History of the game of chess

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Johann Erdmann Hummel : The game of chess , 1818–1819

There are different views on the origin and early history of the game of chess . Above all India , but also Persia and sometimes China are named as the countries of origin. The period of presumed origin varies between the 3rd and 6th centuries. There are numerous legends surrounding the invention of the game , the most famous of which is the legend of the wheat grain . Chess has been documented in Persia since the 6th century. It spread in the 7th century as part of the Islamic expansion in the Middle East and North Africa. About the Moorish Spain , Italy , the Byzantine Empire and Russia play between the 9th and 11th centuries came to Western Europe , where it is in the High Middle Ages the one hand, one of the seven knightly virtues, learned the other ecclesiastical disapproval.

In the 15th century the rules of the game changed drastically, so that since then we can speak of modern chess as it is played today. Spain (16th century), Italy (late 16th and 17th centuries), France (late 18th and early 19th centuries), England (mid 19th century), Germany and Austria-Hungary (late 19th and early 20th century) Century) and the Soviet Union or Russia (mid-20th century to the present day) subsequently replaced themselves as leading European chess nations. Since the middle of the 19th century there were regular chess tournaments. In 1886 the first official world championship was held with the winner Wilhelm Steinitz . In 1924 the world chess federation FIDE was founded. At the end of the 20th century, the development of powerful chess programs began , which have exceeded the level of the world's best players since the first decade of the 2000s. A very extensive collection on the historical and current situation of chess in Germany is located in the Lower Saxony Institute for Sports History in Hanover.

Origin of the game of chess

It is unlikely that the game of chess was invented by a single person at any given time. Not only is it too complex for that, but it also contains too many elements from different cultures, languages ​​and times. The game of chess in its current form is a result of the creative power of many peoples.

There are numerous theories that the game of chess can be traced back to older predecessor games, be it the Indian racing game Ashtapada played with dice , the Chinese Xiangqi , which is related to chess , to the approximately 3000 year old original game Liubo . With this approach, the difficulty arises in defining the hour of birth of chess, because these early forerunners differ so greatly from chess in terms of rules, tactics and character that it is difficult to speak of the same game. The sources are also very sparse and cannot be unequivocally associated with the game of chess.

There are many legends surrounding the invention of the game of chess. Most of them are very old and come from the Persian and Arab cultures. The Persian poet Firdausi (940-1020) is a rich source of chess legends. The most famous legend is the wheat grain legend , which can be understood as an homage to the game of chess, as a clear mathematical teaching example or as a socially critical parable.

Formation of Chaturanga and Chatrang in the 6th century

Classical chess research assumes that the game of chess originated in India and gradually developed from the racing game Ashtapada , played with dice on an 8 × 8 board , via a possible proto chess to Chaturanga , initially played by four and later by two . The Chaturanga came to the Persian Empire and was phonetically adapted to Chatrang ("ch" = / t͡ʃ /). This view goes back essentially to two chess researchers of the 19th century, Antonius van der Linde and Von der Lasa , and culminated in 1913 in the comprehensive "A history of Chess" by the Englishman HJR Murray. In recent years, the counter-thesis has emerged that the country of origin was China and that our chess game is a derivative (and not vice versa) of the Chinese chess Xiangqi. However, this view taken by David H. Li is rejected as essentially insubstantial.

Mongolian Shatar

In the early development phase, there were various variants of the game that were played with different characters and on both 8 × 8 and 10 × 10 boards. The Shatranj al-Kamil ( Shatrandsch al-Kamil) is just one example . It seems like the same game could be played on both smaller and larger boards, with new pieces added as needed. The same boards were also used for other games. Traces of this diversity can be found in the many chess variants that still exist today, such as the Xiangqi in China, the Janggi in Korea, the Shogi in Japan, the Shatar and Hiashatar in Mongolia , the Chandraki in Tibet , the Makruk in Thailand , the Ouk Chatrang in Cambodia or the Sittuyin in Burma . Over time, the 8 × 8 board seems to have established itself. Some relics of the additional figures of the 10 × 10 board could have been preserved in the path of Xianqi with the figure of the cannon.

