Chess is a game for two players. One player controls the white pieces and the other player controls the black pieces.
Traditionally, players start the game by shaking hands with their opponent. White always moves first and then players take turns (white then black then white, etc). Turns consist of moving a piece from one square to another square (as described in topics 4 – 9).
A player may capture an opponent’s piece by moving their piece to the square the opponent’s piece occupies, in doing so, removing thenopponent’s piece and setting it on the side of the board. A player may never capture their own piece. The goal of the game is to checkmate an opponent’s King (as explained in Topic 11).
India’s Contribution
Historical records show that the 8×8 chessboard dates from the days of Mahabharata and Ramayana. Board games are also described in early Buddhist literature as well as Chinese works. Considering the rich Indian chess history and the timeline of chess, it helps to know the immense contributions made by Indians.
The rules of chaturanga were a lot different from modern chess. The word “chaturanga” means “four-limbed,” referring to ancient army divisions of infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry. In Shiva Purana as well, there is a mention of Lord Shiva playing a game of dice on an 8×8 board. There are stories and it is hard to test the veracity of them, but they are nevertheless legendary.
Lord Ravana creates the game of chess to amuse his wife Mandodari. She learns the game and then beats Ravana at it. In contrast, other articles state that it was Mandodari who came up with the game. This was to stop Ravana from fighting wars.
Mandodari found it hard to see the state of Ravana in anger. She prayed to Lord Ganesha for a solution. Ganesha accedes to teach the game to Ravana. Ravana was asked to treat it as a virtual mode of battle rather than fighting real wars.
