima, by which name it is also known. Abbott later considered his invention flawed and suggested amendments to the rules, but these suggestions have been substantially ignored by the gaming community, which continues to play by the 1962 rules. Since the rules for Baroque were first laid down in 1962, some regional variation has arisen, causing the game to diverge from Ultima.
The king is the most important piece in the game of chess. It may move to any adjoining square; it may also perform, in tandem with the rook, a special move called castling. If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture immediately. If this cannot be done, the king is said to be in checkmate, resulting in a loss for that player. A player cannot make any move that places their own king in check. Despite this, the king can become a strong offensive piece in the endgame or, rarely, the middlegame.
The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess. It may move one square directly forward, it may move two squares directly forward on its first move, and it may capture one square diagonally forward. Each player begins a game with eight pawns, one on each square of their second rank. The white pawns start on a2 through h2; the black pawns start on a7 through h7.
Shatranj is an old form of chess, as played in the Sasanian Empire. Its origins lie in the Indian game of chaturanga. Modern chess gradually developed from this game, as it was introduced to Europe by contacts in Muslim Al-Andalus and in Sicily in the 10th century. In modern Persian, the term is also used as the translation of chess.
Chaturanga is an ancient Indian strategy board game. It is first known from India around the seventh century AD.
A fairy chess piece, variant chess piece, unorthodox chess piece, or heterodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess but incorporated into certain chess variants and some unorthodox chess problems, known as fairy chess. Compared to conventional pieces, fairy pieces vary mostly in the way they move, but they may also follow special rules for capturing, promotions, etc. Because of the distributed and uncoordinated nature of unorthodox chess development, the same piece can have different names, and different pieces can have the same name in various contexts.
Versus de scachis, also known as the Einsiedeln Poem in some literature, is the title given to a 10th-century Medieval Latin poem about chess. It is the first known European text to provide a technical description of chess for didactic purposes and it is considered a fundamental document to understand the development of chess in Europe.
Makruk, or Thai chess, is a strategy board game that is descended from the 6th-century Indian game of chaturanga or a close relative thereof, and is therefore related to chess. It is part of the family of chess variants.
Vernon Rylands Parton was an English chess enthusiast and prolific chess variant inventor, his most renowned variants being Alice chess and Racing Kings. Many of Parton's variants were inspired by the fictional characters and stories in the works of Lewis Carroll. Parton's formal education background, like Lewis Carroll's, was in mathematics. Parton's interests were wide and he was a great believer in Esperanto.
Sittuyin, also known as Burmese chess, is a strategy board game created in Myanmar. It is a direct offspring of the Indian game of chaturanga, which arrived in Myanmar in the 8th century thus it is part of the same family of games such as chess, and shogi. Sit is the modern Burmese word for "army" or "war"; the word sittuyin can be translated as "representation of the four characteristics of army"—chariot, elephant, cavalry and infantry.
Tamerlane chess is a medieval chess variant. Like modern chess, it is derived from shatranj. It was developed in Central Asia during the reign of Emperor Timur, and its invention is also attributed to him. Because Tamerlane chess is a larger variant of chaturanga, it is also called Shatranj Al-Kabir, as opposed to Shatranj as-saghir. Although the game is similar to modern chess, it is distinctive in that there are varieties of pawn, each of which promotes in its own way.
In chess, promotion is the replacement of a pawn with a new piece when the pawn is moved to its last rank. The player replaces the pawn immediately with a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same color. The new piece does not have to be a previously captured piece. Promotion is mandatory when moving to the last rank; the pawn cannot remain as a pawn.
The history of chess can be traced back nearly 1,500 years to its earliest known predecessor, called chaturanga, in India; its prehistory is the subject of speculation. From India it spread to Persia, where it was modified in terms of shapes and rules and developed into Shatranj. Following the Arab invasion and conquest of Persia, chess was taken up by the Muslim world and subsequently spread to Europe via Spain and Italy. The game evolved roughly into its current form by about 1500 CE.
Chaturaji is a four-player chess-like game. It was first described in detail c. 1030 by Al-Biruni in his book India. Originally, this was a game of chance: the pieces to be moved were decided by rolling two dice. A diceless variant of the game was still played in India at the close of the 19th century.
Circular chess is a chess variant played using the standard set of pieces on a circular board consisting of four rings, each of sixteen squares. This is topologically equivalent to playing on the curved surface of a cylinder.
Chadarangam is a Telugu version of Indian chess, Chaturanga. It became very famous among kings and courtesans. Previously chariots (Ratha) were used in warfare, but in medieval times chariots were replaced by camels (Oṣṭra). So, the bishop in olden days was called Ratha / Śakaṭa and in medieval ages was called Oṣṭra.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chess:
The pil, alfil, alpil, or elephant is a fairy chess piece that can jump two squares diagonally. It first appeared in shatranj. It is used in many historical and regional chess variants. It was used in standard chess before being replaced by the bishop in the 15th and 16th centuries.
| International | |
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| National | |
