The chess family proper: games of differentiated armies, each piece with its own rank and movement rule, descended from or parallel to the historical game of Chaturanga, covering Chess, Chaturanga, Xiangqi, Janggi, Shogi and Tafl Games. Belongs here: capture games where pieces have distinct roles and powers. Does not belong here: capture games with uniform pieces, grouped under Displacement and Capture Games, or modern hidden-information conquest games with no traditional lineage, grouped under Modern Conquest and War Games.
Facts
Comparison
Era of Origin Defining CharacteristicChess spread throughout the world and many variants of the game soon began taking shape. 2 Browse By
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Chaturanga
WikipediaChaturanga, Origin sectionQuote, Chaturanga, Origin section
The earliest clear reference comes from north India from the Gupta Empire, dating from the sixth century AD.
2. Wikipedia: History of chess
WikipediaHistory of chess, Origin sectionQuote, History of chess, Origin section
Chess spread throughout the world and many variants of the game soon began taking shape
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What Actually Holds The Chess Family Together
Frequently Asked Questions
What separates the Chess-Family War Games category from Modern Conquest and War Games?
The dividing line is historical lineage: chess-family games descend from or parallel Chaturanga, while modern conquest games like Risk have no such lineage.
Chess-Family War Games covers the chess family proper, games of differentiated armies descended from or parallel to the historical game of Chaturanga, including Chess, Xiangqi, Janggi and Shogi, where each piece has its own rank and movement rule. Modern Conquest and War Games instead covers 20th-century commercial games such as Diplomacy, Risk and Stratego that have no traditional chess-family lineage, so the dividing line is historical lineage rather than theme.