Chess Merit Badge

History of Chess • Origin in India as “Chaturanga” • Spread to Persia, Middle East, & Europe • Changes to piece moves in Europe • Ben Franklin and “The Morals of Chess” • Development of tournaments • Chess organizations: FIDE and USCF • World Championships Chess Merit Badge

Chaturanga • Chess originated in India around A.D 600 as “Chaturanga” • Chaturanga meant “four-limbed”, which referred to the four parts of the army: Chariots, Horses, Elephants, and Foot soldiers, as well as pieces representing the ruler and his minister Chess Merit Badge

Chaturanga Chess Merit Badge

Chaturanga • Chaturanga Pieces: • The Chariot moved swiftly horizontally and vertically. The chariot became the Rook. • The Horse could leap obstacles and turn quickly. The horse became the Knight. • The Elephant was limited to moving two squares diagonally. It became the Bishop. • The Foot Soldier became the Pawn, which cannot move backward to retreat. Chess Merit Badge

Chaturanga • Chaturanga pieces (Cont’d): • The Minister could move only one square diagonally. This became the Queen. • The Ruler became the King. • The initial board setup in Chaturanga did not have Kings on the same file (It had the White Queen & Black King on d-file, and reversed on the e-file.) Chess Merit Badge

Chaturanga • Checkmate was a win (in Persia, called “Shah mat” or “the King is helpless”) • Stalemate, or a “bare king” (no pieces left), were also considered a win • Pawns could promote, but only to a Minister (a weak piece) • Chaturanga spread to Europe, and to China and Japan in different forms Chess Merit Badge

Chess in the Middle East • Chess spread with Moslem conquests in the Middle Ages • By the 9th century, chess had complex literature, champions and professionals • Moslem players were ranked, not mathematically, but by titles ranging from “Grandee” to “beneath contempt” Chess Merit Badge

Medieval Chess Game A game of chess between a Spanish crusader and Saracen (1221-1284), 1252, Alfonso X “the Wise” of Castile, Chess (circa 13th century) Chess Merit Badge

Chess Spreads to Europe • Chess reached Europe by A.D. 1000 from contacts with the Moslem world • It was very popular with the knights and nobility • English changed to elephant to Bishop • The horse became the Knight • Other Christian countries adopted other names (Germans use “Springer” for Knight) Chess Merit Badge

Lewis Chess Set (12th century) Woodcut from an 1841 article, shortly after discovery of the Lewis set Chess Merit Badge

Chess in Europe • The Minister changed to Queen and kept its weak moves until about 1475 • The game with stronger Queen moves was called “Mad Queen” Chess by some • Around the 13th century, players were allowing the King to move two squares (or like a Knight) in its first move. Chess Merit Badge

Chess in Europe (cont’d) • The Minister changed to Queen and kept its weak moves until about 1475 • In the 13th century pawns were allowed to move 2 squares on the first move. • En passant capture was not allowed in some areas into the 19th century Chess Merit Badge

Chess in Europe (cont’d) • In the 13th century, players were allowed to move the King 2 squares in any direction (and like a Knight) on the King’s first move • By the 17th century, modern castling in a single move was established, but this was not universally standardized until the late 1800’s. Chess Merit Badge

Chess in Europe • Moves of the Queen and Bishop changed to modern form around 1475 in either Spain, France or Italy • The game with stronger Queen moves was called “Chess of the Mad Queen” by some • The new game was so superior, the medieval chess was extinct in a few decades Chess Merit Badge

Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez, by Luis Ramirez de Lucena (1497) As of today, this is the oldest known book about Chess. The title translated into English is: “Repeat Loves and Art of Chess” Chess Merit Badge

Chess in Europe (cont’d) • Some played that Pawn promotion was only to an already captured piece, until the pawn promotion rule standardized in modern form in early 19th century Chess Merit Badge

Chess in Europe (cont’d) • Medieval chess treated stalemate as a win, but an English book in 1614 said “a stale is very dishonorable to him that giveth it” and declared a stalemate a loss for the player giving it • The loss by stalemate rule was used in England and America until the early 19th century, when the stalemate draw rule became universal Chess Merit Badge

Spanish Chess • Opening theory had to be totally revised for the new Queen and Bishop moves. • One of the early opening analysts was a Spanish priest named Ruy Lopez • The Spanish were the most active chess players at this time • Chess was brought to the New World as early as 1533, when Inca Chief Atahualpa was taught the moves Chess Merit Badge

Chess in the 18th Century • Paris and London were major centers of chess activity. Play was largely limited to nobility early in the 1700’s. • Philidor of France was considered the best chess player in the world • Phildor wrote out moves in his books, without using notation • Phillip Stamma introduced Algebraic Notation in 1737, which is now standard Chess Merit Badge

Chess in the (future) United States • Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was playing Chess by the 1730’s, among the first Chess players in the American colonies known by name • Franklin used Chess in his diplomatic efforts in England • In 1786, Franklin published a famous essay “The Morals of Chess” about important educational benefits of Chess Chess Merit Badge

Benjamin Franklin Playing Chess in England Lady Howe Checkmates Benjamin Franklin, Painting by Edward Harrison May (circa 1865) Chess Merit Badge

US Chess in the 1800’s • By mid-century, railroad and telegraph brought chess players together on a scale never seen before • National gatherings began in the 1840’s in the US (Kentucky) & England (Yorkshire) • Formal championship titles began to emerge Chess Merit Badge

Staunton Design Chess sets of unusual design gave an advantage to the player who was used to it. The Staunton design introduced in 1849 by Jacques of London became the standard required for competitive Chess games. Chess Merit Badge

Early Champions • First US Championship match in 1845 won by Charles Stanley (1819-1901) • Paul Morphy (1837-84) of New Orleans won the American Chess Congress in 1857, and soundly defeated champions of the Old World in matches • The first international chess tournament was held in London in 1851 Chess Merit Badge

World Champions & 20th Century • A match in 1886 between Wilhelm Steinitz & Johann Zukertort established the world championship as a title to be won by regular formal matches • Steinitz became a US citizen in 1888 • Chess interest exploded in the 20th century to almost every nation in the world. Chess Merit Badge

Chess Organizations • Federation Internationale des Esches (FIDE) was formed in 1924 • US Chess Federation (USCF) was formed in 1939. • USCF popularized the “Swiss system” tournament, which allows a large number of players to complete over a few days • USCF played a major role in developing the chess rating system, which FIDE adopted Chess Merit Badge

Soviet Chess Champions • The USSR rose to prominence as the leading chess-playing nation, as a result of major government support • Soviet or Russian players were the World Champions from 1948 to 1972, and 1975 to 2000 • Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov Chess Merit Badge

Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) • Born in Chicago, learned Chess after moving to Brooklyn as a small child • US Chess Champion at age 14, and won all 8 US championships he played in • Perfect 11-0 score at 1964 US Championship • Won two qualifying matches with perfect 6-0 • Overwhelmingly defeated two past world champions to become World Champion in 1972 Chess Merit Badge

Photos – Bobby Fischer Fischer vs. Michael Tal, 1965 (age 17) Fischer in Iceland, 1972 Chess Merit Badge

Requirements • Discuss with your merit badge counselor the history of the game of chess. Explain why it is considered a game of planning and strategy. Chess Merit Badge

Chess Merit Badge