The word chess first appeared in the Warring States Period. There is a special record of its shape and play in "Chu Ci Evocation": "There are six books in chess; Go hand in hand with the camp, and the road is forced; When you become a cockroach, you will seek it and you will be white. " In other words, jade (that is, castor) is equivalent to dice. Chess of size (that is, cover), 6 pieces on each side; The way to compete is to divide Cao and advance together. (referring to two teams or two teams must fight), attack each other and force each other to death; Finally, the winner seeks victory. Defeated the enemy soldiers (five men in the military system in the Spring and Autumn Period) and gave a cheer of victory.
Han and Liu also recorded Zizhou's view in "Talking about the Garden Mountain": "The first step is the king of a thousand times ... Yan Dou Qi dances Zheng Nv." In other words, to persuade Meng, it is better to play chess and watch songs and dances, just like "Yan State". All these show that "chess" has become a routine activity during the Warring States period. So chess came into being before the Warring States Period.
There are many theories about the origin of chess:
First, the Yellow Emperor originated from the legendary era. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Huang Bu's Preface to Guang xiang opera said, "Like a soldier, the battle of the Yellow Emperor drove away animals and thought that the array was like an elephant, and the animals were heroes. Therefore, soldiers are named after elephants. "
Second, Shennong originated from the legendary era. Monks in the Yuan Dynasty often said in the Biography of Buddhism: "Shennong takes the sun, moon and stars as images, and cattle, monks and children in the Tang Dynasty replaced them with chariots, horses, scholars and soldiers with guns."
Third, it originated in the Shun period. Legend has it that Shun's half-brother is called Xiang, lazy and playful. Modern scholars often say in the book "Sino-Indian Art Career": "Shun forbids his life because he is unruly and afraid of his loneliness, and plays chess for him to entertain him. Because of its name, it is called chess. "
Fourth, the attack originated from Zhou Wuwang. Ming Metabolism's "Five Miscellaneous Groups" said: "It seems like a play, and it is said that it was made during the cutting week, that is, it is not the case, and it is also a stream of military strategists in the Warring States period."
5. Originated in the Spring and Autumn Period. In chess, "elephant" means "symbol", which has nothing to do with animal images. Chess may be produced by imitating the military system in the Spring and Autumn Period. The names of chess players coincide with the military system in the Spring and Autumn Period, that is, arrow, handsome, chariot, horse, scholar, soldier and pawn. However, chess may also be named after the pieces are made of ivory.
Six, originated in the Warring States period. The book of seclusion contains: Zhou said:' If you step in Yanzhou first, you will be able to play chess, which is also a matter of the Warring States. "The Warring States used soldiers, so people used the image of war as a chess position."
Seven, originated in the Chu-Han struggle period. In the middle of the chessboard is written "Chuhe Hanjie", so many people think this statement is more credible. Others think that it was invented by Han Xin. Liang Qingshu's Introduction to Deep Sea Wide Chess: "I also heard that chess started in Han Xin and Zhu Ziyun Bo Bureau also." Textual research on the origin of chess in Modern Zhou Dynasty: "When Han Xin attacked Zhao, he played chess with Ye Xixi as a foot soldier. Because by the end of the year, the foot soldiers were homesick and had the tools to make a fortune, so they got together to play, lost all their money and forgot to return to China. "
In early China chess, the chess system consisted of three instruments: chess, chopsticks and chessboard. The two sides play chess, with six players on each side, namely: owl, Lu, pheasant, calf and stopper (two pieces). The chess pieces are carved with ivory. Bam, equivalent to dice, must be thrown before playing chess. The chessboard is a square chessboard. During the competition, "throw six fingers and play six chess games", fight wits and fight bravely, attack and persecute each other and kill each other. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the military system consisted of five men and one handsome man, a total of six men. At that time, as a military training football match, there were also 6 people on each side. It can be seen that early chess was a game symbolizing the fighting at that time. On the basis of this chess system, a kind of chess called "Sai" appeared later, which only played chess without throwing chopsticks, and got rid of the element of winning by luck in early chess. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period and even the Qin and Han Dynasties in China, there were frequent wars in the country, and chess came into being under this background. There are many obvious similarities between military war and sports competition. For example, the ultimate goal is to win, and the confrontation process is manifested through skills and tactics. There are both strategic themes and tactical means. As an intellectual game simulating ancient wars, chess is a game played on a chessboard close at hand. Cars, horses, guns and soldiers on the chessboard are symbols of ancient cars, horses, guns (or slingshots) and soldiers. Compared with other sports, chess has the most direct internal connection with ancient military, and its strategic thinking and tactical characteristics are influenced by ancient military thinking.
