A brief history of chess - Alex Gendler

Trace the storied history of the game of chess, from its origins in 7th century India to the computer software we use today.

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The attacking infantry advances, their elephants already having broken the defensive line. The king tries to retreat, but the enemy flanks him from the rear. Escape is impossible. This isn’t a real war— nor is it just a game. Over the 1,500 years of its existence, chess has been known as a military strategy tool, a metaphor for human affairs and a measure of genius. Alex Gendler shares its history.

Lesson by Alex Gendler, directed by Remus & Kiki.

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[chess]

Beautiful visuals and amazing storytelling!

[MrChileLimon]

' did you know, the treadmill was originally a torture device?'

Still is, buddy

[fakinell]

*why is no one talking about how good the art style is*

[anibeto]

So from India, it travelled to Persia(Iran), then after Arab conquest of Persia, Arabs learnt about the game. From them, it slowly spread to Europe and Central Asia. Chaturanga(Sanskrit) became Chatraanj(Arabic) and then Chess(English). It also had a different route where it spread to South East Asia and China and eventually Japan. Shikamaru from Naruto used to be a master of Japanese version of this game.

[ossen]

A chess game is a perfect representation of LIFE
*"I made one single move - now what?"*

[azzikri]

"Mom let me explain how my brother died. So Nf3, Qg5, Bh7, Qf8 checkmate"

[louisvergoby]

I came for a brief history of cheese but i was not disappointed

[bonnebalante]

"chess has been known as a tool of military strategy, a metaphor for human affairs and a benchmark for a genius" that line hits different

[shravani]

I feel so frustrated with the king piece. Like the whole kingdom is trying to save you and you just move one square at a time like you don't give a damn

[Cherry-da-bomb]

Bishop and pawn: *infront of each other*

"Uh..., well this is akward."

[moisesmunoz]

Lol that last scene with the sad computer was awesome.

[guillermogambincantera]

For all that enjoy the queen piece, it was originated in medieval Spain during the reign of Isabella the first.

[aby]

*dude dies*
brother: aight lets make a game out of this

[aarushsingh]

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the gorgeous animation in this video, it’s goddamn beautiful

[-Emiel-]

Imagine being smart enough to interest people for ages

[aryanharsh]

Ludo and snakes and ladders are also from india, ludo is called chausar/choupar/choupat in sanskrit, and pachissi in hindi which is also the word from where romance languages and usa english gets the name "parques", it was much more famous in ancient india comparatively to chaturanga. There is a 4 player chess too called chaturaji different fron chaturanga

[keh]

Imagine all this history, and the final chapter is Charlie beating XQC in 6 moves

[vaibhavbagaria]

In India, the "Queen" piece is still called the minister/advisor or "mantri"/"wazir" as in Hindi/Urdu.

[joshuaramirez]

*when the most important piece is the weakest*

[GetHype_]

Imagine telling your brother's death from a game.

"Your son died in the battlefield. I'm truly sorry for your loss...



anyways, pawn e4". - Prince of the Gupta Empire