In the process of forming the chaturanga or chatrang, the most likely scenario is a merging of different elements. Old racing games, the remnants of which have been preserved in the gait of the farmers, were combined with games with jumping figures, whose gait can be borrowed from older and completely different games, and on existing 8 × 8 and 10 × 10 game boards transferred, with the 8 × 8 board prevailing. This development was completed in the 6th or 7th century at the latest and took place in the broadest sense in Central Asia , in the cultural and economic sphere of influence of India, Persia and western China and via the transport and trade network of the Silk Road . The various elements of the game of chess are revealed in the type of board, the gait of the pieces, the military character of the game and the etymology .

The oldest written mention of Chaturanga in Sanskrit can be found in the Harshacharita , written by the Indian court poet Bana around 625-640. It is the official story of King Sri Harsha of Kanauj, who ruled a powerful kingdom in Gangestal and was known to have converted to Buddhism. Bana describes the peace that ensued throughout the country: “ Under this ruler only the bees fought to collect the honeydew; the only feet that were cut off were those of the measurements, and only from Ashtâpada could one learn to derive Chaturanga, there was no division of the convicted criminals into quarters ... ”. The text is full of puns and ambiguities, making it difficult to interpret. With Ashtapada, the 8 × 8 board is usually assumed. Chaturanga could refer to both the army and the game here. Others are of the opinion that the forerunner of the game of chess is mentioned in this passage.

The oldest chess pieces, which can be clearly assessed as such, come from Central Asia, more precisely from the area around Samarkand , an important junction of the Silk Road; the finds were made in Afrasiab (around 761), Fergana and Nishapur (9th – 10th centuries).

etymology

  • Chaturanga: The Indian word Chaturanga means "four elements" or "four parts". This term was used to describe the Indian army, which was composed of the four elements infantry (Sainik: soldier), cavalry (Ashwa: horse), chariots (Rath) and elephants (Haathi). This form of the army was common from about the 4th century BC to the 7th century AD, which roughly delimits the time frame for the creation of a game that aims to be an image of this army. The mention of "Chaturanga" in ancient Indian texts is believed to refer to the army rather than the game named after it.
  • Chatrang: The Persian word Chatrang is usually assumed to be derived from the Indian Chaturanga. Despite the similarity, this does not necessarily have to be the case, because Chatrang denotes (then as now) the mandrake , a plant with a root that resembles a human figure - a conceivable name for a game played with figures that would have arisen independently and can be transferred to the game.
  • Shatrandsch: When the Arabs conquered the Persian Empire in the 7th century, they also got to know the Chatrang and adapted the name of their language, since the sounds 'ch' (= / t͡ʃ /) and 'g' do not exist in Arabic. From IM Rank was Shatranj (ger .: Shatranj).
  • Schach / Schah / Radscha : The German name Schach is derived from the Persian word Schah (king) and, despite its sound similarity, has nothing to do with Chaturanga, Chatrang or Shatranj. In Chaturanga the figure was also called King: Raja, which was simply translated into Persian.
  • Xiangqi: Xiangqi ( Chinese   象棋 ) is the name of Chinese chess. The translation involves some difficulties, so that ultimately it cannot be said with absolute certainty what the combination of characters in historical texts refers to. The meaning of the Chinese characters often changed regionally and over time and can usually only be determined through precise knowledge of the author of the text. The word Xiang ( 象 ) means elephant, portrait, phenomenon, ivory, star arrangement, omen, action, play as well as official interpreter . Qi ( 棋 ) stands for chess pieces, chess , but also for similar games. Most of the time, Qi means the whole game itself. Xiangqi as a whole is usually translated as elephant game, ivory game or symbol chess . Sam Sloan, an advocate of the Chinese origins of the game of chess, believes the term is similar to Chatrang and is its etymological root.
  • Fers / Firzan / Farzin : Fers is the Persian word for general and replaced the Indian minister usual in Chaturanga. The Arabs adapted the term to their sound system, making Fers Firsan or Farsin.
  • Pil / Fil / al-Fil : The Persians called the elephant in chess Pil, which is neither Indian nor Persian. In Arabic, pil became fil and, along with the article, al-fil.
  • Ruch: Ruch was the name given to the character of the chariot, today's tower. The etymology is unclear and the root word may not be Persian. But Ruch / Roch was the name for the mythical bird Sên-Murv in Old Persian, Simurgh in New Persian. The overpowering bird, as it appears in the Sindbad saga, was able to carry away an elephant or a camel, which would suit the tower's mighty gait in chess. Occasionally, Ruch is translated as 'hero'. The word lives on in castling and the English term rook for the rook.

