A little about the history of chess
I propose to distract from direct contact with the IT world and to turn my attention to such a type of brain simulators as board games.
Now, in many offices, collective board games are specially held, which help to distract from the routine (than to increase labor productivity) and positively influence the establishment of good relations in the team. This article will give a brief insight into the history of the emergence of one of the main games of mankind - CHESS.
In its present form, such a famous and famous board game like chess did not appear immediately. Before the familiar version of all the board game had to go through a series of changes and forms. Currently, "chess" is a whole class of games.
Some of the board games of this class are independent, original and significantly different from the modern representation of chess.
In addition to the well-known classic chess, there are a large number of other variants of the chess game. There are national versions of chess, for example, syantsi, shogi, changi, makruk, which are widespread in South Asia. Some variants use additional figures and / or unusual boards, for example, there are variants on large boards, on round boards, with figures combining the moves of a horse and a rook and / or a horse and an elephant, with the Maharajah (a figure combining the moves of a queen and a horse ) instead of the queen, hexagonal chess (played on a hexagonal board consisting of hexagonal fields).
There are chess for more than two players: three- and four-sided chess, in which three or four players play for one board (a pair for a couple or each for himself), each controlling their own set of pieces, as well as “command” chess options, where the game A team is led to a team on one or several boards, and the course of the game is influenced by the actions of more than one player from each team (for example, Swedish chess).
Many "chess composers", as well as scientists, amateur chess players and professionals were fond of inventing new variants of chess. Known, for example, Capablanca chess - on a 10 Ă— 8 board, with two new pieces. Recently, Fisher's chess has become increasingly popular, in which the game is played according to the classical rules, but with a random initial arrangement of pieces on the last row. In part of the options, the rules remained unchanged (or minimally modified), and only the initial placement of figures was changed. In addition to the already mentioned chess Fisher and free chess, these are the kingces and battle chess.
According to Robert Bell’s classification, chess belongs to the eponymous group of board games and is a “war game”.
In the group "Chess" you can select the following games:
- Shaturanga (chaturanga);
- Shatranj;
- circular chess (a type of shatranj);
- courier chess (another kind of shatranj);
- Maharajah and Sipai;
- Chinese chess (Xiangqi);
- Japanese chess (shogi);
- jungle game;
- Tibetan chess.
Each of these games is conducted, as a rule, on a square field divided into squares and / or lined in accordance with the requirements of the rules of the game.
And so, let's start with the consideration of the games of the progenitors of SHAKHMAT. Let us turn to the history of the Ancient East.
')
SHATURANGA (CHATURANGA)
In the agricultural areas of ancient India, the TAAYAM game was popular among the population during the ripening of the harvest. It was played on a square field consisting of 64 squares, which were marked on simple ground. The game itself does not belong to the class of chess games and was a pursuit game in which the figures moved counterclockwise across the field in order to reach the center of the field as soon as possible. Which of the players first brought their pieces from the field, then won.
Approximately in the 5th century AD, on the board for the game, TAAYAM began to play a new game, SHATURANGU, which in miniature represents a battle of four armies, each of which is controlled by its own commander (in the original rajah) and consists of four branches of service: infantry, cavalry, fighting elephants and fighting boats (I think our name for this figure is “rook” is related to this).
SHATURANGA (in some sources - CHATURANGA) is an ancient Indian game, considered the progenitor of chess, shogi and many other games. Shaturanga is a game common in the East and later coming to Europe, from which modern chess originated.
The name "Shaturanga" is translated as "four component" and is presumably due to the fact that initially it was played four together. Shaturanga in ancient India was called the army, consisting of war chariots (ratha) and elephants (hasti), cavalry (ashwa) and foot soldiers (padati). The game symbolized the battle with the participation of four types of troops, which was led by the leader (rajah).
The game was attended by four players, and the "battle" on the playing field was organized between the unions of players (the game "two by two").
Description SHATURANGI is present in one of the earliest works in Sanskrit, the Bhavishia Purana.
