PartizanChess Club

There is no concrete and reliable evidence confirming exactly when chess originated. Based on legends and records, chess is believed to be around 2,000 years old. Early sources indicate that chess was first played in India under the name “chaturanga”, representing the battle formation of the Indian army, consisting of elephants, chariots, cavalry and infantry. In the middle stood the king and commander, surrounded by soldiers for better protection.

The Persians adopted the game from India in the 6th century, followed by the Arabs in the 7th century. Around the 9th century, the Arabs brought the game to Spain under the name “shatranj”. The outcome was no longer determined by chance (a roll of the dice), but by logic and the skill of the player. The game became very popular and spread across Europe as far as Iceland.

In Europe, chess was refined with the introduction of castling and the increased power of the queen and bishop.

The Spanish chess player Lucena published the first printed work on chess in 1497, while the foundations of modern chess theory were laid by the French master Philidor in his work Analysis of the Game of Chess.

Long ago there lived a great emperor named Sheram, who wanted to reward the “modest” mathematician Sessa for inventing the chessboard and told him he could ask for anything. Sessa said:

“Give me one grain for the first square, 2 grains for the second, 4 for the third, 8 for the fourth, and for each following square twice as many grains as for the previous one.”

The emperor was surprised:

“Only that? No problem. You will get your sack of wheat after lunch.”

But the emperor’s mathematicians calculated for two days before determining how many grains Sessa should receive: 18,446,744,073,709,551,615. The emperor realized that his stores were nowhere near sufficient, even if they were a hundred times larger. After thinking for a long time, he called Sessa and said:

“My dear man, I do not wish to cheat you of a single grain, so you will count your reward together with my servants.”

Hearing this, Sessa became uneasy and began making excuses about urgent business elsewhere. The emperor laughed and gave him a generous reward so that he would spread word of Emperor Sheram’s mercy.