The following table shows the names of the figures as they came to Europe from Indian via Persian and Arabic:

Comparison of the Indian, Persian, Arabic, Latin, English, French and German names of the figures
Sanskrit Persian Arabic Latin English French German
Raja (King) Shah Shah Rex King Roi king
Mantri (minister) Vazir ( Wezir ) Firz Regina Queen lady lady
Gajah (war elephant) Fil (elephant) al-Fil Episcopus / Comes / Calvus Bishop / Count Fou runner
Ashva (horse) Asb (horse) Fars Miles / Eques Knight Cavalier Jumper
Ratha (chariot) Roch Ruch Rochus / Marchio Rook trip tower
Padati (foot soldier) Piadeh Baidaq Pedes / Pedinus Pawn Pion Farmer

The gait of the figures

  • The farmer : His gait is very reminiscent of the old Indian racing games and could actually be a relic of them. What they have in common with the racing games is the impossibility to move backwards or anything but straight ahead, as well as the transformation when reaching the end of the board. The side hitting is interpreted as a consequence of the integration of this figure into a new game. The fact that the pawn is the only piece to hit differently than moves is a strong indication that he comes from a different source than the other pieces.
  • The King : Gerhard Josten, a researcher from the Königstein initiative group, takes the view that the king's pace could be borrowed from the very old game of Go . However, in the game of Go, the stones are only placed, not drawn, and they do not appear diagonal.
  • Jumper and elephant : (The current runner only replaced the earlier figure with the game reform at the end of the 15th century.) The origin of the gait of these figures is particularly controversial. Several theories also assume divinities and astrological derivations.

Chess in Persia: Chatrang

Chess in Persia

There are only a few reports about the game of chess, its players, as well as its status and spread in society in the Sassanid Empire before the conquest by the Arabs. The only contemporary source that goes beyond the mere mention of the game is the text Wizârišn î chatrang ud nihišm î nêw-ardaxšîr (The Declaration of Chess and the Invention of Nard ), also known as Mâdayân î chatrang, in Pahlavi (Middle Persian) , or Chatrang-namak for short (book of chess). According to this story, that as was war game called Chat rank at the time Chosraus I. (531-579) from an Indian delegation of the king Divsaram , the Raja of Hindustan , brought as a gift and a challenge to Persia. The names of the characters are given: shah (king), rukh , farzin (general), pil (elephant), asp (horse) and piyadak (foot soldier). The Chatrang-namak also mentions two players, Takhtaritus and Wajurgmitr, the latter being said to have been superior. Almost the same story can be found around 400 years later in the Persian "national epic " Schahname by the poet Firdausi . The list of the figures is also mentioned here. It is not known whether he was referring to the Chatrang-namak or whether other sources were available to him. On the other hand, there is no information in either text about the style of play, which was still unknown in Persia at the time, and which Bozorgmehr , the Persian Chancellor and personal physician Chosraus, is said to have discovered to save his master's honor.

