
ok so i am translating a Kannada book on chaturanga
Chess was invented in India around 1400 yeas ago and was played by kings and ministers (mostly the learned bramanas) of our country.The ancient chess boards were made out of teak,sandal or Rose wood and the pieces were made out of Ivory with gems embedded on them.

Historians and archaeologists have also found Chess boards made out of tiger skin,The Chess army had the same formation as the ones which was used during Indian warfare, The names of the pieces were King ,queen,Minister,camel (also called chariot in some places),Elephant,horse and the soldiers(also called boat).The Kings and queens do not face each other but are oppositely placed.
From wiki
n early chess the moves of the pieces were:
King: as now.
Queen: one square diagonally, only.
Bishop:
In the version that went into Persia: two squares diagonally (no more or less), but could jump over a piece between
In a version sometimes found in India in former times: two squares sideways or front-and-back (no more or less), but could jump over a piece between.
In versions found in Southeast Asia: one square diagonally, or one square forwards.
Knight: as now.
Rook: as now.
Pawn: one square forwards (not two), capturing one square diagonally forward; promoted to queen only.
Two Arab travelers each recorded a severe Indian chess rule against stalemate[24]:
A stalemated player thereby at once wins.
A stalemated king can take one of the enemy pieces that would check the king if the king moves.
continuing the translation
Chaturanga slowly spread to Persia and then to china>korea and finally japan who renamed chaturanga as shogi and modified the rules.Chess reached the west in the 13th century who drastically modified the rules and as the West had the most influence of the world,Western chess is the most popular form of chess played today.This shows the world about knowledge and the richness our country had long ago in a forgotten time period.When people in other countries had not yet learned to wear clothes our country not only invented a fine game which has stood the test of time,The finely carved ivory chess pieces also shows us how advanced our technology was.Ancient chaturanga sets and rule books can still be found in palaces,museums and ruins.
