Older Versions of Chess

The rules of chess weren't always as they exist today. Chess has existed in various forms since the sixth century and has gone through many changes over the years. The first chess game, Chaturanga, was developed in the sixth century, followed by xiangqi and shogi.

The most immediate ancestor of chess is, which became popular in the seventh century in Persia. This game, available on some online chess servers, was very similar to modern chess, with a few major changes. The kings, rooks, and knights are identical to those we use today. Pawns can only move one square, the queen (known as a fers or counsellor) could only move one square in any diagonal direction, and the bishop (or elephant) jumped like a knight—but only two squares diagonally.