Who invented chess?

Chess has a long history in China. During the Warring States period, there have been official records about chess, such as: "Chu Ci evokes the soul" contains "six volumes of chess; Go hand in hand with Cao and push each other; " If you become an owl, be specific. "..." Shuo Yuan "contains: Yong Men Zizhou Qin Yi met Meng Changjun and said," The first step is Wang Qian, and ... Yan Douqi dances Zheng Nv. Therefore, as early as the Warring States period, chess became popular among nobles. According to the above situation and the shape of chess, chess was born in the southern clan areas of China around the Zhou Dynasty (BC 1 1 century). In early China chess, the chess system consisted of three instruments: chess, chopsticks and chessboard. The two sides play chess, with six players on each side, namely: owl, Lu, pheasant, calf and stopper (two pieces). The chess pieces are carved with ivory. Bam, equivalent to dice, must be thrown before playing chess. The chessboard is a square chessboard. In the game, "throw six sticks and play six chess games", fight with wits, attack each other and kill each other. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the military system consisted of five men, one handsome man and six men. At that time, as a military training football match, there were also 6 people on each side. It can be seen that early chess was a game symbolizing the fighting at that time. On the basis of this chess system, a kind of chess called "Sai" appeared later, which only played chess without throwing chopsticks, and got rid of the element of winning by luck in early chess. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, Sai Opera was quite popular, and it was also called "Wu Ge". The chessboard unearthed from the Western Han Tomb in Yunmeng, Hubei Province and the painted wooden figurines unearthed from the Mo Zuizi Han Tomb in Wuwei, Gansu Province can reflect the description of the shape of Sai Opera in Bian Shao's Sai Fu in the Han Dynasty. During the Three Kingdoms period, the shape of chess was constantly changing, and it had a communication relationship with India. By the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Wudi (reigned in 56 1 ~ 578) wrote Xiang Jing, while Wang Bao wrote Xiang Xu and Xiang Jing Fu, marking the completion of the second major reform of chess. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, chess activities were carried out steadily, which was frequently recorded in history books. Among them, the most important is the narration of Wu Zetian's dream chess in the Shiliju series "Liang Gong Jiu Jian" and the story of Censhun's dream chess in the first year of Baoying (AD 762) in Niu Senru's "The Record of Mysteries". Combining Suzhou brocade decorated with four patterns of "Qin, Qi, Calligraphy and Painting" and bronze chess pieces with figures painted on the back unearthed in Kaifeng, Henan, we can draw the conclusion that the shape of chess in Tang Dynasty is quite similar to that of early chess. The popularity of chess at that time can be seen from many records in poetry legends. The three-volume version of Xiang Bo Xiang's Opera Song may be a work of the Tang Dynasty. The Song Dynasty was an era when chess was widely popular, and its form also changed greatly. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Sima Guang's Elephant Drama in Seven Countries, His Elephant Drama Style and Chess, and Chao's Elephant Drama Map came out one after another, and Elephant Drama was also deeply loved by the people. After nearly a hundred years of practice, chess was shaped into a modern model at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty: 32 pieces, a chessboard with a river boundary, and so on. During the Southern Song Dynasty, chess became a very popular chess activity. Writers such as Li Qingzhao and Liu Kezhuang, politicians such as Hong Zun and Wen Tianxiang all like playing chess. In the "chess to be called" formulated by the court, players account for more than half. There are professionals known as "chess masters" among the people, as well as craftsmen of autocratic chess and chessboards. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Hong Mai's Chess Classic, Chen's Chess Manual and Chen's Guang Ji also appeared. During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, chess continued to be popular among the people, and the technical level was constantly improved, and a number of summative theoretical monographs appeared, among which the most important ones were Dream in Dream, Eighteen Changes of Jin Peng, The Secret in Orange, Shu Ya, Plum Blossom Music, Zhuxiangzhai Chess Manual and so on. Scholars such as Yang Shen, Tang Yin, Lang Ying, Luo Qi and Yuan Mei all like playing chess. The emergence of a large number of famous chess players shows that chess is loved by people from all walks of life. After the founding of New China, chess entered a new stage of development. From 65438 to 0956, chess became a national sport. Since then, national competitions have been held almost every year. 1962 The China Qi Xiang Association, a subsidiary of the All-China Sports Federation, was established, and corresponding subordinate associations were also established in various places. Over the past 40 years, due to the promotion of mass chess activities and competitions, the level of chess has