Chess Set

Mexico Handmade

The origin of chess is still a matter of debate among chess historians,  however the most widespread theory is that it was created in India during the Gupta Empire around the 6th century. This theory was confirmed by early Persian literary records and by analysis of the etymology of the words used in the game and their co-evolution with chess.

However, alternative theories propose that chess was created during an earlier period, in different places, such as China,  Iran and Afghanistan. These versions explore archaeological, military,  and literary evidence of phylogenetic evidence to challenge the Indian theory. The similarities between Chaturanga and Xiangqi, considered the Chinese version of chess, are explored indicating that these games could have influenced each other through contact between civilizations through the Silk Road, assimilating some aspects of its rules and forming hybrid versions, which could date back to ancient Greece and Alexander the Great’s conquest over Asia Minor in the 3rd century BC. There is the prospect that, in the future, further analysis of the existing literature and discovery of more archaeological objects in India and China allow to definitively clarify the origin of chess.