Historical Chess Pieces
- Jan 29
- 7 min read
Howdy! It’s the Chess Friends!
Any chess player will confirm: one of the nicest aspects of playing chess is... the chess pieces! There is something magical about lifting a piece off its square and gently placing it back on the board, with a soft tunk that opens a world of new possibilities. Perhaps, thanks to this magic of the chess pieces, the game of chess is still with us, after thousands of years, and people still create new designs for the pieces.
Today, we’re going to take you on an epic journey from elephants to chariots to knights to queens, exploring historical chess pieces. Let’s get to it!
Chaturanga (चतुरङ्ग)
The Myth Sarang
First, we will travel all the way back to 6th century India to explore what many call the oldest form of chess, the ancient strategy game of chaturanga ( चतुरङ्ग in Sanskrit Devanagari). Chaturanga, meaning four limbs, was invented during the Gupta Empire and refers to the four divisions of an army: cavalry, infantry, elephantry, and chariotry, which is what the pieces represent. The starting position of chaturanga is shown below. Huge thanks to Wikipedia for the images:
As usual, White moves first, and the object of the game is checkmating your opponent’s King. I will now explain the pieces:
Raja (King)
This piece moves the same way as the modern King, one step in any direction, and gets checkmated normally, but a big difference is there is no castling in chaturanga. Also, you might have noticed from the image that the rajas are not facing each other: the white one is in the same position as usual, but the black one has switched places with the minister, which I will explain soon.
Mantri (Minister) or Senapati (General)
This was the piece that later became the Queen. In the image above it looks like a regular queen, but I have a new image from Chess dot com to show what the minister looks like:
Now, this piece is nothing like the modern-day Queen. It was nerfed so much that a modern Bishop is better! In chaturanga, it only moved one square diagonally in any direction. Next, we have:
Ratha (Chariot)
Here is an image to show what it looks like, shoutout Chess dot com:
Chariots were a big part of Indian warfare, like in the epic Mahabharata. Fun fact: Chaturanga was actually mentioned in the epic but not in the context of the board game, but in the literal meaning of the military branches. Chariots allowed for mobility, a tactical advantage, and rapid movement across battlefields, and this was all before cars and trucks and other modern transportation innovations were invented. This was the earliest form of what we now call the Rook, and it moved exactly the same way as the modern Rook, horizontally or vertically through any unoccupied square. Next on my list is:
Gaja (Elephant)
The Gaja is the earliest form of the modern-day Bishop. This is, in my opinion, the most unique movement from a chess piece that I’ve ever seen. It is obviously an elephant, as seen in the first image. It moves 2 squares diagonally in any direction, but it leaps over the first square. This is also known as a fairy chess piece or a leaper. Fun fact: in many languages the Bishop is still called an Elephant, like in Russian the Bishop is called Slon, which is also the word for elephant! Pretty cool, right? Now we are going to talk about:
Ashva (Horse)
This one is simple. It is the earliest form of the Knight and moves the same, in an L-shape. And last but not least:
Padati (Foot Soldier)
This was the earliest form of the modern day Pawn. These are in the same place as usual, and move and capture regularly, with the only exception being that they can’t move 2 squares on their first move. Only one. In fact, this origin story was what motivated the en-passant rule.
I also wanted to mention that stalemate wins for the stalemated player, and capturing all of your opponents’ pieces wins also. This rule would change a bunch of results for beginners today!
There is also a four-player version of Chaturanga called Chaturaji (चतुराजी), meaning four Kings, and in the early days, they used dice, like in dice chess, a popular variant today. You can play both Chaturanga and Chaturaji on chess dot com and other websites today.
Now, let’s take a 12-hour flight to the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, where the Man Benji is. Take it away!
The Lewis Chessmen
The Man Benji
The Man Benji here, ready to rock the crowd with more cool history! What could be better than learning about one of the oldest complete chess sets in the world: the Lewis Chessmen. Friends who are reading this, you’re in for a treat! Just look at this magnificent army of chess pieces, intricately made around 1150-1200:
Actually, the Afrasiab Chessmen is the oldest complete chess set, discovered near Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from around the year 700 AD. Yep, you heard me right! 700 AD! Even back then, people already knew chess develops logical thinking and grows friendships. You might ask me if The Chess Friends were alive in those days. If you do, I would be very offended. I am sure, though, there were chess friends in 700 AD!
