The attacking infantry advances steadily, their elephants already having broken the defensive line. The king tries to retreat, but enemy cavalry flanks him from the rear. Escape is impossible. But this isn’t a real war– nor is it just a game. Over the roughly one-and-a-half millennia of its existence, chess has been known as a tool of military strategy, a metaphor for human affairs, and a benchmark of genius.
Pješaštvo napadačke vojske polako prodire, slonovi su već probili liniju obrane. Kralj se pokuša povući, ali neprijateljska ga konjica opkoli iza leđa. Bijeg je nemoguć. Ali to nije pravi rat, niti je samo igra. Tijekom oko 1500 godina postojanja šaha, on je bio poznato sredstvo vojne strategije, metafora za ljudske odnose i mjerilo genijalnosti.
While our earliest records of chess are in the 7th century, legend tells that the game’s origins lie a century earlier. Supposedly, when the youngest prince of the Gupta Empire was killed in battle, his brother devised a way of representing the scene to their grieving mother. Set on the 8x8 ashtapada board used for other popular pastimes, a new game emerged with two key features: different rules for moving different types of pieces, and a single king piece whose fate determined the outcome. The game was originally known as chaturanga– a Sanskrit word for "four divisions." But with its spread to Sassanid Persia, it acquired its current name and terminology– "chess," derived from "shah," meaning king, and “checkmate” from "shah mat," or “the king is helpless.”
Iako su naši najstariji zapisi o šahu nastali u sedmom stoljeću, legenda kaže da nastanak šaha seže u jedno stoljeće prije. Navodno kada je najmlađi princ carstva Gupta bio ubijen u bitci, njegov je brat osmislio kako scenu prikazati njihovoj ožalošćenoj majci. Na ploči za aštapadu od 8x8 polja, koja se koristila i za druge popularne igre, nastala je nova igra s dva ključna obilježja: različitim pravilima za pomicanje različitih vrsta figura i jednom figurom kralja čija je sudbina određivala ishod. Igra je prvobitno bila poznata pod nazivom čaturanga, što na sanskrtu znači "četiri vojne postrojbe". Širenjem u sasanidsku Perziju igra je dobila trenutno ime i terminologiju - "šah" dolazi od "shah" što znači kralj, i "šah mat" dolazi od "shah mat" ili "kralj je bespomoćan".
After the 7th century Islamic conquest of Persia, chess was introduced to the Arab world. Transcending its role as a tactical simulation, it eventually became a rich source of poetic imagery. Diplomats and courtiers used chess terms to describe political power. Ruling caliphs became avid players themselves. And historian al-Mas’udi considered the game a testament to human free will compared to games of chance.
Nakon islamskog osvajanja Perzije u sedmom stoljeću, arapski je svijet upoznao šah. Šah je nadišao ulogu simulacije taktike i s vremenom postao bogat izvor poetskih figura. Diplomati i dvorani koristili su šahovske termine za opisivanje političke moći. Sami kalifi postali su strastveni igrači. Povjesničar Masudi smatrao je šah dokazom slobodne volje čovjeka, za razliku od igara na sreću.
Medieval trade along the Silk Road carried the game to East and Southeast Asia, where many local variants developed. In China, chess pieces were placed at intersections of board squares rather than inside them, as in the native strategy game Go. The reign of Mongol leader Tamerlane saw an 11x10 board with safe squares called citadels. And in Japanese shogi, captured pieces could be used by the opposing player.
U srednjem su vijeku trgovci Putem svile donijeli šah u istočnu i jugoistočnu Aziju gdje su se razvile mnoge lokalne varijante. U Kini šahovske su se figure stavljale na križišta kvadrata na ploči, a ne unutar njih kao u kineskoj strateškoj igri go. Za vladavine mongolskog vladara Timura nastala je ploča od 11x10 polja sa sigurnim kvadratima koji su se zvali citadele. U japanskoj igri shogi, protivni je igrač mogao koristiti osvojene figure.
