The modern game of chess is believed to have developed from which ancient Indian game?
- A.Chaturanga
- B.Pachisi
- C.Gilli Danda
- D.Chausar
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Chaturanga. Chaturanga was played in India in the Gupta age and its name means four limbs, standing for the four divisions of an ancient army: infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots. These four survive on the modern board as the pawn, the knight, the bishop and the rook. The game passed to Persia, where it was called Shatranj and where the phrase shah mat, meaning the king is helpless, gave English the word checkmate, and reached Europe through the Arabs. Option B is wrong because Pachisi is a race game played on a cross-shaped cloth with cowrie shells, the ancestor of Ludo. Option C is wrong because Gilli Danda is a village bat-and-stick game with no board. Option D is wrong because Chausar, the dice game of the Mahabharata story, is a relative of Pachisi and not of chess.
Read the full article: Chess and Indian Grandmasters: Firsts, Titles and Records
Practice Questions
View allWho became the first Grandmaster of India?
- A.Pentala Harikrishna
- B.Viswanathan Anand
- C.Manuel Aaron
- D.Dibyendu Barua
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Anand, born in Mayiladuthurai and brought up in Chennai, earned the Grandmaster title in 1988 while still a teenager and became the first Indian to hold the highest lifetime title awarded by FIDE.
Read the full explanation →Who was the first Indian woman to be awarded the Grandmaster title?
- A.Koneru Humpy
- B.Dronavalli Harika
- C.Tania Sachdev
- D.Vaishali Rameshbabu
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Humpy, from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, earned the open Grandmaster title in 2002 while in her teens, and at that time she was the youngest woman in the world to have done so.
Read the full explanation →How many squares are there on a standard chessboard?
- A.36
- B.49
- C.64
- D.81
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A chessboard is a square divided into eight rows, called ranks, and eight columns, called files, so the number of squares is 8 multiplied by 8, that is 64.
Read the full explanation →In which year was FIDE, the international chess federation, founded?
- A.1912
- B.1924
- C.1936
- D.1951
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FIDE, the Federation Internationale des Echecs, was founded in Paris in 1924, and its motto is Gens una sumus, a Latin phrase meaning we are one people.
Read the full explanation →International Chess Day is observed every year on which date?
- A.20 July
- B.19 November
- C.29 August
- D.6 April
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The date marks the founding of FIDE, the international chess federation, in Paris on 20 July 1924, and the day is observed by chess federations across the world with tournaments and school events.
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