Chess Origin: Chess is one of the oldest and most intellectual games in the world. But very few people know that it originated in ancient India about 1500 years ago. After this, it evolved across continents into today’s modern game. Let us know how chess started and how it changed into its modern form.

The birth of chess in ancient India

The story of chess begins in sixth century India. Here it was originally known as Chaturanga. It means four parts of the army. These divisions were infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots and later evolved into the modern pawns, knights, bishops and rooks. Chaturanga was played on an 8×8 board, just like modern chess. But in this the movement of the pieces was limited and slow. It was from here that the foundation of every future version of chess was laid.

How did chess arise?

From India, Chaturanga reached Persia towards the west. Here it developed into Chatranga. After the Arab conquest, it came to be known as Chess. Along with this, the word checkmate used in chess comes from the Persian idiom Shah Mat. Which means the king is helpless.

Chess reached medieval Europe

Between the 10th and 15th centuries, chess entered Europe via Spain and Italy. Here there was another change in it. European culture gave a new look to the seals and gave them royal and religious identity. It was during this time that the queen and bishop first appeared in recognizable form.

Changes in modern chess

By the end of the 15th century, a major revolution took place. At this time, Europeans made major changes in the rules. The queen was made the most powerful piece which could move in any direction on the board. Also the bishop’s move was also changed. After this change the game was made faster and much more aggressive. Now the pawns also got the option to move two squares forward on their first move.

Developments in chess in the 19th century

By the 1800s, chess had become a major game. The Staunton chess set, which is still the global standard today, was introduced in 1849. Let us tell you that the first modern chess tournament was organized in London in 1851. Chess clocks were invented in 1883, which increased time pressure and changed the game forever. The first World Chess Championship was held in 1886.

Chess in the modern era

Formal rules, rankings and global tournaments came into existence in the 20th century with the formation of FIDE (World Chess Federation). After this, computers brought a major revolution in chess analysis and engines like Stockfish and AlphaZero helped a lot in reshaping the way the world understands strategy. Today chess is played by millions of people on online platforms and the legacy of the game that started centuries ago still lives on.

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World Chess Champion D Gukesh once again proved that the real answer is not given by words, but by his game. On the first day of the ‘Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown’ tournament being played in St. Louis (America), Gukesh has achieved the lead by performing brilliantly.

Four big players of the world – Gukesh, Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana are participating in this tournament. In the first round, Gukesh lost 1.5-0.5 against Carlsen, but after that he made a strong comeback. In the second round he defeated Nakamura 1.5–0.5 and then in the third round he defeated Caruana 2–0 and reached the top with 4 out of 6 points at the end of the first day.

When Gukesh gave a befitting reply to Nakamura

Some time ago, in an exhibition match, Hikaru Nakamura threw Gukesh’s king piece towards the audience after winning. That video made a lot of headlines on social media and displeasure was expressed by calling it against the spirit of the game. However, Nakamura later clarified this act and said that it was a funny act and there was no intention to insult anyone.

At that time Gukesh had also not reacted to this action, but now without saying anything he responded by defeating the same opponent on the board. Fans are praising his victory against Nakamura by calling it “revenge without speaking”. The clip of the match is going viral on social media, in which Gukesh’s calmness and confidence is clearly visible.

Tournament format and prize money

‘Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown’ is a short rapid tournament held at the St. Louis Chess Club from October 25 to 30. There will be a total of nine rounds (18 games), which will be in three double round-robin formats. The points and prize money will increase with each day’s competition. Double points will be given in the matches played on the second day.

The total prize money of the tournament is $4,12,000 (approximately Rs 3.63 crore). Out of this, the top 4 players will be given awards of $1,20,000 (Rs 1.06 crore), $90,000 (Rs 79 lakh), $70,000 (Rs 62 lakh) and $60,000 (Rs 53 lakh) respectively. Apart from this, bonus reward is also fixed for winning in every round.

Gukesh is currently leading the table and from his performance it is clear that India has got a world champion who knows how to write history while remaining calm.

The current world champion Gukesh Domaraju (D Gukesh Chess) is currently struggling with a very poor form. He did not get defeat in his recent match, but the compatriot Divya Deshmukh has created a sensation by stopping him at the draw (Gukesh vs Divya Deshmukh). In December 2024, Gukesh became the world’s youngest world champion in the chess world, but has failed to perform well after that. His match lasted for 6 hours on Friday, where in the end Gukesh and Divya joined hands for a draw. After this draw, Divya Deshmukh is trending fiercely on social media.

D Gukesh has suffered a loss in the ranking due to playing a draw against Divya, due to which she has been out of the top-10. Divya is being highly appreciated for this performance.

Who is Divya Deshmukh?

Divya Deshmukh also came into discussion in July this year, when she became the first Women Fide World Champion in history. According to Dainik Jagran, he was born on 9 December 2005 in Nagpur, Maharashtra. His father’s name is Jitendra and mother’s name is Namrata, both are doctors by profession. Divya began to be interested in sports when her elder sister started earning a name in badminton. But at the age of five, she felt a different attachment to chess and proceeded in it.