Two other Middle Persian sources mention the early game of chess: The Kârnâmak-i Ardeshir-i Pâpakân (Book of the Deeds of Ardaschir, son of Papak), an epic treatise on King Ardaschir I , the founder of the Sassanid Empire. It was written between 224 and 651. The chatrang is mentioned in only one place: "With the help of Providentia [Providentia], he [Ardashir] became more victorious and warlike than anyone, in polo and the racetrack, in chatrang and wine artakhshir, and in a number of other arts. "

The Khūsraw ud Rēdag (Chosrau and the Page) acts at the court of Chosraus I .; Chatrang is mentioned there together with other games ( "ud pad Čatrang ud new-ardaxšî r ud haštpay kardan az hamahlan fraztar hom" = something like : "... and by playing Chatrang, Backgammon and Hashtpay [= game from Sassanian times] I am superior to my colleagues. ").

In all of these texts, one cannot distinguish between poetry and truth. However, they do provide information that at the time of their writing a game called Chatrang was known and that it apparently had a high social status, so that a king or hero was required to master it. The time of Chosraus I seems to be the focus. His interest in culture is well known and it is conceivable that he himself made a significant contribution to the establishment of the chatrang. As later Arabic sources suggest, Chatrang was mainly played with red ( ruby ) and green ( emerald ) stones. Games from this time have not survived. The game seems to have spread like lightning in the Sassanid Empire. Even after its conquest by the Arabs, the Persian culture remained influential for the entire region and contributed to the Arab prosperity. This also applies to the game of chess, which received its ideological stamping here, which characterized it until the late Middle Ages.

Chess with the Arabs: Shatranj

Ludwig Deutsch: game of chess

The Arabs conquered the Sassanid Empire between 632 and 651. It is undisputed that they came into contact with the game of chess during this period. The game of chess, which by phonetic adaptation was now called Shatranj , had its first great heyday among the Arabs . As a "player of the highest class" was al-Adli (approx. 800-870), who wrote the first chess treatise. He was followed by ar-Razi (approx. 825–860), Mawardi (around 900), as-Suli (880–946) and al-Ladschladsch (around 970). We owe important literary sources to Firdausi and al-Mas'udi . A rich collection of opening ( tabijen ) and endgame positions ( mansubs ) developed. Problem art became an important part of Shatrandsch.

The Arabs also contributed significantly to the spread of the game of chess.

Distribution in Europe

The game of chess came to Europe in various ways. One of the first contacts was probably made through the Eastern Roman Empire , especially Constantinople . Byzantine chess, Zatrikion , differs significantly from Schatrandsch. The Varangians then brought the game from Constantinople ("Miklagard") to Russia , where it has been played since the beginning of the 8th century . The game of chess came to Spain via the Moors in the 9th century. The oldest European text that contains the rules of the game of chess is the early medieval Latin chess poem Versus de Scachis by an unknown author of the 10th century. It was probably created between 900 and 950 in northern Italy. The rhyming poem by the Judenspanic poet-philosopher Abraham ibn Ezra (1089–1164) , written in Hebrew, dates from the 12th century . In the 13th century , a famous game manuscript on chess, backgammon and the game of dice, called Libro de los Juegos , was written on behalf of Alphonso X of Spain . From Spain, chess spread to Italy and Provence . This is where the names of very old openings come from, for example the Spanish part and the Italian part .

Chess was first mentioned in German-speaking literature around 1050. An unknown monk wrote the Latin verse novel Ruodlieb in the monastery of Tegernsee , in which a visitor to the king's court caused a sensation with his mastery in chess.

European Middle Ages

Chess has been one of the seven virtues of knights since the beginning of the 13th century . Jacobus de Cessolis wrote the beginning of the 14th century , the allegorical -moral Font De moribus hominum et officiis nobilium super ludo scaccorum that the oldest Western was heard sources about chess and widely used in the Middle Ages. In the German-speaking area the game and also the chessboard were called Schachzabel . In their wake, popular language chess allegories ( Schachzabel books ) also found widespread use. These books are less about the technique and rules of the game than about an instructive representation of life and society based on a visual comparison with the game of chess.