But it was in Europe that chess began to take on its modern form. By 1000 AD, the game had become part of courtly education. Chess was used as an allegory for different social classes performing their proper roles, and the pieces were re-interpreted in their new context. At the same time, the Church remained suspicious of games. Moralists cautioned against devoting too much time to them, with chess even being briefly banned in France.
No šah je svoj moderni oblik počeo zadobivati u Europi. Do 1000. godine šah je postao dio obrazovanja na dvoru. Šah se koristio kao alegorija za različite društvene klase koje igraju svoje vlastite uloge i figure su nanovo bile protumačene u novom kontekstu. U isto je vrijeme Crkva ostala sumnjičava prema igrama. Moralisti su upozoravali da se igrama posvećuje previše vremena i šah je čak nakratko bio zabranjen u Francuskoj.
Yet the game proliferated, and the 15th century saw it cohering into the form we know today. The relatively weak piece of advisor was recast as the more powerful queen– perhaps inspired by the recent surge of strong female leaders. This change accelerated the game’s pace, and as other rules were popularized, treatises analyzing common openings and endgames appeared. Chess theory was born.
Ali šah je postajao sve popularniji i u 15. je stoljeću zadobio oblik koji ima danas. Relativno slaba figura savjetnika zamijenjena je moćnijom figurom kraljice, moguće da je inspiracija za to bilo to što su žene postale moćni vođe. Ova je promjena ubrzala tempo igre i kako su se ostala pravila popularizirala, pojavile su se rasprave s analizama uobičajenih otvaranja i završetaka. Rodila se teorija šaha.
With the Enlightenment era, the game moved from royal courts to coffeehouses. Chess was now seen as an expression of creativity, encouraging bold moves and dramatic plays. This "Romantic" style reached its peak in the Immortal Game of 1851, where Adolf Anderssen managed a checkmate after sacrificing his queen and both rooks.
Dolaskom prosvjetiteljstva šah se s kraljevskog dvora preselio u kavane. Šah se smatrao izrazom kreativnosti, potičući hrabre poteze i dramatičnu igru. Vrhunac ovog romantičarskog stila bila je Besmrtna partija koja se odigrala 1851., kada je Adolf Anderssen napravio šah mat nakon što je žrtvovao kraljicu i oba topa.
But the emergence of formal competitive play in the late 19th century meant that strategic calculation would eventually trump dramatic flair. And with the rise of international competition, chess took on a new geopolitical importance. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union devoted great resources to cultivating chess talent, dominating the championships for the rest of the century. But the player who would truly upset Russian dominance was not a citizen of another country but an IBM computer called Deep Blue. Chess-playing computers had been developed for decades, but Deep Blue’s triumph over Garry Kasparov in 1997 was the first time a machine had defeated a sitting champion.
Pojava formalne natjecateljske igre u kasnom 19. stoljeću značila je da je strateško kalkuliranje s vremenom pobijedilo dramatičan stil. Porastom međunarodne konkurencije šah je dobio na novoj geopolitičkoj važnosti. U Hladnom ratu Sovjetski je savez uložio puno sredstava u šahovski talent i ostatak je stoljeća dominirao na prvenstvima. Ali igrač koji je zaista poremetio rusku dominaciju nije bio stanovnik druge zemlje, nego računalo IBM-a pod nazivom Deep Blue. Računala koja znaju igrati šah razvijala su se desetljećima, ali je pobjeda računala Deep Blue nad Garijem Kasparovom 1997. bila prvi put da je stroj pobijedio šahovskog prvaka.
Today, chess software is capable of consistently defeating the best human players. But just like the game they’ve mastered, these machines are products of human ingenuity. And perhaps that same ingenuity will guide us out of this apparent checkmate.
Danas šahovski softver može dosljedno pobjeđivati najbolje igrače. Ali baš poput igre kojom su ovladali, ti su strojevi produkti ljudske genijalnosti. Možda će nas upravo ta ista genijalnost izbaviti iz ovog prividnog šah mata.