In this work, the story is told that one of the rulers lost all his property (including his wife) to the bone. After that, he went to his old friend to master the mysteries of the game of shaturangu in order to recoup.
Exactly the rules of the game are unknown, the available information is incomplete and contradictory. The main source of information is the 11th century Khorezmian scholar Al-Biruni, which contains only an incomplete description of the shaturangi. In addition, the rules of the Shaturanga certainly had local variations and, quite definitely, changed over time.
Due to the low mobility of the pieces, the chaturanga party lasted very long - 100 to 200 moves.
In the game for four players, sets of figures of four colors were used: black, green, yellow and red. They played a couple for a couple. Each set contained eight pieces: a raja (king), an elephant, a horse, a chariot (an analogue of a rook) and four pawns. Players took places on the sides of the playing field. The figures lined up in the lower left corner of the board (relative to the player). On the first line (from the player): an elephant in the corner, followed by a horse, chariot and rajah. On the second line is a row of pawns.
The goal of the game was the conditional destruction of the entire army of the enemy. The party continued until the destruction of all the figures of one of the parties. In a two-player game, the victory was also achieved by taking an enemy king. There were no such concepts as check, mate and pat. Taking all the pieces, except the king (denying the king) was also a victory, except when the enemy could take your last piece with the next move. Then a draw was declared. In addition, Shaturaga had a number of features.
So, for example, the right of the “first move” was determined by the number that fell when throwing a game dice (the progenitor of a modern game dice with points from 1 to 6). The player before the move threw a dice and the value that fell out indicated the figure with which he must make a move.
Judging by historical sources, Shaturanga was invented in India, where it was a game, mainly of intellectuals of higher castes. No information about the official competitions in those days has not been preserved. There are no records of games played. Shaturanga existed in India until the beginning of the 20th century and, according to the Bengali author Raghunanda (XV-XVI centuries), eventually became known as “chaturraja” - “the game of four kings”.
In VI or, possibly, in the VII century, chaturanga came to China, as well as to Persia (Iran). In China, the version of the game for two players was significantly transformed, eventually becoming a Chinese siangqi. In the countries of the Arab East, chaturanga has been modified for several centuries, retaining, however, the main features. In the end, a descendant game appeared - Shatranj, which later turned into chess.
In addition, SHATURANGA was originally a gamble. Before the start of the game, all the players put a certain amount of money on the line. Winnings shared between the winners.
Gambling was banned in the early periods of Hindu culture. This is stated in the ninth book of the Law of Manu:
“Let Vladyka punish bodily, at his discretion, both the player and the host of the playing establishment, even if they deal with non-living objects, such as bones or shaturanga, or with living creatures, for example, fighting roosters to the blood and fighting of rams.”
Players bypassed the requirements of this law by abandoning dys. After that, the game has a number of changes:
First, in the game, the allied forces merged into a single army. The game was transformed into a game for two. The game for two players used two sets of pieces. Each set contained eight pawns, two bishops, two knights, two chariots, a rajah and an adviser (vizier) - an analogue of a queen. The order of building figures before the game has become the same as in modern chess.
Second, the figure of the Allied rajah after descending to the adviser (vizier) lost some of her “influence” on the gameplay.
Third, the method of moving figures of chariots (ratha) and elephants (hasti) across the playing field has changed.
After the introduction of such transformations, the game ceased to be called Shaturanga and turned into the initial version of medieval chess - Shatranzh.
Shatrange
Shatranj was formed in the VII-VIII century in the Arab East, as a modified version of the shaturangi, which came from India.
The poet Ferdowsi in his poem "Shahnameh" told about how chess games appeared in Persia:
“An embassy from the ruler Hind arrived at the court of Shah Shosros I. After the exchange of courtesies, Ambassador Hind presented the Shah many gifts, among which was an amazing checkered board, on which bizarre carved figures stood. The ambassador invited the shah and his wise men to understand the rules of this game, and then the supreme ruler Hind recognized him as his superior ruler. The board was shown to all the courtiers, and one day later, one of them (according to the poem, Buzurdzhamikhr) guessed the secret of this game. The rulers of ancient India recognized their vassalage from Persia.