Archaeological evidence

Chess figures carved out of bones can often be found on castles in Central Europe. A particularly artistically turned wooden figure of a lady or a king comes from Mülenen Castle (Switzerland, Canton Bern). Between 1248 and 1308 chess boards and pieces were made from clay near Bamberg.

Early modern age

The first international chess tournament at the court of King Philip II of Spain in 1575, painting by Luigi Mussini (1886)
A table with two game boards for chess and mill

Towards the end of the 15th century, the rules of the game of chess began to change significantly. The pace of the pawn, the runner and the lady became faster. On his first move, the pawn was now allowed to move two spaces (previously only one), the bishop as far as desired diagonally (previously he jumped two spaces), and the queen was allowed to move as far as desired in all eight directions (previously only one space in a diagonal direction) whereby she suddenly advanced from a relatively weak to the most powerful piece on the board. This completely changed the game. It was the birth of modern chess. The new game required different tactics and different openings. Chess gained pace and popularity at the same time. This development probably took place in Valencia, Spain, between 1470 and 1490 and manifests itself in the Catalan chess poem Scachs d'amor , the oldest document on the new chess. The authors of the poem and at the same time the first known players were Francí de Castellví , Narcís Vinyoles and Bernat Fenollar. In 1495 the Spaniard Francesc Vicent published the first printed chess book with the title Libre dels Jochs Partits dels Schacs en Nombre de 100 ordenat e compost . It was considered lost for a long time until José Antonio Garzón discovered a copy in Italy and published it in his book El regreso de Francesch Vicent: La historia del nacimiento y expansión del ajedrez moderno 2005. It becomes clear that Francesch Vicent was also significantly involved in the creation of the new chess game, if not its actual initiator. In 1497 a chess textbook by Luis Ramírez Lucena was published : Repeticion de Amores e Arte de Axedres con CL Juegos de Partido . The Göttingen manuscript was created around 1500, the authorship and date of which is unclear. It contains twelve game beginnings with the new rules and 30 chess problems. The chess textbook by Pedro Damiano was published in Rome around 1512 with the title: Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de le partite . These first publications mark the beginning of modern chess.

Chess circles were then formed, especially on the Iberian Peninsula and in Italy. Around the middle of the 16th century, the Spaniard Ruy López de Segura was considered the best player in the world. He was defeated in 1575 at the first international chess tournament in history at the court of the Spanish King Philip II in Madrid by the Sicilian Giovanni Leonardo da Cutro , who subsequently also played the best Portuguese player El Morro and, back in Madrid, his Italian compatriot Paolo Boi defeated. Giulio Cesare Polerio was one of the best chess players of her time . These personalities founded the golden age of Italian chess, which ended with Alessandro Salvio and the death of Gioacchino Greco in 1634.

In 1616 the first chess textbook was printed in German: "The Chess or King Game" by Gustavus Selenus . A curiosity from this time are the special rules in the chess village Ströbeck , which were retained until the 19th century , e.g. B. for the pawn conversion.

Around 1700, the Scot Alexander Cunningham was considered the best player in Europe.

From around 1730 to 1780 Italian chess flourished again with the great theorists of the "School of Modena" Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani , Ercole del Rio and Giambattista Lolli . At the same time, a lively chess scene developed in the Café de la Régence in Paris , which gradually overtook and replaced the Italian supremacy in European chess. The new greats in chess were Legall de Kermeur , François-André Danican Philidor , and Verdoni .

In 1769 Wolfgang von Kempelen built the famous Chess Turk .

The Syrian Philipp Stamma , who was active in the 18th century, published several books that characterize the transition between mansubs and modern chess composition by depicting the mostly game-like combinations devised by Stamma.

19th century

Honoré Daumier , chess player , 1863.

