History of Board Games
by The Beast!
(Boardgame Beast HQ)
History of Board Games
Part two of the series
Click here to see Board Games History part one
Click here to see A history of board games party three
Chess: military history on a game board
No game more embodies the principles of military strategy than the game of Chess, which has become one of the most studied and played games throughout modern and pre-modern times.
The earliest evidence of Chess comes from India in the 6th century. The game was known then as Caturaṅga and, while the pieces were slightly different, they evolved into their current form by the time the game reached Western civilization.
Originally the pawn, knight, bishop, and rook were representations of the divisions of the military under the Gupta Empire and consisted of infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots. The rules of Chess would evolve just as the pieces did, and by 1475, the rules most resembled current rules today.
The Queen piece has replaced the Vizier piece and become the most powerful piece on the board, the bishop acquired the ability to move unlimited spaces diagonally, and the pawn was allowed to move two spaces on its first move. After these key changes to the game, very few changes to the rules were made, and the changes that were made were generally minor ones.
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Chess was a game of nobility that taught strategy and tactics to aspiring squires, knights, and royalty. The game was referred to as “the King’s Game” and was often used to teach war concepts.
No-Stress Chess
While used as a means for leaders of battle to learn tactics and strategy from its creation through the Renaissance, the game eventually became more of a means of self-improvement by the time of the Age of Enlightenment. Benjamin Franklin believed that people could learn many virtues through the game of Chess which included foresight, caution, evaluation and patience.
In the United States, Chess is included as an elective activity to stimulate children to apply knowledge and foresight. While the game no longer has military applications, Chess is known to develop a player’s ability to problem-solve by requiring that he or she see all of the possible downfalls in his or her way and react accordingly – with choices that address those concerns and achieve the goal of checkmating the opponent.
Over 600 million people in the world know how to play Chess.
Monopoly brings capitalism to the masses
Monopoly
In 1930, the release of Monopoly introduced an entirely new generation of board games that included Scrabble, Candyland, Snakes and Ladders and Risk. Monopoly became a new board game sensation that would eventually receive the title of “Most Played Commercial Board Game in the World”.
The game combines strategy with luck and diplomacy, as players try to make deals that squeeze out opponents while not giving too much influence over the board to another player. Bankrupting all of the other players on the board through the acquisition of powerful monopolies is the general goal.
Monopoly is an adaptation of The Landlord’s Game, which was created in 1903 and released for commercial use in 1924. The inventor, Elizabeth J. Magie Phillips, intended to convey the downfalls of private land monopolies through the Landlord’s Game, but the game never really caught on.
The 1930 Parkers Brothers release of Monopoly was much more successful, but diluted the original message considerably. Since its release, over one billion people have played Monopoly at least once in their lifetime.
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Missed part one of the Board Games History series? Click here!
Click here to see A history of board games party three
References
Chess Dryad on how to play Chess
About.com on The Landlord’s Game
Hasbro the official Monopoly website
WikiPedia on Monopoly
Monopoly games guide on Boardgame Beast