Most likely the day went to bribe the ambassador to learn from him the rules of the game.
In subsequent years, Shatranj penetrated throughout the Arab world and into Byzantium.
Already in the 9th century, the game was extremely popular in Central Asia. Shatranj was played by representatives of all social strata. There were recognized masters of the game, it had its own hierarchy of classes of players. The theory was actively developed. There were books that teach the art of Shatranj. Mansubas were popular (tasks, mainly for quick win combinations). “Chess legends” have survived, in which a dramatic story (for example, a player who put something last, especially expensive, and ended up in the last game in a position that looks hopeless) was connected with a task, the solution of which was usually achieved by an unexpected and beautiful combination .
Shatranj's organic flaw is a lack of dynamism, especially in the opening, caused by the weakness of the figures inherited from chaturanga. At the beginning of the game, players could make moves for a long time, without coming into contact with the opponent. In order to revive the game, Arab masters began to use tabia - artificially formed conditional positions, usually more or less symmetrical, in which the players' chances were approximately equal, as in the initial position of the game. By agreement, the players started the game not from the starting position, but from one of the tabies, so that you can immediately proceed to action. Tabias were common everywhere, they were used very widely, which is indicated by the fact: when fragments from games played from the initial position, without tabias, were given in the books, this was always noted.
There was a rather interesting form of the game in the Shatranj: the master developed the position and offered to those who wish to play with him from this position on the bet, and the opponent was offered to choose for himself what color to play. For such games, positions were developed in which, at first glance, one of the sides had a serious advantage, however, this advantage could be reduced by some unexpected move.
In the 9th century, during the conquest of Spain by the Arabs, Shatranj fell into Western Europe, where it became modern chess. At the same time or a little earlier, through Central Asia, the game hit Russia, already under the modern name “chess”, which was accepted by the Persians and Tajiks.
Shatranj was played on a square board measuring 8x8 fields, similar to a chess board. The game was attended by two players, each of them had one set of pieces of his own color (black and white). The set includes: king, queen, two bishops, two knights, two rooks, eight pawns. At the beginning of the game, the pieces are located on opposite sides of the board, completely analogous to classic chess, except that kings and queens could be swapped (but the kings in any case had to stand opposite each other).
The order of moves in SATRANGE is close to modern chess.
The first move is made by the player playing white pieces. Then the moves are made in turn. You can not skip a move. Each turn consists of movement in accordance with the rules of one of its pieces. A figure can be placed on an empty board field or on a field occupied by an opponent figure. In the second case, the opponent's figure is considered taken, removed from the board and no longer participates in the game.
The winner is the player who has mated the opponent's king or placed him in a stalemate position. In addition, the player is declared the winner in the case of taking the last piece of the opponent (leaving him with a naked king, in some versions of the Shatranj draw could be declared if the opponent also took the last piece in response).
Shatrange figures are almost identical to modern chess pieces, but the rules of the move are slightly different:
The king (shah) goes to the same field in any direction. The situation when the king is under combat (can be taken by the enemy on the next turn) is called a “check”. The player, whose king was under the check, should take him out from under the check by the next move, it is impossible to make other moves, leaving the king under the check.
The rook (rukh) moves vertically or horizontally to any number of fields.
A knight (faras) is similar to a chess knight (it is the only figure, the rules of which have not changed for the entire period from a knoll to a modern chess).
An elephant (alfil) walks diagonally through one field, and the field through which the move is made can be occupied (in modern chess, an elephant can only walk on a free diagonal to any number of fields). Very weak figure, could walk only on eight fields of a board (a modern elephant can walk on half of fields).
The queen (queen) walks and beats diagonally across one field (in modern chess the queen can walk on any number of fields in any direction, except in the case when another piece blocks the queen's path).
