Chess - One of the Oldest Known Skill Game

The game of chess is the oldest known skill game in the world and it tells us a great deal about the ways in which people lived during the medieval times. If you study the pieces on chess boards, and the way in which they are used while playing the game of chess, you will realize that chess is a history of the medieval times, but in a miniature form using chess boards and pieces. A cross section of the lives of the medieval people along with their grandeur, wars as well as ceremonies can be reflected in the six different chess pieces on chess boards.

Though nobody for sure knows where exactly the game originated, it has been found that chess was played in India, Persia and China for many centuries using chess boards. Moors, which were huge armies of the Arabs, invaded Persia in the eighth century, and they were able to learn the game of chess from the Persians. Spain was invaded later by the Moors, who brought along with their invasion, the game of chess to Spain, and very soon the Spanish people also started playing the game of chess with chess boards. Entire Europe was now introduced to chess boards and the game of chess. Chess pieces in those days had Persian names and so Europeans faced difficulty in spelling and pronouncing these names. In those days the Europeans because of this difficulty gave new names to the chess pieces that we know today. Thousands of years back, both the ordinary as well as persons of rank were represented in different ways, and so accordingly the chess pieces too were represented in different names and spread across chess boards.

Pawns are the most common pieces on chess boards. They represent laborers or serfs who often have to sacrifice their lives for the sake of saving valuable pieces on the chess boards. At one time in history the serfs, or the pawns as we call them, had a brutal and hard life and were considered no more than the property of landowners. While wars raged around them they were often left without protection and for the sake of saving landowners they had to sacrifice their own lives very often. Even though they were very young they faced hard lives and were sacrificed early for the sake of the rich.

Chess boards have castle pieces on them which is the refuge or the home on the chessboard, just like it was in the medieval age. These castles are also called rooks, and each of the sides has two such castles. In the history of chess on the chess boards is the knight whose job is to protect all those ranked persons on the chess boards. The knight, or the professional soldier, has to perform duties that are more important than the pawns on the chess boards but less than the kings, queens and the bishops. Two such knight pieces are available on both sides of the chess board. More important pieces on the chess boards are protected by these knights who have to sacrifice themselves, just as the pawns do on the chess boards.

The tallest piece on the chess board is the king, which has been well defended on the chess board. During that period the king was always kept safe from any kind of harm and it was an advantage to everyone right from the lowest serf to the highest ranking official to keep the king safe and secure. Whenever a king surrendered to the army, it meant an entire loss of the kingdom to the armies that invaded, which worsened situations drastically. In the game of chess the king is the most powerful piece and if the player is not able to protect the king then this results in the player losing the game of chess. One can think of the game of chess like a history lesson, as each of the pieces on chess boards represents a way of life in the medieval times.