It has been universally acknowledged that the game of chess originated in India. It was played in the Gupta period in sixth century. The form was slightly different. It was called Chaturang, after the four branches of the army – elephants, chariots, cavalry and infantry. It was played by four people, who used dice to move.
It then became popular in Persia as Shatranj, and was then picked up by the Arabs. It became two-handed and lost the dice. The modern game of chess is derived from the Arabic version. There is a board with squares found in the Harappan civilization ruins, which flourished 5000 years ago, it could have been some sort of precursor to chess.
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