A pawn (canoe) moves only forward one field, or beats diagonally one field forward. A pawn that has reached the end of the board turns into a queen. With the first move, the new queen had the right to go to the second field vertically or diagonally, regardless of whether this field was occupied.
According to the rules of Shatranja, the castling of the king and the rook was not allowed (appeared in the much later rules of chess).
Today we know the following options for Shatranj:
Shatranj Kamil I is a variant of the game on a 10x10 board with two camels, additional figures that are the orthogonal analogue of elephants. Perhaps this is the very first version of chess on an enlarged board with non-traditional figures.
Shatranj Kamil II is a variant of a 10x10 board game with two combat vehicles (siege weapons) that have the same moves as the king.
The citadel was also played on a 10x10 board, but there were additional fields ("citadels") in the corners. In addition, the game was attended by additional figures of combat vehicles, having the same moves as the modern elephant.
Extended chess - has the same pieces as the usual Shatranj, but is played on a 4x16 board. Often played with hex bones, limiting the moves of figures.
Byzantine chess - the game is played by ordinary figures, but on a round board. There is also a modern version with the same board, but with modern figures and rules (circular chess).
Four seasons is a four-player chatranj on a regular board.
Tamerlane's chess is a variation of the 11x10 board game with strongholds, several types of additional pieces and various pawns (apparently various types of troops for the infantry were introduced). The invention of the game is attributed directly to Tamerlan.
Courier chess (Courier chess) is a European version of the 12x8 board game with several kinds of additional pieces, including a courier with a modern elephant move.
Many researchers believe that classical chess appeared precisely because of the courier's chess.
Thus, having passed a series of modifications, the CHESS game appeared in Europe and the Middle East. But chess movements went not only to the West. With merchants, travelers and conquerors, ancient chess games penetrated into Asia. Here, the rules of these games were mixed with the rules of local national games, imbued with the eyes of the inhabitants of this region and the idea of ​​strategic games.
In Southeast Asia, exciting and original games of Xiangqi (China), Makruk (Thailand), and Shogi (Japan) have appeared. . .
Now, in many offices, collective board games are specially held, which help to distract from the routine (than to increase labor productivity) and positively influence the establishment of good relations in the team. This article will give a brief insight into the history of the emergence of one of the main games of mankind - CHESS.
In its present form, such a famous and famous board game like chess did not appear immediately. Before the familiar version of all the board game had to go through a series of changes and forms. Currently, "chess" is a whole class of games.
Some of the board games of this class are independent, original and significantly different from the modern representation of chess.
In addition to the well-known classic chess, there are a large number of other variants of the chess game. There are national versions of chess, for example, syantsi, shogi, changi, makruk, which are widespread in South Asia. Some variants use additional figures and / or unusual boards, for example, there are variants on large boards, on round boards, with figures combining the moves of a horse and a rook and / or a horse and an elephant, with the Maharajah (a figure combining the moves of a queen and a horse ) instead of the queen, hexagonal chess (played on a hexagonal board consisting of hexagonal fields).
There are chess for more than two players: three- and four-sided chess, in which three or four players play for one board (a pair for a couple or each for himself), each controlling their own set of pieces, as well as “command” chess options, where the game A team is led to a team on one or several boards, and the course of the game is influenced by the actions of more than one player from each team (for example, Swedish chess).
Many "chess composers", as well as scientists, amateur chess players and professionals were fond of inventing new variants of chess. Known, for example, Capablanca chess - on a 10 Ă— 8 board, with two new pieces. Recently, Fisher's chess has become increasingly popular, in which the game is played according to the classical rules, but with a random initial arrangement of pieces on the last row. In part of the options, the rules remained unchanged (or minimally modified), and only the initial placement of figures was changed. In addition to the already mentioned chess Fisher and free chess, these are the kingces and battle chess.
According to Robert Bell’s classification, chess belongs to the eponymous group of board games and is a “war game”.
