The History and Development of Chess is a result of civilization's history. Its evolution happened because of the migrations, invasions and progress of Oriental and Occidental people.
The real Chess' origin is unknown, since the historians differ on the exact date the game was made. According to the experts, the game was born between the IV and VII centuries (BC) in India. It was originally called “Chaturanga”. The Chaturanga had many similarities with the present Chess and with Chinese Chess. Chaturanga means “four members” and it refers to the four forces of the Indian army: infantry (pawns), cavalry (knights), elephantry (rooks) and the vehicles (bishop). In those days it was played with 4 players and there were 4 colors of pieces: white, yellow, black and red.
Further on, the Chaturanga moved to Persia, where it was called “Chatrang”. That's when it started being played by two players. The knight is the only one that hasn't suffered any changes on its name or movements throughout history. Because of that and the way the piece moves, the knight has become the symbol of Chess.
The persian Chatrang became very popular among the Arabians, who adapted the name to their language and called it “Shantraj” or “Shatranj”. With time, the game arrived to the Iberian Peninsula, where it was called “Al Xadras” and then, in Occident, got its present name “Ajedrez” (Chess). In those times it was common to make 10 or 12 continuous moves without considering the opponent's moves, after which the game started.
During the Middle Age, Chess suffered a stagnation, but from XV century and as the Renaissance started, Chess evolved considerably. This was partly because of the advance of the rationalization of occidental thinking and all the discoveries that took place in those times.
Italians took over the Chess supremacy, overthrowing the Spanish. The French and English became passionate about Chess and, slowly, it turned from an aristocratic game to a popular game. Chess Tournaments began to take place.
In 1924 the FIDE was founded in Paris (from its name in French: “Fédération Internationale des Échecs” meaning Chess International Federation), which establishes the rules for competitions and the different categories of Chess Players and organizes world competitions. In 1993, the chess players Gary Kasparov and Nigel Short, Soviet and British respectively, separated from the FIDE and created the PCA (Professionnal Chess Association).
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