Pieces In Chess History – Part 1

The game of chess and use of chess game pieces is thought to have originated in India around the 6th or 7th century AD when the history of chess began. Various chess game piece styles have been designed throughout history and often vary from region to region. Mediums such as wood, metal, glass, stone, as well as bone and ivory have been used to carve pieces and create these new styles.

It is believed that the original chess pieces from ancient India were similar to the ancient Indian Army faced by Alexander the Great around 327 BC. The Indian army was divided into 4 divisions.

Calvary
Elephants
Foot Soldiers
Shah

This ancient army may well have influenced the very first styles of chess pieces. Sassanian King of Kings, Khusros II of 600 BC said " If a ruler does not understand chess, how can he rule over a kingdom?".

The oldest found authenticated pieces are made of Ivory and consist of a Shah, Vizier, War Elephants, Mounted Knights, and Soldiers. Is it possible that the first chess sets were designed to mimic ancient Indian battles?

After chess originated it spread to the Arabic middle east as well as northern Africa. During the seventh to eighth century Islam adopted chess and used their own style chess pieces. Names in English are as follows...

Shah
Vizier
Elephant
Armed Horsemen
Chariot
Foot Soldier

When Islam adapted the games they changed the shapes of the pieces. The carving of figurines was discouraged at that time by Islam and therefore pieces were carved in block-like forms with no figurine characteristics. Wood and Bone were popular materials used for pieces. Elephant Ivory was also a popular material used for carving pieces.

It was then brought to Spain by Islam around the 9th century. It also was spreading to central Asia at that time. A couple of centuries later it began appearing in the British Isles, Norway, and Indonesia. As chess moved from area to area, each culture adapted it as their own by changing form and style.

The earliest versions of chess did not use the exact same rules as we have today and modern chess history probably does not start until Islam brought it to Europe.

Around the 10th or 11th century it is thought that the Isle of Lewis chess pieces appeared in Christian Europe. These were believed to be designed by the Norsemen of Norway and were made from walrus tusk ivory.

This is when the names were changed to represent the names found in a royal court. The names of the list of all chess pieces in English are six in total.

King
Queen
Knight
Rook ( Represented by a Berserker Soldier in Lewis Style)
Bishop
Pawn (Represented by Soldier in Lewis Style)

These names stuck and are most commonly used. However, the style of the pieces themselves can vary from set to set. For example, the rook from the Lewis chess set is a form of foot soldier and does not look like the castle found in the Staunton style. Many people are familiar with the Isle of Lewis style especially after their appearance in the Harry Potter series.

Learn more in Chess Game Pieces - Part 2