In the group "Chess" you can select the following games:
- Shaturanga (chaturanga);
- Shatranj;
- circular chess (a type of shatranj);
- courier chess (another kind of shatranj);
- Maharajah and Sipai;
- Chinese chess (Xiangqi);
- Japanese chess (shogi);
- jungle game;
- Tibetan chess.
Each of these games is conducted, as a rule, on a square field divided into squares and / or lined in accordance with the requirements of the rules of the game.
And so, let's start with the consideration of the games of the progenitors of SHAKHMAT. Let us turn to the history of the Ancient East.
')
SHATURANGA (CHATURANGA)
In the agricultural areas of ancient India, the TAAYAM game was popular among the population during the ripening of the harvest. It was played on a square field consisting of 64 squares, which were marked on simple ground. The game itself does not belong to the class of chess games and was a pursuit game in which the figures moved counterclockwise across the field in order to reach the center of the field as soon as possible. Which of the players first brought their pieces from the field, then won.
Approximately in the 5th century AD, on the board for the game, TAAYAM began to play a new game, SHATURANGU, which in miniature represents a battle of four armies, each of which is controlled by its own commander (in the original rajah) and consists of four branches of service: infantry, cavalry, fighting elephants and fighting boats (I think our name for this figure is “rook” is related to this).
SHATURANGA (in some sources - CHATURANGA) is an ancient Indian game, considered the progenitor of chess, shogi and many other games. Shaturanga is a game common in the East and later coming to Europe, from which modern chess originated.
The name "Shaturanga" is translated as "four component" and is presumably due to the fact that initially it was played four together. Shaturanga in ancient India was called the army, consisting of war chariots (ratha) and elephants (hasti), cavalry (ashwa) and foot soldiers (padati). The game symbolized the battle with the participation of four types of troops, which was led by the leader (rajah).
The game was attended by four players, and the "battle" on the playing field was organized between the unions of players (the game "two by two").
Description SHATURANGI is present in one of the earliest works in Sanskrit, the Bhavishia Purana.
In this work, the story is told that one of the rulers lost all his property (including his wife) to the bone. After that, he went to his old friend to master the mysteries of the game of shaturangu in order to recoup.
Exactly the rules of the game are unknown, the available information is incomplete and contradictory. The main source of information is the 11th century Khorezmian scholar Al-Biruni, which contains only an incomplete description of the shaturangi. In addition, the rules of the Shaturanga certainly had local variations and, quite definitely, changed over time.
Due to the low mobility of the pieces, the chaturanga party lasted very long - 100 to 200 moves.
In the game for four players, sets of figures of four colors were used: black, green, yellow and red. They played a couple for a couple. Each set contained eight pieces: a raja (king), an elephant, a horse, a chariot (an analogue of a rook) and four pawns. Players took places on the sides of the playing field. The figures lined up in the lower left corner of the board (relative to the player). On the first line (from the player): an elephant in the corner, followed by a horse, chariot and rajah. On the second line is a row of pawns.
The goal of the game was the conditional destruction of the entire army of the enemy. The party continued until the destruction of all the figures of one of the parties. In a two-player game, the victory was also achieved by taking an enemy king. There were no such concepts as check, mate and pat. Taking all the pieces, except the king (denying the king) was also a victory, except when the enemy could take your last piece with the next move. Then a draw was declared. In addition, Shaturaga had a number of features.
So, for example, the right of the “first move” was determined by the number that fell when throwing a game dice (the progenitor of a modern game dice with points from 1 to 6). The player before the move threw a dice and the value that fell out indicated the figure with which he must make a move.
Judging by historical sources, Shaturanga was invented in India, where it was a game, mainly of intellectuals of higher castes. No information about the official competitions in those days has not been preserved. There are no records of games played. Shaturanga existed in India until the beginning of the 20th century and, according to the Bengali author Raghunanda (XV-XVI centuries), eventually became known as “chaturraja” - “the game of four kings”.