With the changes of the times, while chess is becoming more and more perfect, it is also inseparable from the purpose of military war and the art of war. There are many ingenious tactical ideas and combinations of chess games that are familiar with Sun Tzu's Art of War. In the ancient genealogical arrangements, such as Deep and Wide Seas, Plum Blossom Spectrum, Secrets in Oranges, and Suiting Elegant Interest, etc. Many arrangements are named after Sun Tzu's Art of War, Thirty-six Plans, Three Kingdoms allusions and war names, which are not only ingenious in conception, but also very consistent with the names of historical allusions.
One, six Bo-the embryonic period of chess
Up to now, the oldest board games in China are Liubo and Weiqi, which are also called games. Go activities before the Spring and Autumn Period cannot be verified. According to reliable records, it was not until the Spring and Autumn Period that people began to use chess as a metaphor. Liu Bo appeared a little earlier than Go. According to "Biography of Mu", he won the corner of Liubo chess on three days with the public, and by the Spring and Autumn Period, chess had been in parallel with the world. "The Analects of Confucius Yang Huo" contains: "Confucius said: It's hard to eat all day long and unintentionally! No players? For it, you are still virtuous. " Confucius thinks that playing six games of Go in his spare time is a beneficial entertainment, which is better than doing nothing. It can be seen that in the era of Confucius, games have become a part of daily games. Six blogs are also six books. "Evocation of Chu Ci" said: "There are six books in chess", so it can be seen that six blogs are books, which is the earliest chess player's work in China. From the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, all kinds of Bo Opera appeared and prevailed in the world, from which we can find some factors of China's chess budding. Therefore, this period can be called the embryonic period in the history of chess.
The earliest recorded Liubo were two monarchs, namely Wuyi Emperor and Mu in Shang Dynasty. "Historical Records Yin Benji" contains: "Emperor Wu has no way, is a puppet, and is called a god. With it, it makes people do it. It is a pity that the gods are invincible. " "Biography of Great Mu Zi" contains: "(Mu Wang) entered Beiyou and went to Gongbo with Jing. Although the above records are not necessarily reliable, at least one conclusion can be drawn from this legend. People in the Western Han Dynasty or the Warring States Period thought that Liubo was born earlier than the Spring and Autumn Period, which was a very long time ago. According to research, Liu Boqi was the originator of chess in Qin Dynasty.
In Zhuangzi Parallel Prose, there is a saying of "traveling in a fair", and Cheng said, "Vote for Joan, not for Qiong Yue". It can be seen that Cisse was developed from Liu Bocheng, and the difference between them is whether they can play chess or not. Judging from the chess pieces unearthed from the tombs of the Western Han Dynasty, the shape of the chessboard is roughly the same as that of Liu Bo. Sai Opera was very popular in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. By the Qin and Han Dynasties, Sai Opera had become quite popular, and it was called "Wu Ge" at that time. The chessboard unearthed from the Western Han Tomb in Yunmeng, Hubei Province and the painted wooden figurines unearthed from the Mo Zuizi Han Tomb in Wuwei, Gansu Province can reflect the description of the shape of Sai Opera in Bian Shao's Sai Fu in the Han Dynasty.
Second, the elephant play-the embryonic period of chess
During the Three Kingdoms period, the shape of chess was constantly changing, and there was an exchange relationship with India. By the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Wudi (reigned in 56 1~578) wrote Xiang Jing, while Wang Bao wrote Xiang Xu and Xiang Jing Fu, marking the completion of the second major reform of chess. The first record of elephant play appeared in the twenty-fourth history. There are ten volumes of History of the North, four years of which include "Ugliness in May, Imperial Image Classic has been finished, and hundreds of people have talked about it", and so are five volumes of Zhou Shu.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, chess activities developed steadily. In the middle Tang Dynasty, Xiangxi moved closer to the existing chess. There are frequent records in Historical Records, the most important of which is the narration of Wu Zetian's dream of chess in Shiliju Series, Liang Gong Jiu Jian, and a story of Censhun's dream of chess in the first year of Baoying (AD 762) in Niu Sen Ru Xuan Zhi. According to Nine Swords of Liang Gong, Wu Zetian dreamed of playing chess with Luo Shen and was defeated by Luo Shen. This dream puzzled her deeply: I wonder if it is auspicious? Dreaming of playing chess at night must be related to her usual fascination with playing chess; One night in the first year of Baoying in Tang Daizong (A.D. 762), Censhun, a native of Runan, dreamed that the Golden Elephant Kingdom was at war with Tianna and wanted Censhun to watch the battle. Jin's military adviser reported the battle plan to his monarch: "Tianma flew obliquely three times, and drove the generals to the four directions." The chariot went straight into the sky and never returned. It didn't work for the first time. "After Censhun woke up from his dream, his family dug an ancient tomb in the house." There was a golden bed in front of the door, and Jorge Lema was covered with scales, all made of gold and copper. "This just know the dream strategist said," just like a horse. "From this story, we can know that there are generals, chariots and horses, soldiers and other arms in Baoying's elephant play. The footwork of chariots and horses is no different from now, but it will be full of boards, which is similar to the king in chess today.