In 2012, he won the Under-7 National Championship and captured the Under-10 World Youth Championship in 2014. In this memorable journey, he got the status of Grandmaster in the year 2021. Talking about his studies, he has studied school from Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir in Nagpur. She had become a national champion by the age of year. His focus is now on moving forward in Chase Career, but at the same time he has special interest in sports psychology, performance science and chase data analytics. She is also doing further studies.

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Koneru Humpy vs Divya Deshmukh: India has created history in FIDE Chase World Cup. The first player to reach the final of the Chess World Cup became India’s Divya Deshmukh, but now the name of the second finalist has also come out. India’s player Grandmaster Koneru Hampi is the second finalist of the Chess World Cup. Koneru Hampi has waved India’s glory by defeating Tingji Lei of China in a semi -final tie breaker. Along with this, Koneru has also qualified for the next year’s candidates’ tournaments.

Koneru Hampi won the semi -finals

The second semi -final of the Chess World Cup took place on Wednesday, July 23 between Grandmaster Koneru Hampi and China’s Tingji Lei. But in this semi -finals both classical legs were drawn and the match reached the tie breaker. At the same time, in the tiebreaker, Koneru Hampi defeated the Chinese player and confirmed a place in the final.

Will the finals be with Divya Deshmukh?

Grandmaster Koneru Hampi will have the final match with India’s player Divya Deshmukh. Divya Fide Women’s Chess became the first Indian to reach the World Cup. At the same time, Koneru Hampi has also registered his name on the pages of history. The tournament which has not reached the finals till date, this time both the finalists of the FIDE Chase World Cup are India’s player.

Tiebreaks are don-and it’s an all-India Final!
Two Players. One dream.

anna shtourman #Fideworldcup pic.twitter.com/dhxsq5jvzi

– International Chess Federation (@Fide_ches) July 24, 2025

Divya Deshmukh also defeated Chinese player

International Master Divya Deshmukh defeated China’s Tan Zhongi in the final match played on Wednesday, 23 July and confirmed the final ticket. This girl from Nagpur is the first Indian woman to reach FIDE Chess World Cup. With Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Hampi reaching the finals, it is certain that this time Chase is going to become the world winner of India.

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Emerging as one of the leading players of India, international master Divya Deshmukh defeated Hamantan De Harika, a better ranking than her, 2–0 in Tiebreak to enter the semi-finals of the FIDE World Women’s Chess Cup.

There was pressure on Harika in Rapid Tybrek after the classical bet was done twice. Divya won the first bet with determination, which led to a lot of pressure on Harika. After this, Divya also won the second game and won the match.

Harika has been a semi-finalist in a similar format on three different occasions, which was then called the World Women’s Championship. Hampi and now Divya have become two Indians who have made it to the semi -finals of the Women’s World Cup. This competition is part of the new World Championship cycle.

Divya deshmukh is overwhelmed with emotions as she beats Harika Dronavalli 2-0 in Tiebreaks to Reach a Women’s World Cup Semifinal Against Tan Zhongyi! https://t.co/t9grieqbzr pic.twitter.com/zwoyorjpf1

– chess24 (@chess24com) July 21, 2025

This also means that the entry of an Indian has been confirmed in the women’s candidates tournaments to be held next year. The women’s candidate tournament will decide who will compete against China’s Joo Wenjun in the World Championship.

For the first time in his career, Indian Koneru Hampi, a supreme ranked Indian, has reached the final four for the first time. Divya’s association with her as a semi -finalist shows a big change in the Indian women’s chess where male players have achieved more success.

In the semi -finals, Hampi will face top seed Lee Tingji of China while Divya will take on former woman world champion Tan Jhongi of China.

Pragnanandhaa won in freestyle: India’s Grandmaster Rameshbabu Pragyanand defeated world number 1 chess player Magnus Carlson. Pragyanananda won this victory in Round 4 of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam held in Las Vegas on Wednesday, 16 July. This 19 -year -old chess player defeated the world number one player in only 39 tricks. This is a historic victory in Pragyananda’s Las Vegas.

Pragyanananda won 39 tricks

Grandmaster Rameshbabu Pragyananda played the game according to himself from the beginning to the end. In this game, Pragyananand was playing with 93.9 percent accuracy, while Carlson’s Akshayi was 84.9 percent, which was less than normal. This victory of Pragyananand is taking his career to heights. Now Pragyanananda has defeated Magnus Carlson in all three big formats. Pragyanand has won in classical, rapid and blitz.

Pragnanandhaa Beats Carlsen and takes the sole lead in their group on 3.5/4! https://t.co/bulo6wdydu pic.twitter.com/uqvc0ljljlzk

– chess24 (@chess24com) July 16, 2025

‘Freestyle likes more’

Rameshbabu Pragyananda said in a post game interview after defeating Magnus Carlson that ‘I like more freestyle than classical at this time’. The relaxed tone and fearlessness of Pragyanand has brought him to such a point today that he is waving India in the whole world. Grandmaster D Gukesh has also defeated world number one Magnus Carlson.

Sports Minister praised

India’s Sports Minister Mansukh Mandavia has also shared the post on Pragyanandanand’s victory. Mansukh Mandavia wrote that another proud moment for India in chess. The Sports Minister further wrote that at the age of 19, Grandmaster R Pragyananda has demonstrated his talent by defeating World No. One Magnus Carlson in only 39 moves at Freestyle Chase Grand Slam.

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