THE FASCINATING STORY BEHIND THE GAME OF CHESS: A GAME THAT TURNED WAR INTO A BATTLE OF MINDS. Imagine a king returning from war. His army was defeated. His soldiers were scattered. But the king couldn't understand one thing: 'How did I lose?' That question would eventually lead to one of the world's greatest games: CHESS. According to an ancient Indian legend, a wise man named Sissa created a game for the king who wanted to know why he lost.
He placed a board before the king. 64 squares. Two opposing armies. And pieces representing the forces of war. Sissa explained: 'War is not won by one powerful soldier. An army wins when its different forces work together.' The modern queen wasn't always the most powerful piece - in early versions she was more like a royal adviser with very limited movement. But as chess travelled from India through Persia and the Islamic world into Europe, around the late 15th century her powers increased and she became the most powerful piece on the board.
The king offered Sissa any reward: one grain of rice for the first square, two for the second, four for the third... the grains doubling to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 - the king couldn't possibly provide it. Look carefully at a chessboard. You will see war, politics, leadership, sacrifice, patience, calculation, consequences. The battle may be fought on 64 squares... but the real battlefield is the mind.