The shape of chess in Tang dynasty is quite similar to that of early chess. The popularity of chess at that time can be seen from many records in poetry legends. The three-volume version of Xiang Bo Xiang's Opera Song may be a work of the Tang Dynasty. By the Tang Dynasty, great changes had taken place in China's chess. There are four arms of "general, horse, chariot and pawn", which are composed of 64 black and white squares. Later, referring to China's Go, I changed 64 squares to 90 points. This kind of chess is called "Baoying chess", and Japan still regards it as a synonym for chess.
Third, chess in the Song Dynasty-the development and finalization period of chess.
In the Song Dynasty, China's chess was basically stereotyped. Due to the invention of gunpowder, guns, scholars and elephants were added. That is, on the basis of using Jiugong chessboard, other kinds of chess pieces were absorbed and borrowed, and three of them were upgraded to one scholar and two cannons to meet the tastes of the people at that time. In addition, there are 32 blameless "Guangqi" in Song Chao, which is the same as the total number of modern chess pieces, but I wonder if there is a river boundary on the chessboard. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the stone forest "Guangji" published two overall works of chess. The Song Dynasty was an era when chess was widely popular, and its form also changed greatly. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Sima Guang's Elephant Drama in Seven Countries, His Elephant Drama Style and Chess, Chao's Elephant Drama Map and other works came out one after another, and Elephant Drama was also deeply loved by the people.
In the Ming Dynasty, the word "general" was changed to "handsome" for the convenience of playing chess and remembering. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, chess developed greatly, and many famous players and chess monographs emerged. Chess monographs in Ming Dynasty include Eighteen Changes in Jin Peng, Dreams, Secrets in the Orange, etc. Among them, Yi Qing Ya Qu, carefully selected by Xu Zhi, is the most systematic, complete and practical one among the ancient chess books in China. Most of the scores in "The Secret of Orange" are draws, and some arrangements have already involved ancient chess rules. The purpose of the draw is achieved by using tactical means such as "general" and "kill" in the rules. It is not difficult to see that by the Ming Dynasty, the development of chess technology and technical theory had begun to be refined, and the requirements of chess players and enthusiasts were no longer just satisfied with clever arrangement and wonderful killing methods. The theoretical development of chess and the integration of skills and tactics have taken another important step.
The Qing Dynasty was the heyday of chess development in China, with many famous players and scores. Related chess works include Plum Blossom Spring, A Brief Introduction to Taoyuan, Broken Heart and Arm, Bamboo Piece, Chess and so on. Among them, Plum Blossom Score written by Wang Zaiyue is an epoch-making chess score in China's chess history. It is famous for its rich examples and subtle changes, and has created a historical chapter of "competing for hegemony with carbine" for more than 300 years. Not only that, the four famous chess games "Seven Star Party, Wild Horse Playing Field, Walking a Thousand Miles Alone, Dragonfly Taking Earthworms" were also completed in the Qing Dynasty. These four arrangements have their own characteristics, but they all revolve around the mutual cooperation of cars, horses, guns and soldiers. These arrangements are still considered to be the most difficult and complicated. It can be said that the Qing Dynasty was the historical stage when the development theory and technical and tactical level of ancient chess reached its peak. After the baptism of feudal society, chess, as an "art", formed a unique industry "Jianghu". Especially during the Republic of China, many chess players made a living by playing "colored chess" in restaurants and teahouses. This kind of "lottery" is to earn a living by winning some "lottery" gambling at chess. These colored chess have many names, such as making way, making way for children, even making way for two horses, making way for elephants and so on. In the process of playing chess, there are also mysteries hidden. Some people can trace back to the origin of this cultural phenomenon from ancient witchcraft, medicine and acrobatics, and their business also involves "all kinds". Chess Jianghu, like other Jianghu sects, is highly mobile and deceptive. The so-called mobility can be explained as that chess players in those days usually became famous by visiting famous teachers, celebrities and masters, and divided schools by region. Deception, on the one hand, is that players deliberately hide their level, commonly known as "fishing", and then win the bonus at one fell swoop when they reach a satisfactory level. In addition, there are people who cooperate with each other, and we can occasionally see the "Jianghu endgame" on the street, using seemingly simple but complicated chess games to induce fans to bet and cheat money. After all, these means are not aboveboard and elegant enough, but Lang Lang Gan Kun has long been unable to put down a game of chess. In order to make a living, chess players are inevitably "reduced to rivers and lakes."