improved rapidly, and outstanding players have emerged, among which the most famous players are Yang Guanlin, Hu Ronghua, Liu Dahua, Zhao Guorong, Li Laiqun, Lv Qin and Xu Yinchuan. The main events are: National Chess Individual Competition, National Chess Championship, World Chess Championship, Wuyang Cup, Asian Cup and National Chess First Division League. Chess originated in China. Many people who study chess think that chess originated in India. This stems from the article "Indian Chess" published by British william jones in Asian Studies 1790. Most western scholars agree with him. Because the world culture at that time was British culture. It was not until the 1970s that the situation changed. Dr Joseph Needham, a famous British scholar, clearly pointed out in China's History of Science and Culture that chess is the creation of China people. He analyzed in detail the relationship between the ancient game Liubo in China and astronomy, symbolism and mathematics. He said: "Only in China, the prevalence of Yin and Yang theory promoted the embryonic form of chess, invented astronomical divination, and then developed into a game with military significance." Later, Soviet scholars published articles in succession, refuting the Indian origin theory. 1972 Yugoslav historian bijiv's monograph "chess-a symbol of the universe" draws the conclusion that chess first appeared in China in 569 AD, and then gradually spread. Dr. Cherevko, a researcher at the Far East Institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, published an article in the 1984+0 issue of Soviet Chess. According to his research, chess originated from the idea of the Book of Changes: sixty squares, corresponding to eight trigrams, and black and white corresponding to yin and yang. So far, no refutation articles by experts and scholars have been seen. It can be considered that Dr. Cherevko's view that chess originated from the Book of Changes has gained a firm foothold in the world. Around 5000 BC, 8×8 line paintings (painted pottery paintings unearthed from Yuanyangchi site in Yongchang, Gansu) appeared in China. Before 10 century BC, it can be concluded that there was an ancient chess called "Liu Bo". In the 5th century BC, Liubo was reformed into a "plug-in drama". Confucius (55 BC1-476 BC) said that "there are no chess players" (The Analects of Confucius), in which chess refers to Liu Bo and Go. According to historical records, the "Elephant Play" invented by Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty in the 6th century (the late Northern and Southern Dynasties) (AD 569) is basically the same as the "Hundred Treasure Chess" found underground in the Tang Dynasty: 8×8 sets (64 squares) with cubes and chess pieces placed on the squares, which is the pattern of modern chess. At the latest at the end of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century, Xiangxi entered India (the possibility of Liubo, Cisse and quasi-Xiangxi entering India earlier was not ruled out), forming the "Chatulanz" and "Chastelain" in the Middle East. Both Chatulanz and Chastelain are translated into Chinese as "four-color chess" (or "square chess"). The physical basis of archaeology is that four-color chess did not appear in India until the 8th century. The earliest written record of "four-color chess" is the Kashmir epic Rathanahar in the 9th century. "Chastelain" later evolved into "Persian chess" and was introduced to Europe. About15th century, wood was shaped into today's modern chess. The "Indian origin theory" originated from the British, who had better deny it. In the Encyclopedia Britannica 1984 edition, the origin of chess is also said to be India or China, and the origin of India is emphatically introduced. However, when the English version of Chess China School was published in Britain in 2003, there was a sentence in the introduction edited by Britain's largest publishing group: "Although some earliest chess forms were found in ancient China". It is not easy for British scholars to change their views. Today, people discuss the origin of chess and draw various conclusions through legend, hypothesis, archaeology and logic. Hypothesis points out the direction for archaeological argumentation, and legends supplement the lack of archaeological logic. After all, the chess generation is too old. Just like the oldest history, it takes a very long process to reproduce the truth. But in general, there are two points about the origin: 1. Chess originated in Asia and was later introduced to Europe. The original rule is to roll the dice to decide who will play chess. In addition, experts and scholars seem to have reached a * * * understanding on the origin logic: First, chess is an artifact. It's essentially a model. Second, chess is the materialization of human thought and consciousness. It is essentially a simulation. Third, modern chess is the result of the continuous evolution of ancient chess. Fourth, the influence of evolution comes from all aspects (including the influence of all kinds of chess). Fifth, the way of evolution is gradual mutation. Sixth, evolution and continuity exist. Seventh, the study of the origin should start with the three elements of chess structure-chessboard, chess pieces and chess rules. Eighth, chessboard, chess pieces and chess rules play different roles in the origin, evolution and stereotypes