Stories of chess pieces
Interesting stories of chess pieces
What do the mysterious names "rook", "queen" mean, why does a chess bishop not look like a bishop at all, why do some pieces have two names: bishop-officer, rook-rook, queen-queen? All this is very mysterious!
And this happened because chess is a very old game and was not invented here. It was born in distant India a long time ago, in the 6th century AD. The ancient version of chess was called "chaturanga", which in Sanskrit (the language of the ancient Indians) means "four divisions of the army". It was already very similar to our chess.
The game was played on an 8x8 board (only they were one-colored, the division into black and white pieces appeared much later in Europe). By this time, all the pieces we know had already been formed, and only the queen appeared later.
The main difference was that the game involved not two players, but four, each of whom built his "troops" in the corner of the board: infantry (pawns), cavalry (horses), war elephants (elephants) and chariots (boats). The army was led by the raja - the Indian king. The pieces were of four colors: black, green, yellow and red. Which piece to move was determined by rolling a dice (pawn - 1, knight - 2, rook - 3, elephant - 4, king - 5 and 6). The game was played until all the opponent's pieces were destroyed.
Pawn
The word "peshaka" is derived from "pishy", "infantry". This name means "foot soldier".
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In other European languages, the translation of the name of this piece is the same. But in Germany, the name of the pawn "bauer" does not mean soldiers, but "peasant".
A pawn is the least valued piece and is often sacrificed, which is why the term "pawn" is used in everyday life. While on the board, the pawn has the same functions as the soldiers of the old army, hence the name. Previously, Philidor considered this piece to be the soul of all chess.
A pawn can only move forward, and in doing so, it moves directly towards all enemy fences and redoubts, aware that this may be its last battle.
There are two things that make a pawn move only forward:
- The first is the possibility of capturing the queen, but as they say, even a cat is not forbidden to look at the monarch.
- And the second reason is that when a pawn passes all obstacles, as well as overcomes all barriers and reaches the last line, it can be replaced by a stronger piece chosen by its owner, in most cases - this is the queen, since it is the strongest warrior in this game.
Such a transformation may not be performed very often, and, as statistics show, it may be performed almost at the end of a chess game.
And for those who want to more fully understand the subtleties of pawn combat and learn the wisdom of chess, visit the wonderful material available to everyone -
andyshark1974 "Studying the pawn"
Horse
-Photoroom.png "Tsikavy Stories шахових фігур")
Elephant
-Photoroom.png "Interesting stories of chess pieces")
-Photoroom.png "Tsikavi історії шахових фігур")
In ancient chess, it was a figure depicting a war elephant with a rider. Its name in Russia was translated literally, it turned out to be "elephant".
But in Europe, the name of the unknown animal "elephant" (in Persian "fil") turned into "clown" ("ful"). In ancient European chess books, you can see that this piece was depicted as a man in a hat with bells. To this day, in France, the "elephant" is called fou (fu), i.e. a clown.
Direct
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-Photoroom.png "Тура")
In the Indian game, the tura is a war chariot (rathi). It was depicted together with a team of horses and a charioteer driving it. Apparently, this is where the Persian name for the chariot - rukh comes from. The same Bird Rukh from the fairy tales "A Thousand and One Nights". And the figure also began to be depicted in the form of a bird. And in Russia, this bird was taken as a stylized bow decoration of an ancient Russian vessel - a boat. From here the figure got its name - a boat.
And the appearance and another name of this piece - tour, - came to us from Europe. In French it means "tower" (tour). The French also call the chess piece. In almost all European languages, its name means "siege tower", "fortification": rock (rook) - in English; tower (Turm) - in German; tower, tower (wieża) - in Polish.
Queen
-Photoroom.png "Ферзь")
In Europe in the 15th century, the "vizier" turned into a "queen". This very weak piece now received new opportunities - the former queen could no longer move along one square diagonally, but along all lines and diagonals to any distance. Many chess historians associate this with the role in the life of Europe of the powerful Queen Isabella of Castile.
In almost all languages, the queen began to be called a queen or a woman. In France and Germany - Dame, In Italy - Donna, in England - Queen, in Bulgaria - Tsaritsa, In Macedonia - Kralitsa. Interestingly, only in Poland did a proper name for the queen appear - hetman.