At that time, the highest level of chess was North China, East China and South China, and Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou became the core of the activity area respectively. Among them, Hong Kong chess masters often gather in Guangzhou, and the place where chess players play is also held in the teahouse. During the Republic of China, Zhang Dekui, Najian Pavilion and other famous chess players were produced in Beijing. Xie Xiaxun is the most influential actor in Shanghai, while Huang Songxuan, Zhong Zhen and Zeng Zhanhong are the representatives of "Three Phoenix in East Guangdong". At that time, many chess players had nicknames, such as "Three Heroes of Yangzhou", "Chess Saint Zhao Zilong", "Twenty-eight Nights" and "Invincible Cannon". They are all labeled as regional sects and named after the style of chess. The chess saints unconsciously formed a relatively mobile and fixed small environment, and the chess world deserved its reputation and had certain social influence. Although the social value and social status of chess players have not been effectively recognized, the vitality of the chess industry has also shown unique tension under difficult conditions. At present, most chess competitions are held in the form of challenges and round robin, which laid the foundation for the chess competition form after the founding of the People's Republic of China. In the early days of the founding of New China, everything needed to be completed. The party and the government attach great importance to the development of sports and put "developing sports for all" on the agenda of the CPPCC. Since then, "improving people's health and strengthening people's physique" has been regarded as an important political task. "The state develops sports undertakings, carries out mass sports activities and strengthens people's physique" and "The state trains teenagers and children to develop in an all-round way in morality, intelligence and physique" are also written into the Constitution.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, chess has always had its special social attributes in modern sports, and it has also played a unique role in different stages. For example, in 1950, in order to actively organize activities, support the players to "resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea" and express patriotic feelings, "Four Chess" (Hou Yushan, Xie, Dou and Zhang Dekui) was held in Beijing. From 65438 to 0956, the State Sports Commission (now the State Sports General Administration) included chess in the first batch of sports. That year, Beijing hosted the first national chess competition in the history of China-the National Chess Championship. 30 people representing different provinces can be said to be unprecedented. The holding of this tournament also marks a formal turning point in the development of chess from "art" in traditional culture to competitive sports. Chess is the only official chess event in this competition, and the top six players are admitted, while Go and Chess are both performance events, and there is no ranking. In the same year, the first periodical, Chess, was published. 1956 is an important milestone, and it also marks an important turning point of chess from "Jianghu" to "Temple". Cultural treasures that are scattered among the people and difficult to appreciate have a formal ownership since then. Since then, professional teams from various provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and industry sports associations have been formed one after another, with a maximum of more than 20 teams and a maximum of about 30 teams participating.
From 65438 to 0966, the chess game was held in April of that year. After that, influenced by the Cultural Revolution, the chess game was suspended from 1967, and it was not officially resumed in Chengdu until 1974, which lasted for seven years. Although official national competitions were no longer held during the Cultural Revolution, the sport was not banned among the people. Because people's cultural and recreational activities were monotonous during the Cultural Revolution, chess became the most popular activity at that time because of its cheap price and convenient venue. In my spare time, I put a few plates in the streets and lanes, and there are many onlookers, which makes chess spread among the masses to a great extent at this stage.