of chess. Ninth, chessboards, chess pieces and chess rules must not appear at the same time. Tenth, there is no "original inventor". This can be explained as follows: In the real world, time is irreversible. Therefore, time can create history, and time can also destroy history. Starting from this logic, we will never find the "original inventor". I have to be content with "the product of society, the crystallization of wisdom." Actually, in many ways, chess is more like a movie. Is there no original figurine author? God knows! Second, the essence of chess is a materialized form of Yijing philosophy. We should understand chess from two different levels. One is the nature of chess. In other words, define chess and answer the question of what is chess? For thousands of years, people have given it various explanations. Chess China School's understanding of chess has grasped its essential feature-chess is an art of thinking. One is the essence of chess. Chess is essentially a model. It has undergone a transformation from a cosmic model to a social model. As a special cultural phenomenon, chess is not only a simple combination of science, art, competition and games, but also an independent and complex phenomenon-a conditional world model. It reflects the positive role of human beings in transforming the world. Man takes into account the logic he knows-the law of philosophy, and works according to his accumulated experience. The human brain is the real soul of chess. The development history of chess is the development history from cosmic model to social model. Chess was originally a model of the universe. With the increasing significance of war in social development, chess has also developed from a cosmic model to a social model. This is a social model composed of confrontation, a personalized synthesis of war, games, competition and other factors, which has essentially become a reflection of the old philosophy of life. 3. The World Chess Federation was founded in Paris, France on 1924. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Later moved to Lucerne, Switzerland. Then move to Lausanne, Switzerland. In 2003, the 74th General Assembly of the Chess Federation decided to move its headquarters to Athens, Greece. At present, there are 169 countries and regions participating in the Chess Federation. According to the regulations of the Chess Federation, a country (or region) can only have one representative organization to participate in the Chess Federation. Under this condition, "169" is the envy of many international organizations. The Chess Federation has an executive committee, a congress and a central committee. Daily affairs are handled by the secretariat. The Chess Federation has a chairman and six vice-chairmen. There should be another Secretary-General. The current chairman is Russian President kalmyk ilyumzhinov. The president of the Chess Federation is re-elected every four years. The subsidiary bodies of the Chess Federation include treasurer, fund committee, planning committee, classification and grouping committee, assistance to developing countries committee, chess creation committee, arts committee, women's committee, school education committee, technical training committee and press and publication information statistics committee. According to the development of chess in various continents and considering the strength level of players, the Chess Federation divides its member countries into 15 regions. Among them, Russia, the United States, Canada and China are independent regions. Each region has a chairman, vice-chairman and so on. The main tasks of the Chess Federation are to organize all kinds of major world competitions, invitational tournaments and open tournaments registered with the Federation, to study, formulate and revise the rules of chess and the rules of competition, the rules of international titles for players and the rules of grading, to award international titles to players and referees, and to calculate and publish players' grades. Even until the beginning of the 20th century, chess was still a game for aristocrats and people with money and leisure in many parts of the world. After the October Revolution, with the attention and vigorous promotion of the Soviet government, chess gradually became popular. Therefore, apart from communicating with all aspects of the world, the Chess Federation also shoulders the arduous task of popularizing chess in the world, especially in developing countries. Today's chess Federation is a bit like the United Nations: on the one hand, it is authoritative, on the other hand, it is confused. Four. World Championships and Its Influence There are thousands of world competitions organized by the Chess Federation and various invitational tournaments and open competitions registered in the Chess Federation every year. Of course, the world champion is the most influential one. From 1886 to 1946, five men's world champions were produced. They are Steinitz (1886- 1894), Lasker (1894- 192 1) and Kapablanka (1921- Although the Chess Federation was founded in 1924, the men's world championships before 1946 had nothing to do with the Chess Federation. 