But let’s get back to our featured Lewis Chessmen set. It is arguably the most famous from the olden days, and its origin and significance are still shrouded in mystery. Starting from its discovery. The Lewis Chessmen were laying underground on the shores of the Isle of Lewis, off the western coast of Scotland, for a lo-o-ong time, until they were discovered in 1831. Rumor has it that a cow fell into a hole, and when a farmer rescued it, he found several chess sets, carved from walrus ivory, perfectly preserved, next to his cow!
What a mooo-stery! Who made them? Why were they buried there on the island? And most importantly: why does the Queen look so worried?
We still don’t know the answers to these questions for sure. According to one theory, based on the Viking vibes of the pieces, the sets originated from Norway. Vikings were warriors from Scandinavia who voyaged through many parts of Europe and beyond, from the 9th to the 11th century, conquering and trading. Perhaps the sets were designated for peaceful trade, but the question remains: Why were they buried on the Isle of Lewis, 15 feet underground, deeper than where the dogs hide their bones? Someone needs to investigate further!
Some researchers believe that the sets were made in a workshop of one lady, Margaret the Adroit, a known skilled sculptor from Iceland at that time. Perhaps a wealthy patron ordered the sets to be made as gifts. There is actually a book about this theory, if you want to read more! Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them, by Nancy Marie Brown.
Today, the 82 of the Lewis Chessmen are on display at the British Museum in London, and 11 are at the National Museum of Scotland, in Edinburgh. There are both white and red-ish pieces, but the berry juice used to color them got washed off over the centuries.
A couple of years ago, I went to London, and, knowing about the chess treasure stored at the British Museum there, I endured the treacherous museum entrance line to look at them!
Looking at the Lewis Chess Pieces, trapped in that glass cage, I felt a bit sad for them. These pieces don’t have any wear on them, like no one ever played a chess game with them before storing them underground. But chess pieces are meant for play! They long to march along the board, exercising their power and wits. What do you think? Should the Lewis Pieces play a game?
My idea is that someone should organize a prestigious match between two of the best players in the world, call it “The Battle of Lewis,” and host it in the British Museum. Players could wear gloves to move the pieces, and extra time on the clock should be added to handle the pieces with care. The Chess Friends are offering free commentary for the match!
Staunton Chess
The Legend Vivaan
Thanks, Sarang and Benji, for giving some history into Chaturanga and the Lewis Chessmen! By the mid 1800s, there was a lot of interest in having international chess tournaments. One of the major challenges was that the pieces in different parts of the world were very different from one another, and organizers began looking for a standardized chess set that could be used anywhere and not confuse players from different places. As Benji and Sarang mentioned, chess existed in India, Uzbekistan, and the British Isles very early on. It migrated through the spread of Islam and through Viking trade routes all over the world. It also grew in popularity through Chinese, Japanese, and Indian dynasties.
The first documented major international tournament was held in 1851 in London, organized by English master Howard Staunton. In 1843, Staunton beat French champion Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant, so many considered him the best player in the world. He was an innovator, author, and organizer, famously editing the Chess Player’s Chronicle, writing for The Illustrated London News, and writing The Chess Player’s Handbook. He was all about promoting chess and making chess accessible to more people!
For those unfamiliar with the name Staunton, most likely the chess board you play on right now, whether OTB (over-the-board) or online, uses Staunton chess pieces, which have evolved over the last 175 years but maintained their classic style and easy to mass produce design. The original design was patented by English designer Nathaniel Cooke in 1849, drawing his inspiration from English architecture while acknowledging history from the rest of the world. Games designer and seller John Jaques was the one who brought this design to the world through his company Jaques of London. People disagree on exactly how much Staunton, Cooke, and Jaques did in the development of this set, but I think we can thank them all, and anyone else involved who might’ve been forgotten through history, for making the set we know and love today!
The Staunton chess set has been the international standard for chess for a very long time. The first world chess championship, in New York, St. Louis, and New Orleans, USA in 1886 likely used Staunton pieces. Bohemian master Wilhelm Steinitz beat Polish master Johannes Zukertort 10-5-5 in that match. The International Chess Federation, FIDE, was founded in 1924 in France and officially made the Staunton chess set the international standard.
Friends, if you have a chess set at home, why don't you take it out if it's not already out, and play a game with it. The chess pieces, and your chess, will be grateful!
Three Cheers, Fellow Future Master Chess Friends!
The Man Benji, The Myth Sarang, The Legend Vivaan
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