In the 1980s, chess began to try to hold competitions of different scales and forms in different places. However, with the continuous improvement of the degree of reform and opening up, the people's demand for rich cultural life has been increasing, and the content and form of entertainment activities have gradually shown diversified characteristics, bringing up a large number of outstanding chess players such as Hu Ronghua, Liu Dahua, Li Laiqun, Lv Qin and Zhao Guorong, which have been widely recognized by the society. In all sports in the country, independent invitational tournaments and cup competitions were organized and held earlier, and attempts were made to award prizes or bonuses to the winners. For example, in the first 1 "Wuyang Cup National Chess Championship" sponsored by Mr. Fok Yingdong at 198 1, according to the regulations, the prize money of the champion cannot exceed 50 yuan RMB, which is really incomparable with the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of prizes today. Since then, it has been held for 27 consecutive sessions. Wuyang Cup has not only become the most influential competition in the whole country and even in Southeast Asia, but also the longest-lasting commercial competition so far.
Today, China chess has spread to more than ten countries and regions. There are already Asian and world chess organizations in China, and the China Qi Xiang Association has also been established in Japan and the Philippines. The World Chess Federation holds individual competitions once a year, and the Asian Chess Federation holds team competitions every two years. The ancient oriental game goes to the world. Chess is also widely spread abroad, especially overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. Many overseas Chinese and compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao regard chess as a bridge and link between overseas Chinese and the motherland, and regard chess activities as the inheritance and development of their own national culture by the descendants of the Chinese people.
In recent decades, with the continuous development of trade and cultural exchanges, chess has also developed many fans in Britain, the United States, France, Canada, Germany and other countries. Chess is spreading from its birthplace to every corner of the world through Asia.
From the perspective of Asia, chess is very popular not only in Hong Kong and Macao, but also among overseas Chinese in Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan. Those regions and countries hold chess competitions every year and set up chess associations or chess associations respectively.
Exchange; connect
During the period of1978165438+10, the Asian Chess Federation came into being with the initiative and cooperation of overseas Chinese celebrities and chess professionals in some parts of Southeast Asia. Today, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Brunei, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macau are all members of the Asian Elephant Federation. The current president is Mr. Fok Ying Tung, a Hong Kong celebrity.
Since the establishment of the Asian Elephant Federation, chess activities in Asia have become more active, chess exchanges and competitions between Asian countries and regions have increased year by year, the level of players has generally improved, and many promising young players have emerged. Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand have also specially trained some female players, and the number of female players has gradually increased. The "Asian Cup Chess Championship", which embodies the friendship and level of Asian players, has been held for five times. The Asian City Masters Invitational Tournament was founded in 198 1 and has been held for three times. It is reported that the 4th Asian City Masters will be held in Macau. The Asian Elephant Federation has also held many friendly competitions and mutual visits between member countries and regions.
develop
In recent years, chess has made gratifying progress among Europeans and Americans. The United States, France, Germany, Canada and other countries have established chess associations or chess clubs. It is worth noting that chess masters in some countries have also played China chess, and like some China players in China, they have become "two-armed generals" who are good at both chess.
In order to further promote the internationalization of chess, attract more Europeans and Americans to play chess, spread oriental chess to the whole world, and let people all over the world share the traditional culture of the Chinese nation and get endless fun from it, the Asian Elephant Federation entrusted the Qi Xiang Association of China to hold the "Seven-Star Cup" international invitational tournament, which is held every two years and has been held twice so far. The 2nd "Seven-Star Cup" International Invitational Tournament has 20 contestants from the Philippines, Thailand, the United States, Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, West Berlin, France, China, Hongkong, Macau and other countries and regions. It is reported that the chess organizations of various countries and regions participating in the "Seven Stars Cup" will organize a chess federation through the next few games to further promote the internationalization of chess.
In order to encourage and attract non-Chinese foreigners to actively participate in chess activities and improve their chess skills, Mr. Fok Ying-tung of Hong Kong offered a huge bonus of 500,000 US dollars, which was prepared to be awarded to the non-Chinese foreigners who won the "10 consecutive championships" in China chess competition that Hu Ronghua participated in. In addition, the Asian Elephant Federation has raised 3 million Hong Kong cities' funds to promote chess, and plans to translate chess books with annual interest and hold training courses for coaches and referees to help cultivate chess lovers among pure foreigners and promote chess to the world.
1978, the Asian Chess Federation was established. Chess has also made gratifying progress among Europeans and Americans. The United States, France, Germany, Canada and other countries have established chess associations or chess clubs. Some chess masters also play China chess.
1988, in order to promote the internationalization of chess, on this basis, the "China China Chess Federation Preparatory Committee" was established in Beijing.
1990, 1 World Cup Chess Championship was held in Singapore.