1927, when Aleshin took the world championship from Kapablanka, the Chess Federation did nothing. The first world champion Steinitz claimed to be the world champion. Later, Steinitz (representing the United States) was organized by Manhattan Chess Club in the United States to play a 20-game match with Zuktor representing Europe, and the winner was the world champion. The fairness of the game is probably not a problem. Some special committees of the club studied all the details of the game very carefully. However, due to the lack of management of international organizations, these world champions have no obligation to defend their titles. Anyone can challenge the world champion as long as he has money and the world champion is willing. Some challenges border on jokes. However, this is the development history of chess. The Chess Federation has always acknowledged this history, although strictly speaking, the legitimacy of these five world champions is somewhat doubtful. 1946 FIFA seized the godsend opportunity of the end of World War II and the sudden death of world champion Aleksin at that time and began to take over the right to host the World Championships. Since then, the men's world championships have gradually entered the right track. The Women's World Championship 1927 started and was organized by the Chess Federation. The first women's world champion was Mincek (who once represented the Soviet Union, Czech Republic and Britain), and she kept the title until 1944. She was killed when she was bombed in London at the age of 38. 1950 began to resume the women's world championships. However, the women's world champion has always been dominated by the Soviets. It was not until 199 1 that Xie Jun of China turned a new page in world women's chess. The influence of the World Championships is growing, and this influence is not limited to the chess world. The $3 million prize in the men's world championship challenge is naturally one reason, but there are other factors at work. Lenin said, "Chess is the gymnastics of intelligence". In the eyes of the world, playing chess well shows that people are smart. The world champion of chess more or less symbolizes the wisdom of this nation. Goethe, a great German poet, once said that chess is "the touchstone of human wisdom". It was not the former Soviet Union or the Russians who were named the greatest chess player in the 20th century, but Fisher of the United States! He defeated the Soviet chess player spassky with 1972, thus becoming the 1 1 th world champion. Nixon, then US President, said in an enthusiastic letter to Fischer: "Your overwhelming victory in Reykjavik, Iceland was encouraged by your people, which shows that you have completely mastered the most difficult and challenging game in the world. I'm glad to join the people of the whole country. Come on. I extend my deep congratulations to you! " Because the sixth to tenth world champions are all Soviets, suddenly an American Fischer defeated almost all the Soviet masters, which greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the western world for chess. The membership of the American Chess Association alone has doubled. Of course, this also stimulated the then Soviet government to increase its investment in chess. Today, it is conservatively estimated that there are 700 million chess fans in the world. Teams from more than 100 countries took part in the Olympic World Team Chess Competition. Chess has become the second largest sports competition in the world after football. Five, when it comes to "level", it refers to the practical level, not the theoretical level. Theory can guide practice, but can theory win chess? Therefore, although several major chess schools in the world have a great influence on the development of chess, in today's world, pragmatism prevails, and the theory is still left to a few people who are interested in it. A measure of a country's chess level mainly depends on its actual achievements, that is, its achievements in world competitions, and also takes into account quantitative grades and other non-quantitative factors. You can't determine the level by one success or failure. It is a fact that there is a gap between men and women in chess. The chess skills of men and women should be compared separately. From 1952 when the Soviet team participated in the 10th Chess Olympic Games to 1990 when the 29th Olympic Games was held, except that 1976 when the Soviet team abstained and 1978 when Hungary won the championship, all the others 18 were men's team champions. From 1992 to 2002, the Russian team won six consecutive championships. The former Soviet Union and Russia have an absolute advantage in the men's performance of 100 in the world. In 2004, among the top 100 male athletes in the world, 25 were Russian athletes. Among the top players in 15, six are Russian players (and two are former Soviet grandmasters who emigrated abroad). There are also two Ukrainian players. Apart from the former Soviet Union and Russia, there are only five real players from other countries: one from India, one from Bulgaria, one from Britain and two from Hungary. It can be said that the Russian men's chess level, on the whole, has an absolute advantage. From the personal level of men, in the past half century, apart from the best time of Fischer in the United States, he is really unparalleled in the world and the highest level of chess players in the former Soviet Union and Russia. Fischer was followed by karpov, then Kasparov, and no one could compete with