In VI or, possibly, in the VII century, chaturanga came to China, as well as to Persia (Iran). In China, the version of the game for two players was significantly transformed, eventually becoming a Chinese siangqi. In the countries of the Arab East, chaturanga has been modified for several centuries, retaining, however, the main features. In the end, a descendant game appeared - Shatranj, which later turned into chess.
In addition, SHATURANGA was originally a gamble. Before the start of the game, all the players put a certain amount of money on the line. Winnings shared between the winners.
Gambling was banned in the early periods of Hindu culture. This is stated in the ninth book of the Law of Manu:
“Let Vladyka punish bodily, at his discretion, both the player and the host of the playing establishment, even if they deal with non-living objects, such as bones or shaturanga, or with living creatures, for example, fighting roosters to the blood and fighting of rams.”
Players bypassed the requirements of this law by abandoning dys. After that, the game has a number of changes:
First, in the game, the allied forces merged into a single army. The game was transformed into a game for two. The game for two players used two sets of pieces. Each set contained eight pawns, two bishops, two knights, two chariots, a rajah and an adviser (vizier) - an analogue of a queen. The order of building figures before the game has become the same as in modern chess.
Second, the figure of the Allied rajah after descending to the adviser (vizier) lost some of her “influence” on the gameplay.
Third, the method of moving figures of chariots (ratha) and elephants (hasti) across the playing field has changed.
After the introduction of such transformations, the game ceased to be called Shaturanga and turned into the initial version of medieval chess - Shatranzh.
Shatrange
Shatranj was formed in the VII-VIII century in the Arab East, as a modified version of the shaturangi, which came from India.
The poet Ferdowsi in his poem "Shahnameh" told about how chess games appeared in Persia:
“An embassy from the ruler Hind arrived at the court of Shah Shosros I. After the exchange of courtesies, Ambassador Hind presented the Shah many gifts, among which was an amazing checkered board, on which bizarre carved figures stood. The ambassador invited the shah and his wise men to understand the rules of this game, and then the supreme ruler Hind recognized him as his superior ruler. The board was shown to all the courtiers, and one day later, one of them (according to the poem, Buzurdzhamikhr) guessed the secret of this game. The rulers of ancient India recognized their vassalage from Persia.
Most likely the day went to bribe the ambassador to learn from him the rules of the game.
In subsequent years, Shatranj penetrated throughout the Arab world and into Byzantium.
Already in the 9th century, the game was extremely popular in Central Asia. Shatranj was played by representatives of all social strata. There were recognized masters of the game, it had its own hierarchy of classes of players. The theory was actively developed. There were books that teach the art of Shatranj. Mansubas were popular (tasks, mainly for quick win combinations). “Chess legends” have survived, in which a dramatic story (for example, a player who put something last, especially expensive, and ended up in the last game in a position that looks hopeless) was connected with a task, the solution of which was usually achieved by an unexpected and beautiful combination .
Shatranj's organic flaw is a lack of dynamism, especially in the opening, caused by the weakness of the figures inherited from chaturanga. At the beginning of the game, players could make moves for a long time, without coming into contact with the opponent. In order to revive the game, Arab masters began to use tabia - artificially formed conditional positions, usually more or less symmetrical, in which the players' chances were approximately equal, as in the initial position of the game. By agreement, the players started the game not from the starting position, but from one of the tabies, so that you can immediately proceed to action. Tabias were common everywhere, they were used very widely, which is indicated by the fact: when fragments from games played from the initial position, without tabias, were given in the books, this was always noted.
There was a rather interesting form of the game in the Shatranj: the master developed the position and offered to those who wish to play with him from this position on the bet, and the opponent was offered to choose for himself what color to play. For such games, positions were developed in which, at first glance, one of the sides had a serious advantage, however, this advantage could be reduced by some unexpected move.
In the 9th century, during the conquest of Spain by the Arabs, Shatranj fell into Western Europe, where it became modern chess. At the same time or a little earlier, through Central Asia, the game hit Russia, already under the modern name “chess”, which was accepted by the Persians and Tajiks.