King
.png "Король")
І ще трохи "сухої" теорії:
- King — the most important piece on the chessboard, as the goal of the game is to protect it from attacks by the opponent's pieces in order to prevent checkmate (i.e., losing the game). At the beginning of the game, it occupies the square e1 (for white) or e8 (for black). The king can move one square in any direction (vertically, horizontally, or diagonally), captures pieces in the same direction as it makes moves. Before its first move, the king, along with the rook, can participate in castling. Usually the king is a passive piece in the opening and middlegame, but in the endgame it becomes more active, since the probability of checkmate at the end of the game decreases. Traditionally, the king is the highest piece on the chessboard.
- Queen (other names — Queen, Lady) — the strongest piece on the chessboard. At the beginning of the game, the queen is placed next to the king on the d1 (for white) or d8 (for black) square. The queen can move any number of free squares in any direction (vertically, horizontally or diagonally), capturing pieces in the same direction as it moves. In terms of its strength, the queen is approximately equal to two rooks or three light pieces. During the game, several queens of the same color can be on the chessboard at the same time, which is due to the transformation of the pawn that has reached the last horizontal.
- Rook — the second strongest piece on the chessboard. At the beginning of the game, rooks are placed on squares a1 and h1 (for white) and a8 and h8 (for black). The rook can move any number of free squares horizontally or vertically, capturing pieces in the same direction as it makes moves. Before its first move, the rook, together with the king, can participate in castling. In terms of its strength, the rook is approximately equal to a light piece together with 1-2 pawns, two rooks are equal to a queen or three light pieces.
- Elephant (other names Officer) — the third most powerful piece on the chessboard. At the beginning of the game, it occupies the squares c1 and f1 (for white) and c8 and f8 (for black). The bishop can move any number of free squares diagonally, capturing pieces in the same direction as it moves. There are black-field (the one that occupies the black square at the beginning of the game) and white-field (the one that occupies the white square) bishops. In terms of strength, it is approximately equal to a knight or three pawns.
- The knight is the only piece on the chessboard that can "jump" over pieces. At the beginning of the game, it occupies squares b1 and g1 (for white) and b8 and g8 (for black). The knight can make and capture the opponent's pieces with L-shaped moves, that is, moving two squares forward (backward) and one to the side. With each move, the knight changes the color of the field. The knight can attack 8, 4 (on the edge) or 2 (in the corner of the chessboard) squares. Its strength is approximately equal to a bishop or three pawns.
- Pawn — the weakest chess piece. At the beginning of the game, pawns occupy squares from a2 to h2 (for white) and from a7 to h7 (for black). A pawn can make moves one square forward or two squares vertically, if it is in its initial position. The capture of an opponent's pieces by a pawn is carried out by moving it one square forward diagonally. If a pawn makes a move two squares forward and an opponent's pawn is next to it on the horizontal, the latter can make a capture on the pass. When the pawn reaches the last horizontal, it is exchanged for any piece except the king. Depending on which piece the pawn is in front of, there are royal, queen, bishop, knight and rook pawns. Pawns occupying squares d2 and e2 and d7 and e7 are called central, those occupying squares a2 and h2 and a7 and h7 — extreme. In addition, there are passing, isolated, tied, backward, paired, blocked and hanging pawns.
Chess pieces are marked
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King |
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Queen |
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Тура |
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Elephant |
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Knight |
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Пішак |
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| The most expensive chess piece in the world |
The most expensive chess piece in the world from the Isle of Lewis
In early July 2019, a chess piece from the Isle of Lewis went under the hammer at a Sotheby's auction for $927,423 to an anonymous buyer. For half a century, it belonged to an Edinburgh family who were unaware of the figure's real value — in 1964, a family member bought it for some £ 5. This makes the bone rook the most expensive chess piece in the world today, equal in value to entire chess sets with gold and diamonds.
The Isle of Lewis Chessmen — are four sets of pieces found in the sand in 1831 by a simple Scottish farmer, Malcolm MacLeod. Historians agree that the pieces were made sometime between 1150 and 1200, when the Outer Hebrides (including Lewis) belonged to the Norwegian kings. In fact, the chessmen are made in the form of Scandinavian warriors from walrus tusk and whale tooth.
MacLeod found 78 chess pieces, 14 checkers, and a belt buckle. If we accept the theory that there were exactly four pieces in the set, then 1 knight, 4 rooks, and 45 pawns are missing. It is possible that there were five sets, and then many more pieces are missing for a complete set.
Currently, 67 pieces, checkers and a buckle are kept in the British Museum, and another 11 chessmen — in the National Museum of Scotland.
The rook sold at auction is one of the missing pieces. There is hope that other missing chess pieces will be found, but for now they are stored in a mezzanine in a Scottish family.
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