In Europe, chess became a favorite game of the middle classes. The rules have hardly changed since the early 19th century . From 1813 the first chess column appeared in the Liverpool Mercury . In 1834, a series of competitions between Alexander McDonnell and Louis de La Bourdonnais took place in London . In 1836 the first specialized chess magazine appeared under the title Le Palamède and in 1846 the German chess newspaper , the first German one , appeared for the first time . As a result, periodical chess literature in the form of chess columns in newspapers and periodicals as well as specialized chess magazines found wide distribution.

The shape of the figure commonly used today , called Staunton , was created by Nathaniel Cook in 1849 , propagated by the then leading player Howard Staunton and adopted by the World Chess Federation ( FIDE ) when it was founded in 1924 . Adolf Anderssen won the international chess tournament in London in 1851. In 1867, mechanical chess clocks were used for the first time in chess tournaments . In Baden-Baden , an international chess tournament was held in Germany for the first time in 1870. The German Chess Federation was founded in 1877 . Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort played in 1886 the first official match for the World Chess Championship .

In the area of ​​chess composition, directions such as the Bohemian School and the Old German School were characterized in the 19th century , in which mate tasks with aesthetic demands or complicated variants were presented. Sam Loyd is considered one of the most popular assignment writers of the second half of the 19th century.

20th century

In 1924, the world chess federation Fédération Internationale des Échecs was founded in Paris . In 1927 the first Chess Olympiad took place in London . After the reigning world champion Alekhine died in 1946, FIDE took over the organization of the world chess championship.

From 1945 onwards the state-sponsored Soviet chess school showed a clear superiority over the western chess masters. Bobby Fischer's victory over Boris Spasski in the so-called Match of the Century was therefore exploited for propaganda purposes during the Cold War .

In 1993 there was a break between FIDE and leading chess players, above all Garri Kasparow and Nigel Short , who subsequently held their own chess tournaments with their own world championship titles.

In the 20th century, international chess tournaments became widespread and national leagues were founded.

Chess composition experienced a further boom in the 20th century. In 1903 Johannes Kohtz and Carl Kockelkorn published the book Das Indische Problem , which is considered to be the birth of the New German School of Chess Composition , which regards logic and purity as its characteristics. The Schwalbe was founded in Germany in 1924 . Under the aegis of the World Chess Federation, a specialized commission, the FIDE Permanent Commission for Chess Composition , began work in 1956 , and the FIDE albums for collecting the best tasks were created. The modern chess study crystallized mainly through Soviet authors. Heterodox tasks such as helpmate , selfmate , fairy chess , Retro Game and Chess mathematics came out niches out and were independent territories.

21st century

In 2006 there was a reunification battle between the divided parties, which was won by Vladimir Kramnik . Since then there has only been one single world chess champion .

Reigning world champion is Magnus Carlsen . He won the world title in 2013 in a duel against the then defending champion Viswanathan Anand . In 2014 , 2016 and 2018 he was able to defend the title.

In the field of chess composition, the Permanent Commission became its own world association in 2010, which is still funded by the world chess association FIDE.

The spread of the Internet , especially the World Wide Web , made it possible in the late 20th and early 21st centuries to establish Internet-based services and to strengthen the networking of the chess world, through which correspondence chess was also widely used outside national organizations on special chess servers, where with Exact time measurement, games with less time to think about the five minutes previously common for blitz games ( e.g. bullet with one minute per player) became popular.