Shatranj was played on a square board measuring 8x8 fields, similar to a chess board. The game was attended by two players, each of them had one set of pieces of his own color (black and white). The set includes: king, queen, two bishops, two knights, two rooks, eight pawns. At the beginning of the game, the pieces are located on opposite sides of the board, completely analogous to classic chess, except that kings and queens could be swapped (but the kings in any case had to stand opposite each other).
The order of moves in SATRANGE is close to modern chess.
The first move is made by the player playing white pieces. Then the moves are made in turn. You can not skip a move. Each turn consists of movement in accordance with the rules of one of its pieces. A figure can be placed on an empty board field or on a field occupied by an opponent figure. In the second case, the opponent's figure is considered taken, removed from the board and no longer participates in the game.
The winner is the player who has mated the opponent's king or placed him in a stalemate position. In addition, the player is declared the winner in the case of taking the last piece of the opponent (leaving him with a naked king, in some versions of the Shatranj draw could be declared if the opponent also took the last piece in response).
Shatrange figures are almost identical to modern chess pieces, but the rules of the move are slightly different:
The king (shah) goes to the same field in any direction. The situation when the king is under combat (can be taken by the enemy on the next turn) is called a “check”. The player, whose king was under the check, should take him out from under the check by the next move, it is impossible to make other moves, leaving the king under the check.
The rook (rukh) moves vertically or horizontally to any number of fields.
A knight (faras) is similar to a chess knight (it is the only figure, the rules of which have not changed for the entire period from a knoll to a modern chess).
An elephant (alfil) walks diagonally through one field, and the field through which the move is made can be occupied (in modern chess, an elephant can only walk on a free diagonal to any number of fields). Very weak figure, could walk only on eight fields of a board (a modern elephant can walk on half of fields).
The queen (queen) walks and beats diagonally across one field (in modern chess the queen can walk on any number of fields in any direction, except in the case when another piece blocks the queen's path).
A pawn (canoe) moves only forward one field, or beats diagonally one field forward. A pawn that has reached the end of the board turns into a queen. With the first move, the new queen had the right to go to the second field vertically or diagonally, regardless of whether this field was occupied.
According to the rules of Shatranja, the castling of the king and the rook was not allowed (appeared in the much later rules of chess).
Today we know the following options for Shatranj:
Shatranj Kamil I is a variant of the game on a 10x10 board with two camels, additional figures that are the orthogonal analogue of elephants. Perhaps this is the very first version of chess on an enlarged board with non-traditional figures.
Shatranj Kamil II is a variant of a 10x10 board game with two combat vehicles (siege weapons) that have the same moves as the king.
The citadel was also played on a 10x10 board, but there were additional fields ("citadels") in the corners. In addition, the game was attended by additional figures of combat vehicles, having the same moves as the modern elephant.
Extended chess - has the same pieces as the usual Shatranj, but is played on a 4x16 board. Often played with hex bones, limiting the moves of figures.
Byzantine chess - the game is played by ordinary figures, but on a round board. There is also a modern version with the same board, but with modern figures and rules (circular chess).
Four seasons is a four-player chatranj on a regular board.
Tamerlane's chess is a variation of the 11x10 board game with strongholds, several types of additional pieces and various pawns (apparently various types of troops for the infantry were introduced). The invention of the game is attributed directly to Tamerlan.
Courier chess (Courier chess) is a European version of the 12x8 board game with several kinds of additional pieces, including a courier with a modern elephant move.
Many researchers believe that classical chess appeared precisely because of the courier's chess.
Thus, having passed a series of modifications, the CHESS game appeared in Europe and the Middle East. But chess movements went not only to the West. With merchants, travelers and conquerors, ancient chess games penetrated into Asia. Here, the rules of these games were mixed with the rules of local national games, imbued with the eyes of the inhabitants of this region and the idea of ​​strategic games.
In Southeast Asia, exciting and original games of Xiangqi (China), Makruk (Thailand), and Shogi (Japan) have appeared. . .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/390217/
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