deluxe chess and checkers board game for the blind

In the case of Shaturanga, the dice were eliminated and so perhaps it was at this point that a game based entirely on intellectual acuity came into being. Gambling was banned at some later point in the Hindu civilisation and, as happened in similar situations in other countries, this caused an evolution in the games that people played. An Ashtapada board (an ancient Indian race board game) consisting of an 8 x 8 grid was used for this early type of Chess. The four players controlled 4 types of piece - Infantry, Cavalry, Elephants and Boatmen under the command of a controled squadrons of a Rajah or Caliph. The game was in part quite different to modern Chess in that dice were used and it was a 4 sided game instead of 2. This is supposed to have been invented by an Indian philosopher in the 6th century. Some historical sleuths believe that shaturanga sometimes spelt chaturanga was the originating game.

The ancestry of Chess is hidden in a mist of uncertainty and scholars continue to argue over significant issues, not least of which whether the traditional viewpoint of an origin in India is right or whether the game came first from China.

Deluxe chess and checkers board game for the blind