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Chaturanga. The first known variant of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Charles Gilman wrote on Sun, May 25, 2003 06:46 AM UTC:

Sam Sloan's website shows a strong perference for a Chinese origin, but I
find an Indian origin more likely. Horses and chariots were established in
Indian armies by the time Chaturanga was invented, hence the name meaning
an army that included them. Chariots as pieces were derived with the board
from the older game of Ashtapada. Elephants must surely have been a piece
in India first, and a feature added in India to a Chinese game would be
unlikerly to find its way into the original. It is more plausible that the
Chinese invented a game on square corners with undifferentiated pieces,
discovered that the Indians had one on square centres with varied pieces,
and adapted the Indian pieces for the Chinese board.
	An interesting way to combine ancient and modern would be what I term
Recapitulative Chess: a 9rx8f Chaturanga variant allowing promotion (on
the 9th rank) of Elephants to Bishops, Ferzes to Queens, and Pawns to any
modern piece. The extra rank is required because Elephants cannot reach
the 8th!