Many people believe that the game of chess is very old, like a few
thousand years. This, however, is only partially true, as the rules
of Western Chess as we know it (and as it is played on ICC) are not
older than just about 500 years. It was only around 1500 AD that,
starting in Southern Europe, especially Italy, the 'new' pieces of
bishop and queen came into use. Games similar to today's chess can
be traced back much longer, however. It is most commonly assumed
that the first game in a direct relation to chess was 'Chaturanga',
a game which originally involved 4 players and an element of ran-
domness (a dice was thrown). Ancient Hindu law forbade gambling, and
so it was necessary to get rid of the dice. A variation which was
reduced to a two-player game became popular - Shatranj. This game
can be traced back until 600 AD, but it is probably much older.
Thus, chess was played with the Shatranj rules for most of its
lifetime. Moreover, eastern chess variations like chinese chess,
Shogi and Thai chess all show a clear relation to Shatranj.
Most likely, Shatranj was introduced in Europe by Arabs.
Arabs were also the first prominent masters of the game, and
historic manuscripts and problem sets written by them exist.
The game itself is considerably slower and deeper than its modern
relative, so it may require more patience. (Bullet time controls
with no increments might not be the best idea.) It allows draws
frequently, however, the rule of 'bare king' (take all non-king
pieces of your opponent) allows for victory also in situations
where the material is insufficient to mate the opponent.
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ICC Help: Shatranj2