Description
Chess is arguably the world’s premier game. Since its Indian origin in ~ 500 A.D., it has spread to all the inhabited continents and is played under a common set of rules by millions daily. This lecture will examine the game’s evolution in the context of the cultures which adopted it over time, with emphasis on chess’ history in the Western world. While a modest knowledge of chess is helpful, those with no knowledge of the game will hopefully still find much of interest in how the rules (and even the chess pieces) were influenced by changing cultural norms and major historical events; and how chess has been used as a metaphor in movies, plays, and literature.
