Many spend their free time playing chess. This game is enthusiastically played by people of all ages. If you know the rules of the game and draw up a certain strategy of moves, the pleasure of winning will not take long. However, first you need to familiarize yourself with the rules, find out the name of the pieces in chess.
Chess history
The game of chess was invented by the Indians in the VI century BC. e. In the deep past, chess was called differently. Chaturanga - it meant "Four detachments of troops."
The game was very similar to modern chess, but there were certain differences. The board on which the game itself took place also consisted of their 8x8 cells, but there was only one color. We divided the board into two colors much later, already in Europe. There are so many chess pieces in our time, so many were at that time.
But the main difference between ancient chess was the number of participants in the game. Four people took part in the game at once. And each one exhibited separately his “army” in a certain corner on the game board. Instead of the king was Raja, the pawns were infantry, the cavalry, respectively, consisted of horses, also the army included fighting elephants and a chariot from a boat. The figures had four colors: red, yellow, green and black. Players took turns throwing a die, which determined which piece would make a move. If a unit fell out, the move was a pawn, deuce was a horse, the number three meant the rook, four - the bishop, five and six meant the king’s move. The queen, she is the queen, was absent in chess. The game ended when all the opponent’s pieces were eliminated.
Game evolution
From sunny India, chess over time began to be imported into other countries. So, the Chinese called chess "xiangqi", the Japanese - "shogi", the people of Thailand - "makruk". Only in Persia did the current name of chess start. The Arabs called their ruler a shah, which is why the chess king was also called that.
The rules and names changed, the evolution of chess took place. They abandoned the dice, and the number of players decreased to two people. The color of the figures has become traditionally black and white. The name of the chess pieces remains unchanged. Some of the chess pieces have changed their name. So, Raja became the Shah. Since there were two kings, it was customary to weaken one of them and make a queen. The Persians also introduced the final result of the game - checkmate to the king. In the Persian language, the word chess means "the shah is dead."
The game went a long way until it reached Russia. Chess did not come to us from Europe. It is believed that Tajiks brought chess to Russia in the 9th century BC. That is why the name of the figures in chess are literally translated from Arabic and Persian. And already in the XI century, the rules of the game of chess came to Russia.
Chess set
To play chess, you need a chessboard, which is divided into 64 squares, which have two colors: black and white.
Horizontal and vertical fields have their own notation. Horizontally, these are numbers from one to eight, and vertically, letters from A to H, so each field has coordinates. How many chess pieces? Each player on the field must have two rooks, a pair of horses, two bishops, eight pawns, a queen and a king. There are 32 pieces in chess, which rivals divide in half. Further - in more detail about chess pieces.
King
In Arabic, the king sounds like “al-shah” and translated from the Persian language means the king, but in other languages the meaning of the figure is the most dominant.
This is a very significant and significant figure
in chess. The chess king, despite its importance, can only move one square, but in any direction. This figure is vulnerable without protecting the rest of the figures. Actually, the whole essence of the game is to protect the king from the direct moves of other chess pieces. The threat to the undisguised king in chess is called “check”. In Russia, the figure is designated "Kr", and in the international system - "K".
The queen in chess is the second strongest figure after the king
In Arabic, the word al-firzan means "scientist." But there are other assumptions, among which the word means “sage”, “commander”, etc. In the XV century, the queen appeared in Europe with new opportunities, now the figure could walk at different distances along all the diagonals and lines on the chessboard. The queen is marked with the letter “F”. “Q” is the queen in the international system. In many countries, the queen is called the queen.
Rook and elephant, they are also tour and officer
The boat in the distant past served as a chariot, and it was portrayed in the form of harnessed horses. They called such a chariot "ruh." In Arabic, al-roh means tower. Hence the appearance of the figure. It moves along the field only horizontally or vertically, and is located on the extreme
fields of the chessboard . This figure is designated with the capital letter “L” in Russia, and with the letter “R” in Europe.
The name of the pieces in chess does not always correspond to their appearance. So, for example, the chess piece the elephant used to really look like a fighting elephant, but over time it began to be depicted in the form of a man. Designations: we have it “C”, abroad “B”. The elephant walks only along the diagonal of its color, the player will have one elephant on the white diagonal, and the second on the black.
Chess horse
This figure really looks like a horse. Al-Faras in Arabic is the horseman. Once this figure had a rider, but over time it was removed. A horse move can be made only in the form of the Russian letter "G", that is, two cells directly and one to the side. The horse of the Russian "K" and the English "N" are recorded. This is the only figure that can move not in a straight trajectory and jump over the figures, his own and the opponent.
Walking soldiers
Pawn is the only piece that cannot be recorded at all and has such a significant number on the playing field. Al-Beyzak, translated from Arabic, is an infantryman. Pawn can make moves only forward one square.
Chess pieces, photos of which are presented in this article, will help to become more familiar with the exciting chess world.