See also

literature

  • Antonius van der Linde : History and literature of the game of chess. First volume. Julius Springer, Berlin 1874 ( digitized ). Second volume. Julius Springer, Berlin 1874 ( digitized ). Reprint: Edition Olms, Zurich 1981, ISBN 3-283-00079-4 .
  • Tassilo von Heydebrand and the Lasa : On the history and literature of the game of chess. Verlag von Veit & Comp., Leipzig 1897 ( digitized version ). Reprint u. a .: Central antiquariat of the German Democratic Republic, Leipzig 1984.
  • Harold James Ruthven Murray : A History of Chess. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1913 ( digitized version ). Reprint: Oxford University Press Reprints, Oxford 2002, ISBN 0-19-827403-3 (English).
  • Reinhard Wieber: The game of chess in Arabic literature from the beginning to the second half of the 16th century . Verlag für Orientkunde Vorndran, Walldorf 1972.
  • Rainer A. Müller : The doctor in the chess game with Jakob von Cessolis. Karl Thiemig, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-521-04135-2 (especially pp. 7-18).
  • Joachim Petzold : Chess. A cultural story . Edition Leipzig, 1986, ISBN 3-17-009405-X .
  • Roswin Finkenzeller, Wilhelm Ziehr, Emil Bührer: Chess, 2000 years, the game, the story, the master games . Parkland-Verlag, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-88059-937-8 .
  • Oliver Plessow: Medieval chess books between game symbolism and the mediation of values ​​- Jacobus de Cessolis's chess treatise in the context of its late medieval reception . Rhema-Verlag, Münster 2007, ISBN 978-3-930454-61-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Banaschak: A story well told is not necessarily true - being a critical assessment of David H. Li's "The Genealogy of Chess"
  2. ^ A b c d John Ayer: A new paradigm for an "Origins of Chess" theory ( Memento of December 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ).
  3. ↑ a b c d Horst Remus: The Origin of Chess and the Silk Road ( Memento from August 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ Jean-Louis Cazaux 'homepage: [1] .
  5. ^ A b Ricardo Calvo : Some Facts to Think About , Madrid 1996.
  6. ↑ G. Ferlito, A. Sanvito: Protochess, 400 BC to 400 AD , in: The Pergamon Chess Monthly 55, 1990, No. 6.
  7. ↑ Peter Banaschak: Facts on the origin of Chinese Chess (Xiangqi 象棋) (PDF; 225 kB), Münster 1997.
  8. ↑ Sam Sloan: What Chess Invented in India? ( Memento of October 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ).
  9. ^ Shapour Suren-Pahlav: CHESS; Iranian or Indian Invention? , 1998.
  10. ^ Initiativgruppe Königstein (IGK) ( Memento from December 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ The dating is uncertain and varies between the 6th and 9th centuries.
  12. ↑ Chatrang Namak in the English translation by JC Tarapore, Bombay 1932.
  13. ↑ Murray, A History of Chess, pp. 150-158.
  14. ^ Peter Lamborn Wilson , Karl Schlamminger: Weaver of Tales. Persian Picture Rugs / Persian tapestries. Linked myths. Callwey, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-7667-0532-6 , pp. 79-139 ( The Kings ), here: pp. 87 f. ( Anuschirawan ).
  15. ^ English translation of the text by Charles F. Horne on CAIS (The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies).
  16. ^ CAIS (The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies), with Engl. Partial translation of the Pahlavi texts
  17. ↑ so Ath-Tha'alibi, Majdi, Al-mustatraf, in Murray, p. 155f.
  18. ↑ Carmen Romeo: The introduction of Chess into Europe ( Memento of August 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), 2006, (English) on Goddesschess.com
  19. ↑ Richard Forster: Swiss Chess Literature 1. Das Schachgedicht zu Einsiedeln (approx. 900/950) , in: Schweizer Schachzeitschrift 2004, Issue 5, pp. 16-17 ( PDF , 83 kB).
  20. ^ Ricardo Calvo: Valencia Spain. The Cradle of European Chess (PDF; 166 kB), Presentation to the CCI, Vienna 1998 (English); and José A. Garzon: La tesis valenciana como cuna del ajedrez moderno. Scachs d'amor (1475) , chap. 7.1.
  21. ↑ George Walker: The Light and Luster of Chess , in: Chess & Chess-Players: Consisting of Original Stories and Sketches, London 1850, (English).
  22. ^ Robert Wodrow: Life of James Wodrow , Edinburgh / London 1828, p. 174.
  23. ↑ Lars Clausen , Hypotheses on a Sociology of Chess , in: Ders., Krasser Sozialer Wandel , Leske + Budrich, Opladen 1994, pp. 130 ff.