Brian Silk, ago 11, of Alhambra, CA

Who invented the game of chess?

We tend to think that chess is a game only for mental wizards. This is not so. Smart people do enjoy chess, but so do a lot of people of normal intelligence. You do not have to be a mental giant to play this fascinating game. You do not even have to be grown up. There have been many child chess champions, and not so long ago most young people played chess for fun. In fact, the stories of Alice the Wonderland girl are about the game of chess.

Chess is the oldest game of skill. Its origin is lost in the dim, distant past. We cannot name the inventor but we have a good idea where and why it was invented. Chess was invented, we believe, to calm down the warring kingdoms of ancient India.

Basically chess is a game of war maneuvers. The men, or pieces,, represent members of opposing armies. The pawns are the foot soldiers, the knights the; soldiers on horseback. Originally the bishops and castles also represented mounted soldiers, perhaps in chariots and on elephants. The queen was originally the king's counselor or general. This pieta was changed to a lady and a queen by the French.

So far as we know for sure the ancient game was played in India as long as 1,000 years ago. The game reached Persia about 500 A.D. From there it spread westward across Europe.

Many changes wore made in the game and. the names of the pieces. The Arabs changed the Hindu word for chess to shah, their word for king. Chess is often spoken of as the king's game, When a player says checkmate the game is finished because his majesty can no longer make a move. The word checkmate comes from shah mat, Arab words meaning the king is dead.

  Chess is played on a checkered board. There are eight squares across and eight along the board. The opposing armies line up at opposite ends of the board. In the first row at each end are the two rooks, next to them the knights next  the bishops. Then, in  the two center squares'. stand their majesties,  the white; queen on the  white square and the black queen opposite on her black square. Their royal husbands stand beside them.

Each chess piece has its own special move across the board. With curtain exceptions, a pawn moves straight ahead, one square at a time. A bishop moves diagonally, a rook either forward or sideways. Either can move clear across the board if the path is clear. The knight does a fancy hop ‑ two squares forward and one to either side, or one forward and two to either side. His majesty can move but one square at a time in any direction, but the queen can scoot around in any direction whatsoever, all over the board.

Those mows are not hard, to  learn when you practice a little with each piece. The rules of the game are also simple. After a few hours study you are ready for a practice game. The basic rules are in volume three of your gift encyclopedia. has you learn more and more about it, who knows? Maybe you, too, will become a young chess champ.