him. Although the new elimination system in the late 1990s produced three new world champions-Russian Harif Mann, Indian Anand and Ukrainian Ponomarev, kramnik beat Kasparov to win the championship in the Professional Masters World Championship, for example, in June 2004, the FIFA grading score was 5438+/KOOC-0/October/KOOC-0/day, and Kasparov was 283/KOOC-0. Over the years, Kasparov's ratings have remained above 2,800, ranking first in the world, and Kasparov has also led many high prize invitational tournaments. So Kasparov is still the best player in the world today. In second place are Anand of India and kramnik of Russia. Women's chess has always been the absolute advantage of the Soviet Union since the 1950s. Things have changed since Xie Jun defeated Zibuldanize. In the past five years, women's chess in China has occupied an overwhelming advantage in both groups and individuals. Generally speaking, in recent ten years, the highest level of chess is the CIS countries represented by Russia, followed by European and American countries. However, in recent years, Asian countries, especially China and India, are making rapid progress. Interestingly, in the autumn of 200 1, when the Sino-Russian chess match was held in Shanghai, the leaders of China and Russia commented on the current world chess pattern. China, the team leader, thinks that the level of chess in the world today is one-ahead (Russian) and many-ahead (British, Hungarian, Ukrainian, China, American, Israeli, German, Indian, Armenian, etc. The Russian team leader believes that the current situation is "the top two" and is in a leading position. Russian men are the first and women are the top three; China is the first female and the top 6 male. From the perspective of men and women, it is not one super, but two super. Perhaps there is such a difference: the country and experts value the overall strength, and hundreds of millions of chess fans care about the success or failure of individuals. After all, now is the age of superstitious star effect. 6. "Man-Machine Wars" Anyone with computer knowledge knows that hardware is important, but software plays a decisive role. Because software programming is still Turing mode in 1940s, there is no essential progress. So it is difficult for computers to make any fundamental breakthrough in artificial intelligence. In the past twenty years, the chess playing level of computer programs has not improved substantially, but it is still the level of standby masters. The rapid development of computer hardware and computer games has made computer companies rich. However, capital will never be satisfied. Their appetite turned to 700 million chess fans. It is also aimed at people who are not chess fans, but think that playing chess well requires a little wisdom. At present, few people in the world have a deep understanding of computers and chess. Computer companies use this to make live advertisements. Computer manufacturers like to boast that computers can calculate millions or even hundreds of millions of moves in one second. In fact, one step in chess is enough. The key is to be able to determine whether it is good or bad. At this point, computers have no possibility of such talent (ability). There is no qualitative difference between "deep blue" and "deep blue" in chess programs. "Deep Blue" 1993 lost to DOS program "FRITZ3" (German soldier 3). In desperation, he sent money to Kasparov in disguise and desperately promoted "man-machine war." The so-called "man-machine war" is really a myth of computer companies. According to the rules of the World Championship of the Chess Federation, if you want to challenge the world champion, you should choose at different levels. So far, no computer manufacturer is willing to do so. What qualifications does Deep Blue have to challenge Kasparov? Therefore, today's "man-machine war" is just spending money to buy "copies". Objectively, the power of money cannot be underestimated, and the computer company has achieved its goal. Ilyumzhinov, president of the Chess Federation, also affirmed the "man-machine war". If you have money, you can promote chess and expand its influence. Why not? There are tens of thousands of chess books published in the world, and the total number of chess books is more than the sum of all other sports books. Because Europeans and Americans have the habit of reading, the days of chess are not bad at present. In contrast, the days of chess, cards and newspapers seem to be beginning to worry a little. There are thousands of chess newspapers and periodicals in the world. But compared with the ubiquitous network, they can't help but feel that their living space is threatened. In the network age, it should be lucky for the development of chess in the world to find its own position in the network. Voltaire, an outstanding thinker, called chess one of the great wealth of mankind. Chess is an ideal place for human beings to show their thinking wisdom. Tens of millions of people enjoy chess games online at the same time, which contains huge business opportunities. Computer companies try their best to manipulate games, which pollutes the purity of chess. The trend of commercialization finally rushed into the solemn chess hall. However, the pursuit of beautiful ideals of human nature will not change. The beauty of chess thinking art still exists!