Hành trình Chaturanga
- Lịch sử và địa lý
- Ages 8 to 14
- About 8 minutes
The story behind it
Chess is about 1,500 years old and it was born in India, where it was called chaturanga. It did not arrive in the world finished. It walked — to Persia, to Baghdad, to Spain — and at every stop people changed a rule.
Read the full story: The four arms of the army →How to play
- Read where you are and when.
- Do the task using that time’s rules, not today’s.
- Five stops, from India to the whole world.
Levels
For teachers and coaches
Chaturanga trail — History and geography
Ages 8 to 14 · about 8 minutes · 8by8verse Chess Lab
What it teaches
How an idea travels and changes between cultures; placing events in order and on a map.
The story to tell first
Chess is about 1,500 years old and it was born in India, where it was called chaturanga. It did not arrive in the world finished. It walked — to Persia, to Baghdad, to Spain — and at every stop people changed a rule.
Three questions to ask
- Find the five places on a map. Which way was the game travelling?
- Why might players in Europe have wanted a faster game?
- What else travelled along the same roads — foods, numbers, words?
Without a screen
Mark the trail on a wall map with string. Add one more thing the class knows that travelled from India to Europe.
Tiếp
Finish
Hint
Step back
Start again
Play again
Next level
Back to the lab
Right.
Not quite.
Not yet — have another go.
Question {n} of {total}
{right} out of {total} right.
Three stars. Clean work.
Two stars. Well played.
One star. Level done.
king
queen
rook
bishop
knight
pawn
Miền Bắc Ấn Độ, khoảng 1,500 năm trước
A game called chaturanga is played on a board of eight squares by eight. The name means “four arms” — the four parts of an army of that time: chariots, elephants, horses and foot soldiers. All four are still on your chessboard today, under new names.
The chariot — ratha — raced in straight lines. Which piece is it today?
The chariot became the rook.
The elephant — gaja — stood beside the king and his counsellor. Which piece is it today?
The elephant became the bishop.
The horse — ashva — jumped over the others. Which piece is it today?
The horse is the knight.
The foot soldier — padati — marched one step at a time. Which piece is it today?
The foot soldier is the pawn.
Four arms of one army, still on the board after fifteen centuries.
Persia, around the year 600
The game travels west and the Persians call it chatrang. Their king is the shah, and when he is trapped they say “shah mat” — the king is helpless. Beside him stands a counsellor, a weak piece that steps just one square diagonally.
The counsellor stands on d4. Tap every square it can step to.
Four squares. A long way from the queen she will become.
Baghdad, around the year 850
Baghdad has the strongest players in the world, and they write some of the first books of chess problems. Their elephant leaps exactly two squares diagonally — and it may jump over a piece that stands in the way.
The elephant stands on d4. Tap every square it can leap to.
Four squares, always two steps away. This elephant could reach only eight squares of the whole board.
Spain and Italy, around the year 1475
Players want a faster game. The counsellor is given a new move — as far as she likes, straight or diagonal — and a new name: the queen. The elephant becomes the bishop and learns to slide. Chess turns sharp and quick.
From d4 the old counsellor reached 4 squares. How many does the new queen reach?
Twenty-seven squares — almost seven times as many.
From d4 the old elephant reached 4 squares. How many does the new bishop reach?
Thirteen squares.
Two new moves, and the modern game was born.
The whole world, today
Chess is now played in almost every country on Earth. One piece crossed all those miles and all those centuries without changing its move at all: the horse. In Sanskrit, ashta means eight — count the knight’s squares and you will see why our mascot carries that name.
The knight stands on d4. Tap every square it can jump to.
Eight squares — the same eight as fifteen hundred years ago.
Yes. {n} more to find.
Not that one — remember this piece’s old rule.