The form of chess we play today is just over 500 years old. The Staunton style, the conventional design of chess pieces, have been only around for about a century and a half.
Chess was played many centuries ago in China, India, and Persia. Its origin is unknown. In the eighth century, armies of Arabs known as Moors invaded Persia. The Moors learned chess from the Persians. When the Moors later invaded Spain, the soldiers brought the game of chess with them. Soon the Spanish were playing chess, too. From Spain, chess quickly spread throughout all of Europe. In this migration of the game, some minor variations did occur, but the basic game remained the same.
The old form of chess that existed in Persia long before the arrival of the Moors called shatranj in arabic or chatrang in Persian. The conventional shapes of the ancient chess pieces are rather mysterious. They are observed to be simplified abstractions based on familiar carvings of the pieces they represent:
The King (on elephant back),
King's Counselor (also riding an elephant)
Elephant warrior (the tusks are apparent)
Horse (the protruding nose identifies this piece)
Chariot (a V-shaped groove somehow indicates a chariot).
Like modern chess, each piece has a characteristic move - where many of these moves are similar to that of modern chess.
It was the europeans who gave chess pieces the names we know today. Probably, they had trouble pronouncing and spelling the Persian names. Thus they modernize them, reflecting the way they lived. The names given represented the way in which both ordinary people and persons of rank lived their lives before.
PAWNS: represent serfs, or laborers. They are many in number in the board compared to other pieces. They are often sacrificed to save the more valuable pieces. Serfs were considered to be no more than property of landowners, or chattel. They are left unprotected in war. They were traded, used as a diversion, or even sacrificed to allow the landowners to escape harm.
ROOK: is the home, or the refuge, just as it was a home in medieval times. In chess, each side has two rooks.
KNIGHT: represents the professional soldier of medieval times. Their job was to protect high-rank officials. There are two of them per each side in a game of chess. Knights re more important than pawns, but less important than bishops, kings, or queens.
Bishop: represents the church. During the medieval times, the church was a rich and it possessses great power. Religion played a big role in everyone's life. A bishop is a priest in the Catholic church who had risen through the ranks to a more powerful position. In the game of chess, there are two bishops for each side.
Queen: only woman on the board. She is the most powerful piece in ches. In medieval times, a queen held a powerful, yet precarious position. She often advices the king and in many cases played games of intrigue at the court. She sometimes held more power than the king did.
King: the tallest and most defended on the chessboard as in medieval life. In medieval times, the surrender of the king is equivalent to the loss of the kingdom to invading armies. It was to everyone’s advantage, from the lowest serf to the highest-ranking official, to keep the king safe from harm. The king is the most important, but not the most powerful piece in chess. Once the king is captured, the game of chess ends.
REFERENCES:
Mack, Barbara. (2002). History of chess. Retrived at essortmet web site:
http://www.essortment.com/all/chesshistory_rmct.htm, 24 March 2009.
Knowlton, Rick. How to play shantranj: the chess of the ancient world. Retrieved at ancient chess website:http:// ancientchess.com/page/play-shatranj.htm, 24 March 2009.